How popular is Jesse Helms? Pretty darned popular, if you use Southern pecan pie as a measuring stick. On May 19, the 79-year-old U.S. senator, walking slowly and leaning on a cane, made his way to the stage at the Raleigh Civic and Convention Center to chat with the faithful in attendance at the state […]
Patrick O'Neill
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End the addiction
Death penalty opponents claim almost two-thirds of North Carolinians support a moratorium on executions. To date, 22,000 Tar Heel citizens have signed a petition calling for a halt until flaws in the system can be studied. But in the North Carolina General Assembly, the number of moratorium supporters is far lower. To combat that disparity, […]
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The business of killing
The years on death row had brought peace to Willie Ervin Fisher. In the hours before his execution last Friday night, Fisher spent his time comforting an older sister and a niece who had come to visit him at Raleigh’s Central Prison. During Fisher’s only contact visit since he was sentenced to death for the […]
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Hard Time
Incarceration by patrick o’neillLocked in a single cell in Unit One at Central Prison, a person can feel about as far from the outside world as one can get. But recently, more than a dozen men in the 192-bed disciplinary segregation lockup in Raleigh participated in a hunger strike to protest what they called “dire […]
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Mixed messages
High level radioactive waste is perhaps the deadliest stuff on earth, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)–the group charged with protecting public safety when it comes to producing, handling and storing the stuff–can’t seem to make up its mind about CP&L’s plan to become the nation’s largest repository for highly radioactive spent fuel rods. Two […]
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Cruel and unusual
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that capital punishment does not constitute a violation of the Constitution’s ban against cruel and unusual punishment. Don’t tell that to the friends and family members of death row inmate Bobby Lee Harris. The 34-year-old Harris came within hours of being executed on Jan. 19 before the N.C. Supreme […]
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Call it murder
Alfred Rivera spent 22 months on North Carolina’s death row before new evidence proved his innocence. Last week, Rivera, from High Point, joined about 150 others for a march and rally in downtown Raleigh in support of a moratorium on executions. Standing across the street from the governor’s mansion, Rivera told the assembly he believed […]
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Fair and unfair
It’s a good thing for Al Gore that the presidential election doesn’t hinge on the opinions of the 800,000-plus people who attended this year’s N.C. State Fair. Throughout the 10-day fair it was obvious that George W. Bush was the candidate of choice among fairgoers. As always, the state Republican Party turned out in force […]
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Two-part disharmony
Neither is an outstanding debater, but Bill Bryan and Baldemar Velasquez are both effective at getting their points across. Recently, Bryan, the CEO of the Mt. Olive Pickle Company, and Velasquez, the founder/president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, met for a 90-minute debate at Raleigh’s Pullen Memorial Baptist Church. FLOC has called on consumers […]
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Two for animals
The March of Dimes, a group that funds research into birth defects, makes some grants to researchers who experiment on animals–a major bone of contention with animal-rights activists. Declaring animal research cruel and unnecessary, two staff members with the Norfolk-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) spent an hour outside the March of […]