north carolina

June 28, 2017 - With the 2020 count approaching, concerns are mounting that budget cuts and turnover at the U.S. Census Bureau could lead to missing significant numbers of historically undercounted residents — many in disadvantaged Southern communities that depend on accurate numbers to apportion political power and fund services.

June 16, 2017 - Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty launched its Florida chapter this week, its fifth in the South. The group makes the case that capital punishment is out of step with core conservative values.

June 13, 2017 - Measures for Justice, a nonprofit that gauges the performance of criminal justice systems at the county level, has released data for six states including Florida and North Carolina. The effort shows how criminal justice is being carried out locally and where change is needed.

June 2, 2017 - Among the corporate sponsors of this year's Conservative Leadership Conference organized by the Art Pope-founded Civitas Institute are Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina and Duke Energy.

June 2, 2017 - Immigrant rights advocates are working to block the harshest sanctuary city ban in the nation before it goes into effect on Sept. 1.

June 2, 2017 - Science watchdogs are warning of serious flaws in the plan for storing spent nuclear fuel in pools at individual power plants — flaws that could ultimately lead to the long-term relocation of millions of people. North Carolina and Alabama are among the states with the largest amount of spent fuel stored in pools.  

May 23, 2017 - This week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that congressional districts drawn by North Carolina's GOP-controlled legislature back in 2011 involved unconstitutional racial gerrymanders. The decision connected racial and partisan gerrymandering in a way that experts say will lead to many more successful racial gerrymandering cases in the South and elsewhere.

May 19, 2017 - The Supreme Court ruled 63 years ago this week in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Today, integration gains are being eroded by voucher programs that use public money to support private schools — and the Trump administration wants to expand those programs dramatically.

May 17, 2017 - Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has long exaggerated the minuscule threat of voter fraud while promoting policies that make it harder to vote — and his efforts have already had an impact on elections in Southern states.

May 11, 2017 - The construction industry is thriving in big cities across the South, but a new report finds workers contending with unsafe conditions, low pay and a lack of basic employment benefits.