Fatcow Icon
Opinion
Smart Start not only makes a difference, but also excels
Dear Editor, A study ranking Richmond County one of the state’s unhealthiest counties includes adult obesity, low high school graduation, unemployment and children in poverty as health factors where Richmond fails. These are areas where Smart Start not only makes a difference, but also excels! Despite yearly cuts in funding, Smart Start programming, implemented through Richmond County Partnership for Children, addresses these issues throu...
full story
Sen. McLaurin
Priorities will include education, new jobs
The NC Senate budget has been released this week. We will have discussions and deliberations in our committees on the state budget proposal as put forth by the Senate leadership and will likely have floor debate on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. After the Senate approves a budget, it will be sent to the House of Representatives for their consideration. My priorities will be education, job creation, a fair and balanced tax reform plan, a...
full story
Campbell
My Spin: Human trafficking in North Carolina
Sometimes it feels that just one more problem will overwhelm us, but there is one that needs immediate exposure and urgent attention: the growing problem of human trafficking, defined as the illegal trade of humans for purposes of reproductive slavery, sexual exploitation, forced labor or other modern-day forms of slavery. Trafficking has become one of the fastest growing and most lucrative crimes, estimated to generate 32 billion dollars per...
full story
With your support
Dear Editor, On behalf of the Hamlet Depot and Museums, I would like to thank you and your staff for the article and the Community Calendar listing of National Train Day. With your support, we were able to tell the community about National Train Day, attracting around 500 participants! Your support is truly appreciated. Miranda Chavis Hamlet Depot and Museums Manager
full story
Hamilton
The Invisible Lawmakers
Want to know what’s causing a lot of people in Washington to work long hours right now? Here’s a hint: it’s not immigration reform or gun control or, for that matter, any other legislation coming down the pike. Instead, it’s a pair of three-year-old laws. Health care reform and the Wall Street reform act known as “Dodd-Frank” both became law in 2010. Most people consider these old news, but they’re not. Because after a bill becomes law is w...
full story
Remembering the Merritts of Merritt’s Store
If you mention Merritt’s Store anywhere around Chapel Hill, most often you will hear something like, “Oh yes. Best BLTs I’ve ever tasted.” And it is true. A bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich at Merritt’s Store, together with sweet iced tea flavored with the fresh mint growing in a box beside the store, is one of the great taste treats in my world, right up there with the peach cobbler at Stamey’s Barbecue in Greensboro or a small chopped b...
full story
This_Week_in_Washington_for_May_18_20130_1368826731.jpg
This Week in Washington for May 18, 2013
We’ve all heard the phrase, “elections have consequences.” Recent news about the IRS singling out conservative groups for extra scrutiny is a “consequence” I never hoped to see. When I first learned the IRS had targeted conservative groups during the most recent election, I was outraged by the reports indicating a nonpartisan government agency was actually engaging in political activities and using taxpayer-funded resources. Perhaps the mos...
full story
Tar Heel View: On state tax reform efforts
North Carolina developed its current system of taxation during the revenue reforms of the Great Depression, seeking to keep state government afloat at a time of widespread hardship. It depended — and still depends — on a relatively high income tax rate and was designed to reflect an economic system driven by agriculture and manufacturing, textiles and furniture. Such a structure does not reflect an “ideas” economy or one that produces more ...
full story
Rep. Pierce
A flurry of legislation
The General Assembly has experienced a flurry of legislation as lawmakers introduce as many bills as possible before crossover — the deadline in which legislation that doesn’t raise or spend money must clear the House or Senate chambers by Thursday night (May 9) to be considered for the remaining two-year session. So far, the House has voted in favor of legislation such as prohibiting law enforcement officers from destroying fully-operating f...
full story
Clusters of blossoms
Dear Editor, In most places the Dandelion is considered a noxious weed. Richmond County, however, seems to honor the “weed,” and rightly so. Taraxacum Officinale, as it is technically known, is a beneficial herb used many places as food and medicine. It is not native to North America having originated in Eurasia 30 million years ago. In spring in Richmond County, yards, roadsides and fields are aglow with the small yellow blooms. No...
full story
Our_View_In_the_driver’s_seat_—_a_big_responsibility0_1368755018.jpg
Our View: In the driver’s seat — a big responsibility
Traffic crashes are the No. 1 killer of teens in America. Along with reading, writing and arithmetic, it’s important to teach our children about safety behind the wheel. It may start with a tricycle in the driveway, or a Big Wheel on the sidewalk, but before you know it our kids have grown enough to earn a real drivers license, and the chance to operate a real motor vehicle — that’s about 4,000 pounds of plastic and metal, capable of spee...
full story
NC activists need Teachable Tuesdays
The North Carolina chapter of the NAACP is spearheading a weekly series of protests at the state legislature called “Moral Mondays” directed against Republican-supported bills such as tax reform and voter ID. Might I respectfully suggest that the participants agree to a weekly series of instructional sessions about free speech in a constitutional republic? Let’s call them “Teachable Tuesdays.” The need for remedial education on the principl...
full story
Along_These_Lines_Adventures_in_smuggling0_1368647187.jpg
Along These Lines: Adventures in smuggling
The ingenuity of criminals never fails to amaze. Take smugglers, for instance. They can be incredibly resourceful at packing contraband into extraordinarily places. And while often ingenious, smugglers can also be mind-bogglingly inept. Consider the woman traveling through the Bangkok airport back in 2010, who attempted to smuggle a drugged, live baby tiger in a suitcase full of stuffed, toy tigers. Airport security tend to get suspicious w...
full story
Tar Heel View: Industry can’t set fracking rules
We’re disturbed that a new rule set for approval by the North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission requiring some disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing was withdrawn at the request of industry giant Halliburton. Fracking could be economically beneficially here if done right, but the recent move does not fit that standard. The News & Observer of Raleigh reported that the state commission, created by the legislature last year,...
full story
My_Spin_NC_moving_forward0_1368558629.jpg
My Spin: NC moving forward
Government is nothing more than a social contract. An essential function of government is to provide infrastructure for the common good that is too costly, too big or impractical for individuals to undertake themselves. A look at our history reveals that public infrastructure has been funded through bonds, taxes, tolls and the lottery. We boast the opening of the first public university in 1795, financed in part by a lottery. With stagnatio...
full story
Weather
Sponsored By:

Lottery
Sponsored By:

Stocks
Sponsored By:

Gas Prices
Sponsored By:

Featured Businesses
Recipes
Sponsored By: