All in Columns
Let's talk about age today. This year, 2021, the United Nations expects the number of people living past 100 to rise to approximately 573,000 worldwide, with the highest concentration in the U.S. and Japan, and with a significant number of those living well beyond the age of 100. In that category are people like Emma Morano, who died on April 15 at age 117.
For weeks after the ballots were counted, supporters of the defeated presidential candidate insisted the election had been stolen. Some alleged a shadowy conspiracy to rig vote-counting machines, throwing out just enough legal votes and manufacturing just enough illegal ones to decide the outcome.
On Friday, April 23, I attended an induction ceremony at Trenton Elementary School for six new members of the school’s National Elementary Honor Society. I went chiefly because my grandson Alex was taking part in the induction ceremony. Last year, Alex was inducted. This year he had one of the lead roles in inducting this year’s honorees.
A Gallup poll in 2019 indicated that two-thirds of American’s oppose making Washington, D.C a state. A bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives wants to do it anyway.
It’s always a great time to celebrate our mothers, this year keep it casual and enjoy these pick-up foods made with bounty from your local Farmers Market!!
First, let's talk about COVID-19 and the effort by most to put it safely behind us, while there is an effort by some to keep it alive. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has challenged advice from Dr. Fauci and some others in the medical community urging people to continue social distancing and wearing a mask even after they are fully vaccinated.
More than 3 million North Carolinians are now fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. This is a remarkable step forward in our fight against the pandemic, and soon we can begin safely returning to our lives. But scammers have used the pandemic as an excuse to take advantage of people for the past year, and they’re still at it. The next fight against COVID-19 vaccine scams is stopping the spread and use of false vaccine cards.
A few years ago, when I returned to newsrooms as a freelance writer, it was like a ghost town. Daily newspapers are far from perfect, but we rely on the coverage of everything from football games, government gatherings, school board meetings, church notes, and community interest ranging from weddings to obituaries. Local reporters work to bring us information about elections, candidates, courts and education that is essential to our democracy. I’ve learned firsthand that deadlines pay no respect to holidays, hospital visits, weekends or family vacations.
What a difference a year can make. The 2020 BBQ Fest on the Neuse was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the festival will be back this year. Vendors will begin arriving at 8 a.m. on Friday, May 7. Cook teams will begin setting up at noon at the corner of Caswell and Herritage streets. The festival opens to the public at 5 p.m.
Asparagus is popping up, and I do mean popping up, this interesting vegetable grows straight up, and can pop up to almost a foot.
The magic day in much of Eastern North Carolina is the day our strawberry producers let us know that strawberries are ready!
All of us are influenced by the actions of others, and that influence can be positive or negative. It was sad this week to see the tragic end of the life of a 13-year-old boy slain on the streets of Chicago at three o'clock in the morning while in the company of a 21-year-old criminal.
When Dennis Harper was 11 years old, he became fascinated with the Wyse Fork Battlefield. In the decades since, Harper has collected more than 12,000 artifacts from that battle.
As many teachers are intimately familiar with, in 2013, the North Carolina General Assembly froze teacher pay due to budgetary constraints and shortfalls. During this process, Session Law 2013-360 Senate Bill 402 Section 8.22 stated that
From school boards to city councils, we depend on local news for information. But do we truly appreciate it? As my first official job, the late Joe Sink hired me, a green 16-year-old, to answer phones in the circulation department of The Lexington Dispatch. I was drawn to the buzz in the newsroom.
