Carolina Politics Online

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain and presumed GOP candidate Fred Thompson are expected to make their first visits to York County this month as they rally support before South Carolina’s GOP primary.

McCain will speak on Sept. 15 at either the American Legion building or the VFW headquarters in Rock Hill, said York County GOP Chairman Glenn McCall.

Thompson hasn’t scheduled a date or venue, but McCall said Thompson’s people called Thursday to ask whether the Rock Hill/York County Airport is big enough for a private jet to land.

The Herald

A new S.C. poll released Thursday shows former U.S. Sen. John Edwards of N.C. is now in second place among Democrats, slightly ahead of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, who polled third.At the top for the Democrats is U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York. On the Republican side, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is leading.

The State

Former Treasurer Thomas Ravenel will plead guilty Thursday to a cocaine distribution charge in a plea agreement that his lawyers hope will lead to limited jail time or even probation.

The agreement was filed Friday in federal court in Columbia. In exchange for Ravenel’s continued cooperation, prosecutors will pursue a downward departure of the penalty time he faces.

Charleston Post & Courier

I don’t think Ravenel should do any jail time. Frankly, his political future is ruined, and that’s a pretty sizable punishment for what I consider a relatively minor crime.

The state House District 124 candidates tackled abortion, sex education and the possibility of increasing the state cigarette tax as well as other well-worn topics at a candidate forum Wednesday.

The pool of candidates in Tuesday’s election is three deep:

# Randy Bates, 47, of Lady’s Island. Bates is an active Republican Party member and has worked for Sen. and former Rep. Catherine Ceips for about six years.

# Diane DeWitt, 52, of Beaufort. DeWitt is former public defender and a private family practice lawyer.

# Shannon Erickson, 44, of Beaufort. Erickson owns and operates the three Beaufort-area Hobbit Hill Preschools and is the president of the South Carolina Child Care Association.

All three are Republican.

The Beaufort Gazette

State elections officials said today that they will suspend Rep. Thomas Wright’s re-election campaign on Tuesday unless the Democrat from Wilmington turns in a financial disclosure form due since July 27.

If the report isn’t filed, the N.C. State Board of Elections will suspend his campaign and send Wright a message telling him that the board has barred him from accepting campaign contributions, spending campaign money or spending any personal dollars to advance his campaign, said Kim Strach, who heads the board’s campaign finance division.

Wilmington Star

North Carolina leaders want to open a new front in the battle for jobs by shifting attention — and money — to saving existing ones. First they’ve got to resolve a fight over how to do it.

On Thursday, Gov. Mike Easley vetoed legislation approved by the General Assembly to push his own plan. The legislature in late July passed a bill that would give Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. as much as $40 million to upgrade a plant in Fayetteville. Goodyear could have gotten the money even if it cut 750 jobs.

“I cannot, in good conscience, pay $40 million of taxpayers’ money to a company to lay off 700 workers,” Easley said at a news conference to announce his veto, his eighth since taking office in 2001. “We just can’t do that as a state and act like we have any sense.”

Raleigh News & Observer

The problem facing North Carolina is quite simple. The state is run by Democrats. Whenever you have Democrats running things, jobs and wealth go running the other way.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mecklenburg County Government turned the tap off this week on several public fountains as the county’s utility department enacted tougher rules for outdoor watering.

However, some public fountains were still operating Thursday, prompting some county administrators to review policies on their use.

WCNC

Anyone in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area has likely heard about the mandatory water restrictions that went into affect throughout Mecklenburg County today. Patrols will be out around the county fining people for watering their lawns and other wasteful use of water. $100 for the first fine, $200 for the second. Apparently the county government is immune to its own rules.

Former District Attorney Mike Nifong will spend a night in jail after being found guilty of criminal contempt by Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III.

Smith ordered Nifong to report to the Durham County jail at 9 a.m. next Friday. He will stay there until 9 a.m. the following day.

The judge could have sentenced Nifong with a $500 fine or up to 30 days in jail.

Charlotte Observer

He’s getting off easy. He ought to be in jail for the next twenty years for his crimes.

A South Carolina couple has filed a lawsuit claiming payday lenders attract borrowers to “unconscionable loans” and trap them in an endless cycle of trying to repay the loans.

State Sen. John Hawkins filed the lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of Mark and Rebecca Morgan of Horry County. Hawkins said he would seek to make the lawsuit a class-action.

“We allege in this case that they payday lenders have enticed borrowers to enter into unconscionable loans with little reason to believe the loans could be repaid,” said Hawkins, a Spartanburg Republican.

