Entries by Mike

‘I was a terrible baseball player’: Rowan native Phil Kirk inducted into hall of fame in Goldsboro

While I have been blessed with many tremendous honors over the past half-century, none have come as a bigger surprise than a call from George Whitfield in Goldsboro to ask if I would accept induction into the George Whitfield Baseball Clinic Hall of Fame. I chuckled and told him that I was a terrible baseball player as well as in other sports. He responded that he sometimes inducted persons for public service accomplishments among the 20 or so who have been honored each year. There are nearly 500 men and women who are members of the Hall of Fame.

Phil Kirk Awards Scholarship to Rowan-Salisbury Teacher of the Year

At the September 25, 2017 Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education business meeting, Millbridge teacher Abby Covington received the Phillip J. Kirk, Jr. Honored Educator Scholarship award.

Mr. Phil Kirk made the presentation to Covington, the district’s current Teacher of the Year. The Kirk Scholarship covers the costs associated for a five-day seminar to NCCAT (NC Center for the Advancement of Teaching).

My Jimmy Carter Moment

As all Americans pray for the healing for former President Jimmy Carter in his battle against cancer, I believe it may be of interest to share a personal experience which illustrates his character.

Friday Interview: An Insider’s View of N.C. Governors w/ Phil Kirk

Chief of staff for two North Carolina governors and a U.S. senator, two-time chief of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Resources, the youngest state senator in North Carolina history at the time of his election, 16-year leader of the state’s chamber of commerce. He shared his assessments of those governors earlier this year during a presentation for the John Locke Foundation’s Shaftesbury Society. Kirk discussed the same topic with Mitch Kokai for Carolina Journal Radio.

NC Senator Phil Kirk to speak at ECU lecture series

Tonight Phil Kirk will be coming to East Carolina University to speak as a part of the Leadership Lecture Series hosted by the ECU Honors College.

Kirk is a political figure in North Carolina who has held many positions on boards and committees at universities and colleges in North Carolina and was the youngest person ever selected to the North Carolina Senate.

McCrory a man of honesty

The front-page news story “ Tree.com payouts to McCrory questioned” on a stock payout to Gov. Pat McCrory is a new all-time low and smacks of biased reporting by The Associated Press. The headline and questionable sources seek to raise questions about the governor’s integrity for accepting money for work rendered before he was elected. The stock payout is 100 percent legal and acceptable per company policy.

Phil Kirk: Pope beneficial to state

Art Pope is to be commended for his many years of public service, especially for his 20 months as the state’s budget director.

When Gov. Pat McCrory wisely persuaded Art to assume the most important appointive position in state government, several asked my opinion, probably thinking I would be critical. I responded each time that the governor could not have found anyone who knew the budget, state government and the legislative process better. This was especially important because of the administration’s lack of experience in state government.