RALEIGH — U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle sentenced two principals of a failed ethanol production company to 30-month prison terms for their roles in a bribery scheme to secure environmental permits, reports Don Carrington for Carolina Journal.

David Lee Brady, 77, of Raleigh was president of Agri-Ethanol Products and James Albert Perry Jr., 63, of Wake Forest was an employee. Brady is a Raleigh businessman and real estate developer. Perry served as mayor of Wake Forest from 1978 to 1982. Boyle also handed out a $60,000 fine to Brady and a $10,000 fine to Perry.

Each pleaded guilty in federal court in last June to one count of conspiracy after a grand jury indicted them in 2008 on charges also involving extortion and perjury.

AEP planned to build an ethanol production plant in Beaufort County. The conspiracy charge, outlined in the indictment, stated that Brady, Perry, and others committed a crime against the United States when they agreed to obstruct, delay, and affect commerce through an extortion arrangement involving a public official.

Under that arrangement, Boyce A. Hudson, a former senior field officer in the Department of Natural Resources, agreed to expedite environmental permits for AEP. In return, Hudson stood to collect a lump-sum payment of $100,000 and a two-year consulting contract for $4,000 a month after AEP received financing for the project.

News FeaturesCJ: Lawmaker calls for offshore drilling
RALEIGH — A Davie County Republican is urging fellow state lawmakers to stop wasting time and money on the state’s climate change commission and support energy policy he says will have a tangible impact on the state.

CJ: Court grants tribe exclusive video poker license
RALEIGH — In a Dec. 22 decision, the N.C. Court of Appeals held that the state’s general ban on video poker is legal. In doing so, North Carolina’s second highest court ruled that federal law allows the state to grant the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians the exclusive right to operate video poker within the state.

Democrats dealing with an election year mass exodus
WILMINGTON — At the Grammys, Oscars and other annual award shows, there’s always a clip showing which big industry stars have departed over the previous year. Forgive voters, especially Democrats, if they feel like they need to watch one of those “dearly departed” clips when they go to the polls in May and November. Because the story this year might not be who is running for elected office, but who isn’t.

Rand kept inmate medical costs high
RALEIGH — A former legislative leader’s under-the-radar maneuver undid a law to cut millions of dollars from the soaring cost of medical care for inmates days after it passed. In August, the N.C. Department of Correction had a bill passed to allow the state to pay less to have inmates treated at hospitals, which were charging at nearly their highest rates. The ink on the governor’s signature was barely dry when then-Sen. Tony Rand effectively gutted the bill at the request of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.

Report to be basis for ABC change debate
WILMINGTON — State leaders plan to use a year-old evaluation report as the starting point for discussions on reforming the N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control system. The December 2008 report from the legislature’s Program Evaluation Division recommends a number of reforms for the alcohol system – which the report called “outdated” – and suggests the state explore other options for handling liquor, including privatization. But officials say that would be a complex undertaking that shouldn’t be rushed.

Upcoming EventsMonday, February 15, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Headliner Reception & Discussion
with our special guest Michael Novak
Presidents and Providence:
The Public Faith of George Washington, and Why it Still Matters Today

Monday, February 15, 2010 at 12:00 PM, Noon
A meeting of the Shaftesbury Society
with our special guest Lee A. Craig
Home Rule and the Disenfranchisement of African American Voters in North Carolina

Tuesday, March 09, 2010 at Noon
A Headliner Luncheon
with our special guest Cal Thomas
The American Political Scene

“You can’t be a reform governor who’s really committed to ethics and transparency if you keep people like that around.”
— North Carolina GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer, as quoted by the Associated Press, calling on Gov. Bev Perdue to fire Crime Control and Public Safety Secretary Reuben Young and Correction Department Secretary Alvin Keller.

“We’re going to have to have a lot of discussion on this. I don’t think most people out there know how this is supposed to work.”
— Marsha Jordan, chairwoman of the North Carolina Real Estate Commission, talking to the Charlotte Observer about a proposal to require disclosure if a homebuilder provides an incentives to a real estate agent for finding a buyer.

“We’re in a mess. It’s a much deeper mess than the general population appreciates.”
— Tony Plath, a finance professor at UNC-Charlotte, talking to the Raleigh News & Observer about the commercial real estate market. The value of commercial real estate trasnsactions in the Triangle was down 75 percent in 2009 versus 2008.

“They submitted a proposal in Chinese?”
— Cumberland County Commissioner Jeannette Council, as quoted by the Fayetteville Observer, questioning County Manager James Martin about attempts to use incentives to attract the U.S. arm of a Chinese company that wants to manufacture biodegradable tableware to the county. The proposal stalled after the company submit its incentives application to the state in Chinese.

On The Air This Week…

This week on C J Radio…
JLF’s Daren Bakst assesses free speech implications of Citizens United vs. FEC; JLF’s Joe Coletti reacts to the Health Care Protection Act being pushed by N.C. Republicans; Francis DeLuca of the Civitas Institute reviews recent health care polling results; Duke University’s Mike Munger discusses the growing appeal of the Libertarian alternative; and JLF’s Michael Sanera analyzes local governments’ push for more revenue via sales and land transfer tax hikes.

This week on NC Spin…
Join moderator Tom Campbell for another week of political discussion and debate on the most intelligent television talk show in the state. Topics this week: State debt; whether to revise the history curriculum in public schools; who should represent state workers; and whether we should call a special session of the legislature to focus on jobs. This week’s panelists: John Hood, president of the John Locke Foundation; Chris Fitzsimon of NC Policy Watch; former House Speaker Joe Mavretic; and Elaine Mejia, Director of the NC Budget and Tax Center.