The Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism has released its annual report on Murder and Extremism in the United States. The 2018 numbers show a sharp increase in murders by domestic extremists, especially right-wing groups.
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Since Colson Combs was born just over 15 years ago, the planet Earth has recorded more than 10 of its hottest years on record. If humans have not dialed back greenhouse gas emissions by the time Combs reaches his late 20s, the world will likely be headed toward a climate crisis that will stalk him for his entire life.
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Public education advocates in North Carolina are ablaze these days, after a report from The Washington Post in late January teased a nebulous plan hatched by the conservative Koch network to spend boatloads of cash on a massive, as-yet-unnamed, K-12 initiative in five states. If North Carolina is one of the five, state leaders and the Kochs are...
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A report, issued by Disability Rights North Carolina provides strong evidence that federal, state and local emergency management officials must take action to ensure the well-being of people with disabilities during natural disasters. Analyzing the response to Hurricane Florence, the report shows how public officials must do more to include the voices of people with disabilities and disability rights advocates as they plan for future emergencies and ensure their safety.
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There’s a vexing conundrum that frequently confronts movements for social justice when they’re trying to rally supporters to action. It turns out that the best and easiest times to spur people to action often coincide with the moments at which the movement is at its weakest and least able to effect real change.
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Legislation introduced last week to expand Medicaid should be welcome news to the hundreds of thousands in North Carolina who currently can’t see a doctor when they need one. House Bill 5 was introduced by lead sponsors Reps. Gale Adcock, Carla Cunningham, Verla Insko, and Jean Farmer-Butterfield, and Senate Bill 3 was introduced by lead sponsors Sens. Ben Clark, Dan Blue, and Gladys Robinson – all Democrats. A Republican-led bill is expected soon in the NC House.
...The State Board of Education holds its monthly meeting this Wednesday and Thursday. Members will discuss the findings of a new statewide report on the State of the Teaching Profession in North Carolina. The following numbers examines teacher turnover across our Local Education Agencies (LEAs) and charter schools.
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Until that winter’s day the 4-foot section of corrugated metal pipe, 48 inches in diameter, had done its job. It swallowed storm water, said to be uncontaminated, that drained from Duke Energy property, chugged the water through its gullet that ran beneath an unlined coal ash basin, and then spewed it into the Dan River near Eden. But on Feb. 2, 2014, the pipe could take no more.
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There has been much written about the impact charter school growth has had on some of North Carolina’s larger, urban school districts. But the impact might be greater on some of the state’s smaller, rural school districts where the loss of students, and the funding that follows them, are felt more profoundly.
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With one of the largest uninsured populations in the country, North Carolina is home to far too many people who lack the regular health care access and financial security that comprehensive health care coverage provides. In an economic landscape in which employers consider health outcomes in their location and expansion decisions, North Carolina’s 10.7 percent uninsured rate—the 10th highest in the nation—makes us less competitive.
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