Brian Murphy WRAL Sports Investigative Reporter on where NC is at in regards to legalizing gambling in the state What rsquo s the latest on passing the bill How are politics yet again impacting things Is there any idea on when the window for online gambling might open up [... more]

How will this newly opened gambling facility in VA impact NC Do we know anything about what the state budget might look like Does this budget include casinos Sports books and casinos aren rsquo t always the same thing so do we know how they might be approached here What rsquo s Brian rsquo s understanding of sports book gambling [... more]

Bart talks about the feud between Bucks and Celtics fans the Wisconsin State budget possibly helping the Brewers and InfrastructureWeek continues with Seth Everett Learn more about your ad choices Visit podcastchoices com adchoices [... more]

Debate about the COVID- pandemic has featured plenty of data involving case numbers deaths and hospitalizations Dig into the details and you learn that the numbers might not be as useful as they first appear They might even portray a misleading picture Jon Sanders John Locke Foundation director of regulatory studies discusses key aspects of his research into key COVID- numbers Americans are paying much more attention to China these days largely because of that country's role in the pandemic Part of the discussion involves American trade with China Scott Lincicome senior fellow in economic studies at the Cato Institute [... more]

A lawsuit has helped expose controversy surrounding a multimillion-dollar N C Medicaid contract Donald van der Vaart John Locke Foundation senior fellow dissects the issue He says evidence suggests that state regulators manipulated the bidding process to help a favored company State Auditor Beth Wood recently revealed that the N C Transportation Department overspent its budget by million in one year Wood presented those findings to the General Assembly's transportation oversight group You'll hear highlights from Wood's comments and lawmakers' responses Many N C businesses remain closed because of government restrictions tied to COVID- State lawmakers have tried to ease [... more]

The closing of public school buildings across North Carolina has forced students into remote learning for the final months of the school year But thousands of students have not logged on to participate in a single online education session Terry Stoops John Locke Foundation vice president for research and director of education studies analyzes the impact for educational attainment in N C schools Gov Roy Cooper's economic shutdown has prompted a number of complaints from business owners workers and other government officials Gaston County Commissioner Tracy Philbeck has offered vocal opposition to the governor's statewide shutdown orders Philbeck shared his [... more]

Kansas' decision to move forward with Medicaid expansion has placed more pressure on North Carolina to follow suit Jordan Roberts John Locke Foundation health care policy analyst assesses the potential impact of Kansas on the Medicaid expansion debate in this state Republican legislators especially in the N C Senate have remained cool to all expansion proposals Conflicts between the United States and China appear to be growing Walter Lohman director of the Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center recently discussed The China Challenge in Raleigh in a speech sponsored by the Jesse Helms Center Lohman highlighted challenges linked to long-term American [... more]

After a December break N C legislators return to Raleigh this month They could vote to override Gov Roy Cooper's veto of the state budget bill They also could try to hash out final deals on the farm bill and other legislation left unresolved in Becki Gray John Locke Foundation senior vice president analyzes the upcoming legislative session The pursuit of diversity on college campuses is hurting American higher education Heather Mac Donald fellow at the Manhattan Institute explains how in her recent book The Diversity Delusion Mac Donald shared her concerns during a recent visit to Raleigh for a [... more]

North Carolina will conduct one of the nation's most hotly contested U S Senate races in Incumbent Republican Thom Tillis is seeking his second term A potential primary challenger recently dropped out of the race Meanwhile Democrats are competing for the right to face Tillis next fall Rick Henderson Carolina Journal editor-in-chief analyzes recent developments in the highly anticipated Senate battle He also looks at the number of names on N C presidential primary ballots The college football bowl season has arrived and college basketball teams are nearing the heart of their conference schedules It's a good time for Jenna [... more]

A three-judge panel has upheld the latest version of North Carolina's state House and Senate election maps But the same panel has tossed the congressional election map Now state lawmakers will need to redraw that map quickly for the state to open up candidate filing as scheduled in December Rick Henderson Carolina Journal editor-in-chief discusses the latest developments in North Carolina's redistricting dispute State lawmakers continue to pursue a process that could lead to a complete rewrite of North Carolina's criminal code Rep Dennis Riddell R-Alamance has played a leading role in that process Riddell discusses the latest legislation designed [... more]

The University of North Carolina System's controversial chairman has resigned from that post Harry Smith's decision shakes up the university's Board of Governors as that board deals with other leadership issues That includes the search for a new system president and for a new chancellor at the flagship campus in Chapel Hill Rick Henderson Carolina Journal editor-in-chief assesses UNC's leadership challenges Sarah Lawrence College political scientist Samuel Abrams unleashed a wave of criticism when he decided to write in the New York Times about the lack of ideological diversity on college campuses Abrams traveled to Raleigh this year to discuss [... more]

