North Carolina documents
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The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services plan of correction for the Western Highlands Network’s recent financial difficulties.
Opponents of the state’s new billboard law prepared a complaint and temporary restraining order request Feb. 29, 2012, in Wake County Superior Court. The legal action by Scenic NC, Inc., is aimed at keeping the N.C. Department of Transportation from permitting vegetation removal – primarily trees – in front of billboards and other outdoor advertising under new temporary rules set to take effect March 1.
http://www.mountainx.com/files/Scenic_NC:Legal.pdf
Good morning. I am Steven Sizemore, Chairman of the Buncombe County Board of Education. I am pleased to be here with my friends and counter-parts from the Asheville City School System, Mr. Al Whitesides and from the Haywood County Board, Chuck Francis.
First I want to recognize the entire legislative team from Buncombe County, Senator Martin Nesbitt, Senator Tom Apodaca, Representatives Susan Fisher, Patsy Keever, and Tim Moffitt for their work on behalf of the Buncombe County students and public education system. I especially want to thank Representatives Fisher, Keever and Ray Rapp from neighboring Madison County for the work they are doing on this very important legislation which could have a significantly devastating impact on the financial operations of the Buncombe County School System.
Last night at the meeting of the Buncombe County Board of Education, our Board passed a resolution in opposition to Senate Bill 8 in its present form. In doing so, each member of the Board made it clear we recognize the Charter Schools in Buncombe County and throughout the State are public schools; and, while the Board voted to endorse the Resolution opposing Senate Bill 8, we all made clear we do not oppose Charter Schools.
Our Board recognizes the Charter school system is an educational partner. Due to the legislative flexibility afforded the Charter schools in the delivery of curriculum and educational services, there are significant differences in the operations of Charter School System and the Traditional Public School System. As a result of these operational differences, the differences in the funding thereof is justified.
The Buncombe County Board of Education is elected to represent public on the Buncombe County Board of Education & to that end, to ensure we as a Board make decisions in the best interests of the students of the Buncombe County Schools. Based on the current regulatory structures imposed by the legislature, the Buncombe County Board of Education has no coordination with or oversight of the Charter Schools in Buncombe County. Therefore, the decisions of the Buncombe County Board of Education should and must be made regarding the System our Board oversees. To that end, regardless of how anyone views the benefits and burdens of Senate Bill 8, there is no question Senate Bill 8 will take money away from the students and operations of Buncombe County Public Schools.
As presently being considered, Senate Bill 8 will remove the protections of the public school systems fund balances, interest and other accounting practices established by the Legislature in 2010. It will potentially entitle the Charter schools to monies raised by booster clubs, athletic associations, and PTA/PTO’s in the traditional public schools. It will entitle the Charter schools to portions of funds designated to the traditional public schools programs such as More @ 4, Head Start, and Smart Start … programs which the Charter schools are not required to provide. It will entitle Charter Schools to a portion of funds for rental fees charged by the facilities in the traditional public schools. It will entitle the Charter schools to funds from free and reduced lunch programs required to be provided in the traditional public schools but not required to be provided in the Charter schools. It will entitle the Charter schools to a portion of the funds the traditional public school students pay for out of district school attendance and funds paid by the traditional public school students for summer and other non-traditional opportunities. It will potentially entitle the Charter schools to a portion of private gifts and contributions to the traditional public schools.
These potential funding entitlements created by Senate Bill 8 all would flow to the Charter Schools in legislation which does not require: Charter Schools to provide transportation or food services to their students; the same licensure requirements of teachers as the traditional public schools, and, does not require the same oversight and regulatory control as the traditional public school systems.
As a member of the school community, and as a member of the Buncombe County Board of Education, I applaud these legislative leaders in their efforts to do as we on the Buncombe County Board of Education must do … make decisions in the best interests of the students.
This is a summary approved by the N.C. Board of Governors that discusses 2009 legislative cuts to UNC system schools, including centers and institutions.
Click here to download a PDF of the report.
This is a budget reduction plan dated June from the UNC General Administration. Note the mention of the 10 percent reduction. UNCA is mentioned only once, and then in context of the National Environmental Modeling Analysis Center. Click here to download a PDF of the document.
