north carolina

August 1, 2014 - At the same time North Carolina legislators are cutting funding for programs due to a $1.5 billion budget shortfall caused by tax cuts, they want to pay for new State Board of Elections positions to investigate voter fraud -- despite ample evidence showing it's not a problem.

July 28, 2014 - Most North Carolinians think the state legislature has not done enough to address Duke Energy's recent coal ash spill into the Dan River. Their dissatisfaction crosses party lines -- and could affect the outcome of a key U.S. Senate race.

July 28, 2014 - After losing a union election at the Chattanooga Volkswagen plant, the UAW has formed a local there that it say has an informal "consensus" with the company to deal with it as a members' union when it signs up a "meaningful" share of the workforce. What does that mean, exactly?

July 25, 2014 - The deal joining North Carolina-based tobacco giants Reynolds American and Lorillard also unites two of the state's biggest corporate political contributors. Besides donating directly to candidates and committees, the companies have also been funneling money into outside spending groups active in the state's politics.

July 25, 2014 - Duke Energy contractors have finished cleaning up as much coal ash as they intend to from the Dan River -- leaving behind about 90 percent of the toxic waste left by the February spill. Meanwhile, state politicians continue to hammer out details of legislation that leaves ratepayers on the hook for addressing the company's coal ash woes.

July 17, 2014 - A new Facing South/Institute for Southern Studies analysis finds that super PACs and other outside groups spent more than $2.6 million targeting state races in North Carolina's 2014 primaries, with almost half targeted at a key seat for the state supreme court.

July 16, 2014 - The NC Mining and Energy Commission is taking public comments on the state's proposed fracking rules through Sept. 15. Meanwhile, environmentalists are urging the commission to reinstate the ban on the controversial gas drilling technique.

July 14, 2014 - Republican Mayor Adam O'Neal of Belhaven, NC is walking to the nation's capital to make the case for Medicaid expansion following the closure of a hospital critical to the residents of his rural coastal community.

July 11, 2014 - Clean-energy advocates are battling Duke Energy's plan to cut payments to homeowners with grid-tied solar panels for the excess power they sell back to the company. Meanwhile, a major investment bank says the falling price of solar panels and battery storage could encourage large numbers of U.S. homeowners and businesses to abandon utilities altogether and go off-grid.

July 8, 2014 - A new Census Bureau report finds a dramatic surge in the past decade in the number of Americans living in communities with concentrated poverty, with the greatest increase in North Carolina. Other states that experienced big jumps include Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia and South Carolina.