WAKE FOREST, N.C. — The Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting a Board of Commissioners Candidates Forum at the Wake Forest Town Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m.

All participating candidates will be asked the same questions and have an opportunity to respond. Each candidate will also be given the opportunity to make concluding remarks.

Town Board elections are scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009. The forum is open to the general public to attend, but in case you can’t attend, the forum will be broadcast live on Community Channel 10.

The Town of Wake Forest will then re-broadcast the forum in the days leading up to the election. For more information, please contact the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce at (919) 556-1519.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Gov. Beverly Perdue says Jim Long fought tirelessly for consumers over 24 years as North Carolina’s insurance commissioner.

Perdue spoke Thursday at a funeral service for Long at Raleigh’s Hayes Barton Baptist Church. He died Monday at age 68 after collapsing Jan. 21 from what his family said was a hemorrhagic stroke.

Long’s coffin was brought to the service on the back of a fire engine, a symbol of his dual role as state fire marshal.

Long’s successor as insurance commissioner told several hundred mourners that Long was like a father to him. Wayne Goodwin said Long’s life proved that politics can be a noble endeavor.

A second memorial service will be held Friday in Long’s hometown of Burlington.

Former state Insurance Commissioner Jim Long died Monday, hospitals officials said, a month after ending his 24-year-run as the industry’s top regulator and less than two weeks after suffering a stroke before a legislative meeting. He was 68.

Long died at 2:52 p.m. at Rex Hospital in Raleigh, hospital spokeswoman Melody Hunter-Pillion said. His family said he had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke, which occurs when blood escapes from the arteries and floods into the brain, on Jan. 21.

“It is with heavy hearts that our family witnessed Jim’s passing today,” Long’s wife, Peg O’Connell, said in the hospital’s statement. “Jim loved this great state and its gracious people. He
was honored to serve them.”

Long, who liked to call himself the “oldest rat in the Democratic barn,” served six terms as insurance commissioner. He was the longest-serving member of the Council of State, a powerful panel of 10 statewide elected officials.

Like his father and grandfather before him, Long had represented Alamance County in the General Assembly – in the 1970s – and wore his trademark red tie as a tribute to his father, George. Long also served as the general counsel to then-House Speaker Liston Ramsey in the early 1980s before being elected inusrance commissioner in 1984. During his tenure, he was the public face in disputes between the state and the industry over automobile insurance rates.

Long decided not to run for re-election last year and endorsed chief deputy Wayne Goodwin, who ended up winning the general election.

“He was a mentor and friend to all of us, and we will miss him more than words can express,” Goodwin said in a prepared statement. “As our family grieves, we will try to find comfort knowing that through our work we can honor Commissioner Long’s legacy of serving the people of our state that he so loved.”

Long collapsed in the Legislative Office Building before attending the final meeting of a legislative committee studying how to be better prepared to pay claims resulting from a big hurricane.

In addition to his wife, Long is survived by two children and several grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were incomplete.

Attorney General Roy Cooper released this statement:

“Jim Long was a fighter for consumers. He committed his life to serving the people of North Carolina and our state is a better place because of his service.”

Funeral arrangements are pending.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Hospital officials say former state Insurance Commissioner Jim Long is in intensive care at a Raleigh hospital after suffering a serious stroke.

Rex Hospital spokeswoman Melody Hunter-Pillion said Friday that Long remains hospitalized after collapsing Wednesday afternoon outside a lawmaker’s office at the Legislative building. Current commissioner Wayne Goodwin said the 68-year-old Long could communicate as he was being treated by emergency crews.

In a statement released by the hospital, his wife, Peg O’Connell, said family members “are tremendously moved by the support” from so many people. She also thanked everyone for respecting their privacy.

Long is a Democrat who retired before last year’s election after serving as commissioner for 23 years.

Facts about North Carolina’s 2009 inauguration:

WHEN & WHERE: 10 a.m. Saturday, in front of the Office of Archives & History Building, 109 E. Jones St., Raleigh. This will be the seventh time the building has been the site for the inauguration, dating back to 1981 and the second term of Gov. Jim Hunt. The event, which is open to the public, will begin with a concert, followed by the actual ceremony at 10:30 a.m. About 5,000 chairs will be set up for the event.

WHO: The ten members of the Council of State elected in November will be sworn in to office, capped by administration of the oath of office for Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue by state Supreme Court Chief Justice Sarah Parker. Incumbents getting sworn in for additional four-year terms are Attorney General Roy Cooper; Secretary of State Elaine Marshall; Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry; Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson; and Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler.

