Bob Geary

KKK in NC What: Klansville U.S.A. Where: UNC-TV, other PBS stations When: Tuesday, Jan. 13, 9 p.m. Who: Producer-director Callie T. Wiser documents the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina during the 1960’s. What should we make of the fact that the North Carolina of the fictional Mayberry and The Andy Griffith […]

The 2014 elections in North Carolina were, on the whole, a tremendous letdown for the progressive-minded. But let’s not overlook the fact that we won the most important contests on the ballotseats on the N.C. Supreme Court. The importance of these less-noticed, ostensibly nonpartisan races was brought home to me by the court’s decision in […]

(With quotations taken or adapted from Charles Dickens) Marley was dead. A big Republican contributor from the firm of Scrooge & Marley, he’d once helped a young Duke Energy functionary rise to be mayor of Charlotte. But Jacob Marley died years ago, and unless this is distinctly understood and accepted, nothing wonderful can come of […]

The first thing that must be said about the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on the CIA and torture is that our government did torture prisoners, including some innocent people. Waterboarding is torture. Shackling men to ceilings, locking them in coffins, forcing them to stand in darkness for days at a time while piped-in noise makes […]

We are writing to tell you about your 2015 health plan.” The letter is to my wife and me from Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. It’s about our insurance policy under the Affordable Care Act. We’re automatically approved for next year. But there is some fine print. Our monthly premium will increase byI […]

It was one week after the announcement that the white cop who killed an unarmed black teen in Ferguson, Missouri would not be charged, and President Obama was speaking about the “simmering distrust” between African-American communities and their police forces. At the same time, the State Board of Education met in Raleigh to consider changes […]

When: Monday, Dec. 8, 6 p.m. Where: Raleigh Convention Center What: Consultants explain the seven-month transit planning process ahead. Who: Jarrett Walker, an Oregon-based transit consultant; Kimley-Horn, a Raleigh-based transportation design firm; Raleigh, Cary, other local and Wake County officials. The public is invited. More: www.waketransit.com It’s another kickoff. They’re teeing up the transit planning […]

Perhaps you’ve moved on from the midterm elections. I’m still stuck on a reader’s response to what I wrote last week, when I blamed Democratic losses on a muddy message and candidates who leave us wondering whether they even know what’s happening with the economy. The simple Republican message is that they won’t spend “your […]

Before I answer the question of what happened to the Democrats, let me stipulate a couple of things. First, Kay Hagan came tantalizingly close to winning her re-election campaign for U.S. Senate. Subtract 24,000 votes from Thom Tillis and shift them to Haganout of 2.9 million castand we’d be talking about Hagan’s brilliant strategy. She […]

Raising of the Belltower WHAT Triangle NC chapter of Veterans for Peace install a 24-foot tall “shimmer tower” dedicated to “all victims and veterans of war regardless of race, faith or nationality.” WHERE State Capitol, Raleigh WHEN Friday, Nov. 7, 5 p.m. WHO Participants include Matthew Hoh, Iraq vet and former State Department official; Ray […]