Lisa Miller

Republicans in the North Carolina Senate have proposed a $20.6 billion budget for next year.  That’s essentially the same size as Governor Pat McCrory’s proposal. Spending in major categories would be mostly flat except for health and human services and natural and economic resources.  However, Medicaid spending would grow 11 percent compared to this year. 

The Senate’s Plan For Education

Mecklenburg County Chairman Pat Cotham has taken a lot of heat for the firing of County Manager Harry Jones last week.  So she’s decided to fire back at her nay-sayers by releasing results of a poll she commissioned.   

Most of the state’s counties, including Mecklenburg, are no longer included in a bill that would give counties the authority to build, own, and maintain schools.  The bill passed out of a senate committee Wednesday, only giving nine counties the option to take over ownership of schools from local school districts.  Those counties include Rowan, Wake and Harnett.

Senator Ron Rabin of Harnett County said county commissions are more equipped to handle business deals. 

Mecklenburg County officials have confirmed the county’s first case of rabies this year in a house pet.  A kitten in the 28205 zip code, which includes Plaza Midwood, tested positive for the disease. 

Veterinarian Margurette Straley  examined the kitten this week, before the county’s public health department euthanized and tested it. 

"It would scream and growl like a grown cat, so much that you would take a double take and go, “What is in that box?”  It was obviously very painful," says Straley.

Former Democratic Congressman and state schools superintendent Bob Etheridge is traveling the state with the group Progress North Carolina to speak out against several education bills before state lawmakers.

In Charlotte Thursday, he criticized a bill that would end the policy of limiting kindergarten through third grade classes to 24 students.  He also said cutting the income eligibility for the state’s pre-kindergarten program would hurt many kid’s chances of graduating. 

  Mecklenburg County commissioners are now looking for a new county manager after they fired Harry Jones Tuesday night.  One thing is clear in the shake-up: the new manager won’t have as much autonomy. 

County government has had its problems of late.  For starters, there was the botched 2011 property revaluation.

“This is a special situation and so every part of it, in my view, we must do carefully,” said Commissioner Trevor Fuller at a meeting in December.

Seventy-seven World War II veterans from upstate South Carolina are on their way Tuesday morning to see their memorial in Washington DC. They’re taking what’s called an Honor Flight.  These flights have transported thousands of vets to DC free of charge since the memorial opened in 2004.  With an estimated 600 World War II vets dying every day, there’s a real urgency to these flights.

Vince Adametz is one vet on the flight who thought he’d never make the trip. 

Kids used to go to gym a few times a week, but that’s not the norm anymore.  It varies greatly depending on your district.  Physical education has taken a hit as schools feel greater pressure to boost reading and math scores.  But now PE advocates are making the case that more time in the gym has academic benefits.

The CMS school board tonight will ask the county to finance a bunch of building projects over the next few years.  It could come out to about $400 million.  Central Piedmont Community College has a similar request.  But the county is only willing to put together a bond referendum for half that amount. 

County Finance Director Dena Diorio says the county uses nine different criteria for deciding which projects get priority. 

Kennedy Charter School on Charlotte’s south side has had some vandalism problems lately, mainly smashed in bus windows.  But on Sunday, at least three Canada geese were also injured.  Police have charged two male juveniles with animal cruelty in the attacks and additional charges are expected thanks in part to the maintenance director who acted as the school’s sleuth.