Opinion
Our Opinion: Black Hole Award shines sunlight on legislative secrecy
March 18, 2024
With its business-friendly climate and relatively low cost of living, North Carolina often lands at or near the top of national lists ranking the best states for tech startups, young families and retirees. Lawmakers have earned the Tar Heel State another distinction, but it’s not...
Winners still flirt with swing voters
March 18, 2024
Carolina Journal’s first post-primary survey is out. It shows our state’s 2024 general elections will be, as usual, quite competitive. That’s not to say North Carolina’s electorate is perfectly purple. It’s not. All other things being equal, Republicans enjoy a modest edge statewide of a...
NC’s legislative majority embraces unfiltered extremism
March 18, 2024
For decades, political operatives crafted their parties’ strategies according to the delicate tenets of the median voter theorem. The protocol was to prune and adjust controversial positions until the party’s platform aligned with the preferences of the most moderate and influential bloc in the electorate:...
Why no Poole’s in ‘Roadside Eateries’?
March 18, 2024
“I can’t find Poole’s in the revised edition of ‘North Carolina’s Roadside Eateries: A Traveler’s Guide to Local Restaurants, Diners and Barbecue Joints.’ What happened?” It is the first complaint I have gotten about the new version of “Roadside Eateries," being published by UNC Press...
Election 2024: Closer, and less important, than you probably think
March 18, 2024
Depending on whom you listen to about the constantly shifting horse race we call a U.S. presidential election, either Joe Biden or Donald Trump is always ahead or behind by a nose ... nationally. For example, a March 7-13 Ipsos/Reuters poll has Biden at 39%...
Our Opinion: ‘Hold my beer,’ Congress dares with TikTok ban
March 14, 2024
Thirteen members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation voted to block you from using TikTok unless its Chinese parent company agrees to a forced sale of the video-sharing app. Just one stood up for your right to engage with ideas on social media platforms the federal...
Our Opinion: Black Hole Award shines sunlight on legislative secrecy
March 18, 2024
With its business-friendly climate and relatively low cost of living, North Carolina often lands at or near the top of national lists ranking the best states for tech startups, young families and retirees. Lawmakers have earned the Tar Heel State another distinction, but it’s not...
Our Opinion: ‘Hold my beer,’ Congress dares with TikTok ban
March 14, 2024
Thirteen members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation voted to block you from using TikTok unless its Chinese parent company agrees to a forced sale of the video-sharing app. Just one stood up for your right to engage with ideas on social media platforms the federal...
Our Opinion: Legal hemp can’t stop car searches for marijuana
March 7, 2024
The best-trained noses can’t tell the difference between legal hemp and illegal marijuana, but at least for now, the smell of cannabis still gives police a valid reason to search your car in North Carolina. A three-judge N.C. Court of Appeals panel upheld a Sampson...
Our Opinion: Budd backs bill to block folly of ‘digital dollars’
February 29, 2024
North Carolina’s junior senator believes federal agents, IRS auditors and backroom bureaucrats have no business tracking the way you spend your money. Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., is throwing his weight behind legislation to prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency. Budd...
Our Opinion: Red light cameras face reckoning in state’s high court
February 22, 2024
Can cities shortchange public schools to pay for traffic camera systems that shake down drivers for profit? We’ll find out once and for all when the North Carolina Supreme Court weighs in. Justices heard oral arguments Wednesday in Fearrington v. City of Greenville, a case...
Our Opinion: State, not federal, law needed to stop protest roadblocks
February 19, 2024
The gridlock gripping Washington might serve as a timely reminder to tie up a loose end when state lawmakers return to Raleigh next month. U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis introduced the Safe and Open Streets Act, a bill that would establish a criminal offense for blocking...
Rep. Chesser delivers results for Nash County
February 13, 2024
I write to express my unwavering support for state Rep. Allen Chesser, whose commitment to the values and prosperity of North Carolina is unparalleled. Representative Chesser’s staunch pro-life stance is commendable; he upholds the sanctity of life as enshrined in the Bible and the Declaration...
Look to Nash Community College for support
September 5, 2023
Nash Community College has an open-door policy and is a committed resiliency-building resource for Nash County, serving the whole student body. We offer courses in basic skills, high school equivalency certificates, diplomas and degrees that can accommodate all academic levels. Our campus culture of “blue...
Nonprofit helps light path to recovery
September 5, 2023
My name is Ruth Parker. As the founder of Nikki’s Total Life Care Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, I am proud to share my journey of serving the community in the areas of mental health, substance use disorders and recovery. Over the past two and a...
Let’s lose the stigma
September 5, 2023
My name is Diane Porter and I am a certified peer support specialist. I am also co-chair of the Coalition for Addiction, Recovery and Education, or CARE. As a community member and licensed professional, I work hard to help anyone struggling with mental health or...
We need the community
September 5, 2023
My name is Lewis Johnson, a certified peer support specialist, and I’m the co-founder for Open Door Recovery located in Bailey. We are sponsored by the Bailey Church of God. Since we started in October 2020, we have helped more than 96 people and counting...
Invest in community health
September 5, 2023
My name is Savannah Junkins and I am writing in reference to the ongoing substance use disorder crisis that is significantly affecting Nash County, as well as the rest of the country. As a physician assistant in a local community health center, I treat patients...