Drive for N.C. sports betting bill stalls in House
The N.C. Senate bill that would legalize sports betting on phones and at various venues is stuck in the House, and it may not see action until next year’s session.
john locke foundation
N.C. COVID cases trending down, but experts say we will learn to live with virus
COVID-19 cases in North Carolina may actually be decreasing, even as media hysteria and local mask mandates rage on.
OPINION: Cooper’s all in on critical race theory
Even in North Carolina, the rejection of fundamental American principles thunders ahead. The proof? Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed an anti-critical race theory bill on Sept. 10. If one reads the text, it’s hard to imagine political leaders opposing these principles a few years ago. Simply put, the bill works to reinforce the American tenets of equality and our E Pluribus Unum motto.
Redistricting public hearings held across the state
The N.C. General Assembly kicked off a month-long series of 13 public redistricting hearings held across the state. State legislative and congressional districts are redrawn every ten years using new data from the U.S. Census report. This year, the data was delayed due to difficulties collecting it during the COVID pandemic. Still, results showed that N.C. has growing by 9.5 percent in the past decade, faster than the national average of 7.4 percent. The results give N.C. a 14th congressional seat.
GOP lawmakers fire back after judge sets arbitrary funding deadline in Leandro
Republican budget writers in the General Assembly are bristling after the judge in the long-running Leandro school funding case set an arbitrary deadline of Oct. 18 for lawmakers to fund the court-ordered plan.
Make licensing reform a priority
According to the most-recent ranking I can find, North Carolina requires state-approved licenses in more occupations (nearly 200) than most other states do. North Carolina licenses twice as many occupations as Virginia does, and three times as many as South Carolina.
Billboards call on teachers to leave NCAE, get a $500 raise
A statewide campaign launched by the John Locke Foundation — publisher of The Carolina Journal — urges public school teachers to save $500 in dues each year by leaving the partisan N.C. Association of Educators.
Proposed OBX offshore wind farm full of risks, hits snag with fishermen
Avangrid Renewables wants to erect 69 wind turbines, spread out over 50,000 acres, 27 miles offshore of Corolla, North Carolina.
N.C. unaffiliated voters souring on Biden, split on masks, vaccine
A new poll of North Carolina unaffiliated voters shows President Joe Biden is tanking with voters who claim no allegiance to any political party.
Biden’s tumble unnerves Democrats
In a nationwide Reuters/Ipsos poll taken on August 11 and 12, approximately 51% of Americans approved of President Joe Biden’s job performance, while 43% disapproved. Just one week later, the same pollster found a strikingly different result: 46% approval, 49% disapproval.
Poll: Voters’ trust in authorities sinks, as do Cooper’s approval ratings
A new Civitas Poll of 600 likely voters conducted between Aug. 13 and Aug. 16 produced one of the more interesting survey results in recent memory. That’s according to John Locke Foundation senior political analyst Mitch Kokai, who discussed the poll results with JLF president and chief strategy officer Donald Bryson on Thursday, Aug. 19.
Bills, now in committee, snip away at barriers to entry in cosmetology
At Alexander Paul Institute of Hair Design in Greenville, N.C., students are looking toward the future. Here they learn to cut, curl, and color hair, but also tend to customers and build their client base — all the skills they will need for a lucrative career in cosmetology and other personal services.