State budget agreement reached
The North Carolina General Assembly reached the finish line a bit earlier than expected in their race to present GOP Gov. Pat McCrory with a budget before the long Independence Day holiday weekend.
Presnell calls emissions testing a ‘sham’
The Great Smoky Mountains are known across the world for their beauty and the unique bluish haze produced in large part by local vegetation, but if N.C. Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville, has her way, the Smokies may soon become a lot smokier.
The Raleigh roundup: Budget battle brewing
The North Carolina General Assembly continues to haggle over specific provisions in the proposed 2016-17 state budget as they race to present a compromise spending plan to GOP Gov. Pat McCrory before the long Independence Day holiday weekend.
Cheap tuition proposal could cost WCU millions
How would you like to pay a mere $500 a semester to attend Western Carolina University?
The Left still has something to learn about tolerance
I’ve been observing something for years — though recently it has snowballed — and it has always struck me as hypocritical: the intolerance of progressive liberals toward conservatives who hold diametrically opposing political and social views. The hypocrisy, of course, is that progressives espouse a philosophy of tolerance and openness. Bring a climate change denier, an evangelical Christian or a supply side, free market capitalist to the party, however, and many of my liberal friends will write off said individual’s political and social commentary before they’ve tossed back their first IPA.
Rep. Queen critical of GOP’s leadership, methods
“I feel like a one-legged man at an ass kicking. They don’t care for me because I call them out. I try to inform the public of the truth, and they don’t like it.”
That’s the colorfully candid state Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, who is back in Raleigh this week as the General Assembly kicks off its biennial short session, which is traditionally devoted to making a few budget tweaks and perhaps passing some noncontroversial legislation.
N.C. conservatives go off the deep end
By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist
There are two major strains of conservatism in American politics, economic and social, and the former takes hideous advantage of the latter.
A case in point: North Carolina’s House Bill 2.
My adopted state is an embarrassment
By Stephanie Wampler • Guest Columnist
As a North Carolina woman who may or may not have a vagina (NOYB), I have several concerns about our new law requiring transgender individuals to use bathrooms different than those of their gender identity.
First, I am concerned about basic respect and human dignity. Urination (such a formal word — how about peeing?) seems a somewhat private act, and any legislator or governor dictating where I can pee seems problematic.
Charting a new course: Upstart schools face animosity that usually softens over time
A small group of parents had been working quietly for about three years to get the first charter school established in Haywood County, and they were beginning to think they would make it through the process without experiencing the backlash everyone told them was sure to come.
“Everyone warned us it’s going to be hard, but we thought everything was going great until August,” said Anna Eason, a Shining Rock Classical Academy board member. “We bragged about our community being so wonderful and accepting, but then it came out with vengeance.”
Election offices report smooth primary election
Local election officials say the March 15 primary election ran fairly smoothly despite having to implement the new voter ID law for the first time.