Author: David Beasley | The Center Square contributor

(The Center Square) – North Carolina is one of three states late on an enacted budget for July 1. Lawmakers in Pennsylvania and Oregon are also late, according to research by The Center for Square and the National Association of State Budget Officers. Michigan’s fiscal year begins Oct. 1 and is the other state without a…

(The Center Square) – In 1990, Dan Apple was more than halfway through his undergraduate education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro when he decided to leave school for the workforce. “I mistakenly thought that I knew everything and would be fine without finishing college,” Apple told The Center Square. “It didn’t take…

(The Center Square) – Democrats in the North Carolina Legislature complained Tuesday that the Republican majority killed good bills without even considering them in the respective rules committees of the Senate and House of Representatives. Crossover day for a bill to clear one chamber or the other has now passed, shutting out Democrat-sponsored bills for…

(The Center Square) – Several lab schools established by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors to improve academic performance have demonstrated significant gains, according to a new report. Extra money for tutors could be responsible, Philip Byers, a member of the Board of Governors, said at a meeting Wednesday. He pointed to the…

(The Center Square) – Grants of $8.8 million for a program to help preserve rapidly vanishing farmland and forests in the state have been awarded by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. “The need for farmland preservation in North Carolina is at an all-time high as we continue to attract new businesses and new residents to…

(The Center Square) – Enrollment at North Carolina’s public universities this fall increased by 2.2% over last year, defying a national trend of declining college enrollment, the state said Thursday. Every University of North Carolina System campus gained in enrollment. Historically Black universities benefited from a new state policy to allow more out of state…

(The Center Square) – Preemptively speaking, North Carolina Democrats led by the governor on Thursday condemned the possibility Republicans will move legislation forward next week to provide enough funding to extinguish the waiting list for Opportunity Scholarships. The Legislature convenes Monday, at noon for both the Senate and House of Representatives. Sen. Dan Blue, D-Wake,…

(The Center Square) – Rising grocery store prices over the last few years aren’t the fault of farmers or “greedy” corporations, a conservative North Carolina research organization concludes in a new documentary series and report. Instead, higher energy prices and more regulations are the culprit, according to the John Locke Foundation documentary series Sowing Resilience.…

(The Center Square) – Rising grocery store prices over the last few years aren’t the fault of farmers or “greedy” corporations, a conservative North Carolina research organization concludes in a new documentary series and report. Instead, higher energy prices and more regulations are the culprit, according to the John Locke Foundation documentary series Sowing Resilience.…

(The Center Square) – Although North Carolina’s economy is doing well and keeping pace with the rest of America, the state still needs to do more to “embrace and drive” innovation, according to a new report by the North Carolina Board of Science, Technology & Innovation. “Technology and innovation are key ingredients of a high-productivity,…