News Talk to Spanish
I was alerted to this by by Drudge.

First the bad news...

WZNN is no more.
The station will become a Sports Talk Radio affiliated with Fox Sports Radio.
The excellent hosts, callers, and advertisers will be missed.
I will post more here as time allows.

The biggest impact to this blog will be the loss of No Apologies Radio and its coverage of State Issues, and the wealth of knowledge aired as callers such as R.L. Clark, Don Yelton, Grady Beard, and others too numerous to mention. The guy on WWNC covers the ground, especially with a three hour show, but I feel he hasn't been able to get people motivated. Maybe we can move in and get him motivated. I also will miss Brandon because he has a Southern Accent like me and hasn't tried to change it.

Brian O'Brien also did well covering State and Local Issues, and was recently lighting a fire under D.S.S. (In case you don't know...That stands for Dept of Stupid S...s.)

Peter Dawes, Carri Hudson, and Tim Peck did their job as well.

Ken Bagwell covered everything and anything.

One thing everyone at work knew was to wait for a commercial or the High Sign from me before interupting while I was listening, and especially when I was taking notes.

Everyone at the Station can be proud of what they did while there, and the journey doesn't end here, it will go on...

Now, to change the subject to the Gas Tax Situation...
What follows is copied from my email...
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From: "Stop The Gas Tax Hike.com" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To: "Robert Coggins Jr"
Subject: Thank you for signing our Petition to stop the gas tax hike
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2006 11:18:42 -0500

Robert Coggins Jr,

Since I wrote you last, there has been good news and bad news in our
fight to repeal the latest gas tax hike.

Our movement is growing stronger and stronger by the day. Over 32,000
of you have signed the petition asking the Legislature to repeal the gas
tax increase. And I thank you again for getting involved.

First, the good news is that we had a very successful press conference
on January 4th and we presented the then 22,000-signed petitions at the
General Assembly. In case you did not see the press coverage, I have
included the web addresses for some of the pieces below. These stories
aired January 5th on WRAL and NBC-17, as well as the article written by
Rob Christensen at the News and Observer.

Nonprofit Group Raises Awareness About State’s Gas Tax Hike-WRAL


Group: 22,000 Want Gas Tax Hike Stopped-NBC 17


Lawyer drives gas-tax fight-News and Observer


Did you know?

• North Carolina has raised the gas tax a whopping 37% since 2002.
• North Carolina drivers are paying $300 million a year in extra gas
tax.
• We pay the 5th highest gas tax in the country but we drive on the
country’s 5th worst roads because legislators use the highway trust fund
for pork barrel projects like the Teapot Museum.
• Politicians have robbed the Highway Trust Fund of over a billion
dollars-$534 million in the last 5 years alone.

Unfortunately, like the Pharaoh in ancient Egypt who refused to let the
people go, the tax and spend liberals refuse to let their gas tax go.
They want to keep their tax no matter how many North Carolinians get
hurt.

They believe if they simply stonewall us, we’ll go away. The Charlotte
Observer just reported drivers better get used to it: North Carolina's
recent 2.8-cent per gallon gasoline tax hike appears to be staying.

Instead of really doing something to help us taxpayers, the Leaders of
the General Assembly created a legislative committee to study the gas
tax. But the committee, which met for the first time Thursday, January
5th, can only make recommendations. None were made at the meeting, and
no future meetings are planned.

They can run but they cannot hide. That’s why we’re stepping up the
heat.

North Carolina Conservatives United is going to continue to rally
support for repealing the gas tax and we need your help. Please help us
spread the message by sending an email to your entire address book and
encourage those individuals to go to www.stopthegastaxhike.com and sign
our petition.

Ronald Reagan used to say that when politicians felt the heat, they
would see the light. If we step up the pressure, we have a better chance
that the Legislature will roll back the gas tax increase.

Thank you again for getting involved. When people get involved, we can
have good government.


Bill Graham
Chairman
North Carolina Conservatives United

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you haven't signed the petition yet, Just click on this with your mouse.
You'll be glad you did. Also email or call your local representative to Raleigh and ask why they keep raising your gas taxes.

Bobby

The article is here.

Stop the gas tax hike.

