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Regional Briefs: Ethics panel closes file on Shuler
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Published: November 6, 2009
RALEIGH -- Congressional ethics investigators say that U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler did not act inappropriately when a residential development that he was involved in sought lake-access rights from the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Members of the House Ethics Committee said in a letter to Shuler, D-11th, that it was closing the matter after reviewing a TVA investigative report. The members said that report concluded that TVA's inspector general found no evidence that Shuler or staff used his position to exert influence over the approval process.
Shuler was once a member of a House committee with oversight of TVA. He is an investor in The Cove development, which has a deal pending with TVA for 145 feet of water-access rights on Watts Bar Lake near Knoxville, Tenn.
Several want to take Rand's place
RALEIGH -- People are already lining up to replace state Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand one day after he announced he is leaving the legislature for the state's parole commission.
Several Senate Democrats said yesterday that Sen. Martin Nesbitt of Buncombe County and his allies have called asking for support to elect Nesbitt the next majority leader.
Sen. Doug Berger of Franklin County said he supports Nesbitt because he feels that Nesbitt would best represent urban and rural interests. There's no timetable for a vote by the Senate Democratic Caucus.
Fayetteville lawyer David Boliek Jr. also has announced that he is pursuing the Democratic nomination for the 19th Senate District seat Rand will vacate. Local Democrats will choose someone to fill Rand's seat through 2010.
‘Energy Star' tax holiday starts
North Carolina's second annual "Energy Star" sales-tax holiday will start today.
Shoppers won't have to pay state and local taxes on certain appliances that carry the Energy Star label.
Products with the Energy Star label meet the energy efficient standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Eligible items include clothes washers, freezers, refrigerators, central air conditioners, room air conditioners, air-source heat pumps, geothermal heat pumps, ceiling fans, dehumidifiers and programmable thermostats.
The sales tax holiday ends Sunday.
3 Cone workers leave over flu shots
GREENSBORO -- Three workers at Moses Cone Hospital have resigned after failing to get vaccinated against the seasonal flu. Their names and positions were not released.
The hospital required all employees to receive the vaccine in September, the first time it has made the shot mandatory. The hospital also requires employees to be vaccinated against the H1N1 swine flu.
Doug Allred, a hospital spokesman, said that more than 8,000 employees and volunteers got the seasonal-flu vaccine.
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