Republicans push to remove literacy test from state Constitution

State Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, wants to remove the state's Jim Crow-era literacy test for voters. It "ought to be out of our constitution," Berger said. In 1900, during Jim Crow, the literacy test requirement was added to the state Constitution.

Alex Baltzegar

US Appeals Court backs WakeMed in fight over car crash victims’ benefits

A unanimous federal Appeals Court panel has upheld a lower court’s ruling favoring WakeMed in a dispute with car crash victims. Appellate judges ruled that the hospital did not deceive patients when asking them to sign certain forms in exchange for treatment.

Critics of Currituck’s occupancy tax spending bolster N.C. Appeals Court case

Opponents of the way Currituck County uses occupancy tax proceeds offered their final written arguments Monday to the N.C. Court of Appeals. The court will hear oral arguments in the case next week.

Russian hackers allegedly take down Duke University Hospital’s website

Russian hackers were allegedly behind a cyberattack that took down 14 hospital systems websites across the country Monday, including Duke University Hospital in Durham.

Theresa Opeka

Common Cause rejects request for new N.C. Supreme Court redistricting hearing as ‘frivolous’

Left-of-center activist group Common Cause is urging the N.C. Supreme Court to reject a new hearing in the Harper v. Hall redistricting case. In paperwork filed Monday, Common Cause labels the request from Republican state legislative leaders a “frivolous petition.”

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Opinion

‘Groundhog Day’ is more than a comedy about a dopey weatherman

In my role at a politics-focused newspaper, there aren’t a lot of opportunities to play movie critic. But it’s Groundhog Day… again, and the 1993 movie bearing that name is among my favorites, so I’ll take the liberty just this once. Or maybe it’s not such a departure from business as usual, as a quick...

David Larson

Freedom is the solution, not the problem

The “problem” with freedom is that other people may do things that trouble, annoy, or even anger you. In a free society, you have no legitimate authority to stop them. Strictly speaking, that’s not a problem. It’s a solution. Throughout human history, much suffering has derived from a lack of freedom. One faction obtained government...

John Hood

Solar power is the IKEA of energy production

We all appreciate IKEA for its mostly simple-to-assemble, cost-effective furniture. IKEA almost entirely furnished the first apartment I had back in 2010. It was a quick solution to my furniture needs. While the furniture I purchased “performed as expected,” it was not the best quality. It worked fine for a few years but then needed...

André Béliveau

Did the pandemic change income inequality?

Decades from now, people who lived through the pandemic will remember it as a horrible period. Over a million people in our country died, with millions more sick but still surviving. Thousands of businesses closed forever, learning was lost in schools, and lives were disrupted in multiple ways. But could there be some positive impacts...

Michael L. Walden

Ohio case could help clarify legal issues set out in Moore v. Harper

A redistricting fight in the Buckeye State raises similar questions to those in North Carolina's high-profile U.S. Supreme Court case.

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Elections

McHenry rejects ‘wokeness’ allegations in Financial Services Committee agenda

"North Carolinians made it clear last November when they helped elect a Republican House majority that woke mandates and progressive posturing was not their priority. That’s why, one of my first acts as Chairman was to eliminate that Subcommittee and put in its place a Subcommittee on Digital Assets,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-NC10.

Moss announces plan to run for Labor Commissioner

N.C. Rep. Ben Moss, R-Moore, announced on Tuesday that he intends to run for North Carolina Commissioner of Labor in 2024. The announcement comes after current Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson announced at the December Council of State meeting that he will not seek re-election.

DeSantis edges Trump 56% to 35% in new poll of N.C. GOP primary voters

A new poll of likely Republican voters in North Carolina gives Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a 56% to 35% lead over former President Donald Trump in a potential matchup in the 2024 primary. The first contests in the primary are more than 13 months away, but that isn’t stopping intense speculation about who on the Republican...

David N. Bass

Rep. Jon Hardister is eyeing commissioner of Labor role

As soon as first-term Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson made the surprise announcement that he would not run again, Guilford County state Rep. Jon Hardister, a Republican, began hearing from supporters that he should consider the role. Contacted this week, Hardister told CJ he is highly motivated to seek the position after a successful decade in...

