Gov. Roy Cooper’s second four-year term as our state’s chief executive is ending and, by any fair assessment, he’s done a heck of a job. In numerous vitally important areas – education, transportation, economic development, environmental protection – Cooper has, despite the obstruction of legislative leaders — been a stalwart champion of average No…

Gov. Roy Cooper discusses ongoing efforts to surge resources into Western NC (Pool photo/Paul Barker-Governor's Office) Gov. Roy Cooper’s second four-year term as our state’s chief executive is ending and, by any fair assessment, he’s done a heck of a job. In numerous vitally important areas – education, transportation, economic development, enviro…

If there was one story that dominated the news this past year – aside from the election – and left a lasting imprint on North Carolina, it was Hurricane Helene. The storm ravaged western North Carolina in late September causing an estimated $58 billion in damage. Unfortunately, the Republican-controlled legislature passed only modest relief measure…

The devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina is rightfully provoking calls for more action than has been forthcoming from state and federal lawmakers, and one area in which one hopes such demands will bear fruit is in planning and prevention. Regrettably, state Republican legislative leaders have repeatedly blocked legislat…

This year’s election may have come and gone, but one thing that hasn’t gone anywhere in North Carolina this year is hunger. Especially since congressional Republicans blocked the reauthorization of some key social safety net programs that led to great success during the pandemic, food insecurity has expanded to the point at which more than 560,000 …

On any list of key governmental functions, natural disaster response is near the top. If public services and structures don’t provide relief and spearhead recovery when disasters strike, communities can literally and permanently fall apart. And tragically, this appears to be happening in parts of western North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane…

Debris and a mobile home are piled up along a tree line in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Sept. 29, 2024 in Old Fort, North Carolina. (Photo by Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images) On any list of key governmental functions, natural disaster response is near the top. If public services and structures don’t provide relief and spearhead recovery wh…

Imagine for a moment that state leaders decided to implement a change in how North Carolina provides core public services. Instead of everyone in a community relying on the same police and fire departments, people would instead choose private vendors and receive a check from the government to partially underwrite the cost. And the vendors would be …

Photo: Getty Images Imagine for a moment that state leaders decided to implement a change in how North Carolina provides core public services. Instead of everyone in a community relying on the same police and fire departments, people would instead choose private vendors and receive a check from the government to partially underwrite the cost. And t…

Orrin Pilkey (Photo Credit: Duke University/Nicholas School of the Environment) The cause of basing public policies on science has taken several destructive blows in the U.S. of late, and sadly, it absorbed another one last week with the death of Orrin Pilkey. Pilkey was longtime Duke University geology professor who, among other things, was a dedi…

The cause of basing public policies on science has taken several destructive blows in the U.S. of late, and sadly, it absorbed another one last week with the death of Orrin Pilkey. Pilkey was longtime Duke University geology professor who, among other things, was a dedicated truth teller on the subject of development along North Carolina’s fragile …

Outside Raleigh's Central Prison a banner offers open interviews to would-be job seekers. The vacancy rate of North Carolina’s corrections officers is now 40%. (Photo: Clayton Henkel) Everyone knows that prison is a tough place to be – both for the incarcerated people who are there serving time and the professionals that our government employs to o…

Everyone knows that prison is a tough place to be – both for the incarcerated people who are there serving time and the professionals that our government employs to oversee them. And, of course, on one level – especially for those who are imprisoned — that’s as it should be. A prison sentence is not a vacation, but punishment that’s reserved for pe…

Avoiding discussions that mix religion with politics is usually wise, but occasionally, a cause comes along that so blatantly contradicts the basics of the faith to which those behind it claim to adhere that it deserves to be called out. Today is Christmas Eve – the day on which millions of Americans will solemnly celebrate the birth of a child to …

People demonstrate and call out words of encouragement to detainees held inside the Metropolitan Detention Center after marching to decry Trump administration immigration and refugee policies on June 30, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) Avoiding discussions that mix religion with politics is usually wise, but occ…

As the world races to reduce fossil fuel use and carbon pollution in order to combat the climate change crisis, one enormously promising source of non-polluting energy is offshore wind. Indeed, numerous East Coast states are counting on offshore wind projects to power tens of millions of homes and to help them transition to cleaner energy. Unfortun…

