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BREAKING NEWS
Former DSS director pleads guilty to felony obstruction of justice
Cindy Palmer faces probation after plea deal in cases of unlawful child removals. Cherokee County attorney faces March trial date.
Special REPORT: RAISING JAILS, parts 1 & 2 of Four
NC counties look for alternatives to spending millions on bigger jails
With costs of repeatedly expanding jail beds mounting, some counties willing to bet some of their funding on promise of anti-addiction efforts and other programs.
NC counties base jail decisions on controversial consultant work
Recommendations to build bigger jails often come from same firms that land jail design contracts. Consultant methods may stack deck in favor of big investments in jail construction.
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SPECIAL REPORTS
How and why North Carolina counties decide to build or expand jails, the costs of those decisions and possible alternatives.
How climate change affects North Carolina’s fisheries
and the people who rely on them for a living.
The killing of Andrew Brown Jr.
Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies shot and killed Brown
in Elizabeth City in late April 2021.
Struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic in state’s prison system
Justice elusive for NC sexual assault survivors
Inconsistency and inequity in child welfare policies across NC
The importance of sexual assault nurse examiners
and the difficulty of locating them in North Carolina
Grappling with food insecurity in North Carolina
Is one of North Carolina’s main systems
for housing those with mental illness failing?
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RECOMMENDED
![The Cherokee County Department of Social Services building in Murphy, N.C. on May 18, 2020. After an SBI investigation, A grand jury indicted several former DSS officials on Monday.[Frank Taylor/The Carolina Public Press]](https://i2.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/cherokeedss.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1)
County agrees to settle with woman separated from family as a child
NC school boards alarmed by aggressive anti-mask parents
Thousands of North Carolinians now eligible for COVID-19 booster
Judges: NC voter ID law racially discriminatory, unconstitutional
Lose the seagrass and lose the fisheries
MORE STORIES
Feds put ‘special focus’ on 10 NC nursing homes with sketchy performance records
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services warns of facilities with ‘yo-yo’ compliance that don’t address problems putting residents at risk.
![The Cherokee County Department of Social Services building in Murphy, N.C. on May 18, 2020. After an SBI investigation, A grand jury indicted several former DSS officials on Monday.[Frank Taylor/The Carolina Public Press]](https://i2.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/cherokeedss.jpg?resize=800%2C800&ssl=1)
Indicted former director resigns from DSS position, can’t work for county again
Cindy Palmer faces multiple felony charges for role in illegal removal of children from Cherokee County families.
Vaccine mandates for NC school staffs are few and far between
School districts with vaccine mandates point to lower levels of COVID-19 transmission.
Postpartum Medicaid benefits could be extended to one year in budget
Senate budget draft extends postpartum benefits for a year for low-income families.
Chemours assessed $300k for air emissions violations
Department of Environmental Quality penalizes Fayetteville plant for exceeding limits on how much of its GenX chemical can be released into air.
Back to the drawing board: An FAQ on redistricting in NC in 2021
A look at how new political maps will be drawn in North Carolina in 2021, and how they may be challenged.
Crime & Justice
After two years, Survivor Act has legacy of rape convictions
North Carolina once led the nation in the backlog of untested rape kits. Legislation helped change that, with many serial rapists facing prosecution.
Economy
NC faces call for COVID-19 workplace safety standards
Judge says NC Department of Labor must review revised petition for safety standards seriously after rejecting one a year ago without enough explanation.
Education
Judge: NC school boards don’t have to mandate masks
Parents and Disability Rights NC lose ruling in lawsuit against Lincoln County’s school board over mask-optional policy.
Environment
Seeking solutions for NC shoreline and fisheries
Projects focusing on coastal habitat resilience and regulations eying species restoration offer hope for fisheries despite climate change.
Health
High cost of treating addiction in NC
Financial barriers to treatment make recovery challenging. Funds from recent pharmaceutical settlements could help.
Politics & Government
Federal election security funds in budget limbo, legislators don’t explain why
State Board of Elections raises concerns over House and Senate budgets, which have not allocated millions in already-appropriated federal money to be used for election security.