This document shows the 10 percent reduction for UNCA, instructs campuses to prioritize reductions for centers and institutions and provides criteria for a “narrative document” explaining priorities. Click here to download a PDF of the document.
This document is an e-mail asking UNCA officials for more data. Click here to read the e-mail.
This document is a spreadsheet of all centers and institutions throughout the UNC system and their respective budgets. Click here to download a PDF of the spreadsheet.
The following documents reveal the legal wrangling between attorneys representing two computer gaming companies, Hest Technologies and International Internet Technologies that are seeking to overturn new gambling laws passed to shut down the operation of computer-based gambling games in convenience stores.
The first is a 2005 ruling against prosecuting games like those of Hest or IIT based on then-current gambling law. That was followed by the revision to the state’s gambling laws, effective Dec. 1, 2008. Attorneys representing Hest and IIT then announced their intention to challenge whether the new law effected the companies. A December injunction by Guilford County Superior Court Judge John Craig prevents state authorities from prosecuting the owners and operators of such machines.
Click here to read the 2005 ruling. Click here to read the March 2008 injunction. Click here to read a letter from an attorney representing one of the businesses regarding the law. Click here to read the December 2008 injunction. Click here to read the state statute regarding video gambling.
The Interstate 26 Connector project will create a new highway crossing over the French Broad River and will also include widening Interstate 240 in West Asheville and changing the configuration of the I-26/I-40/I-240 interchange, known as “Malfunction Junction.” The project has been in discussion for nearly two decades. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2013, and the estimated price tag for all the work comes in at anywhere from $500 million to more than $800 million, depending on exactly which course DOT decides to take.
At a September 2008 public hearing in Asheville, the N.C. Department of Transportation unveiled computer visualizations of the four alternatives being discussed for the part of the project getting the most attention from the public—the section of roadway that will cross the French Broad River. The videos give the viewer a bird’s eye view of each of the alternatives. The other two video snippets are an overview of the entire project and a short description of the one alternative developed by the Asheville Design Center.
Click below to watch the videos
When Jon Elliston’s investigative series, Cruel Summer: The Attack on Camp Summerlane, was published in 2008, Xpress posted 14 key documents from the camp, the N.C. governor’s office and law-enforcement agencies, which are posted below. Our July 2010 followup story, Back to Summerlane, added new records to the collection, which are interspersed below and marked in red.
1) Early Camp Summerlane brochure
This promotional brochure explains the unique educational philosophy behind Summerlane: “All decisions affecting the community are made by the community. Each child, each adult, has an equal voice. Summerlane is a working democracy. ... There is no censorship of any kind. There are no rules for purely private behavior.”
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
2) Camp Summerlane pamphlet and staff list
This lengthy pamphlet provides an in-depth statement of the mission and methods of the camp. It ends with a detailed list of Summerlane’s staff members, including science instructor Leo Koch, who was fired by the University of Illinois after penning a letter to the student newspaper that advocated premarital sex. Note that only some of the people on this provisional list actually became involved with Summerlane, while others did not.
3) Newly added: Camp Summerlane application form, spring 1963
The original application for would-be campers at Summerlane, listing dates, prices and other information about the camp’s opening in July of 1963.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
4) Tocsin article, “‘Free-Love Prof’ Carolina Bound,” April 10, 1963
This article, from a right-wing newsletter based in California, caused a stir when copies were sent to Rosman. The article sharply criticized Summerlane’s science instructor — Leo Koch, the controversial former University of Illinois biology professor who’d been fired for suggesting that premarital sex could be of some benefit to the school’s undergrads — and asserted that the camp would be an “integrationist project” that “permits children complete freedom.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
5) Summerlane statement to Rosman Chamber of Commerce, circa June 1963
The Rosman Chamber of Commerce formed a committee of local leaders to investigate Summerlane. Meanwhile, the camp’s staff issued this carefully worded statement to the Chamber, emphasizing the enterprise’s upstanding character and positive goals. “We are here because we like this area the way it is,” statement said.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
6) Newly added: Summerlane dean/science instructor Leo Koch’s letter to his daughter, Toni, circa June 20, 1963
In a letter written shortly before the camp opened, Koch updated one of his daughters on various family and personal matters and noted a foreboding turn of events: “A gang of local yokels has told us that if we bring any ‘niggers’ here they will kill them. So we brought a six-shooter, a rifle and a shotgun and now we sleep with them at our sides.”
