By John Trump , Carolina Journal News Service RALEIGH — Will Easter is a promising North Carolina musician. A career just starting to take off. I reached him on his cell phone, and he wanted to talk. A bit busy now, though, he said. Hanging drywall. “I actually t
By JOHN HOOD RALEIGH — Most North Carolina schoolchildren began this academic year trying to learn from home rather than at school. How’s it going so far? Set aside the blame game and partisan theatrics surrounding the issue, and simply ask parents and kids about their experiences. You’l
by John Hood You surely recognize the name Frederick Douglass and know the major role he played in American history after escaping his enslavement in Maryland in 1838. You may even know that the publication of his memoir — Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Sla
by John Hood Throughout his gubernatorial term, Roy Cooper has sought vastly to expand the power of his office at the expense of other statewide-elected executives, the legislative branch, local governments, and private households and businesses. Although a court did strike down on F
by John Hood RALEIGH — As a fiscal conservative, I long for the days when North Carolina had responsible governors who responded to recessionary budget gaps with fortitude and common sense. You know, governors like Bev Perdue, Mike Easley, and Jim Hunt. All three Democratic gov
By John Hood RALEIGH — Although working from home provides a great deal of flexibility and potential benefits, professional and personal, most of us don’t want to make it our default setting — even after, or perhaps because of, being ordered to work from home this spring during the in
by John Hood Whether Democrat Yvonne Holley or Republican Mark Robinson wins the 2020 race for lieutenant governor, North Carolinians will be electing the first African-American candidate to that post. But the victor won’t be the first black North Carolinian elected to a Counci
by John Hood Marxism is one of the most catastrophic ideas in history. Tyrants and butchers inspired by the noxious notions of Karl Marx — including such successors as Lenin, Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Pol Pot — are responsible for the deaths of more than 100 million of our fellow human
by John Hood In this year that sometimes feels like a decade, North Carolinians have yet to cast a single general-election ballot for president or other offices. But I’m seeing lots of politicos and pundits making confident predictions about the state’s key electoral contests based o
by John Hood RALEIGH — North Carolina’s state and local governments will likely overspend their projected revenue this year by billions of dollars. So far, few public officials seem panicked about the prospect. Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration ordered some modest cost-saving meas
by John Hood As if the COVID crisis and economic recession weren’t bad enough, here’s some more bad news to process: homicide rates are spiking in many North Carolina communities. Through the end of July, 32 people in Greensboro have been the victims of homicide so far this yea
by John Hood If you’ve lived in North Carolina for even a few years, you’ve probably formed an opinion about whether statues and monuments honoring Confederate leaders and soldiers ought to remain in or near courthouses, town halls, state buildings, and other public property througho
