People in the U.S. are drinking less alcohol overall, but they are buying more spirits. But what’s good news for the N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission isn’t necessarily good news for North Carolina consumers, who can’t always buy what they want and oftentimes…
Editor’s note: This story was corrected to reflect that Erin’s Law has not yet been passed in New York. The original version misstated that it had been adopted by New York legislators. We sincerely apologize for the error. North Carolina is one of 15 states that fails to…
Republican lawmakers and education leaders sat down with Harnett County school and county officials at Erwin Elementary School on Thursday, Jan. 17, to discuss a possible statewide school construction bond. State Superintendent Mark Johnson and Speaker of the House Rep. Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, led the…
The N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission is scheduled to meet 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16, to consider and adopt rules for spirits sold and consumed in North Carolina. The N.C. ABC is seeing record profits, at the same time state some lawmakers are looking at…
Rules are important. Whether it’s a sporting event, a corporate meeting or a board game, rules set the parameters of the interaction. Without rules there’s confusion, uncertainty, ambiguity with participants jockeying for an advantage. Nowhere are rules as important as in apportioning districts to ensure fair and equal representation in government. Our state…
The N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission has released its initial 2018 annual report, the pages of which are filled with colorful photos of smiling people and happy numbers. Proponents of our ABC system make so much of the commission’s power and propensity to “control”…
From the time it was announced in January, the agreement between Gov. Roy Cooper and the companies building the Atlantic Coast Pipeline invited questions about its constitutionality, legality, and practicality. North Carolinians are poised to get answers when work by a subcommittee of the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental…
If we learned one thing during the devastation and recovery from Hurricanes Florence and Michael, it’s that setting aside more than $2 billion in savings for a rainy day was a very good idea. But that $2 billion didn’t just magically appear. It came from hard decisions, focused…
Recently released Civitas Institute polls show two Republican state Senate incumbents hold significant leads over their opponents. The polls, which look at the races in N.C. Senate Districts 17 and 18, each surveyed 400 registered voters from Oct. 3 to…
Recovery from Hurricane Florence will be long and hard. But as the waters recede, the strength of North Carolinians shines. We’ve been here before. From 1851 to 2018, North Carolina has been hit by 65 hurricanes. Hurricane Hazel in the 1950s set a benchmark, and Hurricanes Fran, Floyd,…
