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Doug Clark: Alston gives public a piece of his mind

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 12 May 2010 03:00:00 -0400

Guilford County Commissioners Chairman Skip Alston gave a piece of his mind after last week's budget hearing. This is edited for length:

Doug Clark: N.C. needs political independents, too

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 05 May 2010 03:00:00 -0400

So, now that Tuesday's primaries are in the books, what have we got?

Just more Democrats and Republicans to battle it out in the general election.

Same old same old.

What North Carolina needs is a Charlie Crist.

Crist is the Republican governor of Florida who last week said to heck with his party and announced he'll run for the U.S. Senate as an independent.

Doug Clark: Court race presents striking contrasts

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 03:00:00 -0400

The most interesting, least publicized race on next week's primary ballot matches a Court of Appeals incumbent against three challengers.

Rick Elmore practiced law in Greensboro for 20 years before he was elected to the Court of Appeals as a Republican in 2002. That was the last partisan election for judges in North Carolina.

Doug Clark: Veterans' memorial holds special place

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 03:00:00 -0400

As Bill Craft was guiding me through the Guilford County Veterans' Memorial at Greensboro's Country Park, I managed to lose sight of our two companions, Bill Black and Al Lochra.

No, there they were: up ahead, picking up sticks and leaves cluttering the Path of Memory. Now, that's pride.

Doug Clark: School funding deserves a discussion

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 03:00:00 -0400

A plucky band of public education advocates stood on the steps of the Old Guilford County Courthouse last Friday and called for more school funding.

Good for them. And good luck.

Doug Clark: Send the sagging pants guys to Dubai

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 03:00:00 -0400

There aren't many sights more ridiculous than a young man whose pants are drooping down around his knees. The picture says "idiot."

Some people say "there oughtta be a law."

Doug Clark: Focus on illegal immigrants and crime

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 03:00:00 -0400

The infamous 287(g) program more often grabs illegal immigrants who commit traffic offenses than felonies, a new study by UNC-Chapel Hill researchers finds.

That wasn't the original purpose, say Mai Thi Nguyen and Hannah Gill, who produced their report for The Latino Migration Project.

Doug Clark: Bad behavior may claim a high price

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:00:00 -0400

Some marriages fall apart and some are driven apart.

The difference may be the influence of a third person, who can pay a heavy price for the damage done.

A Guilford County jury fixed that price at $9 million in a case the News & Record's Jennifer Fernandez reported last week.

Doug Clark: The feds could find business here, too

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:00:00 -0400

Obama administration officials say they've put the civil rights division of the Department of Justice "back in business."

Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez used the phrase when he was in Greensboro for the opening of the International Civil Rights Center and Museum Feb. 1.

Will he return to Greensboro for a more substantial demonstration?

Doug Clark: Davis should run in one race at a time

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:00:00 -0500

Come November, some High Point voters may see two candidates named Bruce Davis on their ballots.

One would be the Bruce Davis, Democrat, running for re-election to the Guilford County Board of Commissioners in District 1.

The other would be Bruce Davis, unaffiliated, running for state Senate in District 28.

But, in fact, they would be the same Bruce Davis.

Doug Clark: Court applies hate-crime law broadly

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:00:00 -0500

Can a white man commit a crime with "ethnic animosity" against another white man under state law?

Yes, the N.C. Court of Appeals said in a groundbreaking ruling last month.

In fact, it happened in Greensboro on July 1, 2008, when David John Brown fired his shotgun twice at Ray Peterson. But trouble had been building for a long time.

Doug Clark: Where's the money for Yadkin bridge?

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:00:00 -0500

A lousy $10 million.

That's what North Carolina learned last week it's getting in federal stimulus funds for the "critical" Yadkin River Bridge replacement on I-85.

Doug Clark: Schools need security, not observers

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:00:00 -0500

Watching video of the 15-year-old girl beaten down by a female attacker in Seattle while four uniformed security guards did nothing to help prompted a terrible thought:

What if that happened at a Guilford County school?

Doug Clark: N.C. politicians can't keep their secrets

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:00:00 -0500

Back in 2007 ...

John Edwards gets a call on his cell phone. The ring tone plays "I Feel Pretty."

"Hello."

"Hello, John. You're heading for disaster. I can help."

"Who is this?"

"Call me ... Nick Danger."

"I don't know anyone by that name. How'd you get my number?"

Doug Clark: Time comes to set government straight

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:00:00 -0500

The most interesting thing Gov. Bev Perdue said here Monday morning had nothing to do with the 50th anniversary of the Woolworth sit-ins or the opening of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum.

We've all got to make sure government is "set straight," and that's it's honest and works for us, she said.

Has she been reading the news from Greensboro lately?

Doug Clark: Carty is finding his own answers now

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:00:00 -0500

Austin Carty was once mistaken for a math genius, just one of the wrong turns on his search for truth.

Carty's first professionally published book, "High Points and Lows: Life, Faith, and Figuring It All Out," was issued by Penguin Group this week. Readers will meet a writer who's learned, sometimes painfully, to be honest with himself, with others and with God.

Doug Clark: Edwards' tragedy echoes Shakespeare

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 03:00:00 -0500

"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing" -- from "The Tragedy of Macbeth" by William Shakespeare.

Doug Clark: Governor makes good choice for judge

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:00:00 -0500

Gov. Bev Perdue's battle with the courts over early release of criminals sentenced to life in prison led me to question whether she respects the role of judges.

They have to decide cases by what the law says, not what's politically popular. But she's been acting as if it's their fault that 1970s laws were soft on murderers and rapists, and now we have to live with the consequences.

Doug Clark: State experiences highs, lows in 2009

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 03:00:00 -0500

The past year has been eventful in North Carolina. While some folks might wish it was all a bad dream, it brought its shining moments for others.

Here, not ranked in order, are my top Tar Heel happenings for 2009:

National championship for UNC-Chapel Hill men's basketball team.

Doug Clark on happiness

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:00:00 -0500

"It's the hap-happiest season of all."

In some places more than others, perhaps.

A survey of 1.3 million Americans led to an article in last week's journal Science in which researchers ranked 50 states and the District of Columbia by happiness levels.

Doug Clark: High Point loves Max in the morning

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:00:00 -0500

Who's the most popular, trusted, even beloved person in High Point?

Doug Clark: Young cancer survivor touches senator

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:00:00 -0500

Taylor Bell wants to become a professional lobbyist after she graduates from East Carolina University with a political science degree in May. Why not? She's doing pretty well as an amateur.

Two weeks ago, she walked into Sen. Kay Hagan's Washington office and left with the Greensboro Democrat's promise to co-sponsor the bill that Bell was promoting.

Doug Clark: Governor puts everything on the line

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:00:00 -0400

A few weeks from now:

The governor calls a meeting of her top advisers -- in the Wake County jail.

"I brought you a cake," one of them says, holding a bakery box.

"Does it have a file under the icing?"

"Governor, breaking out of here is the last thing you want to do."

"Why is that?"

Doug Clark: Creative spirit fills High Point market

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:00:00 -0400

There's no place like the furniture market in High Point. And, if Dorothy from Kansas could visit, I'm sure she'd agree.

Wait. She is visiting, sort of, in the "Trip to Ahhs" visual presentation by artist Mike Farrell on the top floor of the Suites at Market Square.

This is one of the coolest, cleverest exhibits most of you will never get to see.

Doug Clark: Men can enjoy books without women

"Doug Clark ()" — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:00:00 -0400

Why aren't there as many book clubs for men as for women?

1. Men don't read as much.

2. They do, but they don't care to talk about books.

3. Their wives don't believe they're really going to a book club meeting.