RALEIGH — When describing access to public records, “slow” is the first word that comes to mind, Ken Eudy, a senior adviser to Gov. Roy Cooper said Monday, March 11, during a talk on government transparency at Elon University.

RALEIGH — This isn’t "Taken."

Unlike the portrayals popularized by Liam Neeson’s 2008 film thriller, human trafficking victims are rarely snatched during vacation getaways or from coffee shops, and they are rarely sympathetic characters with squeaky clean backgrounds, Libby Coles, chairwoman of the North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission, told Carolina Journal.

RALEIGH — The North Carolina General Assembly lags behind most other states as one of seven state governments that doesn’t offer video of any legislative sessions or committees.

RALEIGH — Western Governors University has partnered with the USO of North Carolina to offer eight $2,500 scholarships to members of the state’s military community.

RALEIGH — A decision by Wake County Superior Court Judge Bryan Collins to invalidate two constitutional amendments isn’t necessarily tarnished by partisanship or judicial activism, former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr says.

RALEIGH — Higher education is the object of aspiration and frustration. A lofty aim that, while promising opportunity, evokes feelings of anxiety from throngs of students neither academically nor financially secure.

RALEIGH — Female genital mutilation isn’t illegal in North Carolina, but a group of senators are introducing a bill to change that for girls younger than 18.

RALEIGH — N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Martin will soon become the next dean of Regent University’s law school in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Who might take his place is anyone’s guess, though it’s a safe bet that the court will continue to skew left.

RALEIGH — North Carolina is one of 15 states that fails to teach children in public schools about personal body safety and the dangers of sexual abuse. A new bill, soon to be filed by Rep. Jon Hardister, R-Guilford, would change that.

RALEIGH — UNC-Asheville is right to defend free speech amid national criticism of Tamika Mallory, the controversial national co-chair of the Women’s March who will speak on the campus in honor of Martin Luther King, says a leading First Amendment lawyer and activist.