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The voices of NC veterans
The concerns of the veterans we interviewed at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6018 in Fayetteville aligned with many other voters. The issues included abortion, inflation and preserving democracy.
Stacked Against, part two: Charge stacking and plea bargains in North Carolina – what you need to know
We spoke to attorneys, law professors, advocates and incarcerated people about charge stacking and plea deals and the effect they have on the criminal justice system.
Community Revisited: Former students fight to preserve Oak Hill School as a community hub
The school was shuttered. Located in the Little River community near Lenoir, it had served grades K-8 until it closed due to school system budget cuts. White said the community felt cheated by…
NC Connection:
Closing the News Gap
A special CPP research project on the news needs of rural North Carolinians
Keep up with what’s important
Keep up with all of our in-depth, investigative news and the public interest issues that matter most in North Carolina.
SPECIAL REPORTS
The uncertain future of old-growth forests in North Carolina
This four-part series focusing on the Southside Project, a recent initiative by the U.S. Forest Service, to make the national forest more resilient and sustainable.
Social services in NC may be in the hands of people who don’t meet minimum qualifications.
Why and how it happens, and how other states avoid the problem.
How climate change affects North Carolina’s fisheries
and the people who rely on them for a living.
The importance of sexual assault nurse examiners
and the difficulty of locating them in North Carolina
Justice elusive for NC sexual assault survivors
Climate change is causing erratic weather events and altering ecosystems in the forests of Western North Carolina’s mountains.
What these changes mean and the challenges they pose for managing the forests.
How and why North Carolina counties decide to build
or expand jails, the costs of those decisions
and possible alternatives.
Inconsistency and inequity in child welfare policies across NC
Struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic in state’s prison system
Is one of North Carolina’s main systems
for housing those with mental illness failing?
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MORE STORIES
NC psych hospital failed to provide ‘safe and therapeutic’ environment, feds say
After a NC Health News/ News & Observer/ Charlotte Observer report of alleged mistreatment and sexual assault of an 11-year-old patient, Brynn Marr Hospital has been under months of state and federal scrutiny, jeopardizing its federal insurance reimbursement.
NC Talks: ‘Dissertating’ is a verb I know well
I completed that daunting of all tasks – the writing, defending and final submission of a dissertation, a long research paper, in the triple digits. But it wasn’t about the numbers.
Stacked Against, Part One: When prosecutors stack charges against a defendant, it can mean a lifetime behind bars
At 17, Terence Smith faced two charges for his role in an armed robbery. After turning down a plea deal, he stood charged with five more crimes and was sentenced to more than 50 years in prison.
People under guardianship in NC would have more rights and information, under proposed revamp of statutes
Laws on guardianship in North Carolina have remained unchanged for decades, and advocates say they don’t reflect changes in the field that call for more information and expanded rights for people whose lives are put under the control of another person, agency or business.
NC Talks: Q&A with Jack Igelman and spending more than a decade reporting about NC’s national forests
Jack Igelman is an environmental reporter and also an economics professor. He has reported deeply and extensively on recent plans to rethink and edit the management plans that govern these important national forests.
Medicare Advantage, insuring 1 million patients in North Carolina, faces new challenges to costs, practices
The privately managed Medicare Advantage portion of Medicare is the subject of broad differences of opinion over its cost — including, regulators say, an eye-popping $15 billion in excess payments made in 2021.
Crime & Justice
A miscarriage of justice, a life in prison
Under current sentencing laws, Bobby Norfleet would have been released from prison decades ago. Instead, he’s spent most of his life behind bars. There are hundreds of people in prison just like him.
Economy
Is rural America growing again? Recent data suggests ‘yes’
After a historic loss in population in the previous decade, rural, or nonmetropolitan, counties grew by 0.13% from 2020-21, according to Census estimates.
Education
NC students fell behind in required vaccinations during the pandemic. Some – not all – are catching up.
In one NC county, more than 73% of high school seniors don’t have required immunizations. But state health officials are optimistic overall.
Environment
UNC-G takes aim at climate change with a carbon offset program that keeps the money local
As the planet continues to warm and weather events become more extreme, college campuses work to establish sustainability models that demonstrate how to reduce carbon emissions.
Health
Childbirth is still killing Black moms at a higher rate. NC advocates, policymakers discuss solutions
As the United States marked Black Maternal Health Week this year, North Carolina advocates and health care professionals from across the state met in Colfax to discuss solutions.
Politics & Government
North Carolina advocates share blueprint for a stronger democracy
“Blueprint for a Stronger Democracy,” a report released in February by the Institute for Southern Studies and N.C. Voters for Clean Elections, lays out a path to make North Carolina a national leader in voter access and election administration. But many of its ideas face challenges in the state’s current political environment.