In the early 1980s, when “The Love Boat” was navigating prime time waters, and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “McHale’s Navy” were still in re-runs, an Entertainment Tonight poll named Gavin MacLeod the most recognizable man on TV. If they had taken a poll of the most likable star, he would…

To the Editor;

In the 2018 mid-term elections, Greensboro attorney Kathy Manning, a Democrat, challenged incumbent Republican Ted Budd, who was seeking his second term in Congress. The two candidates first appeared together on “Triad Today” in October of that year, and their interaction was, at times, cont…

Being a parent is hard and wonderful. A culmination of great and good, happy and sad, and pretty much every other emotion you can feel. Being a man, I can only speak to my role as a son, father, and now a grandfather, and I have to believe that my thoughts are not unlike many others of my se…

Philip Segal III was a hometown boy who made good. He was a graduate of Grimsley High School and N.C. State University. He was an avid sports fan with a particular love for ice hockey. Segal was also the founder of Havana Phil’s Cigar Company in Greensboro, where today, patrons can purchase …

Dear Editor and readers,

Dear Editor,

According to the CDC, the percentage of high school students who drink and drive has decreased by 54 percent since 1991. That’s the good news. The bad news is that one in 10 teenagers still drinks and drives, and according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), over 2…

Dear Editor,

Much has been said about the importance of adult role models and the positive impact they can have on children. But for those of us little buckaroos who grew up in the 1950s, there was no finer role model than Johnny Crawford, himself just a kid when he starred as Mark McCain on the hit TV s…

I suppose it’s natural to blame someone else for our own mistakes and shortcomings, or when something happens that we don’t like. We blame the teacher when we get a bad grade, and we blame the boss when we get fired. It’s always someone else’s fault but ours. We’re all guilty of this behavio…

From school boards to city councils, we depend on local news for information. But do we truly appreciate it? As my first official job, the late Joe Sink hired me, a green 16-year-old, to answer phones in the circulation department of The Lexington Dispatch. I was drawn to the buzz in the newsroom.

A wise man once advised me never to complain about a problem unless I was prepared to offer a solution, and, where possible, I’ve always tried to adhere to that advice in my newspaper columns. For example, I’ve criticized long-serving politicians by advocating for term limits, and I’ve criti…

The late great Ernie Banks, a Hall of Fame baseball player, once said, “the measure of a man is in the lives he’s touched.” If that’s true, then Daniel Seaman must be one of the most successful men in Heaven. He was a devoted husband and loving father. He was a loyal friend and confidant. He…

Before the Pandemic came along, we were a nation consumed with erasing history. Every week, it seemed, there was another statue or monument being torn down, or a building being re-named, all in the cause of racial justice. Don’t get me wrong. I do not now, nor have I ever revered the memory …

Every family in America has been affected by COVID-19, some from loss of life, and others from loss of employment. But another casualty of the Pandemic has been education. To put things in perspective, there are approximately 74 million children under age 18 living at home, and another 20 mi…

“It’s Sunshine Week across America, a time when the public’s right to see government records and attend government meetings — in order to hold government officials accountable to the people who employ them — is traditionally celebrated.

"Men weren’t really the enemy. They were fellow victims suffering from an outmoded masculine mystique that made them feel unnecessarily adequate when there were no bears to kill.”

I’m not a big fan of lists, mainly because the person or organization that compiles them does so subjectively. For example, I don’t care how many Super Bowls Tom Brady wins. I still think Peyton Manning is a better quarterback. I cringe every time someone publishes a list of the “Ten Best Fi…

The COVID-19 virus has taught us some painfully valuable lessons. For starters, it showed us how ill-prepared we were to deal with a pandemic, and it underscored disparities in our healthcare system. The pandemic has also given our elected officials an opportunity to either shine or shrivel …

For over 20 years now, Richard Burr has managed to enrich himself through unethical means, mislead the American people about a deadly virus, oppose letting Americans buy cheaper drugs from Canada, take money from industries he was supposed to regulate (then push for tax breaks for them), and…

During his storied career, Hal Holbrook portrayed, among other things, a President, a Senator, a Secretary of State, and a Deep Throat whistleblower. All of them spoke eloquently about life, politics, and the human condition. But it was Hal himself who often articulated views that were befit…

Means-tests have long been a public-facing characteristic of American social programming. They have drawn considerable ire for their tendency to withhold important welfare services, stigmatize claimants, and clog funding channels, and are thus rarely implemented by, for example, Western Euro…

For the past 70 years, prime time television has been inhabited by thousands of loving couples who’ve had to navigate either comedic or dramatic situations to stay together. Therefore, in honor of Valentine’s Day, I’ve compiled a list of memorable duos that have graced the small screen. 

Dr. Sadie Leder Elder also offers insight on how the COVID-19 global pandemic has impacted romantic relationships.

I had only known Cloris Leachman for less than thirty minutes when she asked me to take off my clothes. More on that in a moment, but suffice to say it was one of those things that sort of sticks in your head, much like everything Cloris did, and she did a lot. Cloris passed away on January …

I have lived through the last 17 Presidential Inaugurations, including one I attended in person and another that I was assigned to cover. In each case, I was struck by the majesty and awe of the occasion, and that includes our most recent inauguration, despite its scaled-down nature.

Donald Trump stirred up a bunch of angry White people, asked them to storm the Capitol building, and disrupt a Constitutional proceeding. It was a sickening sight to see as these Trump sycophants breached a secure area, yelling and creating chaos. No, I’m not describing the siege on January …

Four years ago, Hillary Clinton made a statement that backfired on her. While enjoying a comfortable lead in the polls, she showed disdain for Trump supporters by referring to them as “Deplorables.” Not surprisingly, that slur served to motivate millions of folks to show up on Election Day a…

When 18-year-old Deon Kay left his home in Congress Heights, D.C., on Sept. 2, 2020, he was a brother, an athlete, and an enthusiastic student— one who “was creating plans for his future.” Within hours, he was shot down by Southeast Washington police for brandishing a weapon inside a vehicle…

In the annuals of pop culture there have been three great debates: Coke or Pepsi? Ford or Chevy? Ginger or Mary Ann? The answers to the first two questions may never be settled, but the third is a no-brainer. The overwhelming majority of men and women everywhere prefer girl-next-door Mary An…

"The Educated Youth" is my descriptor for a subset of the population of contemporary young people. By “young,” I mean those ranging in age from teenagers to their mid-thirties. “Educated” indicates those sufficiently informed on both marginalized communities and policy procedures to comprehe…