Carolina Journal Radio No. 719: Plans for Hyde County landmark generate controversy

North Carolina taxpayers have spent millions of dollars – and might spend more – to restore a Hyde County landmark before turning it over to a private partner to run as a for-profit enterprise. Rick Henderson, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, explains why this arrangement for the Lake Mattamuskeet lodge is raising red flags for government watchdogs. Every American president has been a leader, but some have exhibited much better leadership than others. Attorney Talmage Boston has used public cross-examinations of presidential historians and other experts to identify key traits shared by the most successful leaders among the presidents. He compiled those observations in the book Cross-Examining History, and he highlights details from the book for Carolina Journal Radio. Some state legislators want to ensure that North Carolina is taking the proper steps to protect the state’s electrical grid. They heard a recent briefing on the topic from key Duke Energy staffers. You’ll hear key elements from that briefing. It took a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence to confirm Betsy DeVos as the new U.S. Education secretary. Now that DeVos has the job, Michael Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based education think tank, predicts the likely impact for traditional public schools and school choice across the country. The N.C. Military Affairs Commission recently generated unwanted headlines when it refused to discuss a report about a controversial wind farm project until a reporter had left the group’s meeting. Before he left, the reporter, Carolina Journal Associate Editor Dan Way, had refused the commission’s request not to report on what he saw and heard. Way explains why the Military Affairs Commission’s actions ran afoul of the spirit – and possibly the letter – of North Carolina’s open-meetings law.