Politics

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 10, 2014 - The number of full-time reporters covering state politics for newspapers has declined significantly over the past decade, even as more critical policy decisions are falling to the states. Southern states have an especially dramatic imbalance between the number of reporters and the residents they serve.

July 7, 2014 - Defenders of a controversial new North Carolina election law that's being challenged by civil rights groups cite statewide vote totals to argue against any racially discriminatory suppressive effect -- but local data tell a more complicated story.

July 3, 2014 - Most Southern states have opted not to expand the Medicaid health care program for the poor and disabled under the Affordable Care Act. A new report breaks down exactly what that means in terms of the impact on Southerners' health and quality of life.

July 2, 2014 - Millions of dollars in outside expenditures in North Carolina's May 2014 primary were hidden or delayed from being made public thanks to loopholes in the law. If the state Senate fails to act on a bill soon, millions more will likely be obscured from public view in November.

July 2, 2014 - Today marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended Jim Crow segregation and led to a profound political realignment of the South that continues to shape the nation today.