RALEIGH — As we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, here is a question worth pondering: was the event it sought to explain and justify, the American War of Independence, fated to succeed?
RALEIGH — Do you or someone you know suffer from mental illness? I suspect most readers will say yes. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, behavioral-health disorders affect a fifth of adults and a sixth of school-aged children in North Carolina. One in 18 of us lives with a “severe mental illness,” defined as “a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder that results in serious impairment and interferes with or limits one or more major life activities.”
RALEIGH — By Monday, June 15, the academic year will be over for colleges, universities, and most grade schools. Family trips and summertime sojourns will commence. Tourist venues and recreational attractions will be bustling.
RALEIGH — When the U.S. Supreme Court announced its 6-3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, placing stringent limitations on the use of race in drawing electoral districts, some friends and acquaintances of mine were shocked and outraged. The court has essentially repealed the 1964 Voting Rights Act, they alleged, forecasting grave consequences for non-white candidates running for future office.
RALEIGH — If Speaker Destin Hall and other leaders of the House of Representatives get their way — and I strongly suspect they will — voters will decide this fall whether to amend the state constitution to limit the growth of property-tax burdens across North Carolina.
RALEIGH — Although we’re already a quarter of the way through the 21st century, much of our pop culture bears the unmistakable imprint of the previous century. You can see it in fashion, architecture, and entertainment. Check out the music even young people today are consuming. Most of the songs aren’t new, and indeed a sizable share of streamed content and movie soundtracks draw from the Great American Songbook (jazz standards and show tunes from the 1920s to the 1950s) or rock, soul, and pop songs from the 60s and 70s.
RALEIGH — All 50 states offer unemployment-insurance benefits to workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. Because states fund these benefits with payroll taxes, however, and must replenish exhausted UI trust funds with interest-bearing loans from the federal government, UI benefits vary according to how state legislatures weigh the resulting tradeoffs.
RALEIGH — Over the past year, North Carolina has posted one of the largest employment gains in the country. Alas, that’s not saying much.
RALEIGH — Most federal, state, and local policymakers are saying the right things about housing. Our leaders say they want to make it easier for young people to purchase homes and older people to keep them. But are they doing enough to turn their words into deeds?
RALEIGH — For all the satisfied smiles among school-choice supporters, and the gnashing of teeth among its opponents, North Carolina is not one of the top-ranked states for educational freedom.
RALEIGH — Is there an immediate prospect of resolving the budget standoff between the North Carolina Senate and House? I hear conflicting signals.
RALEIGH — For all the confusion, finger-pointing, and rancor that accompanied the North Carolina Supreme Court’s final ruling in the Leandro school-finance case, the primary emotion it conjured in me was relief. This is likely the last time I’ll feel compelled to comment on the matter.
