RALEIGH — During the first few months of America’s war for independence, the British redcoats occupying the rebellious city of Boston won one major battle (for Bunker Hill and nearby Breed’s Hill, on June 17, 1775) as well as several minor skirmishes. But the Continental Army, under its new commander George Washington, kept the occupiers bottled up in the city. If the Americans ever managed to place cannons onto the heights overlooking the harbor, the British authorities realized, their position in Boston would become untenable.
RALEIGH — North Carolina’s economy just posted a sizzling 5.6% growth rate. Since 2020, average income per North Carolinian rose faster than the national and regional averages. And our headline unemployment rate in December was 3.9% — quite low by historical standards.
RALEIGH — With the 2026 primaries rapidly approaching, you may well live in a jurisdiction where Democrats or Republicans are actively contesting nominations for Congress, state legislature, or local office. All voters can, of course, play a role in setting the table for this year’s U.S. Senate contest.
RALEIGH — I’m an early riser. I have been since early adulthood — long, long before any hungry children, or a certain German Shepherd, came along to command my early-morning attention.
RALEIGH — According to folklore, extraordinary beings resent being confined within ordinary spaces. In “The Fisherman and the Jinni,” one of the stories Sheherazade tells her misguided husband in One Thousand and One Nights, the being in question is so angry at being imprisoned for centuries in a bottle that he has to be tricked into granting wishes rather than killing his lowly liberator outright. In Disney’s Aladdin, the genie isn’t so vengeful but still describes his confinement as “phenomenal cosmic powers” uncomfortably crammed into an “itty bitty living space.”
RALEIGH — Here are three stories about North Carolina’s economy that made headlines last week — each undeniably newsworthy and yet each requiring more information to put in proper historical context.
RALEIGH — Like it or not, the 2026 election cycle is in full swing. For North Carolina’s March 3 primary, voters are already mailing in absentee ballots to help determine party nominees for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, the state legislature, state courts, and many local offices. The deadline for registering to vote in the primary is February 6. Early in-person voting begins on February 12 and lasts until February 28.
RALEIGH — I admit that I am not a career academic. But I have taught at the university level for many years, and leadership classes for decades. I can’t imagine any scenario in which sharing my course outlines or syllabi with the general public would impair my freedom, effectiveness, or reputation.
RALEIGH — North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) had created a 23-member select committee to evaluate potential reforms of the state’s property-tax system. That is a fine idea, a sensible reaction to surging property values and changing fiscal conditions. But members ought not be distracted by out-of-state chatter about repealing the property tax entirely. That is a bad idea, destined to fail.
RALEIGH — It was 250 years ago this week that a displaced governor issued a proclamation intended to restore him to power in North Carolina. Instead, it led to the first major engagement of the Revolutionary War in the Southern colonies — and a decisive defeat for his cause.
RALEIGH — One benefit of getting married on New Year’s Eve is that our anniversary is unlikely to slip my mind. If you doubt my capacity to forget so important a date, just ask my wife.
