Charlotte Observer and WBTV articles remain on Google.

I saw the tweet from @sistahtoldjah retweeted by the Instapundit this morning:

WBTV did the original reporting on the story. Observer republished. But both stories are gone now. #ncsen #ncpol

It included a screenshot of what looks like a Google news search with the headline and text:

Memo: Grant given to company run by Sen. Hagan’s…

Kay Hagan’s husband manages one of the companies in question, who… WBTC obtained a memo written by the Department of Energy and…

Both the Charlotte Observer and WBTC in Charlotte have the same headline in the search. Before retweeting the accusation myself, I went to Google and did a search myself. Sure enough, the same headlines and text came up. But clicking through to either article resulted in a “not found” page.

There’s a third link in the Google search, to the Charlotte City and Press, but that appears to be an automated news aggregation page with only a summary and a link to the WBTV 3 page that no longer exists.¹

NCDENR says they have reviewed grant records and found conflict of issue claims warranted further legal review. Kay Hagan’s husband manages one of the companies in question, who received an energy efficiency grant money in 2010.

Details on WBTV 3.

There are a couple of other aggregation sites that have bits and pieces. This is from a site called “World News”:

Memo: Grant given to company run by Sen. Hagan’s husband needs ‘legal review’

State officials say a stimulus grant given to a company run by Kay Hagan’s husband needs “further legal review.” WBTV obtained a memo written by the Department of Energy and Natural Resources which includes a letter to the state’s auditor from last month. The memo states that NCDENR is looking into potential conflict of interest claims involving Senator Kay Hagan. NCDENR says they…

The Charlotte Observer has removed the article from their site.

But, again, it just links through to the Charlotte Observer’s 404 page.

Interestingly, World News also links to a page titled Why is The Observer Hiding the Truth About Hagan’s ‘Stimulus’ Payday? (North Carolina Republican Party). That link also 404s, despite the fact that it does exist on the North Carolina Republican Party web site. (My own link goes to the correct page, not to World News’s incorrect page.)

The WBTC 3 page does not exist in Google’s cache, but the Charlotte Observer page does:

WBTV obtained a memo written by the Department of Energy and Natural Resources which includes a letter to the state’s auditor from last month. The memo states that NCDENR is looking into potential conflict of interest claims involving Senator Kay Hagan.

NCDENR says they have reviewed grant records and found conflict of issue claims warranted further legal review. Kay Hagan’s husband manages one of the companies in question, who received an energy efficiency grant money in 2010.

According to the NC Department of Energy and Natural Resources, the grant agreement included provisions prohibiting family members from receiving incentive payments, “these rules require, among other things, that no one with direct lineal relations may receive incentive payment. For example, the mother, father, brother, sister, son or daughter or a contractor working in this Program cannot receive Awards, contracts and subcontracts.”

The federal Department of Energy Assistance grant agreement had similar regulations that included members of the immediate family, partners, or people who has a financial interest in the firm selected for the grant.

The $250,644 grant in question went to JDC Manufacturing LLC. JDC Manufacturing is managed by John Hagan, David Hagan, and Charles “Chip” Hagan.

Chip Hagan is Senator Kay Hagan’s husband.

Grant records show that other companies controlled by the Hagan family received money through this grant.

The NCDENR says the grant was for an energy-efficiency project at the company’s building in Reidsville, NC. Plastics Revolution was the tenant of that building and the president of that company is John Hagan.

WBTV 3 has also removed the article from their site.

Interestingly, the Charlotte Observer does have another article that hasn’t been deleted:

Solving Washington gridlock is key issue in harsh Senate race

Polls indicate North Carolina voters increasingly favor candidates who are willing to compromise. But the race between Kay Hagan and Thom Tillis has left many disappointed by a highly partisan campaign.

And WBTV has a very balanced grabber in:

NAACP asks for investigation in burning of Huntersville political sign

A home security video caught a white man on Tuesday burning a sign supporting U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan.

Partisanship would definitely seem to be a problem at the Observer and at WBTV. On the one hand, Chris Dyches and the front line WBTV/Observer staff did publish the article. It’s there, in Google’s cache, pulled directly from the Charlotte Observer site. Who at the Observer and who at WBTV required that it be taken down? Why? The only logical assumption is that someone at in those news organizations did not want to hurt Senator Hagan’s re-election chances this close to the election. But… if Hagan were a Republican would the news have been similarly buried? It’s hard to imagine.

The article remains in Google’s cache, at least at the time of writing this post.