RALEIGH, N.C.  – A bill designed to ensure police officers can read North Carolina license plates by prohibiting plate frames that obscure information is going to Gov. Beverly Perdue for her signature.

The House and Senate gave final approval this week to the legislation, which would fine motorists up to $100 if they use a frame which covers the state name or plate date.

Robert Glaser with the North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association said Thursday his group wants to help law enforcement identify motorists.

Car buyers often receive frames from dealers. Glaser said dealers have large supplies of frames but will work to ensure lawful covers are sold.

The bill also directs the Legislature to study the state’s more than 160 specialty license plate styles.

When it comes to specialty license plates, legislators appear to be working at cross purposes.

While on their way to approving more specialty plates this year, lawmakers are also creating a commission to study the program.

The commission won’t recommend eliminating the plates – the legislature would just ignore it if it did. The plates are popular with the public and raise a lot of money for both state government and a variety of causes.
Sen. Ed Jones, a Halifax County Democrat and former state trooper, is worried about public safety. Many specialty plates use the state’s familiar “First in Flight” backdrop. Because they don’t look much different, they are easily recognizable to law enforcement and the public.

Not so recognizable are many of the 35 state plates with dramatically different formats. They may not serve a plate’s fundamental purpose: To provide the public and police with a quick way of identifying each registered car. Familiarity with a design makes it much easier to identify and remember a plate.
In cases where a citizen gets only a glimpse of a car speeding from a crime scene, for example, familiarity is sure to make a big difference. It’s easier to see the letters and numbers and to determine that it is from North Carolina. With many of the 35 non-traditional plates, that quick recognition is less likely.
A few of the plates in question do not pose a problem because, due to their popularity, the public has grown accustomed to them. For example, the Blue Ridge Parkway plate, with 27,000 issuances, comes to mind. But others are quite rare, requiring as few as 300 drivers interested in purchasing them before the state starts issuing them.

All plate designs must gain state approval, and public-safety concerns are part of that process. But the commission should consider whether more conformity should be required for that approval. For example, should all plates have at least a white background with blue or red letters and numbers?
For plates that deviate significantly from the standard, such as the Blue Ridge plate, the state should raise the minimum number that must be reserved before they can go into use. By requiring more than 300, the state would be guaranteeing that more of us will see these plates regularly and thus become familiar with them.

RALIEGH, N.C. — North Carolina Right to Life Inc. and North Carolina Pro-Life Democrats Inc. will hold a “Why Not NC? Rally for the Choose Life License Plate” at 11 a.m.  Tuesday at the main entrance of the General Assembly’s Legislative Building.

The Choose Life license plate is a specialty license plate approved in 22 states that has raised more than $10 million dollars to help pregnancy care centers, maternity homes and adoption agencies.

North Carolina has 130 approved specialty license plates.

The “Why Not NC? Rally” will be attended by Representative Mitch Gillespie, Representative Paul Stam, Rev. Msgr. Michael Clay, Barbara Holt, President of North Carolina Right to Life, Eva Ritchey, President of NC Pro-Life Democrats, Diane Hardee Executive Director of EPIC Center (Eastern Pregnancy Information Center) in Kinston and New Bern, Bobbie Meyer, Executive Director of the Pregna ncy Resource Center in Charlotte, Barbara Stevenson, State Director, Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship as well as other important pro-life leaders.  Also in attendance will be Ms. Tabitha Vinson and Ms. Tara Schwab who will share their story of how they were helped by a North Carolina pregnancy care center.

By SCOTT HOLLIFIELD
Media General News Service

As much as I admire President-Elect Barack Obama, I’m reconsidering my offer to serve in his administration. It’s not because of ideological differences, it’s because I wasn’t aware of the written exam.

Regular readers (as opposed to irregular ones who need more fiber) may recall last week’s column, which I turned over to Cousin Junior, owner and operator of Cousin Junior’s Small Engine Repair, Discount Taxidermy and Certified Lobbying Services, so he could lay out my qualifications for a high-level cabinet post.

As a respected, ethical journalist, I could not publicly lobby for the job myself, so I fabricated someone to do it for me.

Sensing a cabinet post would soon be mine, I began preparing for the vetting process by rehearsing the names of world leaders (”Amadinejad… Ama… Ama…Ama just gonna call him Sparky”) and trying to figure out who’s on our side (”The Swiss? Sure they’re neutral, but who really needs an ally armed only with cork screw-equipped knives?”).

Then the New York Times leaked the 63-item, seven-page questionnaire that all cabinet wannabes have to complete, and I realized the Obama vetting process was worse than the SATs and the road-sign portion of the driving exam combined.

Here are a few of the questions, as reported by The Times, and my answers, as reported by me.

– Please list any applications for professional licenses or certifications that may have been denied, and the reasons for denial.
Answer: I applied to Her Majesty’s Secret Service for a James Bond license to kill, but I failed the true-false test. I did, however, get a learner’s permit to kill.

– Please chronologically list activities, other than those listed on your resume or biography, from which you have derived earned income (e.g., self-employment, consulting activities, writing, speaking, royalties and honoraria) for the past 10 years.
Answer: I hope I’m not leaving anything out, but here goes: Lemonade stand, yard sale, contract hit, swallowing a marble for a dollar, yard sale, peddling kittens door to door, selling plasma TVs, selling plasma, yard sale, yard sale, yard sale, driving a getaway car during a daring bank robbery only to later reveal I was working undercover for the FBI, lion taming and yard sale.

– Briefly describe the most controversial matters you have been involved with during the course of your career.
Answer: As a long-time, small-town newspaper editor, I can assure you there have been controversies a-plenty, most of which I handled by expertly hiding beneath my desk. There was the time we published the photo of Eudie Mae Hampstead’s giant, award-winning potato only to learn that her husband Otis had secretly painted a beach ball brown. We had to return the Pulitzer.
And who can forget our controversial week-long expose, “Indoor plumbing: Is it overrated?”

– Please list all aliases or “handles” you have used to communicate on the Internet.
Answer: Scott H. The Scottsman. The Scottmeister. Anonymous. The Legendary Love Monkey. Dr. Funkenstein. Defendant. George Clooney. George “Goober” Lindsey. Professor Leonard Birkenstock, PhD. T-Bone. Concerned Citizen69. Brenda.

– Diaries: If you keep or have ever kept a diary that contains anything that could suggest a conflict of interest or be a possible source of embarrassment to you, your family or the president-elect if it were made public, please describe.
Answer: “Dear Diary, Today I met this dreamy investment banker and he gave me some insider information…”

– Do you know anyone or any organization, either in the private sector or government service, that might take steps, overtly or covertly, to criticize your nomination, including any news organization?
Answer: The line forms at the door.
After careful consideration of the remaining items on the questionnaire, many of which would reveal my shaky financial situation and personal shortcomings, I must state that I cannot and will not accept a high-level cabinet post in the Obama administration.

However, I’m still open to being ambassador to the Virgin Islands.

Scott Hollifield is editor/general manager of The McDowell News in Marion, N.C. Contact him at P.O. Box 610, Marion, N.C. 28752 or e-mail rhollifield@mcdowellnews.com.