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
7) Summerlane staffer George Hall’s letter to the governor’s office, June 28, 1963
Hall wrote the governor’s office to alert state officials to the mounting threats against Camp Summerlane and request protection. At a Rosman Town Council meeting, Hall wrote, “We were told quite strongly by the County Clerk and Austin Hogsed, the Mayor of Rosman, that it was strongly against local custom for Negroes to even be in the area and that it would be an extremely dangerous situation for both us and the children” if the plan to open an integrated camp went forward.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
8) Governor’s aid Ray Farris’ letter to Summerlane, July 3, 1963
Farris, an aid to the governor, replied to Summerlane staffer George Hall. “Needless to say, local authorities will provide whatever protection is possible so long as no illegal activities are taking place,” he wrote — and state authorities would assist if needed. Given that Summerlane had recently changed its plans and would be held “on a one time non-integrated basis,” no trouble was anticipated.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
9) Camper’s father Houston Wade’s letter to Gov. Terry Sandford, July 5, 1963
Houston Wade of San Marcos, Texas, the father of 8-year-old camper Susan Wade, wrote to Gov. Sanford requesting that the camp be afforded extra protection. He had heard of threats of racial violence against the camp, and “needless to say, I have been a bit uneasy this week.”
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
10) Gov. Terry Sandford’s letter to Houston Wade, July 12, 1963
Sanford replied to Wade, telling him that the governor’s investigators determined “that the people of the Rosman community were concerned not only that the camp would be integrated in a community which has had no Negro for sixty years, but also that the camp would be staffed and directed by individuals, who in their opinion, had questionable character.” Still, his office would provide security for the camp if need be.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
11) The Herald of Freedom, special issue on Summerlane, July 3, 1963
Published by Frank Capell of Staten Island, N.Y., the right-wing newsletter The Herald of Freedom devoted an entire special issue to Summerlane’s supposed sins. The truth about Summerlane, he wrote, “would shock and disgust decent people, white or colored.” Hundreds of copies were disseminated by the Rosman Chamber of Commerce, incensing locals.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
12) State Highway Patrol, “Disturbance in Rosman,” report to Gov. Terry Sanford, July 12, 1963
The morning after the attack on Camp Summerlane, State Highway Patrol Commander Col. David Lambert sent a report to Gov. Sanford. The report passed on the findings of Lt. E.C. Guy, who stayed up all night protecting the camp. It detailed shootings, beatings and fires at Summerlane.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
13) Houston Wade (father of camper Susan Wade), telegram to Gov. Terry Sanford, July 13, 1963
Wade, who had earlier written to Sandford urging extra protection for Camp Summerlane, upbraided the governor in a telegram sent shortly after the attack: “[Y]ou must assume personal responsibility for the outrage at Rosman … . Apparently you chose to offer little protection to the children at the camp.”
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
14) Gov. Terry Sanford, letter to Houston Wade (father of camper Susan Wade), July 15, 1963
Sanford’s reply to Wade’s telegram (document 11). The governor noted that he had sent the North Carolina Highway Patrol “into the Rosman area to offer assistance and to make certain law and order were maintained,” adding that “I do not know what further action you think I should have taken.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
15) State Highway Patrol, “Disturbance in Rosman ... ,” report to Gov. Terry Sanford, July 12, 1963
The second of two Highway Patrol reports to the governor in the aftermath of the attack on Camp Summerlane. The report passed on the findings and opinions of Capt. H.C. Johnson, who arrived the morning after and assisted with the camp’s evacuation. “It is his understanding that this camp is operated on the theory that the campers establish their own type of recreation,” the report said. “If they want to play, they play. If they want to swim, they swim. If they like to play volley ball, they do so. It is basically a free-love operation. In Johnson’s opinion, if they want to love, they love. He stated that he had never seen such a group of filthy people, dirty people. ... He thinks it would be best if this entire affair is terminated.”
