Opinion: Columnists

Jan. 07, 2013 @ 04:31 PM

Pitts: Just arm everyone, if that is the answer

"Everybody got a pistol. This must really please the NRA" -- from "Gun" by Gil Scott-Heron

So maybe the NRA is about to get its wish.


Jan. 06, 2013 @ 05:43 PM

Fitzsimon: Misinformation abounds on Medicaid decision

One of the biggest decisions facing the new General Assembly and Gov. Pat McCrory this year is whether or not North Carolina will expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and provide health coverage for more than 500,000 low-income people in the state.


Jan. 06, 2013 @ 03:23 PM

Guest columnist: Truth and fiction about torture in North Carolina

"The Buzzard Table" is Margaret Maron's newest Carolina murder mystery.


Jan. 06, 2013 @ 03:03 PM

Bob Ashley: Summoning help in a Walmart parking lot

I should deny it, but I was, I confess, grumpy.


Jan. 04, 2013 @ 08:02 AM

Hood: At state level, bold ideas needed

As Gov. Pat McCrory takes office and the Republican-led General Assembly reconvenes for its 2013 session, they face significant fiscal and economic challenges


Jan. 01, 2013 @ 05:42 PM

D.G. Martin: Mini-almanac offers insight into our state

When the 2013 edition of one my very favorite books, “The World Almanac and Book of Facts,” arrived on the bookshelves the other day, it reminded me that it has been several years since I updated my mini-state almanac.


Dec. 29, 2012 @ 03:53 PM

Bob Ashley: Looking ahead to 2013 and events to watch

This year drawing to a close Monday has been an eventful one for me, starting out as a historic preservationist and then transitioning back to the editor’s chair here at The Herald-Sun.


Dec. 29, 2012 @ 03:47 PM

Guest columnist: Meaningful response to Newtown requires common sense

Much is being said and written in response to the tragic shootings in Newtown. Will this quickly fizzle away from the headlines and from the mainstream lead topic of conversation throughout the country? That seems to be the pattern we have established in recent years.


Dec. 27, 2012 @ 09:07 PM

Guest columnist: We’re losing a state juvenile justice system that works

Remarkable juvenile justice outcomes have been achieved in this state, including a 10-year-low juvenile offense rate and reduction of confinement by two-thirds, saving taxpayers more than $20 million.


Dec. 25, 2012 @ 06:18 PM

Guest columnist: Alignment of efforts leads to educational success

Public school principals, teachers, staff and students in North Carolina will end 2012 with much to celebrate.


Dec. 25, 2012 @ 05:35 PM

D.G. Martin: First, N.C. Democrats need leadership

How are the North Carolina Democratic Party and the National Republican Party alike?


Dec. 25, 2012 @ 07:00 AM

Guest columnist: ‘Poor and in a Manger’: Durham children in poverty

“Poor and in a manger” is a line from the familiar Christmas carol “O Come All Ye Faithful.”  Those words indicate that Jesus was born not to the upper class or middle class, but in poverty. He was born in a barn feedbox “because there was no room for him in the inn.”


Dec. 24, 2012 @ 07:05 AM

Guest columnist: A home for the holidays: El Centro Hispano

Let me take you back six weeks ago -- I am sitting in the lobby of El Centro Hispano for the first time waiting to speak with one of its directors. Community members laughing and chatting in Spanish in the lobby, facilitators are busy organizing event, and children are huddled together, working on a puzzle.


Dec. 24, 2012 @ 06:56 AM

Guest columnist: Government’s priority should be to protect the people

“In Rama there was a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children …” -- Matthew 2:18


Dec. 24, 2012 @ 06:20 AM

Letters, Dec. 24

I am sick and tired of these “do-good” organizations constantly begging for money to send to foreign countries.