This week's top stories at Facing South

SOUTHERN BASE TOWNS SUFFER BRUNT OF IRAQ LOSSES: A new Institute report for Memorial Day weekend finds that nearly half of U.S.-based troops killed in Iraq had been stationed in the South. (5/22/2009)

KBR'S LONG "REIGN OF TERROR": The ongoing controversy surrounding military contractor KBR took another turn this week. The latest development relates to a story Facing South helped break involving the deaths of several U.S. military personnel from faulty electrical work. (5/22/2009)

RUMSFELD FIDDLED WHILE NEW ORLEANS DROWNED: Opposed to deploying active-duty troops to a disaster zone, it was revealed that the former Defense Secretary refused to send the military after Hurricane Katrina until ordered by President Bush -- five days after landfall. (5/20/2009)

DUMPING IN DIXIE: TOXIC WASTE FROM N.Y. RIVER CLEANUP HEADED TO TEXAS: The dangerous PCB pollution that General Electric is dredging up from the Hudson River is going to a Lone Star State landfill already embroiled in a controversy over radioactive waste. (5/19/2009)

DOING TIME ON THEIR OWN DIME: MORE STATES CHARGE INMATES FOR PRISON STAYS: A growing number of prisons, jails and sheriff's departments are charging inmates for their own incarceration, a move authorities say is necessary to counter rising costs and budget cutbacks during the recession. (5/19/2009)

POWER POLITICS: THE UPHILL BATTLE AGAINST MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL: As coal companies intensify their assault on Appalachia, the White House sends mixed signals about mountaintop removal. Will the Obama administration take action to halt the destruction? (5/15/2009)

NEW DATA ON THE RISE OF ANTI-UNION TACTICS SHOWS THE NEED FOR THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT: A new report found that employer opposition to workers' efforts to form unions has intensified and become more punitive in the last decade. Labor advocates say this shows why Congress should enact legislation that would make it easier for workers to unionize. (5/21/2009)

GEORGIA UTILITIES PULL OUT OF COAL PLANT PROJECT THAT FACES QUESTIONS OF CORRUPTION: Since we reported on claims of possible corruption surrounding an effort to build a new coal-fired power plant in Georgia, four utilities have announced they are withdrawing from the project, casting doubt on the likelihood of its construction. (5/21/2009)