North Carolina already has some of the toughest drunken driving laws in the nation, but two bills in the state House, getting rare bipartisan support, would strengthen those laws even more and are worth approval.  More...

RALEIGH At first glance, Gov. Pat McCrory’s budget for 2015-2017 is down the middle — not too friendly, not too unfriendly. More...

RALEIGH Now that Gov. Pat Mc- Crory has released his budget proposal for the 2015-17 biennium, there are at least two fiscal issues dividing North Carolina Republicans this year. Before discussing them, however, two observations are obligatory. More...

THE QUESTION: Gov. Pat McCrory says while his budget will propose boosting starting teacher pay to $35,000, he also wants superintendents to have funds to distribute to top teachers. Do you think that plan is a good idea? More...