Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
I admired Roy Parker Jr. so much I almost moved to Fayetteville. Roy, who died this week, was one of North Carolina’s great reporters and editors. He was founding editor of the Fayetteville Times. Back in the 1960s, he was a political reporter at The News & Observer – and a classic newsroom character.…
Read MoreLost in the desert, North Carolina Democrats should learn from scripture and history that you need a Moses to lead you to the Promised Land. In 1948, Kerr Scott led the farmers’ revolt against the bankers and utilities executives who ran things. In 1960, Terry Sanford mobilized the WWII vets against Luther Hodges’ conservatives…
Read MoreA TAPster offers these observations on “the nasty civil war between the legislature and cities, now manifesting itself in high-profile fisticuffs over the Charlotte airport authority and the fate of the Dix property in Raleigh,” as follows: “First, there have been other disputes like this over the years. Charlotte leaders (including the former mayor…
Read MoreNot once, not twice, but three times now, Governor McCrory has given money to charity that his campaign took from people facing criminal charges related to sweepstakes cafes. That’s $18,000 so far, AP reports. Which raises the question: Why did he take all that money in the first place? Surely his campaign…
Read MoreGovernor McCrory desperately wants to look moderate. He wants to distance himself from the right-wing red-hots in the legislature. If he doesn’t, he’s on the road to one term. So he went to great lengths to soften his budget proposal. The News & Observer editorialized: “State employees, teachers, Democrats and others unnerved by…
Read MoreWith much fanfare just before she left office Governor Perdue announced she’d made a grand deal to lease Raleigh all of the land at Dix Hospital for 99 years. When the deal landed in the newspapers, a friend, who’s spent a good part of his life buying and selling real estate, called, laughed and said,…
Read MoreHas public opinion – and politicians – ever shifted so fast on an issue as on gay marriage? A year ago, 60 percent of North Carolina voters approved a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Yesterday, a U.S. Senator in a tough reelection fight endorsed gay marriage. Yes, Kay Hagan is one of a…
Read MoreWhen President Gerald Ford nixed financial aid for New York City back in the 1970s, the front page of a brassy Big Apple tabloid blared: “Ford to City: Drop Dead.” Which brings us to the Republican bill undoing the Dix deal. Which brings us to two GOP Senators from Wake County who cut and…
Read MoreAs if Senator Kay Hagan needed Michael Bloomberg sticking his Gotham billionaire gun-control nose in her race. Hagan already has a tough reelection fight. She’s one of the Obama Class of 2008 Senators. And a President’s second mid-term election historically is bad for his party. (Not always, though. Republicans thought they would be…
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