A Requiem for the Wilmington City Council

A Requiem for the Wilmington City Council

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The Wilmington City Council passed the budget for the next fiscal year -- 7-6. Other than the 600K that Bud Freel made sure got added to deal with cameras and to be sure that the WPD could run an Academy if needed, this City Council passed a budget utterly free of any opportunity for asking for better accountability from the Williams Administration and utterly free from dealing with the big issues the city has: improved safety, accountability for programs and departments and a better reckoning of a projected surplus -- $2M surplus even though this fiscal year will end with a $500K deficit.
Thursday Open Thread [5.21.15]

Thursday Open Thread [5.21.15]

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The fifth most Republican and conservative state in the Union --- NEBRASKA ---- yes, freaking Nebraska, voted with the dirty hippies and voted to repeal the death penalty. Hey, Trey Paradee, explain that! No bother, the Republicans did for you:
Republicans offered a variety of reasons for supporting the death penalty’s end, from the high cost of administering executions to the surprisingly uncommon idea that it’s important to be consistent in support for human life. “I’m pro-life from conception until when God calls somebody home,” state Sen. Tommy Garrett told the World-Herald. “I’m not going to quibble over innocent life versus those who are guilty for what they have done. This is a matter of conscience.”
BREAKING: Ex-Legislator Rewarded For Burying Death Penalty Repeal Bill

BREAKING: Ex-Legislator Rewarded For Burying Death Penalty Repeal Bill

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Remember Rebecca Walker? She's the former chair of the House Judiciary Committee who buried the death penalty repeal bill in her committee for most of 2013 and all of 2014. Remember Rebecca Walker? She's the former legislator who claimed she was running for reelection in 2014, had actually filed, waited until after the filing deadline, then withdrew her name, thus denying the Democratic voters in her district the right to choose her successor via primary. Remember why Rebecca Walker claimed she withdrew? She said that her work would not enable her to continue to serve. As if she just found that out right after the filing deadline. Well, guess what 'good fortune' has been bestowed upon former State Rep. Rebecca Walker? If you guessed a $96K state job that required no public posting and which reunites her with her police pals with whom she scuttled death penalty repeal, you would be correct.