News Articles
State looks to railroad for money to improve Morehead City port
Bruce Siceloff
Sep 27th, 2012
State officials are prodding the N.C. Railroad Co. to quickly pledge to contribute $70 million over the next decade for a new storage facility at the Morehead City port that could start shipping wood pellets to European electric utilities by January 2014. Advocates say the port project could give North Carolina a healthy share of a burgeoning market for biomass fuel, creating at least 200 jobs and quadrupling the yearly freight rail traffic into Morehead City.
Supreme Court candidates trade jabs on experience as money waits in the wings
Mark Binker
Sep 26th, 2012
The local chapter of the Federalist Society sponsored a debate for the judicial candidates running in the November election.
Climate In Tar Heel State For School Choice Improving
Barry Smith
Sep 19th, 2012
A new political climate in the state capital could result in a number of school choice reforms enacted into law next year, a panel of legislators said Tuesday during a luncheon on school choice.
Outlaw Hot Dogs vendor says commissary rule is unconstitutional
Vernal Coleman
Sep 12th, 2012
The Independent Weekly published a story about Steve Pruner, a hot dog vendor, that we are representing in his NC Court of Appeals case. The story discusses the state commissary rule and mobile food vendors.
Forsyth board set to vote on incentives
Richard Craver
Sep 10th, 2012
The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to vote tonight on the incentive request of a Pennsylvania advanced-components company with expansion plans in Rural Hall. A public hearing will be held at 6 p.m. at Forsyth County Government Center, 201 N. Chestnut St. The incentive, if approved, would come from the county's general fund.
City Argues That Courts Have No Power To Alter Tax Policies
Dan Way
Aug 7th, 2012
Lumberton officials are using an unprecedented taxation defense in an Internet sweepstakes lawsuit before the state Supreme Court that features constitutional separation of powers issues and arcane legal protections dating from the Great Depression. Jeanette Doran, executive director and general counsel of the North Carolina Institute of Constitutional Law, acknowledges the just and equitable tax clause has not been heavily litigated. But since being added to the state constitution in 1936 “there have been at least three significant decisions that all address lawsuits that were based on the just and equitable clause,” Doran said. “It’s not as though the business owners down in Lumberton are trying to invent some new right.”
State makes it hard for food vendors to make a living
Jeanette Doran
Jul 15th, 2012
Jeanette Doran, Executive Director, wrote a letter to the editor of the Charlotte Observer in response to an article concerning food vendors at the upcoming Democratic National Convention.
Incentive Package Fuels Concern in Charlotte
Winston-Salem Journal Staff
Jul 6th, 2012
In a controversial decision, the city of Charlotte will pay a defense manufacturer $875,000 — along with $732,000 in city and county tax rebates — to bring an aerospace headquarters to Charlotte.
Incentives: Beneficial or bluffs?
Richard Craver
Jul 1st, 2012
The role of economic incentives — whether critical or icing on the cake when it comes to recruiting major projects such as Caterpillar Inc., Dell Inc. and FedEx Corp. — remains intensely debated. "I understand the whole 'everybody else is doing it' argument, but that doesn't mean they have to go along with every request," said Jeanette Doran, a senior staff attorney for the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law. "It's gotten to the point of having an entitlement tone to it. It means local communities are being held hostage, and governments are providing tax credits to companies while they are struggling to pay for essential community services."
AFP, Civitas host rally against federal healthcare ruling
Under the Dome
Jun 30th, 2012
An overflow crowd in a ballroom at the Crabtree Marriott on Saturday rallied to carry on the fight against the Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s health-care plan that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld on Thursday.