Home ownership is how most families build wealth, but it has also been one of our Town Council’s greatest challenges. In Southern Pines, we don’t have “starter homes.”
Current Columns
Over the past month, North Carolina has been confronted with a wave of immigration enforcement actions that have left families frightened, educators overwhelmed and entire school communities destabilized.
Reprinted with permission by The News & Observer of Raleigh
As most of our society rushes headlong through Advent into Christmas, I have been reflecting on the end of the liturgical calendar, rather than its beginning at Advent.
For all the hustle of the holiday season, it’s also easy to get nostalgic. The magic of all the lights and decorations and music and good cheer have a way of pulling my gaze to the rear-view mirror, where objects can be closer than they appear.
North Carolina isn’t quite First in Freedom, but over the past decade and a half, we’ve taken tremendous strides in the right direction.
LATEST E-EDITION
- Column: A Special Time of Year When We Find Reasons to Believe
- Column: A Season of Illumination: Shining Light on Toys, Trivia
- Column: Soundtrack of Our Lives Now Playing on a Drug Ad Near Us
- Column: This Thanksgiving, I Am Grateful For Avoiding the Holiday’s Stress
- Column: At the Ramparts of Reality: The Onslaught Against Truth
- Column: The Rituals of Removal: Mourning the Loss Of Loved Ones by the Things They Leave Us
- Column: Sending Our Children, Grandchildren to College Will Teach Them New Truths About Their World
- Column: Daniels Family Was Guiding Force Behind The News & Observer’s Success
- Column: Leuchtenburg Made Us Friends with Presidents
- Column: Biden’s Pardon Sets Up a New Issue Of Whether to Help Protect Others
- Column: Buzzing on the Boozy Wings That Mark Our Celebrations
- Column: A Holiday of Memory and Plenty, But Not One Universally Shared
- Column: Brothers From Different Mothers Never Take Bonds for Granted
- Column: My Zeal for Bending the Rules Couldn’t Withstand a Fussy Editor
- Column: A Broken Heart for Heinous Acts By Our Broken Blood Brothers
- Column: Our Town Council Is Stepping Back To Help Improve the Housing Situation
- Column: Immigration Enforcement Actions Have Real Consequence for Vulnerable Students
- Column: UNC System Faculty Take a New Stand Against Push to Publish Course Details
- Column: ‘What Would Jesus Do’ Is About Acting One’s Faith, Not Wearing It
- Column: A Special Time of Year When We Find Reasons to Believe
- Column: Debate with Media Over Language Is Trump’s Latest Fight
- Column: District’s Actions Set Up Issue for Supreme Court
- Column: Religion Is Increasingly Changing as a Guiding Force in People’s Lives
- Column: New Questions Are Surfacing Over The Efficacy, Repercussions of Transgenderism
- Column: The Brutality of War in Gaza Demands Accountability for What Has Occurred
- Column: Principles of Diversity, Inclusion Don’t Fit In Country’s Merit-Based Military Structure
- Column: Moore’s Power Grid Attacks Could Signify Terrorists Eyeing Infrastructure
- Column: Revisit the Nation’s Tax Code And Not the Size of the IRS
- Column: Blaming Others For Failures is Not Effective Leadership
- Column: School Shootings Require Us To Improve Security Response
- Column: Our Town Council Is Stepping Back To Help Improve the Housing Situation
- Column: Immigration Enforcement Actions Have Real Consequence for Vulnerable Students
- Column: UNC System Faculty Take a New Stand Against Push to Publish Course Details
- Column: ‘What Would Jesus Do’ Is About Acting One’s Faith, Not Wearing It
- Column: A Special Time of Year When We Find Reasons to Believe
- Column: There’s No Such Thing as Retirement For Politicians — and it’s Hurting the Country
- Column: Investment in Education Will Produce Better Results, Not Less Funding
- Column: Biden Delivered a Blow to Those Who Say He Has Lost His Punch
- Column: Graham’s Fight for Governor Resembles Uphill Battles He Fought as Trial Lawyer
- Column: Democrats Need to Drop Impartiality When Running for Supreme Court
- Column: Death of a Treasured Friend Prompts Lots of Memories
- Column: New Book on Mark Twain Strikes a Fascinating Chord
- Column: Readers Share These Concerns About Where We Are Headed
- Column: So Much Keeps Happening To Our ‘Blessed Remoteness’
- Column: We Still Enjoy So Many Things That We Can Be Glad About
- Column: A Bipartisan Effort Should Rebuild Dix Hill
- Column: Let’s Be Serious with the Science And Look Objectively at Fluoride
- Column: If We Wipe it All Out, Surely Then We Can’t Go Home Again
- Column: A Geezer Tries To Visit The DMV and Wonders If We’ve All Been Forgotten
- Column: Don’t Lower Our Educational Standards By Abandoning the County Reading Policy
- Column: A Little Bit of History Repeating? We Fail To Remember a World Before Vaccines
- Column: The Flood of Lessons to Be Learned From All the Calamities That Beset Us
- Column: Playing at a Theater Near You: The Follies That Fill Our Politics
- Column: Standing With the Possums: Can Anyone Help Me Figure Out the Morganton Madness?
- Column: As for a Traffic Circle ‘Solution,’ The Answer Is Simple: Chill Out!
- Column: Pardon Me: Nothing but Confusion for President’s Contrasting Actions on Crime
- Column: First Rights Are In Greater Peril With Each Passing Day
- Column: Woman Up: Maybe It’s Time for Men To Step Aside and Take a Back Seat
- Column: What Message Was Really Being Sent To the Assembled Generals, Admirals?
- Column: The Power of Juneteenth Lives On
- Column: Troops Being Deployed For ’26 Election Set-Up?
- Column: The Stage Was Set by Citizens United Decision
- Column: Seeing Today Through the Experience Of Our Long Gone World War II Heroes
- Column: America’s Musk Problem
- Column: A Family’s Fight Against Authoritarianism Renews an Anger that Builds From Within
- Column: Mark Robinson’s Torrents of Hate Fail to Account for Basic Humanity
- Column: The Good of the Public Weighs Heavily for Embracing Vaccination
- Column: Social Security Can Be Fixed, But Action Must Occur Soon
- Column: After Court Ruling, Let’s Rethink The Reason for College Athletics
- Column: Time for the Senate to End Its Filibuster Rule
- Column: Our Town Council Is Stepping Back To Help Improve the Housing Situation
- Column: Immigration Enforcement Actions Have Real Consequence for Vulnerable Students
- Column: UNC System Faculty Take a New Stand Against Push to Publish Course Details
- Column: Whatley’s Position on Immigration Is Aligned Only to Enforce Trump’s Will
- Column: Childhood Has Come a Long Way And Faces Complications We Never Knew
- Column: Columnist Offers A ‘Thank You’ To The Pilot
- Column: Our Rich History Of Aviation Must Be Remembered
- Column: Ross’ Place in Golf History Calls For 150th Birthday Celebration
- Column: Dec. 7, 1941 Has New Company as A Day of Infamy
- Column: Rename Fort Bragg After Our Army General: George Marshall
