On this week’s edition of “The Debrief”: State lawmakers are ramping up work for their short election-year session, and the John Locke Foundation’s CEO tackles the organization’s top legislative priorities for 2024. The head of the Civitas Center for Public Integrity addresses major election-year priorities. We also address the heavy hand of government regulation, which...
On Thursday, Sen. Ted Budd, R-NC, joined the chorus of praise for UNC's chancellor and a group of students who stepped in to protect the American flag from protesters. Nearly half a million dollars has been raised through GoFundMe for the students and country music star John Rich has offered them a free concert.
Of the handful of 2024 primary elections resulting in a runoff — in North Carolina the threshold for a primary candidate to win outright is 30% — only one involved a race for a seat in congress. That runoff race for Congressional District 13 became moot on Thursday when one of the two candidates announced...
A Harnett County sheriff’s deputy cannot face legal liability because of his role in a car repossession. A federal Appeals Court ruled Thursday that qualified immunity protected the deputy from the car owner's lawsuit.
North Carolina’s second-highest court will decide whether a state Justice Department employee violated a private police force’s rights by blocking its traffic work for an Interstate 77 toll lane project. A Superior Court judge ruled in August 2023 in favor of the private company.
Despite the seemingly countless examples of university presidents exemplifying what not to do when confronted with vile antisemitic mobs, Lee Roberts, the interim chancellor at UNC Chapel Hill, displayed unmatched boldness on behalf of students and the citizens of North Carolina this week. Roberts, who assumed the post of interim chancellor in January of this...
This week I spent some time in Edenton, North Carolina. While the scenery is amazing on a spring afternoon, the town’s history intrigues me more. This quaint harbor was the setting of one of our nation’s first revolutions organized completely by women. In 1774, the Edenton Tea Party served as a rallying cry for independence...
The decision to remove Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) statements from the hiring and admissions process at universities within the University of North Carolina (UNC) System was a step in the right direction towards cultivating a campus life that embraces viewpoint diversity, tolerance, and free speech. Proponents of this move argue that, before legislators and...
Over the past decade, the General Assembly has pursued a tax-reform strategy designed to foster growth and expand freedom in the Tar Heel State. North Carolina now has a flat-rate income tax. State taxes on both personal income and retail sales apply lower rates to broader bases. And lawmakers are in the process of phasing...
A federal judge has struck down North Carolina’s law criminalizing felon voting. The law “was enacted with discriminatory intent, has not been cleansed of its discriminatory taint, and continues to disproportionately impact Black voters,” according to a court order US District Judge Loretta Biggs issued Monday.
Rep. Jon Hardister, R-Guilford, announced Thursday that he will resign his position in the North Carolina House, telling Carolina Journal that he would not rule out a return to public service at some point in the future, but for now he will be working in the private sector.
As expected, the North Carolina Republican Party’s executive committee selected current Executive Director Jason Simmons as the new chair in Selma on Tuesday.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) certified the March 5 primary during a board meeting Tuesday.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were in Wake County to deliver speeches with Gov. Roy Cooper, a fellow Democrat, on healthcare costs. The visit comes during the week of the 14th anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act under the Obama administration.
Jeff Moore, Carolina Journal deputy editor, discusses recent developments during anti-Israel protests at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Moore offered these comments during a May 1, 2024, interview with the One America News Network.
Brianna Kraemer, Carolina Journal public policy reporter, discusses the suspension of a 16-year-old Davidson County high school student for using the words “illegal alien” in class. Kraemer offered these comments during an April 19, 2024, interview on One America News Network.
Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, discusses the N.C. Court of Appeals’ decision against Gov. Roy Cooper’s decision to keep private bars closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kokai offered these comments during the April 19, 2024, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”
CJ story on suspended high school student goes viral nationwide, Citizen-only voting might be on your ballot, VinFast is going in reverse, and UNC maybe getting rid of DEI, all on this week’s Debrief!
Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, discusses the latest Carolina Journal Poll numbers in North Carolina’s races for president and governor. King offered these comments during the April 12, 2024, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”
On Thursday, Sen. Ted Budd, R-NC, joined the chorus of praise for UNC's chancellor and a group of students who stepped in to protect the American flag from protesters. Nearly half a million dollars has been raised through GoFundMe for the students and country music star John Rich has offered them a free concert.
Tuesday on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill, protesters broke through police barricades to lower the American flag in the main quad and fly the flag of Palestine instead. Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts then walked to the quad surrounded by law enforcement officers to put the American flag back up. Counter-protesters surrounded the flagpole and chanted "USA," thanking Roberts for his intervention.
If you’ve been on a North Carolina college campus in recent days, you likely heard chants like “Israel is a terrorist state,” “from the river to the sea,” “How many kids did you kill today?,” intifada revolution,” “glory to the martyrs,” “queers for Palestine,” and other provocative and ignorant slogans. These protesters chant while waving...
The North Carolina State University (NCSU) Board of Trustees University adopted a resolution Friday reaffirming the University’s commitment to freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and institutional neutrality. The resolution comes as college campuses around the country, several in North Carolina, experience disruptive protests related to the Israel/Gaza conflict. Chairman of the board, Ed Weisiger...
Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, discusses Disney’s controversial programming changes. King offered these comments during the April 8, 2022, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “Front Row with Marc Rotterman.”
Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, discusses the New York Times’ column warning about America’s “free-speech problem.” Kokai offered these comments during the March 25, 2022, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “Front Row with Marc Rotterman.”
Canadian professor, author, and psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson on Thursday offered a non-political and largely academic lecture on the psychology of beauty, dreams, and purpose. The reaction from city officials and activists to the address at the Durham Performing Arts Center was night-and-day from the one leading up to his appearance four years earlier. It...
As the Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine continues to escalate, North Carolina’s local Ukrainian population is rallying to bring attention to the suffering of people in their homeland and to gather supplies to help them. Donna Goldstein, co-president of the Ukrainian Association of North Carolina, finds herself at the forefront of these efforts. Goldstein has...
The fourth estate, journalism, is racing to receivership unless we can rescue it from its rapacious self. The hubris hasn’t always been this bad, this blatant, or this biased, yet it worsens daily. In the town I grew up in, Nashville, Tennessee, there were two newspapers in the 1950s and 1960s, one for the morning,...