Politics

May 23, 2014 - After public outcry over a bill to lift North Carolina's fracking moratorium that made unauthorized disclosure of fracking chemical trade secrets a felony offense, the state Senate changed the penalty to a misdemeanor before passing the bill and sending it to the House, where it appears it might face opposition for other reasons.

May 23, 2014 - Largely bypassed during earlier waves of U.S. immigration, the South doesn't have the same understanding of "the immigrant experience" as other regions -- but advocates are using innovative approaches to tell the story of Southern newcomers.

May 22, 2014 - As scientists issue fresh warnings about the threat of dramatic sea-level rise over the coming centuries due to climate change, North Carolina officials in charge of ensuring the coastal state is planning adequately want to limit their forecasts to 30 years to satisfy the demands of pro-development interests.

May 20, 2014 - The same day weekly mass protests began again at the North Carolina legislature, civil rights groups filed a legal motion to block a restrictive new voting law from being enforced for this year's election.

May 12, 2014 - Democracy North Carolina has found that the lawmakers appear to have duplicate voter registrations in other states. The watchdog group says the finding challenges the claim of some of the lawmakers' colleagues that double registrations are "proof positive" of voter fraud.

May 9, 2014 - North Carolina's usually low-profile mid-term primary election drew a record-shattering $2.5 million in spending for state-level races from corporate-funded outside groups unconnected to candidates' campaigns or political parties, with much of that money spent to influence a key state Supreme Court race.

May 8, 2014 - Real estate attorney Mark Chilton has been elected register of deeds in Orange County, NC following a campaign in which he pledged to defy state law by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.