Long odds that lottery tweaks will work
North Carolina certainly doesn’t need another difficult-to-enforce law, but the slim chance of it actually working is the least offensive part of a plan rattling around the General Assembly that would...
View ArticlePositive approach reducing school crime, violence
For people old enough to remember when school violence was a fist fight around the smoking barrel, reconciling the image of a place of learning with the mayhem that can occur there these days...
View ArticleNCAA should rein in its own excesses, too
Over the past couple of years folks in North Carolina have become painfully aware of the governing body of college athletics, an organization known as the NCAA.
View ArticleCity's planners need public's insight
Members of the Kinston City Council deserve praise for tackling the blight that has gone unchecked in the city for too many years. They also warrant close watching as they employ the power they can...
View ArticleNorth Korea makes another bid for attention
North Korea evidently has felt left out of world headlines of late.
View ArticleWrong message sent on Medicaid
No one expected North Carolina’s Republican governor and North Carolina’s Republican majority in the General Assembly to agree on everything; but in the first week of the legislative session, the...
View ArticleSenate Republicans would pack after unpacking
For too many years to count, North Carolina’s boards and commissions have been packed — largely by Democrats because they were in charge for so long — with friends, campaign contributors, assorted...
View ArticleElection surprises get a jump on filings
Election surprises got a big jump on election filings this week when two incumbents announced they wouldn’t seek another term in office.
View ArticleOn sales tax increase, 'no' means 'no'
In North Carolina, the local option sales tax accounts for the incremental difference between counties in the tax tacked on to retail sales. Unfortunately, in Lenoir County, the “option” to increase it...
View ArticlePostal Service needs more flexibility
No city, town or rural zip code in the United States will avoid the impact of big changes planned at the U.S. Postal Service, but few places will be hit any harder than Kinston and the Lenoir County area.
View ArticleToday, just let your heart take the lead
It sends a cold shiver up the spine of men and brings a warm glow to the hearts of women.
View ArticleBetter roads can mean more jobs
With North Carolina’s unemployment rate at 9.2 percent one of the worst in the nation, it comes as good news that Transportation Secretary Tony Tata wants more emphasis on job creation when evaluating...
View ArticleWinter season is house fire season
Sadly, the headlines Monday drove home the point that the winter season is the fire season. House fires claimed three people in the state, including a 76-year-old man in Kinston.
View ArticleGun permits part of the public record
A North Carolina lawmaker thinks the names of concealed handgun permit and gun purchase permit holders should be a state secret.
View ArticleDawson's Sampson project scores twice
A great deal of excitement surrounds a proposal by Kinston favorite son Lin Dawson to buy the former Sampson School and convert it into a community center. It sounds like a good idea to Sampson alum...
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