After eight years as state treasurer of North Carolina — and prior public-service roles as school-board member, assistant commerce secretary, and four-term state legislator — Dale Folwell is running for governor in 2024. I’ll discuss Folwell and other gubernatorial candidates in another column. Today, I’m focusing on the five candidates seeking to replace him as...
Can parents sue a private school when the school expels their children merely because the parents asked questions about what is being taught and expressed concerns for their children’s health and safety? This is the question currently before the NC Court of Appeals. Our two children were expelled from their private school, Charlotte Latin, by a...
I can’t be the only one who loves a good debate. During election seasons past, I’d get as excited for a big debate as others do for a major sporting event. But there has been a sharp drop in candidates willing to participate in a classic, no-holds-barred verbal rumble. Starting at the top, former-President Donald...
As President Biden faces mounting questions about his ability to lead and govern due to his age and declining health, historic North Carolina US Senate campaigns across three decades show the perils and pitfalls these issues present at the moment and throughout history. 1992 It was my first election as a voter — November 1992. I...
“God is dead,” observed the title character of Thus Spoke Zarathustra, written by philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche in 1883. The notorious claim, often interpreted as a celebratory declaration, was not delivered as a boast. Rather, Nietzsche made his observation about a rapidly changing Western culture with a profound sense of foreboding. The fear arose from the...
In 2022, North Carolina spent $16.7 billion in state, federal, and local funds on its public schools. Those funds were distributed to local schools using 50 different funding formulas. People frequently focus on how much money was distributed, which is important. Equally important, however, is to evaluate how that money is distributed. In recent years,...
Diversify your portfolio. That’s excellent investment advice — but it applies to many more situations than you might think. After all, setting aside part of each paycheck in retirement funds or other financial assets isn’t the only way you invest now in anticipation of future returns. Indeed, unless you are fabulously wealthy or remarkably lucky,...