It's not too late to sign the petition.

Contact the Governor's Office as provided below:
You may contact the Governor's Office by sending a letter to Governor Easley,
by e-mailing the Governor's Office or by calling the Governor's Office at:
1-800-662-7952 valid in North Carolina only
(919)733-4240, or (919)733-5811.

The address for all correspondence is:

Governor Michael F. Easley
Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-0301

Fax: (919)715-3175 or (919)733-2120

And Contact Jim Black here:
Office: 2304 Legislative Building, Raleigh, NC 27601-1096
Phone: 919-733-3451
Email: Jimb@ncleg.net
Terms in House: 10 (0 in Senate)
District: 100
Counties Represented: Mecklenburg
Occupation: Optometrist
Address: 114 S. Tryon St., Charlotte, NC 28202
Phone: 704-377-5936
Personal Website: N/A


Marc Basnight here:

Office: 2007 Legislative Building, Raleigh, NC 27601-2808
Phone: (919) 733-6854
Email: Marcb@ncleg.net
Terms in Senate: 11 (0 in House)
District: 1
Counties Represented: Beaufort, Camden, Currituck, Dare, Hyde, Pasquotank, Tyrrell, Washington
Occupation: Small Business Owner
Address: Rm. 2007, Raleigh, NC 27601-2808
Phone: (919) 733-6854
Personal Website: N/A




-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert Coggins Jr,

Thank you for signing our Petition to stop the gas tax hike. Let me
bring you up to date. Since you signed our Petition to stop the gas tax
hike, we have made real progress.

Everyday for 21/2 weeks, over a thousand of you have gone to
stopthegastaxhike.com to sign our Petition opposing the gas tax increase. Now
we’re over 20,000 strong and growing. Almost as big as my hometown of
Salisbury.

And our voices are being heard. The Speaker of the House and the Senate
President have just appointed a committee to consider a special session
to repeal the gas tax increase that began January 1

They may think they can bury the gas tax repeal in committee. But not
if we keep the heat on them.

I hope you will do three things today

If you would, please ask your friends and associates to go to the
website stopthegastaxhike.com to sign our Petition asking the Legislature to
repeal their gas tax increase.

And also get the phone numbers on our website for Governor Easley,
Speaker Black and Senate President Basnight. According to press reports,
they want us to keep paying higher gas taxes. Your phone call could make
a difference

Finally, when the Legislative Committee meets on xxx, I will be
formally presenting our Petitions to the Legislature during a press Conference
in Raleigh. I want to invite you to join me. The event will be held at
(details)

In advertisements, on talk radio and through newspaper interviews,
we’re spreading the facts.

We pay the nation’s 5th highest gas tax.

But because Legislators spend road money for regular government
programs, we drive on the country’s 5th worst roads. The politicians have
raided the Highway Trust Fund for $3.7 billion in the last fifteen years –a
billion dollars in the last four years alone.

This year, state revenues are already $95 million ahead of projections.
You can bet the politicians want to spend this windfall money. I want
to use it to repeal the gas tax increase while holding our highway fund
harmless.

Isn’t it time they stopped wasting our money on Teapot Museum?

Repealing the gas tax increase will help families and small business.
And the fact the legislative committee is even considering the issue is
a result of our efforts.

Let’s stay on offense.

Ask your friends to go to stopthegastaxhike.com to sign our Petition.
And please join me in Raleigh on xxx if you can make it

Good government can prevail when good people get involved. Thanks for
getting involved.

Bill Graham
Chairman
North Carolina Conservatives United

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Robert F. Orr, Executive Director of the North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law, will appear on WZNN on Brandon Randolph's Radio Show at noon.

Bobby

.
There will be some changes for the better (I hope), on this blogs' emphasis. I will be providing links to citizen activists groups across the state, focusing on Western North Carolina.

In my sidebar, I've added a link to My Bookmarks that I'm updating as I go along. I hope to make it the definitive place for citizen activists to go when looking for info on state issues and local websites.

Any suggestions for improvements will be appreciated, and tell people about this blog, and tell me about your blog, website, citizen activist groups, or any problems with state and local governments that need exposing!

Thunder Pig