north carolina

March 21, 2014 - Legal and regulatory pressure is building against North Carolina-based Duke Energy over its chronic mismanagement of toxic waste from coal-fired power plants. Meanwhile, environmental watchdogs using a hidden camera busted a Kentucky utility illegally dumping coal ash wastewater into the Ohio River.

March 14, 2014 - Environmental groups have issued notice that they plan to sue a large North Carolina hog operation over illegal pollution. The company's president is a major political donor and the son of an influential former state lawmaker.

March 6, 2014 - With a new poll finding North Carolina voters overwhelmingly want state officials to force Duke Energy to clean up its coal ash pits, a protest outside the governor's mansion that involved the Moral Monday movement leader turned up the heat on the McCrory administration, which is under federal investigation following the Feb. 2 spill into the Dan River.

March 5, 2014 - In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states and local governments with a history of discrimination no longer needed to submit new voting laws for federal approval. Now, voting rights advocates are trying to put them back under oversight using the courts and Congress.

March 4, 2014 - Even as Gov. Pat McCrory grapples with the Duke Energy coal ash disaster, he's pushing for another dirty energy interest to have access to the state's waters. While his plan is winning support from the Obama administration, he faces opposition in coastal communities back home.

February 28, 2014 - A viral epidemic is killing pigs en masse in North Carolina, and that's created a serious disposal problem that environmentalists are calling on the governor to address.

February 20, 2014 - Duke Energy has long fought strict federal regulations on coal ash, which is in the spotlight again following a spill from one of the company's North Carolina plants. Duke got help from the American Legislative Exchange Council, the controversial corporate-interest advocacy group that has counted the utility among its members.

February 18, 2014 - Political scientists at Dartmouth College and the University of Florida studied North Carolina's recent election changes and found they will disproportionately hurt the state's African-American voters.

February 18, 2014 - Following Duke Energy's massive coal ash spill into the Dan River, Gov. Pat McCrory (R) has come under scrutiny for his close ties to the Charlotte, N.C.-based utility giant. Other key members of his administration have connections to the company, too.

February 11, 2014 - The Moral March on Raleigh drew diverse groups from across the state and elsewhere around the country to protest the extreme right-wing agenda that has gripped North Carolina.