Brenee Goforth

North Carolina’s largest agriculture celebration, the N.C. State Fair was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus. Thankfully for fans of the popular event, State Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler announced Wednesday, February 24, that the show will go on, and the fair will take place October 14-24. Troxler boasted plans…

Vaccination is one of America’s strongest tools for dealing with COVID-19, but getting people vaccinated requires two things: (1) enough vaccines and (2) enough people willing to be vaccinated. North Carolina has difficulties on both fronts. As for supplying vaccines, North Carolina is only 24th in the nation for…

In the fall, many K-12 school districts made the difficult decision to move instruction online. Many schools are continuing a fully or partially online curriculum into the spring semester, which could further worsen the learning loss many students have faced. As Julie Havlak writes this week for Carolina Journal: Remote…

Airbnb has taken steps in North Carolina to remove so-called “party houses” from their platform. According to Charlotte Business Journal reporter Ashley Fahey, Airbnb has banned 20 houses in Charlotte alone following complaints of large gatherings at the short-term rental properties. Inbox: Airbnb says it’s cracking…

Dem. Gov. Roy Cooper has imposed sweeping COVID-19 restrictions over the past year. The use of executive orders and the bypassing of Council of State approvals has left many wondering about the legality of the restrictions. However, even if the orders end up holding legal muster, Cooper’s most ubiquitous…

Election season this year has been like no other. Americans are still raising questions about the presidential race, and control of the US Senate hangs in the balance of one state, Georgia, as it goes into a runoff this year. North Carolinians are facing an additional election anomaly in the…

Teacher turnover is down in North Carolina, and that is a good thing. High teacher turnover can cause friction in the education system and lower educational efficiency. JLF’s Dr. Terry Stoops shares the past 5 years’ attrition rates in his recent research brief: Statewide Teacher Attrition Rate, 2016–2020 School Year…

For months now, the John Locke Foundation’s Jon Sanders has been putting out a weekly “NC Threat-Free Index” to put COVID-19 numbers into context. This week, the Foundation’s Joe Coletti published a new index, the Covid Misery Index. Coletti describes it: “How are states doing?” That is the point…