Freedom. U.S. dips to record low in global rankings
The Heritage Foundation’s 2022 “Index of Economic Freedom” puts the United States at a record low ranking, falling from 20th in 2021 to 25th this year out of 177 countries ranked.
David Bass
N.C.’s largest school district still hemorrhaging students due to pandemic
North Carolina’s largest school district continues to feel the impact of pandemic-related reductions in its student population, and those impacts will be felt for at around a decade, according to a report presented to the Wake County Board of Education on Wednesday, Feb. 9.
Democrats shore up dominance on N.C. State Board of Education
Of the 11 members on the N.C. State Board of Education, four are Republican appointees. With a recent resignation, that number dips to just three.
Media blasted for ignoring study on harmful government lockdowns
A new meta-analysis from Johns Hopkins University shows that government-mandated lockdowns in America and Europe during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic only reduced the death rate by 0.2%, on average. Researchers concluded that lockdowns “have had little to no public health effects” while imposing “enormous economic and social costs” and should be “rejected as a pandemic policy instrument.”
Civitas poll: 61% of likely voters back N.C.’s Opportunity Scholarship Program
Support for the Opportunity Scholarship Program stands at 61%, according to a new Civitas Poll of likely voters presented by the John Locke Foundation.
UNC-Chapel Hill affirmative action case heads to U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to make what could be a landmark ruling on the constitutionality of affirmative action after justices decided Monday, Jan. 24, to take up cases arising from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Harvard University.
POLL: Majority of likely Dem voters want fines, home confinement for the unvaccinated
A new Rasmussen poll finds that a majority of likely Democratic voters favor taking strong action against Americans who are not vaccinated against COVID-19, including fines and home confinement.
McCrory tops Budd in GOP primary poll of 2022 U.S. Senate race
Former N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory is the preferred choice for the state’s U.S. Senate seat in 2022, according to a Civitas Poll of likely GOP primary voters released Thursday, Jan. 13.
Report: N.C. school choice programs save taxpayers up to $154.3 million
Two of the Tar Heel State’s school choice programs have saved taxpayers between $74.1 million and $154.3 million through fiscal 2018, according to an updated analysis from the school choice advocacy organization EdChoice.
Appeal means $1.7 billion Leandro transfer could end up at N.C. Supreme Court
A Democrat-controlled N.C. Supreme Court could end up deciding the constitutionality of a $1.7-billion transfer ordered by the presiding judge in the long-running Leandro school funding lawsuit.
Durham poised to send $500 checks to ex-cons in basic income pilot
The city of Durham is set to give monthly checks worth $500 to 115 formerly incarcerated people. The move is part of a nationwide basic income experiment, primarily bankrolled by Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey.
Samaritan’s Purse brings Christmas joy, relief to tornado-ravaged communities
Yuri Lopez was orphaned at the age of two and spent her childhood shifting between 14 orphanages in Honduras. But her life was transformed one Christmas when she received a shoebox filled with gifts from the North Carolina-based international Christian ministry Samaritan’s Purse. That’s when she “experienced hope for the very first time.”