North Carolina can add another item to its crowded shelf of accolades: according to a newly updated study, our state’s road system ranks second in the nation in performance and cost-effectiveness. The Reason Foundation has just released the 27th Annual Highway Report. It was brainchild of my longtime friend and colleague, the late UNC-Charlotte professor...
North Carolina Democrats desperately needed a fresh-faced 29-year-old Tricia Cotham to succeed when she was appointed to Mecklenburg Counties House District 100 in 2007. The North Carolina Democratic Party was mired in corruption and scandal. The North Carolina Democrat party WAS the face of corruption and scandal. The North Carolina Democrats were the jailbird caucus. Cotham...
Throughout the heated North Carolina Medicaid expansion debate, one word was repeated time and again: supply. Opponents of expansion cited the health care professional shortage as a serious concern that would be exacerbated if over 600,000 individuals were added to the Medicaid rolls. Thankfully, there are some policy reforms that can help alleviate the health-care...
Five months after its latest major ruling in North Carolina’s Leandro case, the N.C. Supreme Court is on track to consider the long-running education funding dispute again. Perhaps this time the court will display a stronger regard for the constitutional separation of powers.
This year, DreamWorks’ “The Prince of Egypt” turns 25. Despite being made in a previous generation, my children love watching it. And by this point, I am fairly certain each of my children knows most, if not all, the lyrics to each song. It’s a work of cinematic art that has likely secured its place...
I started writing my column for North Carolina newspapers in 1986. From the start, I resolved to focus primarily on state and local issues. Newspapers were already chock-full of opinions about national politics and international affairs. As a then-college student, I didn’t think my views on these topics would be distinctive enough to interest editors...
Like similar efforts in the past, a bill in this year’s legislature attempts to move the task of notifying the public of important government actions from privately owned newspapers to a government website. In a recent op-ed, the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Michael Lazzara, leans into recycled myths and half-truths about the newspaper industry while pleading...
During N.C. Senate hearings on the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, one particular moment jumped out that showed just how much the momentum has shifted in recent years. While discussing whether biological boys should be allowed to compete on girls’ teams and change in their locker rooms, Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, D-Wake, asked the bill sponsor,...
