It took North Carolina too long to ban video poker (done three years ago), despite arguments from sheriffs and other law enforcement personnel that it was bad business. Some operators were prosecuted for illegal payoffs and gambling operations.

Blame it on the alcohol fumes. Not only have ambitious plans to turn North Carolina into an East Coast biofuels hub evaporated, it's clear that a part of the undertaking boiled down to pure corruption.

Monroe, in the southwestern part of North Carolina's Piedmont, near Charlotte, is famous as the hometown of the late U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms. But that is not its only political connection.

The outcome of the Sallie Rohrbach murder case still leaves a sour taste, even after her killer was sentenced last week to a long prison term. Was this really the best North Carolina's justice system could do?

Mental health services face cuts as the state seeks to close a budget gap. But the system is already in critical condition.

The suggestion surfaces every time people try to re-imagine high schools that would more effectively reach all of their students.

Regarding your May 27 editorial "Take a chill pill": Eight years ago I was afflicted with eczema all over my body, rarely averaging more than three hours' sleep a night.

The one response that hit the nail on the head in your May 31 Sunday Forum was a letter urging that health care providers be required to compete. We also need tort reform to limit ridiculous malpractice awards.

Recessions occur periodically, and over many years at UNC I've developed a perverse way of detecting them: the legislature threatens to raise my taxes. In the worst recessions, they do.

I moved my family from the Northeast to Raleigh in 1984 and have been so impressed over the years with the forward thinking that resulted in two outstanding reservoirs (Falls and Jordan Lakes) that provide drinking water and recreation to the area.

At just 35 cents per pack, North Carolina's cigarette tax is the third lowest in the nation. Bringing it in line with other states would generate significant tax revenue and reduce health care spending as smokers drop the habit and become healthier.

Americans are taking advantage of a lot of good things. We should be thankful we have food to eat, houses to live in and clothes to wear. And on the other side of the world, they have nearly nothing.

Point of View:Job loss and financial strain have become common topics of discussion, and budget cuts dominate our news.

Jenkins:He gets the calls about every five years, when there's a nice round number to be applied to an anniversary of America's greatest constitutional crisis.

Goodman:No one else was standing beside suspect Scott Roeder when it is believed he murdered Dr. George Tiller in the sanctuary of his church.

Robinson:We were a GM family when I was growing up, back when Americans could be roughly divided into clans according to which of the Big Three automakers they patronized.

Martinez:The General Motors that will emerge from bankruptcy court should rightly be re-branded U.S. Motors.

Consider nachos. Originally conceived in a Mexican border town with fresh tortillas and cheddar cheese, in the United States they mutated into deep fried chips dripping with something known as "processed cheese food." In this vastly more unhealthy form they are now actually a lunch staple in schools across the state.