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I spent some time earlier this week interviewing Gov. Mike Easley, who will wrap up his second term in office next month. Although one never says never, Easley sounded pretty certain that he would not return to elected office. I'll have a Q+A in the paper sometime over the weekend, but here are some audio clips of the more interesting bits of the conversation. -=-=-=-=-= Early in his career, Easley prosecuted a bunch of local corruption cases. Then he started prosecuting folks in drug-running organizations, who in turn started threatening to kill him. "They're all getting paroled at the same time I am," Easley said. "I hope they're not as poor sports as when they got convicted for trying to kill me." Click here for the full segment. -=-=-=-=-= Since he had prosecuted so many corruption cases early on in his career, I asked him if he were surprised by the likes of former Speaker Jim Black, former Rep. Thomas Wright and others who went to jail during his term. "I was surprised at the level at which it occurred," he said. Click here for the full segment. -=-=-=-=-=-=- A question has been rattling around in my head for Easley since the primaries: Why, with about a week to go before the May vote and every poll in the field showing Barack Obama was going to take North Carolina, did he back Hillary Clinton? The short answer: he made promise early on, even before the Iowa caucuses. The same promise, by the way, is what kept him from campaign for former Sen. John Edwards in Iowa as he had done in 2004. Click here for the segment. -=-=-=-=-=-=- One of Easley's big policy pushes has been to help kids get college credit while in High School. He says that idea was pushed over the edge by an encounter with Unilin, a flooring company that was expanding in Davidson County. Click here for the full segment. -=-=-=-=-=-=- So has the lottery lived up to his expectations? Easley said yes - it's money he's glad is in the treasury. Click here for the full segment. -=-=-=-=-=-=- What's next? He doesn't know, but it won't be full time legal work: Click here for the full segment. Easley talked about trying to get away by himself during the early part of his run, why he doesn't like deer hunting but does like shooting birds: Click here for the full segment. -=-=-=-=-=-=- I asked Easley about efforts to fix the mental health system: Click here for the full segment. And he said the state still might not have the systems in place to right the ship. I asked him how much of this or any problem could be laid on his desk: Click here for the full segment. -=-=-=-=-=-=- Offered without comment: Easley talked about his relationship with the media, particularly the Raleigh and Charlotte papers: Click here for the full segment. Gov. Mike Easley is spending some time here toward the end of his term doing interviews with us scruff media types. The barkeep's is here, News 14's is here. My turn is scheduled to come tomorrow (Tuesday). So what should I ask? What do you want the man to look back on after eight years in office? When I asked this question on Twitter I got this suggestion: It would be interesting to see if Gov Mike is happy where the Lottery is today? Has it done all he thought it would? What's your thought? Get 'em to me by Tuesday mid-morning. (Headline cultural reference for the humor impaired.) Listening to legislators may not be enough. A House panel says you should see how the sausage is made. From our friends at the Associated Press: RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A state House panel says the chamber should broadcast live video on the Internet of its daily sessions and some committee meetings. A House committee approved the idea Thursday, sending the findings to House Speaker Joe Hackney for consideration. Democratic Rep. Cullie Tarleton of Watauga County, the committee's chairman, said all the equipment should produce broadcast-quality video. He wants television stations to be able to use the footage, and said someday the equipment may be used to broadcast sessions on television. The Legislature currently provides only audio from the House and Senate floor and two committee rooms. Setting up video coverage could cost the state more than $1 million in upfront costs, and hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. After they were given unofficial nods to head their chambers again next year, House Speaker Joe Hackney and Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight stopped to chat with reporters yesterday. Basnight talked about cutting back and looking for efficiencies and making sure government programs aren't redundant. But come on, don't we hear that every year? "When you are forced into situations, you make different kinds of decisions," he said. Basically, he said, yes we always talk about cutting back, but this year we really have to do it. Click here for more of that answer. And he offered some thoughts on all the government programs that have gone amuck in this clip. Hackney was more circumspect, saying "We need to look to programs with a careful eye." Click here for more of that answer. Both Hackney and Basnight said there were big problems that needed to be fix in the executive branch agencies but gave Gov. Mike Easley high marks as he prepares |
If you go, this profile of Tina Fey is worth reading, even if it was written by Maureen Dowd.
Now, as I've said to my oldest child this morning, go play outside - it looks like a nice day out.
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