Health and Public Safety

June 26, 2015 - The shooting deaths of nine African-American churchgoers by a white supremacist in Charleston, South Carolina is the latest mass killing to focus attention on lax U.S. gun laws. South Carolina, like many states in the South, has a high rate of gun violence.

June 10, 2015 - If the Supreme Court rules against Affordable Care Act subsidies this month in King v. Burwell, 6.4 million people could lose their health insurance tax credits — and the majority of them live in the South.

April 17, 2015 - Tobacco giants Reynolds American and Altria are suing the federal government over regulation of color-coded cigarette packing, arguing that it impinges on the corporations' free-speech rights.

April 6, 2015 - Several studies examining various aspects of the controversial oil and gas drilling technique released last week turn up new evidence of problems related to a lack of public information, waste disposal and ozone pollution.

March 27, 2015 - A Louisiana scientist who has spent decades helping communities affected by oil and gas drilling details what residents of the Southeast can expect if the industry is allowed to operate on the Atlantic Coast.

March 26, 2015 - This week marked the fifth anniversary of President Obama signing into law the Affordable Care Act, and a "People's Grand Jury" in North Carolina handed down a symbolic indictment of the state's Republican leaders for refusing to expand Medicaid to cover more uninsured low-income people as the law allows.

March 4, 2015 - The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in King v. Burwell, a case challenging the legality of subsidies for Affordable Care Act policies bought on the federal exchange. If the justices strike down the subsidies, residents of the South would be disproportionately affected.