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The 1920s were known as the “Roaring Twenties,” a decade when electricity, telephones and radios became commonplace in most homes and automobiles were not just for the rich.
Published: Thursday, January 9th, 2020 @ 9:07 am
By: Tom Campbell
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Barring some unforeseen economic happening or weather-related event, politics will be North Carolina’s number one story in 2020.
Published: Tuesday, December 31st, 2019 @ 10:37 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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How would you describe the year 2019? I’ve pondered the just-right descriptive adjective and finally settled on the seldom used but highly appropriate word quarrelsome.
Published: Wednesday, December 25th, 2019 @ 7:54 am
By: Tom Campbell
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How can we learn to live peaceably with all of God’s creation?
Published: Wednesday, December 18th, 2019 @ 11:27 am
By: Tom Campbell
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North Carolina’s unemployment rate has dropped from the 10.9 percent 2010 high we experienced following The Great Recession to 4.0 percent in October. But that’s not uniform across the state.
Published: Friday, December 13th, 2019 @ 7:46 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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Were you among the crowds rushing to stores for bargains on Black Friday or did you wait for Small Business Saturday?
Published: Thursday, December 5th, 2019 @ 2:49 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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I have great empathy with the Ukrainian whistleblower. I was a whistleblower… and paid a price for it.
Published: Monday, December 2nd, 2019 @ 4:41 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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‘Twas the week before Thanksgiving And all through the state. The turkeys were frightened They’d end up on your plate.
Published: Thursday, November 21st, 2019 @ 8:27 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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What we are doing in public education isn’t working for many of North Carolina’s children.
Published: Tuesday, November 19th, 2019 @ 8:07 am
By: Tom Campbell
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Sadly, a secure retirement is out of reach for millions.
Published: Friday, November 8th, 2019 @ 12:51 am
By: Tom Campbell
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If asked to identify our biggest problem today in one word how would you answer? My word would be trust.
Published: Wednesday, October 30th, 2019 @ 6:54 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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The President’s Acting Chief of Staff stood in the White House briefing room and confessed to activities considered by some impeachable, by others at least illegal. In closing, he proclaimed: “I have news for everybody. Get over it!”
Published: Wednesday, October 23rd, 2019 @ 1:03 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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The recent skirmish between the State Board of Education and Superintendent for Public Instruction is yet another reminder of the longstanding debate about just who is in charge of public education in our state.
Published: Wednesday, October 16th, 2019 @ 11:26 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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A search committee is at work to select the next president of the 16 campus UNC System.
Published: Thursday, October 10th, 2019 @ 7:31 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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The outside of the envelope was printed in big bold type: “Do Not Destroy. Official Document.” Being one who generally follows rules, I wouldn’t dare destroy and couldn’t wait to open it.
Published: Thursday, October 3rd, 2019 @ 12:15 am
By: Tom Campbell
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Climate change has become less about science and more about politics.
Published: Tuesday, October 1st, 2019 @ 8:09 am
By: Tom Campbell
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At almost the same moment our state was boasting of a $900 million cash surplus, one important sector of state government was encountering serious shortfalls.
Published: Wednesday, September 18th, 2019 @ 12:45 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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Do you remember the movie “Groundhog Day?” Every day the protagonist, Bill Murray, awakened to live the day, February 2nd, over and over again. North Carolinians might be justified feeling like we’ve lived this movie.
Published: Thursday, September 12th, 2019 @ 4:40 am
By: Tom Campbell
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High-speed broadband Internet service is no longer a luxury.
Published: Saturday, September 7th, 2019 @ 7:50 am
By: Tom Campbell
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Reading is the foundation upon which all learning is built, however North Carolina’s success rate in helping children master reading proficiency isn’t stellar.
Published: Friday, August 30th, 2019 @ 4:26 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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If you come to the end of the year and you’ve got surplus money in the bank what do you do?
Published: Thursday, August 22nd, 2019 @ 2:18 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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This is a modern day re-telling of the familiar Bible story of David and Goliath.
Published: Sunday, August 18th, 2019 @ 2:34 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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Whatever happened to Moderates?
Published: Thursday, August 8th, 2019 @ 9:19 am
By: Tom Campbell
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What is it about birthdays that make you reflect on what has been and think about what’s to come? The birthday I recently observed wasn’t one of those milestone events, but after you pass your seventh decade, every year should be both a celebration and a time for reflection.
Published: Thursday, August 1st, 2019 @ 11:22 am
By: Tom Campbell
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I grew up in the “separate but equal” school era, although we knew Black schools weren’t equal. The 1954 Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education, ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.
Published: Thursday, July 25th, 2019 @ 7:53 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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We have experienced a decade of economic growth and the big questions many are asking is whether this growth will continue or if there will be a recession in our future?
Published: Saturday, July 20th, 2019 @ 8:29 am
By: Tom Campbell
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In a year when our state is stashing more than $700 million into surplus funds, the recent state budget appears to target the Department of Health and Human Services for punishment.
Published: Friday, July 12th, 2019 @ 11:24 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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One of North Carolina’s great traditions is the annual community gathering to observe Independence Day. In the town of Oriental, all the churches unite for an outdoor community worship service, held as part of the annual Croaker Festival.
Published: Wednesday, July 3rd, 2019 @ 10:00 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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I’ve always likened North Carolina’s budget process to a dance, but this year it is hard to tell whether it’s a boogaloo, dosey-doe or the chicken dance. Longtime observers say they’ve never seen anything like what’s taking place.
Published: Saturday, June 29th, 2019 @ 3:33 am
By: Tom Campbell
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A friend recently posited the question, “If things are so good, why is everybody so mad?” At first, I chuckled, later realizing his premise made two assumptions worth pondering. The first is are things really so good? And is everyone mad?
Published: Friday, June 21st, 2019 @ 10:34 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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More than 800 gathered in Raleigh this week to address the Opioid epidemic. Five lives are lost each day and more than 13,000 deaths occurred between 1999 and 2017 due to Opioids.
Published: Tuesday, June 18th, 2019 @ 12:09 am
By: Tom Campbell
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In 1788 the Hillsborough Convention convened to consider ratification of the US Constitution and also to approve an “unalterable” seat of government. They did neither.
Published: Wednesday, June 5th, 2019 @ 2:08 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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A group of healthcare stakeholders met in Raleigh last week for a first-ever “listen and learn” session focused on two questions: How much should we spend on healthcare and how should these dollars be advocated?
Published: Sunday, June 2nd, 2019 @ 10:07 am
By: Tom Campbell
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Can you remember the “lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, those months without early risings, homework, tests and structure?
Published: Wednesday, May 29th, 2019 @ 1:02 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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