Each month here at Carolina Public Press, we’ll highlight a major issue facing Western North Carolina with in-depth reporting, photo essays, data, graphics and documents. This month, our reporters, photographers and illustrators focused on the state budget. In particular, we wanted to know what the $2.4 billion shortfall facing the state meant for Western North Carolina’s political power in Raleigh, its rural school districts, its public and private workers and economic development efforts.

It’s a topic not likely to go away for months, and one that bears significant impact on our neighborhoods, counties and state.

Here’s what we’ve had to say and offer so far this month, which you may also find under Special Reports>State Budget Impact on the homepage:

Stories and photos:

WNC’s rural schools face added stress in state budget woes

Photo essay: From the lunchroom to the classroom

North Carolina’s budget woes mean hard days ahead for WNC’s public, private workers

A new set of WNC legislators wielding influence in Raleigh could mean more political power for the mountains. Or does it?

Infographic:

Creating N.C.’s state budget, step by step

Documents, data and resources:

Databases: Gov. Bev Perdue’s N.C. budget proposal

Documents: the N.C. state budget, memos and background

Resource: Comprehensive N.C. Legislature info is just keystrokes away

Contacts:

N.C. governor, offices, committees and commissions

N.C. House and Senate representatives for WNC

Our coverage will continue, but now’s the time to hear from you. What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the region as we deal with our statewide budget crisis? We want to know, and it could help us continue to answer your questions through our reporting, photojournalism and public records reporting.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may republish our stories for free, online or in print. Simply copy and paste the article contents from the box below. Note, some images and interactive features may not be included here.

Angie Newsome is the executive director and editor of Carolina Public Press. Contact her at (828) 774-5290 or e-mail her at anewsome@carolinapublicpress.org.

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