Two N.C. State University researchers say the university has silenced them because they’ve raised concerns about potential negative impacts from utility-scale solar energy projects in North Carolina. In a Carolina Journal exclusive, Associate Editor Dan Way has documented evidence of the university’s efforts to downplay the researchers’ work. North Carolina has attracted national attention in recent years because of the positive effects of its tax reforms. Joseph Henchman, executive vice president of the Tax Foundation, explains why North Carolina’s reforms offer a good example for other states across the country. Henchman also discusses other reforms state officials could pursue in the future. North Carolinians pay about $10 billion a year in property taxes. Julie Tisdale, the John Locke Foundation’s city and county policy analyst, has examined how local governments use that tax revenue across the state. She recently shared her findings during a presentation for the John Locke Foundation’s Shaftesbury Society. North Carolina’s unemployment rate has dropped by more than one full percentage point during the past year, dropping most recently to 4.2 percent. But that headline rate masks wide variations among the 100 counties. N.C. State University economist Michael Walden has examined county-by-county rates. He explains why some counties are seeing excellent employment news while others continue to struggle years after the Great Recession. Home schools educated more than 127,000 North Carolina students in the last academic year, while private school enrollment topped 100,000 for the first time. This growth prompted Terry Stoops, the John Locke Foundation’s vice president for research, to recommend that North Carolina adopt a new nickname: The School Choice State. Stoops examines the enrollment trends and explains why more parents are seeking alternatives to traditional public district schools.
Carolina Journal Radio No. 742: N.C. State researchers say school silenced their solar views
Related
State forecasts $1.4 billion budget surplus
The North Carolina General Assembly's Fiscal Research Division projects that while inflation and interest rates are still up, the state will have $400 million over in collections in the current fiscal year and $1 billion additional revenue coming into the state coffers in FY 2024-25.
Wake up call: Student suspended for saying ‘illegal alien’
Most people recognize the absurdity of "birthing person" or "uterus owners" in activists' social media posts. But the degradation of the English language and the shift of common culture happens in baby steps, ones we often don't recognize until after they've happened.
Job needs propel college reforms
I’ve long been bullish on North Carolina’s community colleges. In the past, I’ve praised the system’s cost-effectiveness, its capacity to serve nontraditional students, and the impressive labor-market returns for associate degrees and certificates in such fields as industrial technology, home repair, computer sciences, and health care. Today, I’ll offer you three pieces of good news...
Student suspended for using term ‘illegal alien’ in English class
A 16-year-old student at Central Davidson High School in Lexington, North Carolina was suspended for three days last week for using the term ‘illegal alien’ during a vocabulary assignment in his English class.