Laurels to progress on the I-85 Yadkin River bridge project. The state Department of Transportation reported this week that workers have completed the temporary work bridge that provides a platform to hold equipment and men during construction of t ...Read More

United Way funding vital for Girl Scout programs Since 1912, Girl Scouts of the USA has strived to develop a program in which young girls can flourish in an accepting and empowering environment. Globally, there are now more than 3 million Girl Sc ...Read More

Fifty years ago, it was called MAD: Mutually Assured Destruction. By the 1980s, the U.S. and the Soviet Union together had amassed 25,000 nuclear warheads aimed at each other. Carl Sagan, the people’s scientist, compared it ...Read More

Editor’s note: Sharon Randall is on vacation. This column originally was published July 12, 2001. It’s not often that I dare to expound on scientific research. At least, not in public. I have my opinions, just as you have yours, but I generally tr ...Read More

‘Wanted: Conscientious, honest, clear-thinking individuals who are willing to work long hours for low pay, who can tolerate near-constant scrutiny by citizens and the media, endure stinging criticism and personal attacks and yet somehow maintain an ...Read More

You could help shape young lives There is a tremendous opportunity in our community and one in which everyone involved can benefit. Rowan Youth Services sponsors a program called Times Two Mentoring. Times Two Mentoring has been established to help R ...Read More

I had the pleasure of meeting two members of the Davie County Beekeepers Association, Larry Williams and George Synder, at the Daniel Boone Festival in Mocksville. I noticed a large group of people in front of their booth, and when I stopped to look ...Read More

Scripps Howard News Service Weather permitting, the Atlantis will blast off today, embarking on America’s 135th and last space shuttle flight, ending an experiment that began with such promise 40 years ago. Was the experiment a failure? Given the ...Read More

By now, pretty much everybody in America who watches TV, reads a newspaper or visits the Internet knows the sad story of Caylee Anthony, the youngster who was reported missing three years ago and became the center of a sensationalistic trial that e ...Read More

Voting should be considered a privilege, not a right This is in response to the July 4 “My Turn” column written by Executive Director of Democracy North Carolina Bob Hall. Bob stated many statistics and figures about voting in North Car ...Read More

Carol Spalding, president of Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, didn’t mind putting two local legislators on the spot Tuesday as they fielded questions from the Salisbury Rotary Club. Spalding thanked Reps. Fred Steen and Harry Warren for their ...Read More

Ronnie Smith always takes high ground Regarding the recent hospice ground breaking ceremony in which the Post cited Ronnie Smith for “interruption,” I am writing this letter in defense of Mr. Smith. This man has been a close personal frie ...Read More

Scripps Howard News Service Common sense, let alone simple arithmetic, tells us the federal deficit control cannot be brought under control by spending cuts alone; it will take some combination of cuts and revenue increases, whether by tax hikes, loo ...Read More

After months of budget-cutting for local and state government, Rowan residents may have been surprised that talk of a new school headquarters came up last week. But this is a 21-year-old need that has yet to be addressed. It’s not going away ...Read More

People need reason to want to join city Annexation reform is the law in North Carolina. Our governor did not sign the bill, and it took Republicans taking control in Raleigh for the first time in 140 years to get the annexation issue passed. We now h ...Read More

By Rep. Fred Steen Special to the Post After voting 1,254 times out of 1,256 (99.8 percent) possible votes, the 2011 session of the General Assembly finally wrapped up on June 25. Many issues came to our attention this year. Ethan’s Law, or t ...Read More

RALEIGH — Senate leader Phil Berger had some choice words for the governor. Gov. Beverly Perdue had just announced her four latest vetoes, bringing to 15 the number of bills that had fallen to her red rubber stamp since Republicans assumed control ...Read More

Scripps Howard News Service Two-dozen visitors to the Washington Monument got a rare treat in advance of the July Fourth weekend. The elevator that takes sightseers to the top of the 555-foot, 51/2-inch shaft became stuck Thursday evening. Eventu ...Read More

How not to campaign in Kentucky Bob Farmer, Democratic candidate for Kentucky agriculture commissioner, on eastern Kentucky: “My wife is from eastern Kentucky and it’s altogether different over there. ... It’s a different kind of pl ...Read More

The News & Observer of Raleigh on the “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” USDA website: A website from the U.S. Department of Agriculture is a boost to farmers across North Carolina, whose contact information and products are listed on “Know Your F ...Read More

How far have we really come regarding our rights? This morning, I’m searching the Internet for news when I come across a curious article: An analyst for MSNBC is suspended for a comment deemed “inappropriate” about the president. I ...Read More

How much do you know about the freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment and their application to various aspects of life? To help celebrate the 4th of July, the American Society of Newspaper Editors and USA Today have created the Great First Ame ...Read More

How do you celebrate the Fourth of July? What will you teach your children and their children about its meaning? Growing up, I knew that I was blessed to be born in the United States of America, the greatest country on the face of the Earth. I kn ...Read More

By Bob Hall

Forty years ago this month, North Carolina played a pivotal role in expanding voting rights for American citizens. On July 1, 1971, our General Assembly became the final state legislature needed to ratify the 26th Amendment, which lowere ...Read More

Tomorrow’s Independence Day celebration springs from the Declaration of Independence that led to the colonies’ separation from Britain. But what really undergirds our sense of freedom is the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Const ...Read More

It’s always good to see an old friend after a long absence, especially if you’ve been a bit worried about his health. In this case, the friend was a bat. Sitting outside at dusk one recent evening, I glimpsed a familiar shape silhouetted against ...Read More

By Dr. Christopher Magryta For the Salisbury Post Obesogens. What are they? By definition they are: chemical compounds foreign to the body that are believed to disrupt normal development or homeostasis of metabolism of fats, ultimately result ...Read More

I found myself thinking about freedom during our recent vacation. Not the political freedom we celebrate on Independence Day. Instead, a book of poetry got me to musing about a different kind of freedom. ...Read More

Common sense (Or uncommon wisdom, as the case may be) It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you.— UnknownRead More