Tagged: The State of Things

Michael Franzak never had dreams of fighting for his country when he joined the Navy after high school, but he was desperate and had nowhere else to go.

Karel Husa was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1921. As a young man, his city was occupied by Nazi Germany, which forced Husa to reconsider his career path. Instead of going to work in a factory, he decided to pursue music. That choice led him to study in Paris, then eventually become a professor of music at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. In 1969, Husa won the Pulitzer Prize for his composition, “String Quartet No. 3,” which featured viola and cello in key parts usually reserved for the violin.

A recent report from the Department of Veteran Affairs revealed a stark truth: every 80 minutes, a veteran takes his or her own life. The risk of suicide is even greater for service members suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.

North Carolina is one of only two states where 16-year-old criminal suspects are automatically tried as adults. Proponents of raising the age to 18 have tried to get the law changed for years. This year, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is trying to make it happen, but opponents of the change say we shouldn't try to do too much too fast.