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June 20, 2005 - Bob Geary of the Independent Weekly reports that payday lending in North Carolina is alive and well. This upstanding "industry" preys on people living paycheck-to-paycheck, giving them "advances" on future wages with effective interest rates of up to 400 percent.

June 20, 2005 - Note that this is a recent mayor of Philadelphia, Miss. From the AP (via the Nashville Tennessean):

June 20, 2005 - The Mobile Register has produced an excellent package of reports on mercury contamination in Alabama's "Chemical Alley," much of it originating at the Olin Corp.'s plant in McIntosh, Ala.

June 20, 2005 - (Apologies for slight overlap with previous post.)

June 20, 2005 - Just when the 13 Republican Senators who declined to co-sponsor the Senate's lynching apology resolution last week thought it was safe to poke their heads above the political parapet -- maybe a lazy June weekend would cause folks to forget?

June 18, 2005 - A tip of the hat to the New York Times for their kind mention of Facing South in the "What's Online" section this morning. For those who aren't registered or otherwise can't get to the piece, here's what they said:

June 17, 2005 - This Sunday, June 19, African-Americans across the South and beyond (and others who recognize the holiday) will celebrate Juneteenth. This is the 140th anniversary of what many call "America's Second Independence Day," marking the day in 1865 -- over two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation -- that slaves in Texas were finally set free.