A high-school dropout who once sold encyclopedias door-to-door in his native Canada, John Kent Cooke Jr.’s grandfather was a millionaire by the time he was 31.

By now, alert readers may have noticed an amazing consistency in the retail-sales numbers we run in our NC Trend section.

It’s necessary in these modern times, when discussing the issue of diversity, to tiptoe toward it carefully — if not step around it entirely.

To paraphrase Dr. John, he was in the right place, but it must have been the wrong time.

Perhaps they did the victory lap too soon.

While fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico use their boats to scoop up oil from a rig that exploded off the coast of Louisiana in April, Tar Heel fishermen are gearing up for what could be a big year — thanks indirectly to a spreading slick that has crippled one of the nation’s most bountiful sources of seafood.

Renegade Holdings Inc. wanted to emerge from Chapter 11.

Two years ago, many American universities and business schools began looking abroad for ways to expand their enrollment, broaden their contacts, build their brand and attract top talent.

Democrats in the legislature and governor’s mansion have been stumbling over themselves to scrape together enough money to give a modest tax break to small-business owners.