The State of Things

Wendell Potter spent two decades in senior positions at major health insurance companies before he became a whistleblower. A crisis of conscience sprung up while he was publicly praising policies that he knew were contributing to the rising number of uninsured and underinsured people in the U.S.

The state Department of Environmental Quality ordered Duke Energy to excavate six coal ash ponds last week. Duke wanted to leave the ash in place and cover it, which is a much cheaper solution. The energy company estimates it will cost an additional $4 to $5 billion to clean up these six sites.

Hall of Fame University of North Carolina Women’s College Basketball Coach Sylvia Hatchell and her staff have been placed on paid leave as UNC-CH sorts through complaints by parents. The Washington Post reports the suspension emerged after a meeting between administrators and parents of current players who alleged Hatchell pushed injured team members to play through the pain, that players were not given proper medical care, and that she made racially insensitive comments to the team.

The searing and beautiful portraits in the collection “ Blue Muse: Timothy Duffy’s Southern Photographs ” seem born of a bygone era. Indeed Duffy made his pictures using a Civil War-era technique called the wet plate tintype that limited his shoots to just one or two frames per day. But his subjects, or collaborators as he calls them, are accustomed to sweating under bright lights and performing for an audience. They are the blues, gospel and roots musicians Duffy has been recording his entire

Shana Tucker remembers the day the Uptown String Quartet came to Howard University. There had been many jazz musicians who came to play and mentor students while she attended the school, but this was different.

The relationship between the United States and its territory of Puerto Rico is complicated — and Anabel Rosa is stuck right in the middle of it. When she was a girl growing up in Puerto Rico, she dreamed of living in the mainland U.S. As a teenager, she gave up her quinceañera for a trip to New York City.

A U.S. District Court indicted the chair of the North Carolina Republican Party Robin Hayes earlier this week on charges that include bribery, wire fraud and aiding and abetting. Hayes allegedly tried to funnel money to the reelection campaign of the state’s insurance commissioner. What does this indictment mean for the state’s Republican Party?

The North Carolina House of Representatives passed a bill earlier this week that would force county sheriff departments to assist with detaining immigrants or face a stiff fine. This bill comes in the wake of many sheriff departments around the state choosing to end their cooperation with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement through both detainers and the 287 (g) program.

Singer-songwriter Abigail Dowd ’s latest album reflects her years-long process of coming home. In 2009 the folk artist moved to Florence, Italy and then to Maine in search of herself. She swore she would never come back.

Legal Aid of North Carolina just released details of a $75,000 settlement involving three labor contractors who recruited 13 workers from Mexico to work in North Carolina through the federal H-2A visa program .