All in Columns

John Hood: Local Newspapers Play Essential Roles

RALEIGH โ€” It was 40 years ago this week that I wrote my first column for North Carolina newspapers. Still in journalism school at UNC-Chapel Hill, I was interning that summer at two outlets based in Nash County: the Spring Hope Enterprise, which covered the southern part of the county, and a startup called the Rocky Mount Record.

Evelyn Dove Coleman: Things Get Lost

Many years ago, when my adult cousin was a teenager, she told me that I had influenced her to put things in their place. She said I had encouraged her to let all of her things have a designated place and to always put them there. That way, our rooms will be organized and neat. And, moreover, we won't have to waste time looking for misplaced items.

Evelyn Dove Coleman: How to Relax

It's a challenge in this busy world to pause from daily routines and just be still. Even when we schedule a vacation, we scurry to pack everything we may need, and then we scurry to get to our destination. Then we scurry to see all the sights. And finally, we scurry back home to begin our old daily routines again.

Kristy Kelly: When your knees buckle

A house fire will break you.

It doesnโ€™t just take everything you own. It takes the memories of scrubbing crayon off every surface and digging Play-Doh out of the carpet. Never again will you walk down hallways lined with slightly crooked photos where you once stepped on Legos at two in the morning. There will never again be tangible evidence of your childrenโ€™s handprints at that age, left behind on a wall, a table, or a door.

John Hood: Freer Carolinas Means More Carolinians

RALEIGH โ€” Progressives are frustrated by North Carolinaโ€™s just-enacted state budget, hostile to recent deregulatory initiatives and tax cuts, and outraged at recent welfare reforms and school-choice expansions. They think our state is careening dangerously in the wrong direction. If their preferred candidates win state and local offices in November, they hope to reverse course.

Evelyn Dove Coleman: Care Givers

It seems as though every family has or has had a person who became a caregiver at some point. Some took care of a disabled or a sick sibling, parent, or child for some period of time. To me, care-giving requires a special type of person. If you know someone who has been one, raise your hand.