At Carolina Journal and The John Locke Foundation, staff members can often be found on weekends with their noses in a book. There are few better smells in this world than that of ink and paper with a little salt air and sunscreen mixed in. As you hit North Carolina’s glorious beaches this year, stick a few of these in your bag for that after dinner conversation.
Tom and Whitney Durrant have faced some unique challenges as first-generation farmers in a post-pandemic world, and alpacas are one of their unique solutions. Durrant Farms is on 86 acres just outside of Asheville. When the Durrants purchased the farm, it was in pretty bad shape. They have rehabilitated several pastures and renovated a small apartment...
A federal judge has dismissed a High Point woman’s lawsuit against state and Raleigh law enforcement officers connected to her arrest at a 2020 COVID shutdown protest. Monica Ussery had argued that the arrest violated her constitutional rights.
State legislative leaders are appealing a federal judge’s recent ruling striking down part of a North Carolina law restricting access to the abortion pill mifespristone. Lawmakers filed their notice of appeal Thursday, one week after the US Supreme Court rejected a separate challenge to the drug from abortion opponents working with the Alliance Defending Freedom.
Congressman Richard Hudson, R, NC-09, along with fellow Republican congressmen Pat Fallon, TX, and Jimmy Panetta, CA, are seeking answers from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin about what the Department of Defense is doing about the recent rise in incidents of foreign nationals attempting to infiltrate US military installations or spy on military personnel across the country.
Hospitals undoubtedly provide services that are difficult to finance. But forcing patients to pay more for unrelated services is an extraordinarily indirect way to subsidize them.
Any political coalition broad enough to obtain and wield power will necessarily include multiple factions. Our Founders found ways to work together despite their many differences. We can, too — and should.
Arkansas and Tennessee recently passed laws that force pharmacies to divest from owning affiliated companies. North Carolina lawmakers would be wise not to follow their lead.
Many have absorbed a view that the poor, the weak, and the downtrodden are pure of heart and should be presumed to be in the right; and the rich, the strong, and the ones imposing their will should be presumed to be in the wrong.
The year 2024 was marked by significant developments across politics, the economy, education, and energy in North Carolina. As one of the nation’s most dynamic and closely watched states, it played a pivotal role in shaping regional and national conversations.
"Dan has been a tireless fighter for our MAGA Movement in the House of Representatives on the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees," Trump said in a press release issued Tuesday night. "Dan will implement my cost-cutting and deregulatory agenda across all Agencies, and root out the Weaponized Deep State."
The North Carolina Democratic Party filed a lawsuit Friday to ensure challenges of 60,000 ballots in the state's latest election are addressed in federal court. Republicans filed the challenges with the State Board of Elections. The challenges could affect the outcome of the state Supreme Court race between Democrat Allison Riggs and Jefferson Griffin, along with a handful of state legislative contests.
Republican North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin is turning to North Carolina’s second-highest court for an order that would force state election officials to make a final decision about Griffin’s election protests Tuesday. The State Board of Elections had planned to hear oral arguments about the protests the following day, according to a document Griffin filed Friday with the state Court of Appeals.
A federal judge will allow state and national Republican groups to move forward with their lawsuit challenging 225,000 voter registrations in North Carolina. An order issued Friday denied requests from the State Board of Elections and Democratic National Committee to have the case dismissed.
In this Carolina Journal interview, CaptiveAire founder and president Bob Luddy discusses how tariffs have affected his commercial HVAC manufacturing company and the broader business community. Luddy says CaptiveAire is spending roughly $15 million annually on tariffs, largely on internationally sourced components such as motors, compressors, electronics, and filtration products that he says are not...
Danny Batten, owner of outdoor retailer Surf, Wind, & Fire, which has locations in both New Bern and Edenton, spoke on a panel for the John Locke Foundation about the impact of tariffs on his small business and comparative advantage.
This week on The Debrief, the world comes to Asheville as G20 finance leaders gather to confront Iran, global trade, debt, and economic growth. We examine new Medicaid work and renewal requirements that could affect hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians and the legal fight pitting North Carolina against the Trump administration’s tariffs. Plus, an...
Jeff Moore, John Locke Foundation vice president of communications, discusses the negative impact of North Carolina’s certificate-of-need law on state healthcare costs. Moore offered these comments during the Aug. 28, 2026, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”
President Donald Trump’s tariff policies have returned to the headlines because of a recent spat with Canada. Carolina Journal published this week the first in a series of articles about tariffs’ real-world impacts in North Carolina. We chat with the series author about her findings. State legislators are gone from Raleigh for the summer but...
Human flourishing requires a political culture that nurtures freedom and a civic culture that nurtures family and fertility.
I want to see children reading — that is my great and lasting desire. I want to see them fuel their imaginations and feed their hunger for knowledge. And I sincerely believe that books can do this for them in ways other things never will.
Today, political division in our country runs high — with mass media channels across the country harnessing words like "dictator" and "fascist" to describe our political leaders. This vocabulary of tyranny has become diluted in its meaning, and in cheapening it we insult the millions who live under the genuine article in countries like Turkmenistan.
The choice is no longer between diversity and merit. The real choice is between superficial diversity that checks boxes and meaningful diversity that delivers results.
To restore healthy public discourse, each of us must become better listeners. Civil discourse is not a competition with winners and losers; it is a deliberate and respectful exchange of ideas.
Outrage won’t solve our problems. And it won’t prepare us for tomorrow. What is needed now is a sense of redemption and reasons to feel hopeful.
What YMCA's Youth and Government program is doing is remarkable. This year’s conference garnered interest from NC state legislators, mayors, policy analysts, and state officials.
Times change. When we introduce IOPL to potential fellows, partners, and donors, some hear the word “political” and think “toxic,” or at least “partisan.”
Like a faith gathering, it incorporated music, fellowship, shared meals, and thoughtful discourse — but with democracy as its central theme.