Tax Protest Comes to Raleigh

A year after lawmakers approved a $440 million tax hike, protesters gathered across from the Legislative Building on Monday determined to stop another increase.

The protest was the 17th stop in a series of 22 “Tar Heel Tea Parties” held around the state. The events are being organized by the the anti-tax group Citizens for a Sound Economy and the conservative John Locke Foundation.

Outside the Legislative Building, people carried signs reading, “Honk for No New Taxes” and “It’s Not Your Money, Easley.”

The crowd faced the Legislative Building first, then the Capitol, chanting, “No New Taxes.”

As Jonathan Hill, state director of Citizens for a Sound Economy, read a list of 15 legislators who signed a no-tax pledge last year but still voted for a budget that included the tax increase, they gave each a hearty boo.

Hill spent much of his time criticizing Gov. Mike Easley and lawmakers for failing to effectively manage the state’s budget.

For the second straight year, state government faces a revenue shortfall expected to exceed $800 million. Legislators also are looking at the possibility of cutting as much as $1 billion from agency budgets.

Court order would require ‘competent, certified’ teachers<%)

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Inside a court order addressing whether North Carolina is meeting its constitutional duties to educate children is a proviso that each class be taught by a “competent, certified, well-trained teacher.”

The requirement may sound logical and doable, but state officials and education analysts said Monday it won’t be easily accomplished.

In schools across the state, some teachers have no training in education and have not qualified for a lateral entry program. Others are teaching completely outside the subject area in which they were trained.

Twenty percent of the new teachers hired in 2000-2001 school year fell into one or the other of those categories.

Last week’s court order, issued by Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning, focused on whether the state is meeting its obligation to ensure that well-equipped teachers are in the classroom.

Earlier preliminary orders required the state to provide preschooling for four-year-olds who are at risking of academic failure and told schools to reallocate resources if necessary in order to better educate struggling students.

Community colleges face cuts, tuition hikes as states struggle

The nation’s community colleges – including those in North Carolina – are staring at a double hit of program and faculty cuts combined with tuition and fee hikes as states struggle with budget shortfalls.

Educators say the cost-saving measures – some proposed, others already implemented – are coming at a particularly bad moment because more people are looking these days for a cheaper alternative to four-year schools.

Nationwide, community colleges serve about 44 percent of undergraduates in degree or certificate programs. Besides the 5.4 million students enrolled for credit, roughly another 5 million are taking noncredit courses, according to the American Association of Community Colleges.

In North Carolina, the state asked its 58 community colleges to plan for cuts of up to 10 percent. The North Carolina Community College System says that could result in the loss of courses and thousands of instructional positions.

-In Arkansas, 14 of the 22 community colleges rely largely on dwindling corporate taxes. As a result, the schools are contemplating tuition increases anywhere from 4 percent to 39 percent.

Shortage delays required chicken pox vaccines<%)

GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) – A nationwide shortage of the chicken pox vaccine means immunizations newly required for North Carolina children won’t begin this month as planned.

But parents to whom the law first applies still have until November to get their children vaccinated.

North Carolina now requires that children born on or after April 1, 2001, receive one dose of the vaccine between the time they are 12 months old and 19 months old.

Children born before April 1, 2001 are not required to receive the vaccine, but it is recommended that all children be vaccinated against the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

A shortage of the vaccine from Merck and Co. Inc. has stalled the state’s efforts. Beth Rowe-West, head of the state’s Immunization Branch, said the shortage is expected to last several months.

Merck and Co. is the only producer of chicken pox vaccine, and has had difficulty meeting increasing demand.

Dr. John Morrow, Pitt County’s medical director, said he expected the shortage to last into late spring and the beginning of summer, the peak of the chicken pox season.

BofA among investment banks added to Enron securities lawsuit

HOUSTON (AP) – Nine investment banks including Bank of America Corp. financed lucrative schemes that helped Enron Corp. maintain its pre-collapse image as a profit powerhouse, according to attorneys who added the banks to a shareholder lawsuit Monday.

William Lerach, the lead attorney in the case, said the banks’ knowledge of the questionable partnerships and other transactions gave them an inside view of Enron’s financial condition as they sold securities to investors.

The 485-page amended complaint was filed Monday morning in the Houston federal court handling the case, the University of California, the lead plaintiff, said.

The banks are Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America; J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.; Citigroup Inc.; Credit Suisse First Boston USA Inc.; Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC); Merrill Lynch & Co.; Barclays Bank PLC; Deutsche Bank AG and Lehman Brothers Holding Inc.

The partnerships and transactions, backed by Enron stock and in part developed and funded by the banks, allegedly hid debt and inflated profits.