The State

Apparently, Senator Hawkins thinks nobody is responsible for their actions. That is the only conclusion I can arrive after reading about this lawsuit he is filing. Were the Morgans forced to take out this loan? Was a gun put to their head? Did the lending company threaten their family if they didn’t take out a loan? Of course not. The only people responsible are the Morgans, who took out a loan they were incapable of paying back and that is their own irresponsibility, nobody else’s. Senator Hawkins is only encouraging this reckless behavior, but then again, he is a lawyer so I suppose we can’t expect too much integrity from him.

COLUMBIA — Gov. Mark Sanford said today he isn’t ready to discuss allegations of prisoner abuse, sloppy security and mismanagement at the state Department of Corrections.

Sanford, who appointed Corrections Director Jon Ozmint four years ago, said he still has faith in Ozmint but wants to wait until two other agencies have finished with looking at the allegations to comment.

Greenville News

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory appears to hold a wide edge over his Republican challenger heading into next month’s primary, his first step toward what would be a record seventh term.

A Charlotte Observer/WCNC News poll found 70 percent of likely Republican and unaffiliated voters favored McCrory, while 17 percent backed his opponent, school board member Ken Gjertsen.

Charlotte Observer

Of course McCrory has a huge lead. Does anyone think he is going to lose? Gjertsen’s candidacy is a joke.

Governor Mike Easley unveiled plans today for legislation that would create new incentives for large manufacturing companies looking to upgrade existing plants in North Carolina.

The proposal, which will be introduced next year, comes three days before Easley must decide whether to veto a bill approved by the General Assembly that targets only one company.

Under that bill, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. could receive up to $40 million to renovate its Fayetteville plant.

ABC 13 News

So Easley’s incentive plan is corporate welfare. Here’s a clue. If this multi-million company is struggling to stay in your state, maybe there is something wrong with the way the state is being ran.

Representative Thomas Wright’s campaign has been suspended after the New Hanover County Democrat failed to file a financial disclosure form that was due July 27th.

ABC 13 News

Well, nothing suspicious about that, now is there.

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards told a labor group he would ask Americans to make a big sacrifice: their sport utility vehicles.

The former North Carolina senator told a forum by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, yesterday he thinks Americans are willing to sacrifice.

Edwards says Americans should be asked to drive more fuel efficient vehicles. He says he would ask them to give up SUVs.

ABC 13 News

I think John Edwards should sacrifice his $6 million, 28,200 square foot home considering how much energy he is consuming for a house that size.

Priceless……………….

When City Council member Thomas Stith declared his mayoral candidacy in July, we were guaranteed a campaign in which Durham’s best and worst would be placed in stark relief. Stith, a conservative (he resigned as vice president of the John Pope Civitas Institute before declaring his candidacy) on a mostly liberal council, is known for his outspoken criticism of local government. He called for an outside audit of city administration in March. And not much has changed since.

The Independent Weekly

Durham is in desperate need of change and Stith might very well be the guy who can pull it off.

Buncombe County Commissioner David Young was elected president of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners during the organization’s 100th Annual Conference in Cumberland County on Aug. 18. Chairman Nathan Ramsey announced Young’s election at the commissioners’ Aug. 21 meeting, and said the only change that would make here at home was that “David has requested that from now on we all call him President Young.”

Mountain XPress

More than 20 counties across the state plan to ask voters this fall to approve a local sales-tax increase or an increase in the tax on real-estate transactions.

Less than a month ago, in one of the most contentious decisions of the year, the N.C. General Assembly gave counties the two new tax options. Some county commissioners, including those in Davie and Surry counties, have jumped at the chance, saying they need new revenue streams to pay for school construction and other needs.

Winston-Salem Journal

U.S. Rep. David Price will lead a group of House members on a trip to Colombia this week to work on strengthening that country’s government.

The Colombian Congress is one of 12 legislatures worldwide that have partnered with the House Democracy Assistance Commission, of which Price is chair.

The House delegation will meet with President Alvaro Uribe and members of the Colombian Congress, as well as leaders of human rights and labor organizations. They will discuss legislative topics such as the process of writing bills, executive oversight and budget analysis.

Raleigh News & Observer

RALEIGH — The State Board of Elections has assigned three staff members to examine campaign contributions from special interests to state lawmakers, following an Observer analysis.

The staff members will try to piece together the whereabouts of more than $60,000 that special interests reported giving to lawmakers from Mecklenburg County, but that the lawmakers didn’t report getting. Citing bookkeeping errors, many lawmakers have already amended their disclosure reports to account for the discrepancies.

Charlotte Observer

One of the legislators being investigated is Beverly Earle, the Democrat running against incumbent Charlotte Mayor, Republican Pat McCrory. I’m sure this little incident will do wonders for her in the polls.