Price gets primer on ports

U.S. Rep. David Price saw first-hand the struggles of securing U.S.-bound port cargo during a trip to the Middle East last week.

Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, led a six-member congressional team to the region. The team visited ports in Alexandria, Egypt, and Salala, Oman, where Department of Homeland Security officials screen cargo before it boards ships bound for the United States.

Price is chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that pays for homeland security.

The overseas cargo screening projects are part of two pilot programs, Price said in an interview.

He said that though the programs have been negotiated at the highest levels of government, he learned that challenges remain in the "on-the-ground" work among DHS officials and port workers.

The idea is to loosen clogged ports in the United States by scanning cargo for radioactive material, explosives and other terrorist threats before it heads to U.S. shores.

The program in Alexandria focuses on high-risk cargo. The program in Salala aims to do a full screening of all goods moving through the port.

"I'd say I'm very pleased with the process in Salala," Price said. "Alexandria is an example of some of the challenges."

Candidate for auditor

Fred Aikens will seek the Democratic nomination for state auditor.

A fiscal analyst for the legislature from 1978 to 1993, Aikens later served as a deputy secretary for the state departments of Transportation and Correction. He is a retired colonel in the Army and N.C. National Guard. He served in Kuwait in 2003.

Aikens has been on numerous government councils and local nonprofits, including a stint chairing the State Government Information Technology Council.

If he wins the primary, Aikens plans to participate in a program for public financing of the race.

Aikens said he wants to clean up corruption in Raleigh.

"You've seen agencies that haven't spent taxpayers' money the way they should, and I want to help these agencies be more accountable," Aikens said.

Aikens said he would do this by increasing resources and cooperation among agencies, and identifying weaknesses before they becomes crises.

Aikens said he joined the Legislative Black Caucus Foundation in 2007, amid criticism that it gave college scholarships to relatives of legislators.

"I wanted to be a part of helping them get on the right track, and I contributed pretty well to that effort," he said.

Aikens will face Beth Wood in the primary. Incumbent Republican Les Merritt is seeking re-election.

Candidate for bench

Cheri Beasley is running for the N.C. Court of Appeals.

Beasley has served as a District Court judge in Cumberland County for nine years. A Democrat, she was appointed by former Gov. Jim Hunt.

She previously worked in legal departments for several corporations in Research Triangle Park and briefly worked in the Wake County District Attorney's Office.

She also worked for five years in the Fayetteville Public Defender's Office.

She will be running against incumbent Doug McCullough.

No re-election bid

State Rep. Joe Kiser, a Lincoln County Republican, said Wednesday that he will not seek re-election.

"This is a very difficult decision for me to leave the many friends I have made in both parties in the North Carolina House and North Carolina Senate," Kiser said in a statement.

Former GOP House member Johnathan Rhyne Jr., a lawyer and businessman in Lincolnton, has said he will run for the seat.

Melodious campaign

Pat McCrory is ready to rock in his campaign for the Republican nomination for governor.

As he wrapped up his kickoff speech in Jamestown on Tuesday, the Charlotte mayor said he was going to run a "grass-roots, positive campaign."

"We're going to be like a garage band," he said. "We're not hiring any high-priced consultants to tell us what to say and how to say it. We're going to speak from the heart."

McCrory later said that he plans to use a lot of young people and be flexible on how the campaign is managed.

Dome asked whether McCrory had any bands in mind. He cited the Beatles, whose members often switched roles when recording.

"I told my campaign team one minute they might be on bass guitar and the next minute they might go to drums," he said.