McHenry named chairman of U.S. House Financial Services Committee

U.S. Congressman Patrick McHenry, representing North Carolina's 10th Congressional District, has been officially named the new chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, after serving on the committee since first elected in 2005.

On polls, Hispanics, and the suburbs

In much of the country, the Republican Party fell well short of expectations in the 2022 midterms. Flawed GOP nominees in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Nevada, and Arizona lost winnable races for U.S. Senate, thus consigning their party to another two years in the minority. Democrats lost their U.S. House majority but only by a sliver...

John Hood

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GOP lays down the law. Dems work the refs

New state Supreme Court justices take oaths, flip control to Republicans

Videos

Locke’s Andre Beliveau testifies about N.C. Senate’s Parents’ Bill of Rights

Andre Beliveau, John Locke Foundation strategic projects and government affairs manager, testifies about Senate Bill 49, Parents’ Bill of RIghts, during a Feb. 1, 2023, committee meeting. Video courtesy of ncleg.gov.

André Béliveau

Carolina Journal’s Donna King analyzes debate over Leandro education funding

Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, discusses the debate over funding the Leandro education spending plan in North Carolina. King offered these comments during the Jan. 27, 2023, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”

Former Gorbachev adviser Yuri Maltsev discusses ‘curse’ of Russia’s natural resources in 2013

Economist Yuri Maltsev, an adviser to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev before a 1989 defection to the United States, died in January 2023. In April 2013 Maltsev spoke with Carolina Journal Radio about the “curse” of Russia’s abundant natural resources.

Locke’s Mitch Kokai assesses AG Stein’s entry into 2024 N.C. governor’s race

Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, discusses N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein’s announcement that he’s running for governor in 2024. Kokai offered these comments during the Jan. 20, 2023, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”

Watergate Exposed: Revisiting the national scandal 50 years later

January 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Watergate investigation. President Nixon had been seeking reelection. His “burglars” broke into the Watergate building and planted listening devices to learn about his opponent. His hardball politics soon caught up with him. A year-long investigation ensued, and Nixon eventually resigned rather than face impeachment....

Carolina Journal’s Donna King discusses 2023 N.C. legislative leaders

Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, discusses top leaders of the N.C. General Assembly for 2023-24. King offered these comments during the inaugural Jan. 13, 2013, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”

Culture

Report shows spike in suicide ideation, depression among NC youth

portrait. On a wide range of metrics, young people today report feeling worse off than their counterparts a decade ago, underscoring the impacts of the pandemic and shifting cultural winds.

David N. Bass

S.C. founding father at center of U.S. Supreme Court election case

One of South Carolina's early governors – and one of the nation's most controversial founding fathers – is taking center stage in a critical U.S. Supreme Court case this week that could fundamentally alter the control of federal congressional elections.

Lawsuit: Big Media and Big Tech conspired to block COVID news

An anti-trust lawsuit was filed this week against legacy media giants and big tech companies for their collusive agreement to shut down anti-vaccine coverage during the height of the COVID pandemic. Associated Press, Reuters, BBC, Washington Post, Meta, Microsoft, and Google censored coverage questioning the safety and efficacy of COVID vaccines.

Tillis, Burr help pass same-sex marriage bill

North Carolina U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis has been working on fellow Republicans to support the Respect for Marriage Act, and found success Tuesday as it passed the chamber, 61-36. The U.S. House is expected to pass the bill by the end of the year. It will then go to President Biden's desk for signature. Opponents say it puts a target on religious organizations.

Carolina Journal’s Donna King asks Senate leader Berger about abortion bills

Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, asks Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, about potential abortion legislation in the 2023 N.C. legislative session. This exchange took place during the Nov. 25, 2022, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “Front Row with Marc Rotterman.”

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Civil Society

Carolina Journal’s Donna King discusses Disney going ‘woke’

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.”

Locke’s Mitch Kokai discusses New York Times’ warning about free speech

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.”

Jordan Peterson returns to Durham 4 years after city moves to ‘cancel’ him

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...

David Larson

Ukrainian people in N.C. rally to support homeland

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...

David Larson

Why the Fourth Estate is in receivership

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,...

Mark Herring