Talk about leading with your chin: On this page last month, I lamented the loss of craftsmanship and commitment to getting it right in much of what passes for journalism these days.

In 2002, supporters of what was deemed model clean-air legislation saw new requirements on the state’s power companies as something unimaginable a few years earlier.

Without meaning to, two North Carolina banks this year turned themselves into unwitting participants in a business-school case study that MBA candidates will chew on for years to come.

Without a doubt Charlotte-Mecklenburg elected leaders, past and present, contributed to the demise of Eastland Mall.

For months, critics hollered for Ken Lewis’ scalp, and even some supporters wondered how long he could keep his job as CEO of Charlotte-based Bank of America Corp.

Residents of Eastern North Carolina might be skeptical about an ivory-tower institute in Chapel Hill taking on the work of a homegrown foundation formed to boost the largely rural local economy.

For a company that keeps up with every package it handles, Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx Corp. has a hard time saying when it will deliver a fully operational sorting hub to Piedmont Triad International Airport, near Greensboro.

Scott Custer knows how it looks to outsiders when a subsidiary of a big bank announces that its 52-year-old CEO is retiring and will be replaced by someone from corporate.

Bears didn’t boogie in the woods, but the yearlong 75th-anniversary celebration of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park hasn’t been a bust.

He walks in minutes before closing time Friday, a rangy, white-haired man in green golf shirt and khaki Bermudas. “I could make an appointment for you Monday,” the receptionist volunteers.