NEWCOMERS: Four people will begin their first terms on the Council: Walter Dalton as lieutenant governor; Beth Wood, state auditor; Janet Cowell, state treasurer; and Wayne Goodwin, insurance commissioner.

CEREMONY HIGHLIGHTS: Television icon Andy Griffith, a Manteo resident, will give a special reading. William Swart, 12, of Fuquay-Varina, will lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Swart’s father is a National Guard member training to deploy to Iraq. A military flyover and 19-gun salute for Perdue also are expected. Outgoing Gov. Mike Easley, Hunt and former Gov. Jim Holshouser are scheduled to attend.

PARADE AND OPEN HOUSE: The inaugural parade will begin at 12:30 p.m. and travel up Fayetteville Street north toward the old Capitol building. The Executive Mansion, located at 200 N. Blount St., will be open to the public from 2:30-5:30 p.m.

PRAYER SERVICE: An Inaugural Service for Prayer and Worship will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the historically black First Baptist Church on Capitol Square in downtown Raleigh. The event is open to the public.

HAVING A BALL: The Junior League of Raleigh again will host the Inaugural Ball on Friday night from 9 p.m.-midnight at the new Raleigh Convention Center. A Gala Presentation for ball participants begins at 8 p.m. and features performers Branford Marsalis, Eric Church and Vienna Teng, among others. Tickets for the ball and gala are $125 and can still be purchased one hour before Friday’s event. The governor-elect’s reception is sold out. For information, go to http://www.ncgovernorsball.com or call 919-783-8863.

WHO’S PAYING: The state has a $250,000 budget for putting on the inauguration, excluding events organized by the Junior League of Raleigh. The actual expenses for these events will fall well below that amount, said Tim Crowley, a spokesman for Perdue’s inauguration. The ball and other Junior League festivities are sponsored by corporations, outside groups and individuals. Net proceeds from the League events will go to the League’s new Center for Community Leadership to benefit nonprofits statewide.

RALEIGH, N.C. - North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Jim Long has bequeathed his title to Secretary of State Elaine Marshall – along with a hunk of cheese.

Long calls himself the “oldest rat in the barn” because he’s the longest serving Democratic member on the Council of State, a panel of top statewide elected officials. He didn’t run for re-election in November after 24 years in office.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, Long gave the title and a block of New York cheddar cheese to Marshall, who will become the panel’s longest serving member.

The “rat” refers to the last three letters in “Democrat.”

Marshall said her longevity is proof times are changing. She was the first woman on the panel when elected secretary in 1996. A majority on the council will be female next year.

The Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting a Candidates Forum on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at Wake Forest Town Hall. 

Candidates for the following positions have been invited to participate:  NC State Senate District 15, NC State House District 40 and Wake County Commissioner District 6, all of which represent Wake Forest. 

Candidates will have five minutes to discuss the issues they feel are most important and the forum will be followed by an informal meet and greet.

The following candidates have confirmed their participation at the Forum: 

Senator Neal Hunt, incumbent State Senate District 15

Chris Mintz, challenger, State Senate District 15

Jan MacKay, challenger, State Senate District 15

Representative Marilyn Avila, incumbent, State House District 40

Stan Morse, challenger, State House District 40

Commissioner Betty Lou Ward, incumbent Wake County Commissioner District 6

Larry Tilley, challenger, Wake County Commissioner District 6

The forum is open to the general public to attend.  The comments made by candidates will be rebroadcast for the two weeks prior to the election on Cable Channel 10.  For more information, contact the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce at 919-556-1519.

The two major-party candidates for state insurance commissioner agree the insurance market on North Carolina’s coast could be a big problem.

FAYETEVILLE, N.C. — The Terry Sanford High School Student Government Association (SGA) in partnership with the Fayetteville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce is presenting a forum for District judicial races and candidates for County Commissioner.

The forum is Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008, at 7 p.m. in the school’s auditorium.

Tim White, Fayetteville Observer editorial page editor, will moderate the forum with questions developed in part by SGA students. The first 25 to 30 minutes will be given to candidates for district court judge. The last sixty minutes will be dedicated to the candidates for county commissioner. All candidates will be asked to answer all questions from the moderator.

This forum marks the 15th consecutive year a candidates’ forum has been hosted at Terry Sanford.