Wake County Republican Party Chairwoman Susan Bryant is praising Wake County Schools Superintendent Tony Tata while rehashing the 2009 Memorial Day school controversy.

In the latest issue of the Elephant Express on Sunday, Bryant writes that "three years ago our Wake County School System made an idiotic decision to have our children go to school on Memorial Day...so the teachers could get the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as a holiday."

"Today we are fortunate to have General Tony Tata as our Wake County School Superintendent, a person who understands how important Memorial Day is to focus our remembrances on those whose sacrifice has made the freedom envisioned by the founders of America real for more than two and a quarter centuries," Bryant writes.

Because of the Memorial Day weekend, you won't find any coupon inserts in this Sunday's News and Observer.

Take a break from coupon clipping and enjoy the time off with your family and friends.

Memorial Day weekend is coming up and the supermarkets have some really nice bargains on all the fixings for backyard picnics. There are deals on ground beef, chicken, produce, paper goods, soda and ice cream.

At Harris Teeter, I especially like the Steamfresh veggies for 19 cents, split chicken breasts for 99 cents per pound and the Breyer's ice cream for $1.
At Lowes Foods, there's free Kraft barbecue sauce and Country Time lemonade or Kool-Aid mix, 20-cent Milky Way candy bars and Sun Drop soda for 25 cents -- all with a little coupon magic.
At Food Lion, be sure to take note of the 20-cent ears of sweet corn and green peppers for 69 cents each.
And finally, Aldi has lots of produce deals, including cantaloupe for just 99 cents each.

For easier price comparisons, I've added the Kroger deals from Sunday to the bottom of the list along with a few new Kroger deals from a new 4-day sale that begins Friday and runs through Monday. Most noteworthy: ground beef for $1.79 per pound and cherries for $3.99 per pound.

Keep reading for all the deals and coupon match-ups. And feel free to add the deals you spot as you're shopping this week.

The North Carolina Republican Party is calling Wake County school board member Kevin Hill "unfit for office" in a recent campaign mailer.

Calling it a 2011 School Board Candidate Report Card, the state GOP gives Hill "unfit for office" grades on listening to parents, getting along with others and putting children first.  They also give him "F" grade on neighborhood schools, saying he "will revive forced busing."

He gets an "F" on Superintendent Tata for voting against hiring him. They also give him an "F" on common sense, saying he was "a leader in the Majority on the school board when 'Wacky Wednesday' and having school on Memorial Day were allowed."

"Summary" Kevin Hill is failing us," says the front of the mailer. Click here for the back of the piece.

A campaign finance report filed Monday shows that the North Carolina Republican Party has spent $10,858.23 in campaign mailers to help Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo.

One example is their "Wake County Voter's Guide for School Board," which says that Losurdo "supports using proximity as the #1 priority for the school choice plan, supports neighborhood schools, and believes in listening to parents." The mailer also says Losurdo "supports Superintendent Tata and his leadership effort" and "will use family friendly and common values on school board issues."

It says that Kevin Hill "will revive forced busing: voted against the Bi-partisan School Choice Plan" and "voted against hiring Superintendent Tata." It also says he was "a leader in the Majority on the school board when 'Wacky Wednesday' and having School on Memorial Day were allowed."

Click here to view the front of the mailer. Click here to view the back.

The Wake County Republican Party is invoking "Wacky Wednesdays," school on Memorial Day and "forced busing" to mobilize their supporters in this fall's school board elections.

In this week's issue of the Elephant Express, Wake GOP Chairwoman Susan Bryant argues that the "high ground" for a better education system rests with the Republican majority on the school board. In contrast, Bryant claims that the Democrats "just want to go back to the way things were!"

"Back to Forced Busing, Wacky Wednesdays, Children forced to attend school on Memorial Day," Bryant writes of what she says Democrats would do. "Back to NOT listening to parents!!!"

UPDATE

See end of post for response from the Wake County Democratic Party.

On this Memorial Day, let's all try to keep the reason for this particular holiday in mind. It's not a day off from work or school, although that's nice to have. But the point of Memorial Day is to remember.

(Thanks, Dean.)

Gas prices are falling as we head toward the first big travel weekend of summer, and the AAA Carolinas motor club says more North Carolinians are planning road trips for the Memorial Day holiday.

If you're driving south this weekend, you might want to tank up in South Carolina, where the state average price of $3.573 is the nation's lowest, according to the Oil Price Information Service.

Triangle drivers are paying an average $3.705 a gallon for self-service regular. That's down a dime in just the past week, but nearly a dollar more than we paid a year ago.

Why is our gas more expensive than South Carolina's? Most of the difference is in taxes.  North Carolina adds 32.8 cents in tax and inspection fees to the price of each gallon (only 12 states have higher gas taxes).  South Carolina's gas tax is only 16.8 cents, lower than all but three states' rates, according to the American Petroleum Institute.

AAA cites the recent gas price drop, and an improvement in unemployment numbers, in its prediction that 865,000 North Carolinians will travel this weekend, mostly by car -- a 3 percent increase over last year's Memorial Day numbers. ... [MORE]

Wake County Republican Party Chairwoman Susan Bryant is explaining why they won't endorse Jennifer Mansfield in her bid for the school board or any 'pretend' unaffiliateds.

In the GOP's Elephant Express e-newsletter sent out today, Bryant relates the phone conversation she had with Mansfield earlier this year about the party's endorsement in the District 3 race. Bryant said Mansfield told her she was a registered unaffiliated voter who "leaned more to the Democrat Party" and "really felt more comfortable with many Democrat issues" while also being "a strong advocate for neighborhood schools."

Bryant writes that she told Mansfield they "would be happy to consider her if she would change her voter registration" to Republican. But Bryant writes that Mansfield "immediately responded she would not do that, and I thanked her for calling."

It's Memorial Day, which for most Americans amounts to a day off and maybe a cookout. But it's worth remembering the day's original purpose, to honor America's war dead through the years. And for every flag-draped coffin that comes home, whether from Iraq today or one of those Wars To End All Wars last century, there's a situation just like this.