A bill sponsored by Democrats in the N.C. House would pump billions of additional dollars into public education over the next few years toward meeting the requirements of a new remedial agreement in the ongoing Leandro lawsuit.
Could an obscure historical discovery force Wingate University and the town to change names? That question is roiling Wingate, a small Union County town 30 miles southeast of Charlotte.
An executive order issued by Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday, May 21, requires recipients of unemployment benefits to prove they are searching for work to continue receiving benefits. The move makes North Carolina part of a growing number of states to reimplement the work-search requirement.
In a few weeks, New York Times reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones will join the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media, as the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism. She accepted a five-year contract as a professor of the practice, with the possibility of receiving tenure at a later date.
Lawmakers and the governor are moving bills and disclosing recommendations for using money from the American Rescue Plan, some $5.7 billion.
Gov. Roy Cooper, citing falling COVID infections and increased vaccinations, this month reopened the state, albeit not totally free and completely. Enough so, though, that fall festivals can start booking, and music clubs, opened with limited capacity since March, can again start making money.
North Carolina remains vulnerable to fuel shortages because it’s too reliant on a pair of pipelines for gas and energy, industry leaders and experts told lawmakers.
This summer may not be filled with pools and part-time jobs for students across the state who’ve struggled with a year of mandated remote school. In March of 2021, the State Board of Education reported that in May of 2020, after two months of remote school, test scores were at their lowest point with 75% of North Carolina third-graders falling below the proficiency thresholds in reading.
When it comes to our business climate and economic prospects, North Carolinians are used to receiving accolades. Let’s add another to the list. The Cato Institute just released a study of regulatory barriers facing entrepreneurs. North Carolina fared well in the analysis, ranking 12th-best in the nation.
Attorney General Josh Stein today sued internet service provider Frontier Communications, alleging that the company did not provide many people with internet service at the speeds it promised them and charged many of them for more expensive and higher-speed services than Frontier actually provided. Attorney General Stein is joined in this action by the Federal Trade Commission and four other states.
The N.C. Board of Elections voted Friday, May 14, to rehire Karen Brinson Bell as executive director. Board members Tommy Tucker and Stacey “Four” Eggers were the only dissenting votes.
I’ve written a regular column for nearly 35 years. It debuted in the Spring Hope Enterprise, a Nash County weekly, in the summer of 1986 and then quickly expanded to dozens of other daily and community papers.
