North Carolina – North Carolina was chosen as one of nine states to host a Statewide Mayoral Summit on Afterschool/Expanded Learning from the National League of Cities’ (NLC) Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute), with support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, The Wallace Foundation, A.J. Fletcher Foundation, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, First in […]

RALEIGH – The North Carolina General Assembly passed several landmark pieces of legislation during its 2011 session, dealing with key issues as regulation, civil litigation, criminal justice, education reform, and annexation. But state lawmakers left two important matters on the table: eminent domain reform and eugenics compensation.

Both deserve action during the 2012, and for a […]

The N.C. Department of Transportation has appointed Lauren A. Blackburn, AICP, as the new director of the Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation. Blackburn begins her duties on April 30 and will supervise the day-to-day operations of the division, which oversees various aspects of bicycling and walking in North Carolina including funding, project planning, mapping […]

The state grew by 1.3 percent from 2010 to 2011, but new U.S. Census Bureau estimates show that 44 of the state’s 100 counties — including most in Northwest North Carolina — lost residents.

The state’s economic powerhouses of Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham led the way, contributing almost 45 percent of the state’s growth during the first […]

A proposed 22-mile toll road between western Mecklenburg and western Gaston County is still moving forward, with a round of funding coming up in July. But it’s not a done deal. Long-time opponent Sen. Kathy Harrington, R-Gaston, said the flow of money for the embattled $1 billion Garden Parkway could still be stopped. She believes […]

A long effort at the North Carolina Legislature to amend the state constitution to limit government’s authority in taking private property against an owner’s will is picking up steam. Members of a Senate subcommittee sounded supportive Thursday of placing a proposed constitutional amendment about eminent domain on the ballot. The panel will make recommendations next […]

Lawmakers are continuing to step up their efforts to give Davidson County some future authority in dealing with annexations of any type by surrounding cities.

N.C. Sen. Stan Bingham, R-Davidson, is preparing to introduce a Senate bill nearly identical to one proposed by Davidson County Commissioners’ vice chairman Larry Potts last month.

The two bills, if approved, […]

The state legislature enacted annexation reform last year, declaring “that sound urban development is essential to the continued economic development in North Carolina.”

Continue Reading Advertisement | Advertise with Us Despite that positive statement, the legislature went on to make it harder for cities to grow and promote “continued economic development.”

By reforming annexation laws, the Republican […]

After Republicans took control of the General Assembly in the 2010 elections, hostility to the state’s municipal annexation law came to a boil.

A rewrite of the law last year aimed to give more of a say to property owners in areas that cities wanted to bring within their boundaries. Understood was that many such owners […]