Raleigh
Bob Etheridge’s Vision
Bob Etheridge stepped to the podium, grasped the microphone and intoned solemnly, ‘This is a defining moment in history’ – then the next words out of his mouth were he’s running for Governor. Because, he added, as the son of a Harnett County tenant farmer he understands North Carolina’s ‘journey.’ Where on earth…
Read MoreTalking About GenZers
I’m one of the GenGeezers attending this year’s Emerging Issues Forum about GenZers – those born 1990-on. They’re facing a changing and challenging economy. Their jobs will last an average of four years. They have an average college debt of $20,000. One-third of them are obese or overweight. They send an average of 3,000-plus…
Read MoreThe Democratic ‘Old Guard’
Governor Perdue didn’t call a press conference or step to a microphone, instead she pulled up the drawbridge to the Governor’s mansion then sent out a short message saying she wasn’t running for Governor – which Democrats, with quiet politeness, greeted with a sigh of relief because the most unpopular Governor in memory was no…
Read MoreA Sign
The two things that matter most in a political campaign are being right with the Lord and money. Today, candidates in the Republican Primary for Congress in the 13th District filed their year-end FEC reports. They showed total income for each campaign: George Holding: $462,500. Paul Coble: $135,200. Now, before I go any…
Read MoreKnightdale Builds a Bridge
Over in Knightdale they’re building a million dollar footbridge over the Neuse River so residents can walk or jog or cycle down the Neuse River Greenway Trail, meandering through what they call a ‘wilderness area.’ Even better, if you’re from Knightdale, the million dollar bridge is free because Washington and state government are paying for…
Read MoreSchool Bells or Alarm Bells?
I don’t know enough to judge the changes the new Wake school board is making in the assignment plan. Of course, I’m inclined to trust the new members – and distrust anything the old majority did. But I’m bothered. In the board elections last year and two years ago, voters rebelled against too…
Read MoreA Barn Raising
The other day in the newspaper, below an article about unemployment, there was another article headlined “NCSU chancellor gets ‘a great venue.’” Now, someone thought very carefully about the choice of that word ‘venue.’ North Carolina State University has a problem. Because building a new $3.5 million house for its chancellor in the…
Read MorePure Spin
Last month, the state’s economy didn’t grow and create new jobs but unemployment went down. How is that possible? Well, look at it this way: Imagine you’re a politician running for reelection and you’re praying your policies work and unemployment drops but the Labor Department just insists on putting out pesky figures that make…
Read MoreThe Last Word
After he read the stories in the News and Observer about the hospital war in Raleigh between Wake Med and UNC Health Care, a retired health care administrator wrote in the newspaper that years ago Mayo Clinic founder William J. Mayo had said, “The best interest of the patient is the only interest to be…
Read MoreSubmarine Maneuvers
Twenty years ago SBI agent and blood-splatter expert Duane Deaver withheld evidence in a murder trial in Raleigh and an innocent man went to prison. Later, in a murder trial in Johnston County a federal judge ruled that Deaver had given “false and misleading testimony.” Then a few days ago Judge Orlando Hudson…
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