Politics

February 20, 2013 - In his first State of the State address this week, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory called for offshore oil and gas exploration. He proposed using some of the revenues for beach replenishment -- but offshore drilling would only worsen the state's coastal erosion problem.

February 19, 2013 - The current debate over charter schools in Mississippi appears to be the latest battle in a longstanding war on public education -- and on teachers' unions.

February 19, 2013 - As some conservative lawmakers target the state's renewable energy law for repeal, a new study details its benefits to the state's economy and consumers.

February 18, 2013 - A nonprofit that paid for Republican consultants to draw new congressional district maps for North Carolina -- a gerrymander that helped flip the state's delegation to the GOP -- got most of its original funding from big corporations including Exxon, Pfizer and Time Warner.

February 15, 2013 - With North Carolina flipping back into the Republican column, you could say that the new Solid South begins in Henderson, N.C. and ends in Valdosta, Ga., bracketed by Virginia and Florida.

February 14, 2013 - The North Carolina governor may soon get to appoint all members of the N.C. Utilities Commission -- even though he's heavily invested in the state's largest regulated utility. Now a watchdog group is calling on him to come clean about just how big those holdings are.

February 14, 2013 - Once known as the "most aggressively conservative" federal appeals court and the "black hole of capital litigation," the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond has shifted to the center, thanks to six appointments by President Obama.