Public Radio for the Piedmont and High Country
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

McCrory Signs Second Bill Weakening Dem Successor's Role

Governor Pat McCrory. Screenshot from YouTube

Outgoing Republican Gov. Pat McCrory has signed the second of two bills that strip his Democratic successor of significant powers. His statement on the action also reignited the controversy surrounding a rumored move by lawmakers that could have shifted the balance of the state Supreme Court.

McCrory says he signed HB17 despite misgivings about a provision requiring lawmaker approval for incoming governor Roy Cooper's picks for agency positions. The bill also limits how many political appointees the governor can hire. Governor-elect Cooper has threatened to sue over several of the bill's provisions.

In McCrory's statement, he also took credit for heading off any measure to add members to the state Supreme Court, or what's known as court packing. GOP leaders have denied there ever was such a plan, saying it was a rumor fed to the press by Democrats.

Republican lawmaker Deborah Conrad of Forsyth County told the Winston-Salem Journal she had no clue what the Governor meant by the inclusion of that statement in his press release.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

Support quality journalism, like the story above,
with your gift right now.

Donate