Among the many downsides of the sprawl desecrating the once-rural Triangle countryside is the displacement of animals from their natural habitat. Such is the case in Garner, where lush forestland is quickly being destroyed to accommodate the influx of newcomers in search of cul-de-sacs of their very own. For the last few months, our yard […]
Patrick O'Neill
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“Life Row”
FAITHJoan Hunt is a mother who is familiar with pain. She knows the pain of never being able to hug her 29-year-old son, Nathan Bowie, or her brother, William Bowie, 38. Both men have been sitting on Central Prison’s death row since February 1993, when they were sentenced for murder in the May 1991 shooting […]
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Like Family
Looking for strange bedfellows in politics? How about Richard Vinroot and Dean Smith? Vinroot is the Republican candidate for governor. Smith is the retired UNC-CH men’s basketball coach. A benchwarmer for Smith in the 1960s, Vinroot rarely fails to mention his friendship with his former coach as he stumps around the state. Smith, a member […]
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A pole for peace
Maria Montessori was an educator who believed peacemaking and nonviolence should be included in all school curricula. At Raleigh’s Poe Montessori Elementary School, the staff, teachers and parents have taken Montessori’s message to heart. A week before classes let out for the year, Poe became the first public school in the Triangle to erect a […]
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Cease-fire
Stephen Dear was in a hurry. The Carrboro Board of Aldermen meeting was about to start, and he wanted to make a proposal. There would probably be a long, bureaucratic process, he reasoned, and the sooner he could present his idea to the board, the better. He wanted Carrboro to pass a resolution supporting a […]
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The nuclear sword
One of Scripture’s most famous lines was spoken by Jesus as he was being arrested: “All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” So it goes with empires, claims Peace Action co-chair Bill Towe of Cary, who spoke May 21 during a rally on Raleigh’s Fayetteville Street Mall. The purpose of the […]
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Power and light
How much power does Carolina Power & Light have? No doubt the corporate giant wields plenty of muscle in state politics, but does CP&L have enough clout to circumvent the democratic process? That’s the key question being raised by activists in an ongoing effort to keep the utility from increasing its storage capacity for high-level […]
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Paradise Lost
When bankers, developers, builders and politicians get together, odds are the outcome of their mischief-making will spell disaster for Planet Earth. Such a group agreed more than a year ago that it was time to lay waste to a tract of majestic forest across the road from my home. Months ago, the surveyors were in […]
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The real story
Television journalists long to be taken seriously. But it’s difficult when sensationalist news directors send live crews to cover non-stories that would bring a legitimate journalist to tears. On May 10, WTVD, NewsChannel 11, sent longtime anchor Larry Stogner to report such a story aboard the USS Miami, a nuclear submarine. Stogner, a Vietnam veteran, […]
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Jubilee
No one mentioned David Duke’s name on April 18, but the memory of his February anti-immigration rally was still fresh for the crowd gathered on the steps of the city hall in Siler City to “celebrate the many different peoples” who live there. Gloria Maldonado, a native of Mexico and member of St. Julia Catholic […]