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
16) Joseph L. Kissiah, Special Agent in Charge, Charlotte FBI field office, letter to Gov. Terry Sanford on Summerlane investigation, Aug. 7, 1963
In this memo, the Charlotte FBI office informed Gov. Sanford that Burke Marshall, the assistant attorney general who headed up the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, had asked the FBI to investigate “the alleged lack of police protection afforded those persons in attendance at Camp Summerlane.” The results of that investigation are unknown; Xpress has filed Freedom of Information Act requests in an effort to obtain documents from the FBI’s inquiry.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
17) Newly added: Memo from the FBI’s Newark, N.J., office to Director J. Edgar Hoover regarding Summerlane’s relocation, early August, 1963
As Summerlane relocated to Camp Midvale in New Jersey, the FBI filed secret reports on the camp. In this, the first page of one detailed memo, the bureau summarized press coverage of Summerlane’s move.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
18) Newly added: Summerlane dean/science instructor Leo Koch’s narrative of the attack, circa September 1963
Some time shortly after Summerlane was run out of North Carolina, Koch drafted a detailed account of the attack which he tried (unsuccessfully) to have published in a magazine. This excerpt from that document describes the most harrowing moments of the incident.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
19) Newly added: Map of Camp Summerlane and key parts of the attack
This hand-drawn map of Summerlane details the 100-acre camp’s facilities. After the attack, Summerlane staffer Leo Koch made notes on it showing the location of the arsons, assaults and gunfire that took place.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
This February 2008 newsletter of the N.C. Budget and Tax Center explores how much North Carolina residents pay in state and local taxes. According to the publication: “This issue of BTC Reports analyzes who pays taxes in North Carolina, explains the impact the state’s tax system has on low- and moderate-income households, and makes recommendations for policy changes that would make the system fairer.”
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
Prepared by the N.C. Taser Safety Project, this April 2008 report, entitled “Not There Yet,” asserts that tasers have “resulted in numerous deaths and injuries” in the state and that stricter safety standards are needed. Several cases in the area have caused some residents to criticize their use by law enforcement. Both Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan and Asheville Police Chief Bill Hogan have asserted that tasers are used in a safe manner.
Click here to download a pdf of the document.
North Carolina’s 21st Century Transportation Committee was established by the president pro tempore of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives to study the transportation-infrastructure needs of the state and report to the governor on what is needed on this front. Gov. Mike Easley appointed Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy to the committee; see the Dec. 12, 2007, meeting notes in these documents for a summary of her message regarding Asheville’s need for speedy action on key DOT projects.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
This “North Carolina Guide to Open Government and Public Records,” a joint publication of the North Carolina Press Association and Attorney General Roy Cooper, was compiled and released in early 2008. It’s a rare collaboration between state government and a media group, and explains the finer points about which records and meetings are public, and how citizens can best gain access to information about how local and state government function.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
N.C. State House Reps. Ray Rapp, Phil Haire and Susan Fisher, who all represent counties in Western North Carolina, were co-sponsors on a bill called the Safe Artificial Slope Construction Act during the General Assembly’s 2007 session. The bill sought standards to ensure safe slopes for development in the mountains. The bill was referred to a committee.
Click here to download a PDF of the proposed House bill.
This June 2007 document from the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources lists inactive hazardous sites across the state.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
This document produced by the N.C. Central Cancer Registry shows county-by-county cancer rates for several different types of cancer from 2000 to 2004.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
Each year, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission publishes a report of accidents and fatalities that are hunting-related. The 2006-2007 report was made available in Feb. 2008.
As the report suggests, hunters are injured and/or die for a number of reasons, from careless handling of their firearms, to falls, to failure to wear a safety belt. Western North Carolina saw one fatality in 2006-2007, in McDowell County.
The report’s purpose “is to provide statistical information on the causes, frequency and location of serious hunting accidents,” which is then analyzed for the purpose of making hunting safer.
Click here to download a PDF file of the document.
House Bill 1756, Session 2007, N.C. General Assembly, April 19 version. An act to (1) require local governments to adopt ordinances to regulate slope development; (2) create a Sedimentation Control Commission; and (3) provide for disclosure of landslide hazards to property purchasers.
Click here to download a PDF file of the document.
The document rounds up the efforts of the problems, priorities, and actions by the Dept. of Justice in the western district of North Carolina from Jan. 1, 2007 to Nov. 1, 2007. The report highlights crackdown operations that targeted drug operations, child pornography and white-collar crime in the region. The western district is comprised of North Carolina’s 32 western-most counties.
Click here to download a PDF file of the document.
