On the cover

• New year, new look

• Carolina Journal welcomes new publisher

 

News

• General Assembly leaves town without a budget, Page 2

• Polls, Page 2

• Quick Takes, Pages 4-7

• Lawsuit over transparency no guarantee UNC changes its approach toward records, Page 8

• Eleven former lawmakers want their old gigs back, Page 9

• Lawmakers leaving in 2020, Pages 10-11

• New consent order in Leandro case sets stage action, Page 12

• Duke lobbyist said Cooper aide was untruthful, Page 13

 

Features

• Danielle Robinson: New group challenges Democratic dominance among African-American voters, Page 14

 

Opinion

• Terry Stoops commentary: An agenda for the next state superintendent, Page 15

• Kristen Blair commentary: The secrets of success: More sadness, anxiety in high achievers, Page 16

• Chloe Anagnos commentary: Job skills students need that colleges don’t teach, Page 17

• Shannon Watkins commentary: Loosening social justice’s iron grip on academia, Page 17

• Becki Gray commentary: People of North Carolina, don’t despair: We have a budget, Page 18

• Mitch Kokai commentary: Ruling helps make the case for expanding parental choice, Page 19

• Editorial: Partisan battle extends beyond suburbs, Page 20

• John Trump commentary: ‘It’s always something:’ Alcohol industry always preparing for the worst, Page 22

• Michael Walden commentary: Ten economic lessons for 2020, Page 23

• Andy Taylor commentary: No more water’s edge: All politics are domestic, Page 23

• Jordan Roberts commentary: The two fronts of health care reform, Page 24

 

Commentary by John Hood

• Competition needed in health care, Page 2

• Busing not making a comeback, Page 21

• Selective tax cuts are unwise, Page 21