Politics

March 27, 2012 - As North Carolina considers lifting its ban on the controversial natural-gas drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing or "fracking," a growing body of evidence documents serious public-health threats due to air pollution from such operations, which have already been linked to water contamination.

March 22, 2012 - A leading writer for the John Locke Foundation, a conservative NC think tank backed by Art Pope, resigns after posting an image of President Obama showing him in chains next to a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. The group has issued an apology, but their statement raises as many questions as it answers.

March 21, 2012 - State regulators release a draft report for comment that says fracking for natural gas can be done safely -- but they also admit that there "is a lot of projecting going on."

March 21, 2012 - Most Mississippians may call themselves conservatives, but talk to them for five minutes and you'll hear William Jennings Bryan-style populism.

March 20, 2012 - Sixteen states besides Florida have the same "Stand Your Ground" law that's complicating the quest for justice in the shooting death of an unarmed Florida teen by a neighborhood-watch vigilante.

March 19, 2012 - A groundbreaking assessment of anti-corruption mechanisms in all 50 states gives Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia failing grades -- while no state in the region scored any higher than a C-plus.

March 16, 2012 - A large majority of U.S. voters say super PACs should be illegal, and a growing number of actions are targeting the Supreme Court decision that made them possible.