News Columnists
News Columnists
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BARRY SAUNDERS
Saunders: My unexpected SC stop, thanks to a police drug operation
While driving through South Carolina on Thursday night, I got temporarily stopped thanks to a drug interdiction operation called Operation Rolling Thunder.
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ROAD WORRIER
Road Worrier: NC DMV tries to improve 'customer service'
Waiting times have been reduced at DMV's North Raleigh office. There's a new "facilitator" to greet people, and visitors can print out some of the documents they need, so they won't have to make a second trip.
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JOSH SHAFFER
Shaffer: The day it rained blood in Chatham County
In 1884, a sharecropper near modern Jordan Lake reported red droplets descending over a Chatham County farm, inviting scientific inquiry from UNC.
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BARRY SAUNDERS
Saunders: I’m not alone in my ire against improper language
Most of you, though, are as distressed as I am when you hear misconjugated verbs and other grammatical faux pas from people who should know better.
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JOHN DRESCHER
Drescher: Why The N&O declined to attend Gov. McCrory's background briefing
Washington-style press briefings, in which public officials talk to journalists but cannot be quoted by name, are an insidious practice.
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BARRY SAUNDERS
Saunders: Less than $20 in your account? Withdraw it at some ATMs
For the past several years, it would have been impossible to get $10 from a bank automated teller machine, since they were only stocked with $20s. But PNC Bank has just finished installing 159 "smart" ATMs across North Carolina. And Chase ATMs even offer pennies.
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ROAD WORRIER
Road Worrier: Express lanes are a more palatable flavor of toll road
Highway planners in North Carolina look at options to pay for freeway expansions, including one that collects electronic tolls only from drivers in the new lanes.
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JOSH SHAFFER
Shaffer: Skeleton of young boy still unnamed, unclaimed after 15 years
Somebody dumped the body of a 10- or 12-year-old child on Industrial Drive outside of Mebane, and after 15 years, nobody has come looking for him.
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JOHN DRESCHER
Drescher: Readers unburden themselves with their pet-peeve words
“Legendary” and “omnibus” set me off. Readers complain about “iconic,” “horrific” and “sustainable.”
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BARRY SAUNDERS
Saunders: From Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, wonderful life lessons in growing up
In his new book “Sasquatch in the Paint,” basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar aims to help middle schoolers find their identity.

