The Commentators
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The Commentators
Student Loan Debt Crushes College Grads
Ask any UNC student what the greatest challenge facing them after graduation and they will tell you paying down the staggering mountain of debt accumulated over four years of college. Nearly half of all UNC students have incurred significant debt averaging $25,218. North Carolina ranks 37th in student loan debt which some students racking up […]
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The Commentators
Evaluate Nonprofits Before You Give
We live in a very generous community that contributes to many organizations that help a lot of people. While we have a lot cheerful givers, the overall level of giving is down. The state of the economy probably has a lot to do with it. But, there may be other reasons why some people might […]
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The Commentators
How Can We Make Others Feel More Welcome?
I’m a Welsh-born American citizen. Not everyone is comfortable welcoming strangers. Our current world is full of real and imagined dangers. It becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish good from bad. But, not to keep an open mind and an open heart makes us all poorer for not taking the risk of engaging with strangers or […]
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The Commentators
What Can We Do About Guns?
Unbelievable. Buried in the middle of the paper in a catch-all section called “other news” was the headline “Grandfather Kills 6 Children, Mother of Children, and Self.” Folks, this is major slaughter and nobody cares? The National Rifle Association has so conned us into thinking that guns are the American way, Patriotic, and God-fearing, that […]
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The Commentators
Don’t Extinguish the Creative Sparks of the University
I recently read that state appropriations to public research universities have dropped 34 percent in the last decade. Now, seven years after the end of the Great Recession, per pupil state expenditure on higher education in North Carolina is $2,600 below pre-recession levels. State universities have been pressed to make difficult decisions, both in finding […]
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The Commentators
Are Taxes Pushing Chapel Hill Residents Away?
Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of my friends and neighbors insist their moving out of Chapel Hill after their kids finish high school. I used to hear that occasionally, but now it’s constant. What’s causing this mass exodus? Could it be taxes? Fear of new taxes combined with the high, unrealistic reassessments of our […]
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The Commentators
Vote For Polticians Who Want People to Vote
I don’t know about you, but I am always losing things. My car keys, my phone, the TV remote. It always feels great to find these things again. I try to set up my house and habits so I don’t lose things again. http://audio.chapelboro.com.s3.amazonaws.com/2016/April/20/THE%20COMMENTATORS_APRIL%2020th%20%20BRYAN%20THORNBURG-vote%20for%20the%20candidates%20who%20actually%20want%20you%20to%20vote.mp3 But, all of us have lost something precious and that’s the […]
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The Commentators
Legislators Should Meet Those Affected by HB2
On Sunday, April 10 close to 600 Orange County residents attended the national award winning 19th Annual Community Dinner in Carrboro celebrating our community’s cultural diversity through food and entertainment. The ongoing support for this annual event bears testimony to the fact that so many of our local residents think that our diversity is worth […]
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The Commentators
Suggestions for Charles Blackwood
The Chapel Hill News on April 4, 2016 featured a thoughtful front page and beyond on Sheriff Charles Blackwood. If you missed it, check it out. It’s by Tammy Grubb. Also, go to the Southern Coalition for Social Justice for these 11 bias-free suggestions developed last year. Identify and change existing policies that result in […]
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The Commentators
Step Up and Volunteer For Chapel Hill
Volunteering in Chapel Hill. How many times have you griped about some situation in the town of Chapel Hill? How many times have you thought about volunteering on one of the 17 standing advisory boards in Chapel Hill? These two questions go hand in hand. Currently, there are 17 advisory boards with 175 positions which […]
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The Commentators
Why Are You Drinking Raw Milk?
I’d like to ask you a question. I am completely baffled by the desire to consume raw milk. It can potentially contain listeria as well as salmonella, e coli, and tuberculous among other things. Some advocates say raw milk is “healthier than pasteurized milk.” Okay. Putting aside the listeria, salmonella, tuberculous thing, which is hard […]
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The Commentators
It’s Time For the Governor and General Assembly to Listen
Wise people like to point out the benefits of listening to what others have to say. As soon as our legislators passed House Bill 2 and our governor signed it, a group of folks gathered on Franklin St to voice their disapproval. Quickly, that few became many and the group grew into a large circle […]
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The Commentators
Don’t Forget Everything the General Assembly Did Before HB2
You’ve heard some of my commentaries here on WCHL about our General Assembly in Raleigh on the crazy bills that have been voted on and signed by our governor. Pat McCrory has gutted unemployment benefits by 36 percent, while giving his cabinet members, campaign donors and paid election workers an eight percent raise. Telling us that […]
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The Commentators
Preparing for our Aging Population
The Carolina Population Center did a Carolina Demography post on the aging of our population. Did you know that there are nearly 45 million individuals 65 years and older representing 14.5 percent of the population? So says the US Census Bureau. Just over 1.4 million of us older Americans live in North Carolina comprising just […]
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The Commentators
The Protest at Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day
April 12 is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s and there will be long lines at Franklin St and Columbia. Ben & Jerry’s makes very good ice cream and has even gone vegan for us. For the past two years, a group has been there passing out flyers to the waiting cone folk. Why? Ben […]
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The Commentators
Reply to Matt Bailey
Recently, Matt Bailey, a fan of luxury apartments on the American Legion property asked, “Where were all these park lovers before January?” We were all around you, Matt. Our desire for a park on the Legion property was expressed clearly in the Comprehensive Parks Plan adopted in 2013. That same year the 2020 Comprehensive Plan […]
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The Commentators
Widen Chapel Hill Roads
When Betsy and I left a medical office appointment in Cary recently, we found ourselves heading home on I-40 just after 4 o’clock on Friday afternoon. This is a punishment that only a mean spirited judge would use as a sentence. It did take time, but eventually we made it back to Chapel Hill safely […]
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The Commentators
No, No, No Signs at Carr Mill Mall
Hey Carrboro! Why do you want me to be so fat? I’m trying to lose some weight here. With so many good restaurants opening in my downtown neighborhood, this is getting harder all the time. Rise Biscuits & Donuts just opened two blocks from my house with an amazing display of fabulous treats. How is […]
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The Commentators
End the Presidential Brackets
I find it odd that one of the rituals of the NCAA basketball tournament has become the President of the United States producing a Presidential Bracket, affixed with the Presidential seal. I don’t mind that the President is a basketball fan and finds relaxation in watching and playing the sport. I do take issue with lending […]
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The Commentators
Just Ignore HB2
I can’t help but laugh just a little bit at all the hysteria surrounding the passage of HB2. The huge outcry of opposition to the bill has to be a comfort to the gay community to receive so much support. So much so, that it makes me wonder what it is exactly, that the gay community is so afraid […]
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