Political consultant Perry Woods is demanding that Wake County school board member Debra Goldman retract statements she made to Cary police in 2010 suggesting that he broke into her car during a 2009 appearance at the studios of WPTF.

In this letter dated today, Woods' attorney, Jack Nichols, demands Goldman write an apology and issue a retraction for all the "defamatory statements" in the police report because they are "false and slanderous." Nichols warns that unless the apology and retraction are published by Nov. 1 they may file a lawsuit against Goldman.

In an interview Monday on the Bill LuMaye Show on WPTF, Woods denied he had anything to do with the break in of Goldman's car. LuMaye said Woods was in the studio during the whole debate and "would never" break into a person's car.

The controversy over Wake County school board member Debra Goldman's 2010 police statements about fellow board member Chris Malone are turning into a statewide issue.

As noted in today's article, both major North Carolina gubernatorial candidates are speaking out about Goldman, the GOP candidate for state auditor. Republican candidate Pat McCrory is defending Goldman while Democratic candidate Walter Dalton is accusing McCrory of overlooking "Republican scandals."

In addition, state Republican officials are still publicly backing Goldman while behind the scenes distancing themselves from her.

Wake County school board member Debra Goldman is going with an attack the messenger response to the coverage of the 2010 police report about her and board member Chris Malone.

Goldman broke her silence by issuing a statement today in which she charged the coverage "only serves to continue the newspaper’s history of attacks on me and my family" and is designed to "derail" her campaign for state auditor. She doesn't respond to any of the statements in the report or the story.

Here's Goldman's statement:

Wake County school board member Chris Malone is breaking his silence about the recent N&O stories on the 2010 incident involving him and fellow board member Debra Goldman.

In an interview today,  Malone said his attorneys advised him not to comment on the N&O story or details of the police report where he was implicated by Goldman as a burglary suspect and they gave conflicting statements about whether they had a romantic relationship. But Malone reaffirmed his intent to run and win the election for the state House 35 seat.

"There's no reason to drop out. I've already moved past it," Malone said. "I have faith that my constituents know who I am and why I'm running, so I'm just going to keep campaigning."

Goldman still has not returned calls requesting comment on the issue.

The report of a burglary in her home in June 2010 was far from the only time that Wake County school board member Debra Goldman and her family have called police over the last few years.

As noted in today's article by Anne Blythe, Goldman and her family were involved in at least three dozen incidents since January 2010 that have required assistance from or investigation by Cary police. Their reports have involved fears of theft, intruders and domestic disputes.

Pat Bazemore, chief of the Cary police department, said Sunday that it is her philosophy that public officials in her bailiwick are treated the same as others. Bazemore could not say whether the number of encounters with the Goldmans was large, average or small.

How much political fallout will there be over the publicity about Wake County school board member Debra Goldman naming board member Chris Malone as a suspect in a burglary she reported in 2010 and the conflicting statements they gave about their relationship?

As noted in today's article, the two face consequences in how it will affect their campaigns for state office. They also face consequences about how the controversy will affect them on the school board, especially if they don't win their elections next month.

As Andy Taylor, an N.C. State University political professor noted, people aren't talking now about the firing of Superintendent Tony Tata.

It's not every day that one elected official accuses another of potentially committing a felony and then both tell police about their relationship.

As noted in today's article, a Cary police report shows that Wake County school board member Debra Goldman reported in June 2010 that $130,000 was stolen from her home and that she named board member Chris Malone as a potential suspect.

Malone was able to satisfy investigators that he didn't commit the burglary. In the process, both board members gave conflicting statements about whether they had a romantic relationship.

Plans for the Wake County school system's first career and technical education high school are going forward, but school board members have some questions.

The board voted Tuesday night to approve an interlocal agreement requesting the Wake County Board of Commissioners to lease, renovate and purchase the former Coca-Cola bottling facility at 2200 South Wilmington Street in South Raleigh.

But some board members are worried that the program they initially backed to offer options for students who don't want to go to college has turned into more of an early college concept. In addition, board members are also uncertain about what grades should be offered at the school.

Wake County school board chairman Kevin Hill is continuing his efforts to justify the board majority's firing of Superintendent Tony Tata.

As noted in today's article, Hill met Friday with N&O editors and reporters to list out issues such as concerns about Tata's relationship with board members and staff and his handling of taxpayer dollars. Some of it's similar to what he said at Tuesday's board meeting but he went into more detail.

Hill also went into how he wants to handle the superintendent's search and the timing of the next school bond issue.

UPDATE

Click here to view the letter to the editor from Kevin Hill that will appear in Tuesday's paper in response to Tata's point of view column.

After a week of tearing into each other, Wake County school board members finally found something they could agree on Thursday night.

As noted in today's article, Republican and Democratic board members unanimously agreed to scrap the 2013-14 draft assignment maps in favor of going to the 2011-12 base maps. The fact they were agreeing drew several mentions and jokes at the board table.

The change occurred when board member Jim Martin interrupted the discussion of how the draft maps would affect the percentages of low-income students next year.

UPDATE

The 2011-12 base address lookup feature is still up. Click here to view.

If you don't remember what the pre-choice plan maps looked like in 2011-12, click here to refresh your memory. The link puts you on Wake's school directory page. Pick a school and then click on its assignment tab. Under the assignment tab you'll find a link to a PDF map for the 2011-12 base assignment area.

If you live near Rolesville High, Rolesville Middle, Richland Creek Elementary's permanent campus off US 1 in Wake Forest near the Franklin County line or Abbott Creek Elementary's permanent campus near the North Wake Landfill you can expect you might be added to their base areas.

Also, if you live in Panther Creek High's base look for change as you're reassigned to Green Hope High since they're not using a standalone ninth-grade center for PCHS.

The board agreed with the stay where you start rules proposed in the draft plan so you'd be able to grandfather if you're an existing student.