Olivia Paschal

November 8, 2019 - Mildred Russell, an 89-year-old African-American woman, wasn't allowed to vote in a special election held earlier this year in Webster County, Georgia. It ended in a tie that her vote would have broken — so officials had to do the election over again this week.

October 23, 2019 - Officials in Tennessee and Virginia allowed a hospital monopoly to form on the borders of their states, promising that any negative effects would be counteracted by state regulation. But is that realistic?

October 17, 2019 - At a recent affordable housing summit in North Carolina, local officials discussed how to prevent displacement and gentrification despite being hamstrung by conservative state governments.

October 4, 2019 - The recent commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the bloody Elaine Massacre sought to correct the historical record and start hard conversations, while the community wrestles with the ongoing legacies of racial trauma and injustice.

September 20, 2019 - Big-city leaders in the early primary states of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina have told presidential candidates that it will take the promise of funding focused on racial justice and equitable housing, climate, and infrastructure policies to win their support.

September 9, 2019 - Neil Jacobs, the federal agency's acting head, was reportedly one of the people behind its controversial statement that attempted to lend credibility to the president's incorrect claim that the storm would impact Alabama. He was assisted by Julie Kay Roberts, the NOAA chief of staff and communications director who previously worked for the Trump campaign.