Robert (Bob) Rucho

May 19, 2014 - Legislation to open the state to oil and gas drilling would impose prison time for unauthorized individuals to disclose chemicals in fracking fluids that the industry wants kept secret. At the same time, it fails to address some of fracking's most serious environmental and public health risks.

July 30, 2013 - The NAACP is asking the state supreme court to throw out political district lines that it says were improperly shaped by race -- and it's willing to take the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

July 25, 2013 - North Carolina lawmakers are poised to pass the harshest voter photo ID law in the nation -- an effort that's been met with protests from voting rights advocates and talk of a possible lawsuit by the federal government.

July 15, 2013 - A new poll finds that the majority of North Carolina residents oppose fracking, but their elected state representatives are aggressively pushing to fast-track the controversial gas drilling technique in the state. Could a backlash be brewing?

May 9, 2013 - The three-judge panel hearing a lawsuit challenging North Carolina's redistricting on the grounds that it dilutes the African-American vote called the attorneys together this week to discuss a few remaining questions, indicating a decision could be near.

December 21, 2012 - The GOP control of the House came despite more votes for Democrats. How did that happen? Republicans used dark money to control redistricting in many states, as the experience of North Carolina illustrates.

July 5, 2012 - Fracking proponents traveled to Pennsylvania last year to visit natural gas drilling sites. Their tour guide was Chesapeake Energy -- a company that's now under federal investigation for questionable business practices and price fixing.