Randy Parton, namesake of one of the worst boondoggles in recent N.C. political history, has died at age 67. The bass-playing younger brother of cultural icon Dolly Parton died of cancer, according to a statement from the Parton family. Randy Parton saddled state and local taxpayers with millions of dollars in debt from a performing...
As North Carolina prepares to celebrate National School Choice Week Jan. 24-30, the cause of educational freedom could see even more advancement during the North Carolina General Assembly’s 2021-2022 session. School-choice advocates are coming off what turned out to be a breakout year for their cause, as millions of parents nationwide fled their locally zoned...
When the General Assembly reconvenes next week, broadband promises to be a hot topic. One of lawmakers’ first order of business, according to Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, will be to pass legislation handling money in the rural broadband grant program. In December, legislative leaders and Gov. Roy Cooper agreed to shuffle around $30 million...
Gov. Roy Cooper is again pushing for a multibillion-dollar infrastructure bond, but Republican leaders caution that North Carolina’s still-unsteady economy makes it impossible to tell whether it would be prudent. In remarks to the N.C. Association of County Commissioners on Thursday, Jan.14, Cooper said “now is the time” for the state to take on a...
A new national study says that it appears safe to reopen schools for in-person instruction in counties with lower rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations. The study, conducted by the National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice, is the first of its kind to analyze data from all U.S. counties. As a gauge for safely...
The N.C. Bar Owners Association, in a news release, says the N.C. ABC has canceled some 120 permits for private bars, without notice. Private bars in North Carolina, for all intents and purposes, have been closed since March, although the governor in October allowed them to open outdoor seating at very limited capacity. But, obviously,...
Less than a year after an audit of the N.C. Department of Transportation found massive overspending, a blue-ribbon panel is recommending the department get a 40% budget hike. The N.C. First Commission, created by former Transportation Secretary Jim Trogdon to assess the state’s transportation priorities, recently suggested that state transportation should get an additional $2...
Nearly a month after COVID-19 vaccines made it to North Carolina, the state has administered only a quarter of the doses it has on hand — one of the slowest roll-outs in the country. Lawmakers grilled the Cooper administration over its slow handling of vaccine distribution during a General Assembly oversight committee on Tuesday, Jan....
COVID-19 and the ongoing fallout from the pandemic will likely dominate the 2021-22 session of the General Assembly. On tap for lawmakers is crafting a new budget for the biennium plus drawing new legislative and congressional maps for the next decade based on fresh census data. A divided government — with Democrats controlling the governor’s...
Gov. Roy Cooper and Dr. Mandy Cohen, state health secretary, took a decidedly political tone in a COVID-19 news conference Tuesday, Jan. 12. Both Cooper and Cohen talked of falsehoods and dangerous rhetoric that led an angry mob, upset over the November election, to storm the U.S. Capitol last week. Violent threats against the Capitol...
Lawmakers are returning to Raleigh, and they have a loaded agenda. The legislative session begins Wednesday, Jan. 13, when lawmakers will deal with the pandemic, pass a budget, complete redistricting, and tackle needed reforms. Republicans remain in control of both chambers, but they lack the numbers to override any vetoes from Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper. ...
