The Chatham News + Record

Melissa Florer-Bixler is right about ‘Ted Lasso’ — a full confession

After I read my respected colleague Melissa Florer-Bixler’s recent editorial in the Washington Post (“‘Ted Lasso’ showed us how kindness can change UK soccer. Until we saw the real UK … more

BY ANDREW TAYLOR-TROUTMAN, Columnist | 7/28/21

Hey, litterbug. What gives?

Life is pockmarked with an array of puzzling incongruities. Among them is the fact that we actively recruit volunteers from among our ranks to bag up roadside trash — trash discarded by litterbugs … more

BY BILL HORNER III, Publisher | 7/28/21

A clerk in an ABC store in Pittsboro helps a customer with a transaction in April 2020. Alcohol sales during the stay-at-home order were up significantly at all Chatham-area ABC stores.

Can’t find your favorite bourbon? There might be something better.

It’s been a boon year for ABC store sales since pandemic shutdowns shuttered regular drinking holes and haunts. In Chatham especially, North Carolinians come from far and wide to peruse the … more

BY D. LARS DOLDER, News + Record Staff | 7/28/21

Effect of state policy isn’t huge

For years, North Carolina conservatives and progressives argued incessantly about the effects of the state’s rightward turn. Conservatives said lower taxes and less regulation tend to boost … more

By John Hood, Guest Columnist | 7/28/21

Lessons from famous and ordinary people

What North Carolinians would you most like to be subject to a new biography? People whose lives are lessons or inspirations? My suggestions include the late Senator Robert Morgan, the late … more

By D.G. Martin, Guest Columnist | 7/28/21

Tempus really does fugit

It was hot the afternoon of that day, some 50 years ago. But then, it should have been. July 24. Right in the heart of a North Carolina summer. But you know what they say about North … more

BY BOB WACHS, Columnist | 7/28/21

Burning the midnight kilowatts

“There’s nothing good going on after midnight that you need to be part of,” my momma repeatedly told me. She was right. Our legislators would do well to heed that advice. No legislation … more

By Tom Campbell, Guest Columnist | 7/28/21

Perch Coworking's 2,000 square-foot space features 12 personal workspaces, three private office suites and a conference room that can be reserved by the hour.

The case for a 4-day work week

Work fills the time alloted for it. As Joe Pinsker wrote for The Atlantic last month: “When we have 40 hours of work a week, we find ways to work for 40 hours.” That’s not to say we … more

BY D. LARS DOLDER, News + Record Staff | 7/21/21

For Chatham’s unvaccinated, it’s time for a reality check

It’s time for a reality check. That’s the message from both a World Health Organization epidemiologist and the director of the Chatham County Public Health Department (see story, page A1) in … more

CN+R STAFF EDITORIAL | 7/21/21

What makes a home?

Home. Before your mind jumps to the physical and metaphorical meanings of this loaded word, try saying it slowly out loud. Or, if you are reading this in public, you could whisper quietly. Home. Do … more

BY ANDREW TAYLOR-TROUTMAN, Columnist | 7/21/21

North Carolina can lead on LGBTQ nondiscrimination

As a longtime North Carolina faith leader, I am hoping that Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis will help find common ground to ensure fairness and equality for all Americans. For decades, … more

By Rev. Troy Lesher-Thomas, Guest Columnist | 7/21/21

Rep. Reives: Child Tax Credit is one of most pro-family policies enacted by Congress in generations

Last week, many families across our community woke up to a deposit in their bank account via the Child Tax Credit. That money, signed into law by President Biden in the American Rescue Plan, has not … more

From Rep. Robert Reives II | 7/21/21

A missing woman in Manteo — and it’s not Virginia Dare

What happened to her? If you raise this question in Manteo on Roanoke Island at the edge of the Outer Banks, people will think you are asking about Virginia Dare. In 1587, she was the first … more

By D.G. Martin, Guest Columnist | 7/21/21

Right thing may take time but it’s worth the effort

Is it just me or is the milk of human kindness in short supply these days? Or has it always been in short supply and I was — or still am — just too stupid or naïve to notice the volume … more

BY BOB WACHS, Columnist | 7/21/21

On backyard gardening

Watching our garden grow apace under the blazing summer sun brings me no end of joy. I married a woman with a green thumb. My Elizabeth is more of an herb and flower kind of gardener than the … more

By Dwayne Walls Jr., Columnist | 7/21/21

Fireworks — fun and philanthropic

Everyone’s seen the fireworks tents that pop up in the week before July 4, but what happens to the take-home-combustibles business in the other 51 weeks of the year? Not a whole lot. “The … more

BY D. LARS DOLDER, News + Record Staff | 7/14/21

'The problem this history presents today is that,' Columnist Eliza Brinkley writes, 'even in a post-second and third wave feminist era, teachers in the United States — male and female alike — suffer from a view of education that remains marred in part by the outdated, sexist ideology of the past.'

Why do we shortchange teachers so badly?

On June 21, state Senate leaders presented a budget spending proposal that would slash corporate taxes and invest heavily in infrastructure. Despite the state’s $6.5 billion surplus, public school … more

By Eliza Brinkley, Guest Columnist | 7/14/21

Healthcare and hubris

My wife and I were both raised in North Carolina. After more than a decade out of state, we were delighted to become Tar Heels again in 2018. Our home state stands out in our minds as the best place … more

BY ANDREW TAYLOR-TROUTMAN, Columnist | 7/14/21

How about turning the nozzle down on all that high-pressure salesmanship?

We’re kicking around the idea of replacing the shower in a bathroom at our house. In the process, as we’ve talked to a few companies specializing in that kind of refurbishment work, I’ve been … more

BY BILL HORNER III, Publisher | 7/14/21

Comic strips, O. Henry, and this column

It has happened again. As reported in this column recently, the Library of America honored the late Elizabeth Spencer on June 1 by adding to its series an 864-page volume of her work. This month … more

By D.G. Martin, Guest Columnist | 7/14/21