[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/CnRoXfOdMxU” width=”590″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″]The above video was produced by students at the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication and is part of a three-part series. Today marks the 100th Anniversary of North Carolina’s state parks. It all began on March 3, 1915 when the General Assembly passed legislation authorizing $20,000 to purchase land in Yancey […]
As the General Assembly buckles down for the big storm (all committee meetings and the floor session are cancelled for Tuesday, according to the Speaker’s office), we thought we’d re-run a nifty post from last year about George Washington to mark President’s Day. Since 1971, President’s Day has been celebrated on the third Monday of […]
On the first day of 2015, we’re treated to something very special compiled by the office of Speaker Pro Tem Paul Stam. His hard-working staff has transcribed the opening prayers which have been offered in the North Carolina House of Representatives on each day of session for the last four years (2011 to 2014). Special thanks to Christin […]
There is simply no place more beautiful at Christmastime than the Biltmore Estate in Asheville. Among the many holiday traditions there is the annual tree raising inside the mansion’s spectacular banquet hall. And this year, like every other, the tree at the center of it all is an enormous Fraser Fir — the official Christmas […]
Thanksgiving with homegrown turkeys and sweet potatoes As we travel and meet with family this week for the Thanksgiving holiday, there are two items that are bound to be on most tables — turkeys and sweet potatoes. North Carolina is ranked first nationally in sweet potato production and second nationally for turkey production. The state’s […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/aZjR8L81yQk” width=”580″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] Oh, say, can you see — by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/yb7MI8NQLoo” width=”590″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the […]
Today we celebrate Flag Day, marking the adoption of the national flag of the United States of America by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. The official journal for that day reads: “Resolved, that the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes alternate red and white: that the union be thirteen stars, white in a […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/pYBE-snfj1w” width=”580″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] Nina Simone sings the gospel standard “Oh Happy Day” in this rare 1970s live recording. A prodigious pianist, composer, singer and civil rights activist, Simone was born in the small town of Tryon, North Carolina in Polk County, 20 miles southeast of Hendersonville. The sixth of eight […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/qyQOCJ4SUSk” width=”580″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] The legendary Doc Watson sings “Deep River Blues.” Blind since early childhood, Watson went on to become one of our nation’s preeminent folk and country performers, winning seven Grammy Awards over the course of his long career. Watson was a native of Deep Gap, North Carolina, ten […]