Investigations and Reports

REFUGEES WELCOME? The South grapples with refugee issues in the 2016 election

By

August 28, 2016 - This two-part report delves into anti-refugee backlash in the South and features refugees in the region who are speaking up in the 2016 election. refugees Syrian refugees nashville tennessee greensboro north carolina elections 2016 Election Alabama texas florida south carolina campaigns Demographic Change immigration

Politics

Business interests spend big on pivotal N.C. Supreme Court primary

By Alex Kotch

June 3, 2016 - After North Carolina lawmakers' attempt to help the reelection of a conservative state Supreme Court justice failed, a business group has spent nearly half a million dollars backing his campaign in hopes of preserving the court's conservative majority.

THE MONEY BEHIND HB2: How Art Pope helped create North Carolina's 'bathroom bill'

By Alex Kotch

May 6, 2016 - Where does North Carolina's leading conservative donor stand on the state's so-called "bathroom bill"? Art Pope hasn't publicly stated his position on HB2, but he has a long history of funding groups and politicians that support the law, which the Justice Department says illegally discriminates against transgender people.

Environment

N.C. produces flawed study to dismiss cancer-cluster fears near Duke Energy coal plants

By Sue Sturgis

May 5, 2016 - After local residents began raising concerns about cancer clusters near Duke Energy coal ash waste pits, the state cancer registry conducted a study that it claims shows there's no cause for worry — but a epidemiologist who reviewed the state's analysis says it does nothing of the sort.