If North Carolina bans smokable hemp, hundreds of farmers will lose money on their crops — and faith in their legislators, says Blake Butler, executive director of the N.C. Industrial Hemp Association. Hemp and marijuana are different plants, but some House lawmakers want to throw…
Hubert Humphrey once said, “The ultimate moral test of any government is the way it treats three groups of its citizens. First, those in the dawn of life — our children. Second, those in the shadows of life — our needy, our sick, our handicapped. Third, those in the twilight…
I met Leanne Powell on a searing hot June day in 2016, as I was writing “Still & Barrel.” She popped out of a newer-model Camaro — I can’t remember the color — dressed all in black. She wore a long skirt and a T-shirt…
State lawmakers, to their credit, have started to listen. The loudest proponents of alcohol reform in North Carolina — lawmakers such as Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson, and Sen. Rick Gunn, R-Alamance — now have their colleagues’ unwavering attention. Finally. Breweries and wineries…
A dispute over a K-3 reading contract is heating up after the company at the center of the controversy, Istation, sent a cease-and-desist letter to three people who have publicly criticized a decision to grant the contract to Istation. “The cease…
A bill N.C. craft distillers see as a game-changer regarding how they do business and how they can grow their businesses is headed to the governor. The N.C. Senate, which had already approved Senate Bill 290, concurred with House changes in…
A move to keep funding state programs that count on federal money is moving through the General Assembly. Senate Republicans announced their plans in a news conference Tuesday, July 16. Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, and Sen. Harry Brown, R-Onslow, say federal dollars shouldn’t…
North Carolina continues to see growth in homeschooling, charter schools, and private schools, a recent report from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction says. The report shows more than 80,000 additional students have chosen an educational option beyond their locally assigned district school between 2008…
Partisan gerrymandering returns to state court Monday, July 15, for a battle that could stretch over weeks. On the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision that federal judges should step out of squabbles over partisan redistricting, there is Common Cause v. Lewis.
Imagine if you could buy a home with no debt. Wouldn’t you do that? State government has the option to do something similar with the State Capital and Infrastructure Fund, but Gov. Roy Cooper prefers debt. Both the legislature and the governor agree the…
