Wendell race figures to be the marquee event this fall in eastern Wake County.

The news media spent much of the summer focusing on public gatherings where people denounced plans to overhaul the nation's healthcare system. A number of forums featuring people who think an overhaul is long overdue, and who generally support the Obama administration's efforts, also drew coverage.

We covered several in the Triangle, but missed a couple. Thus, we heard from forces both on the right and the left about "media conspiracies." We are keenly aware that some studiously count inches given to the "antis" and the "pros." We strive to be fair, but we don't think that merely keeping up with who is for, or against, something is adequately doing our jobs.  In fact, we have a long history of covering the healthcare system and our coverage of the most recent overhaul effort has gone far beyond public demonstrations.

We will continue to strive for depth in our reporting on this issue, including following the action in Washington and examining the impact on local healthcare providers and the region's industries.

We do believe that hearing from individuals who will be affected by any changes, or no change, is also an important element of our coverage. We will soon begin a series featuring Triangle residents discussing healthcare and the question of whether a revamp is needed. We did not approach these people based on assumptions about their politics or where we think they might come down on the question of reform. 

Rather, we looked for people from a wide variety of life circumstances and occupations. We asked them to talk about their personal situations, their concerns about the healthcare system and what specific changes, if any, would effectively address their concerns. One of the first to be featured is the owner of a small business.  Others include physicians, insurance and hospital administrators, seniors on Medicare, people who lost health insurance with the loss of a job, people who have private insurance through work, and people who have chronic illnesses. 

We think these personal stories will enlighten us all.

We welcome your feedback. 

Linda Williams

Senior Editor/News 

One Durham politician at least has taken a stand on visual litter ­­-- campaign signs, that is.

Rob Griffin with Scientific Properties wrote the mayor and council members to complain about candidates' signs in the public right-of-way near his firm's Venable Center at Pettigrew and Roxboro streets. Griffin said the signs' placement suggested that Scientific Properties is supporting those candidates, which is not the case: “We, as a company, remain neutral.”

Councilman Eugene Brown answered: “There is legally no reason why we should allow political signs, including mine, to visually pollute our city. … There is a propensity for such signs to linger far after the election is over, especially by those candidates who lost. As a result, the public could be forced to live with such a nuisance for months. Denver [Colo., where Brown's twin brother is a city councilman] only allows home owners to display political signs, hence the term, yard sign. In my judgment, this demonstrates real grass root support and not just the ability of a candidate to flood our streets, landscapes and parks with personal advertisements. Here's to a cleaner environment! Now all we have to do is convince my colleagues of the folly of the status quo.”

Brown, of course, is not up for re-election this year.

The filing period is over. See who's running.

The pace of candidate filing in Wendell picked up yesterday. The field is up to six candidates.

Excerpts from Mary Easley and her attorney Marvin Schiller's press conference Thursday, May 21, 2009 at Schiller's office in Raleigh. (Staff video ... more

President Barack Obama urges Americans to rise to the challenge during an address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009.

The economic stimulus bill that Congress and President Obama have been discussing this week led me to the dictionary today. I figured that the word had Latin roots, and indeed, it does.

Stimulus means "something that rouses or excites to action," according to Webster's New World College Dictionary. The Latin stimulus means a goad, sting, torment, pang, spur, incentive. That's a lot of meanings for one word.

The Oxford English Dictionary says the word was originally used in medical contexts, referring to something that causes a response in an organism. Stimulus is the perfect word for what the president and Congress want to do: cause a response in the economy.

North Carolina's political establishment lauded longtime Insurance Commissioner Jim Long at his funeral Thursday as family members and colleagues ... more