State should leave well enough alone at the local level
The North Carolina Senate has become emboldened in its partisanship over the last couple of years, and there appears to be no end in sight. Under the leadership of Sen. Phil Berger, the president pro tem, and his troops — including our own Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin — it has ventured so far to the right and is making moves that are so politically heavy-handed that even Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and the GOP-controlled state House often call foul.
Lake Junaluska merger still stuck on a roller coaster in Raleigh
The merger of Lake Junaluska with the town of Waynesville cleared a critical milestone in the N.C. General Assembly last week and finally seemed headed for passage, but was sidelined again at the 11th hour.
WCU students react to NC voting law changes
By Katie Reeder • SMN Intern
Some opponents of North Carolina’s new voting law claim it negatively impacts college students because of provisions that cut the early voting period and do not allow students to use their campus photo identification cards as a valid form of identification to vote. Students at Western Carolina University were asked their thoughts on the new law.
Local NAACP members still fighting for voters
By Katie Reeder • SMN Intern
It may be too late to change North Carolina’s new voting laws, but it’s not too late to have a say in how those laws are going to be implemented.
SEE ALSO:
• Be prepared at the polls
• WCU students react to NC voting law changes
Even though members of local NAACP chapters are not happy with North Carolina’s new voting laws pushed through by a Republican-led General Assembly in 2013, they now want to focus on how those laws may be implemented.
Be prepared at the polls: Voting changes are coming in 2016
The days of simply walking into a polling place and casting a ballot are over.
Sales tax shuffle
What the bill says: The method of doling out sales tax to towns and counties would be changed to give more to rural counties and less to towns and cities than under the current formula.
Statewide issues
Hunting on Sundays
What the bill says: The Sunday hunting ban would be lifted on private land. (House bill 640)
Local Issues
Lake Junaluska annexation
What the bill says: Lake Junaluska would become part of the town of Waynesville pending approval by voters of both Lake Junaluska and the town.
Legislation crosses over, has chance to become law
State lawmakers unleashed a torrent of proposed bills in the halls of the General Assembly this year — more than 1,650 bills in all, from possum drops and bobcat mascots to abortion restrictions and coal ash rules.
SEE ALSO:
• Local issues
• Statewide issues
• Sales tax shuffle
Most of the bills are doomed from the start, with fewer than 100 likely to make it to the finish line. To help winnow the list and weed out the losers, a bill must prove its merit by making cross-over — the bill has to pass the Senate or the House and “cross-over” to the other chamber by the end of April to stay alive, with a few exceptions for certain types of bills.
House bill could make Cherokee a little less dry
Breweries could be built and alcohol served at special events in Cherokee, if a House bill currently awaiting hearing in a Senate committee becomes state law.
