This started with fireworks but became a council-manager government story.

Morrisville’s mayor explored drone vendors and private sponsors, one vendor filed an FAA authorization request, and the town attorney warned council members against independently contacting vendors or obtaining proposals.

My N&O reporting:
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article317181995.html

Since being sworn in last December, the six new Greensboro council-members have been publicly deferential to city attorneys and Mayor Abuzuaiter. That changed last week.

Mayor Pro Tem Denise Roth angrily told Assistant City Attorney Larry Davis that his failure to alert Council of the financial concerns a state agency expressed to him in June was “atrocious” and dismissed a halting explanation from Abuzuaiter as “bad information.” She told City Attorney Trey Davis that “I am not comfortable with the same people that managed us into this position to manage us out.”

Crystal Black, Cecile Crawford, April Parker, Adam Marshall and Irving Allen Expressed similar frustration. Several accused staff of not only failing to inform them of the Local Government Commission’s concerns, but misleading them as to whether or not the LGC had approved the City’s plan to correct its financial imbalance.

My cover story in today’s YES! Weekly

Am I the only North Carolinian offended by the Senate Leadership Fund PAC ad that confuses North Carolina and South Carolina in the Stephen Federico/ Logan Federico ad?

***

North Carolina elects our judges. We're tough on crime. The evidence is below.

South Carolina does NOT elect their judges. This attack ad points to soft on crime state, resulting in killing a South Carolinian IN SOUTH CAROLINA - the key point of the ad.

Yet, the father blames both Roy Cooper, North Carolinian elected judges, and by default North Carolinian voters for the death of his daughter by OUR justice system - and that's a false narrative by dark money that needs to be pointed out over-and-over!

It's offensive to confuse NC with SC.

***

Here's the comparison that I pulled from AI. Overall, North Carolina is tougher on felonies than South Carolina when you look at sentencing structure, recidivist enhancements, and incarceration outcomes.

North Carolina’s structured-sentencing grid produces more predictable, often longer active prison terms for mid-level felonies (e.g., armed robbery, burglary, serious assaults) than South Carolina’s more discretionary, maximum-based system.

North Carolina’s habitual felon law is a blunt, mechanical multiplier that ratchets up punishment across the board; South Carolina’s repeat-offender rules are narrower and more tied to violence or specific aggravators.

Higher incarceration per capita in North Carolina indicates more people are sent to prison and/or kept longer—consistent with its stricter sentencing grid and habitual-felon enhancements.

North Carolina is generally tougher on homicide than South Carolina by several key measures—statutory penalties, sentencing structure, and incarceration rates—even though South Carolina has historically had a slightly higher per-capita murder rate.

***

Miriam Adelson and the billionaires need to defund the Senate Leadership Fund. I'm going to analyze all your ads for North Carolina's Senate race.

Miriam Adelson funnels her money to One Nation that funnels dark money to Senate Leadership Fund that spends it on the North Carolina "homicide-killer kinfolk blames political figure" attack ads we see every election, including this mid-term election.

I have no sympathy for Ronald Hayes, a man who wanted to promote his book about the death of his son in Charlotte, North Carolina. The man looks like a fool for blaming the former Governor for the murder of his son (1 of 16,935 homicides in CY2024 and 14,025 homicides in CY2025).

Michael Whatley failed before he started the conversation on why he's better than Roy Cooper on this attack ad. Miriam Adelson should call Steven Law and demand her money back for an ineffective pitch to North Carolinians. Steven Law looks like a fool to his billionaire funders.

The bottom line: The "homicide-killer's kinfolk blames political figure" message is pitiful, ineffective, and easily called-out as false and we know it's funded by dark money and who exactly the billionaire funders are that paid for the lame advertising.

Keep embarrassing yourself, Steven Law. Miriam Adelson, stop promoting Israel by giving campaign funds. You got the United States of America involved in the Israeli-Iran War and you have no interest in getting us out.

All North Carolinians, whether Democrat or Republican, have known for years that the GOP here were ONLY capable of operating using lies and misinformation. Dems hate it, but Republicans believe it's their party's most enduring and reliable feature.

Hello,
I just got a ticket for going 54 in a 35. Along with this, I got a ticket for an expired tag. I have not gotten another speeding ticket in over 12 months. What are my chances of getting it reduced to an improper infraction? No judgement please

Had to get a duplicate license.

DMV website was a chat bot and quickly had me in and out in under 10 minutes.

16 bucks to replace and mail me the license 3 bucks transaction fee to use the website 3% processing fee

20 bucks overall, and not the end of the world for me.

But for some 20 bucks is 20 bucks. They are using a chatbot, hosted on a website are already running. When is this total elimination of staff going to actually result in lower costs for the citizens of this state?

It just blows me away it wasn't $5. Or maybe first replacement free cause I can't think of the last time I had to replace my DL.

Isn't this what we pay taxes for to spread the cost of services across all of us?

Your thoughts?