Mar
15
2008
HILLSBOROUGH - Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr., 17, faces two counts of first-degree murder, but he is too young to face the death penalty.
Authorities formally charged Lovette on Friday in the shootings of Duke University graduate student Abhijit Mahato and UNC-Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson. Demario James Atwater had already been charged in Carson’s murder.
Because Lovette is younger than 18, he is ineligible for capital punishment, even though he is charged as an adult.
The News & Observer
This is the problem with the legal system. So this kid is 17. So you’re telling me in like six or seven months from now when he turns 18 if he had killed two people in cold blood then suddenly he would have had an epiphany and realized the ramifications of what he was about to do? Bullshit. This guy should be put in the chair and fried. Personally, I am a fan of going back to public hangings. Instead, North Carolina taxpayers get to subsidize this man’s food, clothing, and shelter every day for probably the next 70 years at his age. What do the families of Carson and Mahato get?
Mar
15
2008
- Ten months in federal prison
- $28,676 restitution to reimburse the state for the cost of a special legislative session to name his successor.
U.S. District Judge Joe Anderson said the public would have perceived a miscarriage of justice if Ravenel had been let off, given his position and his repeatedly using and giving away powder cocaine.
“A sentence of incarceration is necessary in this case to promote respect for the law,” Anderson said at the end of the hearing in Columbia. “To not impose a custodial sentence would not promote respect for the law.”
Ravenel could have received 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Under federal sentencing guidelines, the recommended punishment was 10 to 16 months in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Ravenel apologized to his family, business associates and the state.
The Herald
I guess that’s not so bad. Initially I was for just giving him probation because as far as I am concerned what you do in the privacy of your home is your business and not the government’s. However, considering that Ravenel’s distribution of handing out the drug went far and wide to many people he probably got off kind of easily on this one.
Mar
15
2008
Raleigh – Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue today announced a plan for property tax relief for seniors, matching a proposal by rival Richard Moore.
The Democratic candidates for governor are responding to complaints from seniors living on fixed incomes that make it hard to pay the taxes that go along with rising property values in growing communities.
Perdue’s campaign said she would double the income limit for the homestead exemption to $50,000, the same cap called for last month by Moore. Both candidates say that would make about 200,000 more seniors eligible for property tax relief.
Asheville Citizen-Times
This is political pandering. What about the rest of the home owners in North Carolina who have bills to pay, kids to put through college, food that need to be put on the table? Why don’t they get a property tax cut; why just senior citizens? The answer is simple. Senior citizens are the largest voting block so in order to get their votes Bev Perdue is willing to pass the burden of their property taxes on to you. What a saintly woman.