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Opinion

Winners still flirt with swing voters

Winners still flirt with swing voters

Audio Article

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

NC’s legislative majority embraces unfiltered extremism

Audio Article

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’?

Why no Poole’s in ‘Roadside Eateries’?

Audio Article

“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

Election 2024: Closer, and less important, than you probably think

Audio Article

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%...

Judges see past Cooper’s rhetoric in appointments battle

Judges see past Cooper’s rhetoric in appointments battle

Audio Article

Lawyers for Gov. Roy Cooper labeled the changes “shocking” and “breathtaking.” The governor himself complained about a “blatantly unconstitutional legislative power grab.” But a bipartisan group of Superior Court judges saw a much different picture. In a unanimous Feb. 28 decision, the judges rejected most...

NC’s political right promotes conspiracy theories and secrecy

NC’s political right promotes conspiracy theories and secrecy

Audio Article

This week is Sunshine Week — the 20th such annual celebration of open government principles and accomplishments since the event was conceived and launched in 2005 by the American Society of News Editors. And if there was ever a time in which all aspects of...

Why is David Marshburn running?

Why is David Marshburn running?

Audio Article

For the sake of argument, let’s concede that David Marshburn moved to 708 S. Robertson St. in Clayton to run for a seat on the Johnston County Board of Education. But why? Why go to the bother of moving? Mr. Marshburn could have waited two...

It won’t be merit pay if all town employees get the same amount

It won’t be merit pay if all town employees get the same amount

Audio Article

We trust this year won’t be the norm. The Clayton Town Council had planned in 2023 to launch merit pay for town employees. But late-arriving software made it impossible for all employees to complete the required software training in time, so merit pay couldn’t launch...

Is Selma just a one-man show?

Is Selma just a one-man show?

Audio Article

S ome folks in Selma are growing weary — and wary — of the Byron McAllister Show. We’ve heard their chorus of critical reviews: Selma government under McAllister is a one-man play, with the mayor as playwright, director and lead actor. His fellow council members...

Our Opinion: Smithfield should let developers opt out of sidewalks to nowhere

Our Opinion: Smithfield should let developers opt out of sidewalks to nowhere

Audio Article

On Market Street in West Smithfield, a concrete sidewalk runs in front of Ample Storage. Smithfield Planning Director Stephen Wensman would call it a sidewalk to nowhere. And he’d be right. To one side of Ample Storage is the shopping center that’s home to Food...

Johnston groups join forces on two murals

Johnston groups join forces on two murals

Audio Article

Over the past year, the group Friends of Johnston County Parks has worked with the Johnston County Arts Council on an outdoor mural project. With financial assistance from the Arts Council, the Friends embarked on their first art-meets-nature initiative. The Friends hired muralists to paint...