by Kimberly Jones | Jul 2, 2025 | Education, Kimberly Jones, Local Politics, North Carolina, North Carolina Community, North Carolina State Politics, Reclaiming Rural
You cannot ask schools to solve every societal ill while refusing to fund the systems that make solutions possible. Public education cannot be reimagined if it is underfunded, undermined, and politicized. At the very least, you should place a moratorium on the expansion of private school vouchers, which siphon vital resources away from the public schools that serve the vast majority of our children. I have said it before and will say it again: public dollars belong in public schools. We cannot keep pretending to champion success for all students while funding systems that are not held to the same standards of transparency, access, or accountability.
by Beacon Media | Jul 2, 2025 | Climate crisis, Cost of living, Environment, Local Organizing, Local Politics, North Carolina Community, North Carolina State Politics, Reclaiming Rural
An independent study commissioned by Duke Energy found that it could keep bills low and meet the carbon reduction targets by tripling the proposed solar on its grid by 2030.
Instead, Duke has planned the largest buildout of dirty fossil gas in the nation, according to data compiled by the Sierra Club.
by Beacon Media | Jun 26, 2025 | Cost of living, Healthcare, North Carolina, North Carolina Community, North Carolina State Politics, U.S. Politics
A bill making its way through the U.S. Senate would be devastating for the millions of people on Medicaid in North Carolina.
by Preston Blakely | Jun 26, 2025 | Local Politics, North Carolina Community, North Carolina State Politics, Politics, Preston Blakely, U.S. Politics
Who could have imagined public service could be so dangerous? I became the mayor of a small town in Western North Carolina to serve my entire community. To sit in churches, barbershops, and kitchen tables, and have intimate and honest conversations. To represent and lead the people I meet, even when we cannot agree on everything.
by Gwen Frisbie-Fulton | Jun 12, 2025 | Cost of living, Gwen Frisbie-Fulton, North Carolina State Politics, Politics, U.S. Politics
There is no way that the charitable food bank network — as big and robust as it is — can make up for these devastating cuts. SNAP is, by far, the most efficient and cost-effective way to make sure that people in our communities have enough to eat. What’s more, grocers in poor and working-class neighborhoods like mine, as well as rural communities, rely on SNAP dollars to stay open.
by Beacon Media | May 28, 2025 | Elections, Local Politics, North Carolina State Politics, Politics
The losing candidate — Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin — couldn’t steal the election, but he did immeasurable damage to the public’s faith in our democracy. He challenged 65,000 ballots from voters who complied with all the rules, and four justices on our state Supreme Court agreed to throw out some of them.
Griffin never presented any evidence that voters did anything wrong in casting their ballots, but it suddenly looked like their votes might not count.