A new law enacted by North Carolina Republican legislators that purports to be about Hurricane Helene relief is, for the most part, anything but. Rather than providing desperately needed relief and recovery dollars to devastated families and businesses, Senate Bill 382 is a 131-page power grab bill that seizes duties from newly elected Democrats an…

North Carolina remains plagued by a destructive child care crisis that has left many families without options and numerous providers hanging on by a thread. And while basic concerns for children and families should provide plenty of incentive for state leaders to tackle the problem, a new report compiled by experts at the state Department of Commer…

Donald Trump’s reelection has changed a lot of things in the world of law and politics of late and one of those things is the status of some planned retirements by federal judges. Judge James Wynn (File photo) As has happened after previous elections, some judges who had hoped their replacements would be named by a President Kamala Harris have deci…

Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) (Photo: Screen grab from Senate.gov) Donald Trump’s reelection has changed a lot of things in the world of law and politics of late and one of those things is the status of some planned retirements by federal judges. Judge James Wynn (File photo) As has happened after previous elections, some judges who had hoped their re…

There are dozens of good reasons related to basic human rights and decency to oppose President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to commence the deportation of millions of immigrants next month when he returns to office. The idea of conducting mass roundups, destroying families and sending individuals who’ve live here for years — or even decades – to dange…

Farmworkers wear protective clothing while working in a field in the morning heat near Coachella, Calif. Immigrants make up about two-thirds of the nation’s crop farmworkers, and states’ economies could be threatened under President-elect Donald Trump’s promise of mass deportations. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) There are dozens of good reasons related…

(Photo: National Park Service) Details of the destructive 131-page power grab bill enacted last week by state legislators over a gubernatorial veto continue to emerge. As reporter Peter Castagno of the Port City Daily reported, one of the changes buried in the bill is a provision designed to help eviscerate environmental protection rules for our st…

Details of the destructive 131-page power grab bill enacted last week by state legislators over a gubernatorial veto continue to emerge. As reporter Peter Castagno of the Port City Daily reported, one of the changes buried in the bill is a provision designed to help eviscerate environmental protection rules for our state’s endangered coastline. At …

It’s not hard to see how college sports became fully professionalized over the decades. What started out more than a century ago as a natural outlet for young people competing for fun and pride was popular and it drew fans and attention and boosters. And thus, it wasn’t long before college teams and coaches started cutting corners and bending rules…

University of North Carolina Chancellor Lee Roberts presents Bill Belichick with a new UNC hoodie (Screengrab from Go Heels You Tube channel) It’s not hard to see how college sports became fully professionalized over the decades. What started out more than a century ago as a natural outlet for young people competing for fun and pride was popular an…

The spectacle of important elected officials sucking up shamelessly to Donald Trump continues to afflict American politics. And North Carolina House Speaker and Congressman-elect Tim Moore may have taken things to a new low last week. On the same day the state House approved a massive power grab law that further rigs elections and overrules the wil…

House Speaker Tim Moore presides over legislative session. (Photo: NCGA video stream) The spectacle of important elected officials sucking up shamelessly to Donald Trump continues to afflict American politics. And North Carolina House Speaker and Congressman-elect Tim Moore may have taken things to a new low last week. On the same day the state Hou…

Over the last several years, few authors have done a better job of digging below the surface to chronicle what’s really going on in American politics – and in particular, the relentless brand of legal and policy hardball played by the Republican party – than David Daley. Daley’s best known book – which featured the provocative title, Ratf**ked– det…

The 2024 election is now receding quickly in the rear-view mirror, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still interesting and important to understand what voters were and are thinking and, here in North Carolina, that’s where public opinion surveys like the Meredith College Poll come in. In the most recent iteration of the poll, we learned some of what v…

(Anna Claire Vollers/Stateline) There’s been much discussion of late about Republican state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin’s push to have sixty thousand-plus voters who cast ballots in the November election he lost to incumbent Justice Allison Riggs retroactively disqualified. Griffin contends that because their original voter registrati…