Last Friday wasn’t Mark Beam’s first time facing a judge at the defendant’s table in Haywood County District Court, but it seems like it may have been the last. 

Beam’s defense attorney, Jake Phelps, stood to address District Court Judge Monica Leslie. Phelps’ voice wavered as he evoked his client’s case number, and many in the gallery and the jury box wiped away tears. 

Glass half full, that’s me. Lots of good folks out there doing good things. We had a couple of gentle reminders of this on Monday. 

I’m hunkered down on a drizzly day in the cabin of our boat, which is docked at Duck Creek Marina in Bridgeton, North Carolina. That’s just across the Neuse River from New Bern for those familiar with the Carolina coast. 

A trio of high-ranking state and federal agriculture officials is warning that if farmers affected by Hurricane Helene don’t get help soon, next year could be a bleak one for both producers and consumers. 

Given the harrowing natural disasters in the South, I thought a good book to review this month would be one that might serve as a source of solace and peace to those who are currently struggling with these catastrophes.

No book review today. Instead, some words about the importance of words — yours.

If you’re reading these words and live in Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, or parts of Georgia and South Carolina, then you survived the Great Flood of 2024.  

It’s tough for a person to get back up on their feet, no matter how well they may have done in the past. Such was the case for Jeremiah Moynihan, a Florida man who after living in Western North Carolina for the last several years found himself sick and homeless with nowhere to turn. 

Recently I had the privilege of sitting and talking with a group of adolescents who weren’t my own children or my friends’ children. These were teens who I knew well enough to where they felt comfortable with me, but not so well that I was privy to their ongoing emotional patterns or personal stressors.

Glass half-full or glass half-empty?

For the past 20 years, we’ve heard from academics, some politicians and various commentators that America is a deeply racist society. In response, some colleges, the federal government and certain corporations require employees and students take instruction in DEI, or diversity, equity and inclusion.

To the Editor:

Why are people so afraid of immigrants, treating them as the other while regularly slandering and marginalizing them? The truth is immigrants contribute greatly to our work force and our economy, paying into Social Security and Medicare with no hope of benefitting from the programs. 

Just when global news hit a fever pitch and there was little to hang onto in the way of goodness and humanity, the 2024 Paris Olympics began, which has offered many of us a much-needed reprieve and countless reminders of hope and triumph.