The State of Things on WUNC

North Carolina’s 1992 Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act (REDA) is intended to protect workers from retaliation when they file complaints related to on-the-job injury and other health and safety concerns. It should keep employers from firing workers who complain.

In 2011, U.S. and Russian leaders signed an updated strategic arms reduction treaty. Unless that agreement, New START , is renewed before February, the two largest nuclear arsenals will be unconstrained for the first time since the height of the Cold War.

Hurricane Dorian swept away Javier Montano ’s dream of winning the nationally televised talent competition “Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento.” After the storm cancelled his flight to California, Montano had to recalibrate his expectations.

How do you heal from losing a child before getting the chance to meet them? The answer to this question is told in the painful experiences of 1 in 100 pregnancies affected by stillbirth each year in the United States. The loss can feel isolating. The grief can lie underneath the surface even on good days. For some people, the best medicine is in sharing their story.

Geneva Bowers grew up watching animé television shows like “Sailor Moon” into the wee hours of the morning. The interest bled into another of her hobbies, drawing, and she began creating her own cartoon characters. As she honed her drawing skills, she noticed several patterns: Her characters were always thin, and they were always white.

Nursing homes, schools, correctional facilities and childcare centers are required to report information about coronavirus outbreaks to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The state agency then shares that information publicly in its regularly-updated COVID-19 dashboard, which includes details about the specific facilities in which the outbreaks are happening and how many people have tested positive for the virus. But the agency does not publish similar data about meat

The 2020 Census is beset with challenges. COVID-19 led to cuts in outreach and information campaigns, as well as pushed back the process of door-to-door census-taker visits. As a result, North Carolina and several other states across the country are set for historic lows in population reporting.

Students are beginning to arrive back on campuses across the UNC System, and workers are concerned for their own safety amid early accounts of inconsistent mask-wearing and large social gatherings on campuses.

A new study shows that healthy food options are limited in the communities around each of the state’s 10 historically Black colleges and universities.

Sheriffs in North Carolina are signing new agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Under the new Warrant Service Officer program, local law enforcement officials can serve federal administrative warrants and transfer detainees into ICE custody. The program is part of 287(g), the controversial section of the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act that allows local law enforcement to collaborate with ICE. Ten North Carolina counties have joined the Warrant Service Officer program