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Opinion
American democracy still a revolutionary idea
There was a pretty remarkable moment last week at the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas. All five living U.S. presidents made an appearance together, an amazing testament to our system of government. Former President Bill Clinton even said, “I like President Bush.” That’s not something you hear every day from members of opposing parties. The biggest lesson to take away from last week’s ceremony, thoug...
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Celebrating the end of the Charlotte curse
What is one thing we can do for Charlotte now that that former Mayor Pat McCrory has been elected governor of North Carolina and his successor, Anthony Foxx, has been nominated for U.S Secretary of Transportation? We can stop referring to the Charlotte mayor’s job as a dead end or curse for politicians aspiring to statewide or national office. It might take some getting used to. The previous three Charlotte mayors who tried for statewid...
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You Decide: How should NC fund roads?
My father was born in 1922 on a farm in rural Ohio. Horses and carriages were as common as cars. When the first road was built it was tolled, meaning only those who paid the gatekeeper at the entrance to the road could use it. This is how early roads were financed. If you used a road, you paid for it, on the spot! In economics, we call such payments user fees. But as car ownership expanded and road usage boomed, stopping drivers at every ...
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Keep our grandfather’s fire burning
“Everybody in North Carolina should have heard that speech.” Someone had just heard Tom Lambeth’s recent remarks to the North Caroliniana Society, which was presenting him with its annual award for service to our state. Lambeth, longtime former executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, used the occasion to talk about some of the people and some of the stories that help define North Carolina and its history for him. Lambeth...
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Eastern North Carolina eating, the literary way
There are hundreds of reasons to celebrate Georgann Eubanks’ third and last in her “Literary Trails of the North Carolina” series. Follow her travels in the just released “Literary Trails of Eastern North Carolina,” and you will have the most enjoyable and efficient survey of authors and literary connections in that region. But one of my favorite parts of her books are the descriptions of the places where literary-connected people eat. ...
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Our view: A vote for transparency
Local residents don’t need to be schooled on what happens when elected officials do government business out of the sunlight. That is how the Wake County Board of Education dismissed Tony Tata as the superintendent without public input. Yet, there is a bill in the state Senate now that would make it easier for local governments to erect a wall between themselves and the public. Senate Bill 186 would allow governments to post public notices...
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