All in Columns
Economists have debated the merits of a minimum wage and a living wage throughout the years. Advocates call for a $15 an hour minimum wage increase from the current $7.25. The call for an increase in the national minimum wage got louder when the government added $600 a week to state unemployment to stave off an economic recession.
As a way to reintroduce Good-Bodies and other small businesses to area people, Blake Cates, manager of Good-Bodies, and co-owners Ed Smith and Justin Tart, came up with a plan: Good-bodies would host a floating Open House from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 1.
Over the past two weeks, we’ve had some good news. It looks like the second wave of coronavirus infections has peaked and turned back down. Case growth is down significantly from the peak, and the case growth rate has returned to the lows seen in mid-June. In most states, the data indicates that outbreaks are being contained.
In this year that sometimes feels like a decade, North Carolinians have yet to cast a single general-election ballot for president or other offices. But I’m seeing lots of politicos and pundits making confident predictions about the state’s key electoral contests based on data from recent voter surveys.
There is probably only one way the violent rioters in Portland are going to stop their war against the city, and that will be when they are confronted by massive force. That actually might be close to happening.
Senior year is what most kids look forward to their whole lives. The year when you finally feel on top, but it’s also the time you look back and take in everything you've been taught for the past 13 years. It is a bit overwhelming already - now add a global pandemic. I don't know what I was expecting but I am almost positive this was not it.
Friends and fans of local Farmers Markets celebrate this every week when the produce is ripe and abundant, but across the nation, National Farmers Market Week is designated as August.
My son Michael shot us a message on our family chat. He said Will Sutton, one of his former Jones Senior High School students, was going to compete on Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s TV competition “The Titan Games.” Since Will was an Eastern Region competitor, the shows featuring his competition would be late in the series. Sandra and I kept careful watch to make sure we did not miss this young man.
Did you know that North Carolina growers produce as many as 70 different varieties, each with its own unique flavor? Although the Sandhills region is known for peach production, consumers can find growers all across the state. Peaches are a warm weather favorite and you will find they taste best June-August in parts of the South.
Discrimination, in addition to being wrong, is foolishly self-destructive. It keeps companies from hiring the best people and serving the most customers. It throttles innovation. It makes our families and communities poorer. When only white men were allowed to become doctors, for example, that artificially restricted the quantity and quality of medical care. One reason we are, on average, much healthier than our grandparents and great-grandparents is that healers of great skill, daring, and determination smashed through that barrier.
Today, I want to talk briefly about the Covid-19 virus and the unrest in various cities in our country. There are definite connections, having to do with control and destruction.
A little more than nine years ago, I said good-bye to my students and my classroom at Farmville Central High School to enter the world of retirement. After sitting out the required six months, I started teaching again – part-time in the English Department at East Carolina. My last class at ECU was May 2018. Since then, I have been fully retired.
The struggle by the Lenoir County Board of Elections to maintain reasonable voting accommodations is never-ending. The Lenoir County Board of Elections consists of a Democrat Chairman, two Democrat members, and two Republican members. Courtney Patterson is the Chairman and has consistently pushed for a high number of early voting sites. The Democrat plan is three times the state board recommended amount with six sites. This unbudgeted plan will cost Lenoir County $30,000 to $36,000 more than required or necessary.
This week, we had some progress on the pandemic front, as things started to improve after the stabilization we saw last week. Case growth peaked, at least in the short term, and the case growth rate ticked down. Further, outbreaks in many states are now being contained, as expected. The economic news is better, with the recovery continuing. That said, there are signs of weakness.
There are some things that bear repeating, such as expressions of love, about which I will be repetitious today. Sometimes when chaos and upheavals occur in our lives, such as at the present time, we tend to long for the past or to look ahead to a less-troubling future.
Like many local businesses and organizations, the CSS Neuse Foundation has been hit hard by fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The CSS Neuse II, the replica of the original CSS Ram Neuse ironclad, has been essentially closed from April through July.
This week, the news was much the same as it was last week. This is actually good news, as things had been getting worse. As such, this stabilization represents progress. It also indicates that, in many states, outbreaks are being contained.
If you’ve lived in North Carolina for even a few years, you’ve probably formed an opinion about whether statues and monuments honoring Confederate leaders and soldiers ought to remain in or near courthouses, town halls, state buildings, and other public property throughout the state.
During this past legislative session, expanding access to rural broadband and closing the digital divide was a top priority of mine and the Republican-led North Carolina General Assembly. In rural areas, especially in my district in Eastern North Carolina, connection to reliable high-speed internet service is critical to attracting and retaining businesses, improving health care access and ensuring that our children are not left behind in the digital age.
Local news delivered to your inbox every day at 7am. Free, always.
Local news delivered to your inbox every day at 7am. Free, always.
