By Kirk Ross Not a stalemate, but not exactly a sprint to the finish either. The state budget is close to done, but with a few major items — mostly on the revenue side — yet to be ironed out. So, how long before the deal is struck? The president pro tem of the Senate…
Category: Opinion
Well-intentioned bill would give utilities a blank check
By Shana Becker Before buying our first house and locking into a 30-year mortgage, my husband and I consulted every expert we could think of – real estate agents, appraisers, inspectors, surveyors, mortgage dealers and lawyers. We are first-time homebuyers, and if all goes well, we will close on our house in two weeks. While…
For the Record
Editor’s Note: From a July 12 floor speech by Fourth District U.S. Rep. David Price (D-Chapel Hill) on The Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act (H.R. 2956), which would initiate an exit from Iraq beginning within 120 days of enactment and requires a full redeployment of U.S. troops by April, 2008. The bill passed the U.S….
Death penalty no deterrent to murder
 By Jeremy J. Collins Though most experts have long dismissed any measurable deterrent effect from the use of the death penalty, a recent AP story helped spark new discussion on the topic. According to the report, some academic studies have purported to find such a deterrent impact. The story cited a 2003 Emory University study…
Exile on Jones Street – The 0.4 percent horror
By Kirk Ross The 0.4 percent horror I was just a kid when it happened, and I can’t imagine what it was like to experience it, let alone live through it. But driving through what is left of Cary, with its dark, crumbling cul-de-sacs and boarded up split-levels, you get a feel for the devastation…
Letters to the Editor – July 19
Ounce of Prevention For the moment, Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton is a victim of the septic-cynicism toward the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. The septic system of the Bush/Cheney administration is just too deep to reach the bottom of it, and provide accountability for their malfeasance, before their terms expire in January, 2009, assuming the…
Let’s stop pretending
(Please note that in the print edition we neglected to credit the wonderful Chatham County Line for this article.) By Illana Dubester America, we can’t have it both ways. We can’t pretend to be for family values and impose uncanny barriers on immigrants reuniting with their loved ones. We can’t be pro-business and drive underground…
Why I voted against the budget
By Mike Nelson As a member of the Orange County Board of Commissioners, I voted against this year’s county budget out of a belief that we are not treating our schoolchildren equitably in this county. We have an obligation to ensure that all children, regardless of where they live in the county, receive adequate educational…
For the Record
For the love of money It would be sad if it were just a slip — a moment of weakness in an otherwise distinguished career. But it wasn’t, and while certainly there are sad parts to the decline and fall of former House Speaker Jim Black, most of the story is and should be an…
Exile on Jones Street: Hot greendogs
By Kirk Ross Did progressives in North Carolina get screwed by Democratic successes in the past election? That’s the uncomfortable question being asked around the state by people who thought that an increased margin would give Dems enough confidence to advance key issues, mainly in the area of health care. But in a turn that…
Exposing the rhetoric on taxes
By Chris Fitzsimon House and Senate leaders continue to make steady progress in resolving the differences between the two chambers’ spending plans as lawmakers continue their push to pass a final budget by Friday. That deadline seems difficult to meet unless they come to an agreement on taxes and a plan for the state to…
Fun’s over; budget’s adopted
By Barry Jacobs The deed is done. The fun is over. The Orange County budget has been adopted for the fiscal year that started on July 1. OK, I’m exaggerating — the budget process is not fun. Balancing competing interests and demands within perpetual financial constraints is challenging and bracing, but not most folks’ idea…
Diagnosis: A “sick†system of health care
By Anthony Fleg As Sicko, Michael Moore’s new “comedy about 45 million people with no health care in the richest country on Earth†prepares to open in a few days, I am more and more convinced that our current health care system is truly sick, overrun with profit motives that are like aggressive cancers, waiting…
This book’s a steal
By Erica Eisdorfer My colleague at the Bull’s Head read The Pesthouse by the novelist Jim Crace and really loved it. We often appreciate the same sorts of books, so armed with her advice I took it home, where my husband, as is his wont, snatched it away and wouldn’t let me have it back….
For the Record
Tomorrow, today As noted previously on our opinion page, this has not been a particularly swell couple of years for efforts to secure a vote on land and water conservation bonds. Last session, concerns about the level of state indebtedness caused legislators to back away from the bond plan, which would fund a comprehensive effort…