News & Observer | newsobserver.com | Columns by Rick Martinez (2005)

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Rick Martinez

Rick Martinez has been writing editorial page columns for The News & Observer since 2001. He can be reached by e-mail at rickjmartinez2@verizon.net



A force for good in Durham

Ann Denlinger is unfailingly characterized as being cool and aloof. She has been faulted for not reaching out to disgruntled parents and scorned for not consulting with community leaders.

Updated: Dec. 28, 2005 6:13 AM | Full story

Mending a patient's funny bone

At first glance, the accolades that adorn the clinic walls where Dr. Stuart Gold works read more like warnings.

Updated: Dec. 21, 2005 8:38 AM | Full story

Victory from the ballot box

On Dec. 15, 2002, Iraq was ruled by Saddam Hussein, whose regime, by conservative estimates, killed an average of 100 people each and every day of his 24-year rule. Tomorrow, Dec. 15, 2005, an estimated 10 million free Iraqis will go to the polls.

Updated: Dec. 14, 2005 8:48 AM | Full story

Refining Arizona: thumbs up

Glenn McGinnis is a patient man. He has to be. The consortium he heads is trying to achieve something that hasn't been done in nearly 30 years: build an oil refinery in the United States.

Updated: Dec. 7, 2005 4:31 AM | Full story

The new Spartans at work

The honor of cutting the two prized Fraser fir Christmas trees that are filling the White House with the scent of the Blue Ridge fell to Earl "Buddy" Deal III, a second-generation North Carolina farmer.

Updated: Nov. 30, 2005 7:35 AM | Full story

We're due for a win in Iraq

Americans have grown accustomed to losing. It's been 60 years since we last won a shooting war and its aftermath, when we conquered and rebuilt Europe and Japan.

Updated: Nov. 23, 2005 7:24 AM | Full story

Donating organs by choice

To the public, organ donation is couched in a warm "Gift of Life" aura. But in the medical community it's becoming a serious issue of supply and demand.

Updated: Nov. 16, 2005 8:16 AM | Full story

Chancy start for the lottery

Lottery commission Chairman Charles Sanders may have the toughest gig in the state.

Updated: Nov. 9, 2005 8:26 AM | Full story

Chancy start for the lottery

Lottery commission Chairman Charles Sanders may have the toughest gig in the state.

Updated: Nov. 9, 2005 8:21 AM | Full story

Some teachers merit more

Just about every time Robert Brogden teaches capitalism and free markets in the state-mandated Civics and Economics course, he gets this question from a student: Does the market determine teacher pay? It usually comes after a lecture about the power

Updated: Nov. 2, 2005 3:16 AM | Full story

The OLF is going to win

It's too early to make plans to attend the open house for the Navy's $186 million Outlying Landing Field (OLF) in Washington County, but recent developments in Virginia and Florida convince me that the grand opening of this highly controversial runwa

Updated: Oct. 26, 2005 4:01 AM | Full story

The gap is bridged by work

Supporters of the Wake County schools' reassignment policy are quaking in their boots thanks to the election of one anti-reassignment candidate to the school board and the possibility that two more busing opponents could win seats in a November runoff.

Updated: Oct. 25, 2005 6:20 PM | Full story

Iraq's embrace of the vote

Keeping up with what's going in Iraq is a chore, given the American media's seeming reluctance to cover much more than car bombs and calls for troop withdrawal.

Updated: Oct. 25, 2005 5:41 PM | Full story

Scrap trains and get on the bus

A computer model that stubbornly refuses to justify the need for light rail isn't the real problem for the Triangle Transit Authority as General Manager John Claflin asserts. It's the project itself.

Updated: Oct. 25, 2005 4:54 PM | Full story

The spirit to survive a meltdown

A FEMA grant won't replace what Hurricane Katrina took from Wendy Schluchter. In addition to claiming her home in the Gentilly district of New Orleans and her husband's prized classic Volkswagens, Katrina ruined much of her life work.

Updated: Oct. 25, 2005 4:07 PM | Full story

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