Politics

The Untouchable Student Vaccine Mandate

Federal regulators are poised to give full approval to a COVID-19 vaccine for children younger than 16. That would turn the spotlight to an obscure—and seemingly reluctant—state commission in North Carolina that has the power to mandate vaccines for school children and college students.

BY Elizabeth Anne BrownOctober 14, 2021

Trending Topics

Politics

When Reparations Meet Bureaucracy

Politics

Egos, Accountability, and High School Sports

Environment

The Contested Swamps of Robeson County

Politics

Searching for Mike Easley

Policing

Police Informants, Unchecked

Short Form

Politics

Searching for Mike Easley

He was once one of the state’s most popular politicians, and remains perhaps the most idiosyncratic governor North Carolina has ever had. Since he left office and was convicted of a felony, he’s hardly been heard from. We went looking for him. // AP Photo, Karen Tam

BY Jim MorrillSeptember 19, 2021

Foreign Affairs

The Afghanistan Papers

Craig Whitlock got his start scouring North Carolina for stories. Today, his seminal work on Afghanistan is a must-read for a nation trying to understand what went wrong in its twenty year war some seven thousand miles away.

BY Kevin MaurerAugust 22, 2021

Long Form

Politics

When Reparations Meet Bureaucracy

Asheville’s historic reparations resolution made national news in 2020, helping spark a wave of similar city-level initiatives across the country. But mounting delays show that while winning a vote may be hard, moving through a hesitant and halting bureaucracy can be an even more difficult challenge.

BY Melba NewsomeOctober 07, 2021

Politics

Egos, Accountability, and High School Sports

A two-year legislative inquiry culminated last week in a bipartisan compromise over the state’s High School Sports Association. The very public fight mirrors a national debate over amateur athletics: Just how big should school sports be? And who gets to benefit?

BY Shaun AssaelSeptember 27, 2021

Environment

The Contested Swamps of Robeson County

A behemoth natural-gas facility, sitting atop a disrupted archeological site, represents the latest environmental challenge for one of the state’s most diverse yet burdened counties. But the debate over history, benefit, and protection is far more complicated than it first appears.

BY Barry YeomanSeptember 22, 2021

Policing

Police Informants, Unchecked

Last month, prosecutors indicted a Raleigh police informant for fabricating drug trafficking cases. His story raises questions about how the police department manages its confidential informants, and why its officers have escaped accountability.

BY Jeffrey BillmanSeptember 17, 2021