Constitution Day earlier this month reminded us of the importance of the United States' governing document Jon Guze John Locke Foundation director of legal studies emphasizes constitutional provisions that protect the nation from damaging policies put forward by elected officials Guze touts the value of these constitutional safeguards Jesse Helms departed the American political scene long before Donald Trump started his campaign for the White House But at least one man who worked for Helms believes the late U S senator would appreciate much of what Trump is trying to accomplish in the White House Marc Thiessen followed his work [... more]

President Trump heads back to North Carolina one day before voters head to the polls in two special congressional elections Trump's trip to Fayetteville is designed to support the campaign of Republican Dan Bishop in the th District race Bishop faces Democrat Dan McCready in a special election resulting from alleged absentee ballot shenanigans involving a contractor for previous Republican candidate Mark Harris Voters in the rd District also head to the polls to choose the successor to the late U S Rep Walter Jones Rick Henderson Carolina Journal editor-in-chief analyzes Trump's visit and its potential impact on the special [... more]

One of the sticking points in this year's state budget debate involves the State Capital and Infrastructure Fund or SCIF Legislators propose using SCIF instead of a statewide bond to fund school construction projects Gov Roy Cooper objects Joseph Coletti John Locke Foundation senior fellow analyzes the SCIF He explains how it can work better faster and cheaper than a bond package Some state lawmakers want to take another look at what they call an opportunity gap in N C public schools You'll learn details of their proposed study and hear reaction from Terry Stoops John Locke Foundation vice president [... more]

The general election is more than a year away but there's plenty of political activity at the state and federal level Democratic Gov Roy Cooper and Republican Lt Gov Dan Forest appear to be headed toward a contest for the Executive Mansion Rick Henderson Carolina Journal editor-in-chief analyzes recent polling data linked to the governor's race Education reform represents an important goal But reformers have a mixed record of success That's the assessment from Robert Pondiscio senior fellow at the Thomas B Fordham Institute Pondiscio explains why education reform measures often fall short of their worthwhile goals He offers reformers [... more]

Many congressional Democrats including potential presidential contenders have endorsed the idea of providing Medicare for All Roy Cordato John Locke Foundation senior economist examines the proposal He explains why an expansion of the existing federal health insurance program for older Americans would not lead to the results Medicare for All proponents are proposing The Democratic takeover of the U S House of Representatives means a much different political world for conservatives and for the Trump administration David French National Review senior editor explores the potential impact of recent political changes on conservative policy priorities State government collects plenty of data [... more]

Feb marks the opening date for applications involving two school choice programs in North Carolina Parents can apply for the Opportunity Scholarship Program which provides funding for low-income families to send their children to private schools Parents also can apply for the new Education Savings Account program It provides funding to help defray other education costs for students in low-income families Terry Stoops John Locke Foundation vice president for research explains the role of both programs in promoting parental school choice Nearly state regulations help slow North Carolina's economic growth James Broughel research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George [... more]

Gov Roy Cooper wants the N C Supreme Court to declare part of the new state budget unconstitutional In a recent court filing the governor expanded his Cooper v Berger lawsuit It now includes a challenge to budget provisions targeting Opportunity Scholarship school vouchers roughly billion in block grant funding and the use of million secured from a legal settlement Carolina Journal Editor-in-Chief Rick Henderson analyzes Cooper's argument The N C Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice presented a report this year designed to address long-term changes that would improve the state's court system State Supreme Court Chief [... more]

It has attracted much less attention than other high-profile elements of the N C state budget plan but one provision could have major long-term positive benefits for taxpayers and for public education The provision creates a Joint Legislative Task Force on Education Finance Reform Terry Stoops the John Locke Foundation's vice president for research explains how that task force could play an important role When people lobby government to create a new occupational license for their profession they usually claim to be looking out for their customers' best interests In most cases they actually hope to limit entry into their [... more]

The NCAA has agreed to return some of its championship events to North Carolina in the coming years The college sports organization made that decision after the General Assembly repealed the controversial House Bill bathroom law with a compromise that blocks local governments from regulating bathrooms or enacting ordinances dealing with private employment or public accommodations until December Carolina Journal Editor-in-Chief Rick Henderson analyzes reaction to the NCAA's decision While Gov Roy Cooper wants to end future state funding for Opportunity Scholarship school vouchers some of his Democratic Party colleagues in the N C General Assembly disagree A group of [... more]

Gov Roy Cooper's first state budget proposal includes an emphasis on raising public school teacher pay Cooper's plan shows little interest and some outright opposition to boosting school choice options Terry Stoops the John Locke Foundation's director of research and education studies analyzes Cooper's proposals and compares them to the Republican-led General Assembly's recent education priorities Stoops also highlights recent remarks from some African-American Democratic legislators who stand against Cooper in supporting school choice Most of us have heard about mandates associated with the federal Affordable Care Act But a group called the N C Coalition for Fiscal Health is [... more]