The action in South Carolina was part of the national Mobilization for Climate Justice and comes a week before world leaders gather in Copenhagen to discuss a new global climate agreement. More...

A naturalist and former science educator, Roland Micklem says he was inspired to join the fight against the destructive mining practice as a "prolonged act of mourning" over the destruction of God's creation. More...

Food stamp use is highest in anti-government Red States in the South -- will conservative politicians try to cut the program now that it's growing in white suburbs? More...

As the Supreme Court considers two Florida cases where juveniles got no-parole life sentences, New America Media commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson argues that teenage offenders should be helped with treatment and rehabilitation rather than condemned to life in a prison cell. More...

As consumers gear up for holiday shopping, a watchdog group estimates banks will collect $1.8 billion in overdraft fees -- or $65 million a day -- between now and Christmas. Is Washington ready to take action? More...

Gov. Bobby Jindal isn't saying whether he favors the $300 million for Louisiana that Sen. Landrieu got inserted in the senate health bill -- or right-wing attacks calling Landrieu a "whore" -- even though his administration had been lobbying for the federal funds for months. More...

Thanksgiving didn't become a national holiday until the Civil War, when President Lincoln proclaimed it as a celebration of unity amid wartime strife. More...

A group of North Carolina legislators has asked the state attorney general and insurance commissioner to look into the company's efforts to involve customers in lobbying against a health insurance reform designed to create more competition. More...

Tennessee regulators have granted the federal utility permission to dump a million gallons of toxic wastewater daily from its Kingston coal-fired power plant into the Clinch River. Environmental groups are appealing. More...

A day after the Republican leader was hit with 37 ethics charges, a state panel begins debating an impeachment measure sponsored by fellow Republicans. Meanwhile, does the official in charge of prosecuting the ethics charges have a political conflict of interest? More...

Sen. Mary Landrieu has been attacked as a "prostitute" and worse for helping get $300 million in Medicaid payments for Louisiana inserted into the senate health bill. But Louisiana Republicans wanted much more. More...

The event held on Saturday in Little Rock helped people in need get much-needed treatment for life-threatening conditions. So why did former President Bill Clinton refuse to attend? More...

The case of the Texas wind power company that wanted to use federal stimulus funds while importing turbines from China points to a larger problem: U.S. corporations that won't invest in U.S. workers. More...

Two Southern female senators in red-trending states -- Sens. Mary Landrieu and Blanche Lincoln -- are now key drivers of the health reform debate. What political calculations are they making right now? More...

A new report from Physicians for Social Responsibility tallies the enormous human health costs of coal power -- and offers recommendations for building a healthier energy future. More...

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has asked federal elections officials to investigate a $25,300 donation to the U.S. Treasury last year by the Louisiana lawmaker's campaign. Was it made to cover up illegal contributions? More...

Working with a gun-violence prevention group, Colin Goddard shares his undercover footage from gun shows to make the case for closing a legal loophole that allows gun sales without background checks. More...

The Birmingham, Ala. resident and Army veteran fell to his knees but never dropped the American flag he carried through the violence of 1965's Bloody Sunday civil rights march. Armstrong died this week at 86. More...

A federal ruling about the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet could put pressure on the Obama administration to help settle claims for damages that could reach into the billions of dollars. More...

Sen. Harry Reid's health bill is out, and now all eyes are on key senate swing votes like Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. Given her mixed messages on health reform, which way will she go -- and what will it mean for her career? More...

It turns out that the C Street home of The Family is not really a church deserving of nonprofit status after all. Looks like rent hikes are in store for residents including Sen. Jim DeMint (D-S.C.) and Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.). More...

Policy-makers have focused on housing to jump-start New Orleans' sluggish recovery, but a new report finds nearly half of the city's employee's make less than $35,000 a year -- a big barrier to finding an affordable home. More...

Wesley Pruden sparked anger when he wrote that President Obama lacks a "natural instinct or blood impulse" for what America is about because of his family's racial history. It wasn't the first time the native Arkansan and the paper he once edited have expressed troubling views on race. More...

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce claims to be "the voice of business." But a series of scandals, defections and even an embarrassing prank have cracked their image as an invincible force in pushing their conservative agenda. More...

More than 1,000 uninsured people showed up for a free health clinic at the city's Convention Center on Saturday -- some of whom were very sick but hadn't seen a doctor in years. Did the politicians notice? More...

The Blue Dog Democrat from North Carolina delivers statements on health reform that sound a lot like those made by the arch-conservative from South Carolina. As it turns out, Shuler's record of enjoying generous campaign contributions from the health industry also resembles Wilson's. More...

As the H1N1 virus spreads, the South's share of children dying from swine flu has declined -- but the region still accounts for more than two out of five swine flu fatalities. More...

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says Westinghouse has failed to demonstrate the safety of the AP1000 reactor that's slated for 14 of the nation's 25 proposed new nuclear plants -- all in the South. Meanwhile, the NRC's official watchdog asks the Justice Department to investigate whether the AP1000 project got improper insider help from the agency. More...

An attorney arrested while protesting a coal-fired power plant under construction in North Carolina says he's disappointed -- he had hoped his case would allow him to confront Duke CEO Jim Rogers about the "environmental disaster." More...

The latest release from the independent vintage music label based in Raleigh, N.C. features songs from the mill villages of Gaston County, N.C. in the late 1920s and early 1930s. More...

Now that President Obama has canceled plans to store the nation's highly radioactive nuclear waste at the controversial Yucca Mountain site in Nevada, South Carolina community leaders are wondering if their state will become the new long-term storage solution. More...

The U.S. Senate and not the House will determine what if any health care reform plan is finally approved. That's why Senators have been the target of insurers' campaign to get the most industry-friendly reforms possible -- or none at all. More...

The state Utilities Commission rejected environmental advocates' arguments that the company is building the multibillion-dollar plant in western North Carolina to sell power outside its service area. Meanwhile, the company's CEO gets a subpoena to testify in a Cliffside protester's trial. More...

James Cripps has won what's believed to be the first Veterans Administration claim for being exposed stateside to the toxic herbicide. More...

According to a civil lawsuit filed last week, coal ash from a power plant owned by Arlington, Va.-based AES Corp. was dumped illegally on beaches in the Dominican Republic -- making nearby residents sick and causing serious birth defects. More...

Over 1.4 million veterans don't have health insurance -- and a new Harvard study finds that for thousands, the result is death they escaped while in the line of duty. More...

Joseph Pizarchik's nomination to head the Office of Surface Mining was opposed by coalfield activists, who warn that the move will intensify scrutiny of the Obama administration's dealings with the mining industry. More...

U.S. Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao of New Orleans says he knows his decision to vote for the House health reform bill was unpopular with his party. But he also says it was the right thing to do for his district, where many residents are uninsured and economically struggling. More...

The majority of Democrats voting no on Saturday's health care bill were from the South, but the majority of Southern Democrats also supported it. PLUS: Most inexplicable "no" vote, gutsiest "yes" votes, and Saturday's biggest spoilers. More...

The organizations raise concerns about whether the Army is more interested in making soldiers "deployable" than it is in helping them deal with mental health issues. More...

Our Facebook fundraiser brings in $2,190 for the Freedom Journalism School. Thanks to all who pitched in -- and if you didn't get a chance yet, there's still time! More...

With the House expected to vote as early as Saturday on health insurance reform legislation, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) took to the floor this week to read off the numbers of people now living in districts represented by the party opposing comprehensive reform who are expected to die next year for lack of insurance coverage. More...

K Street has a hand in who's getting stimulated: Of the 52 companies with the largest stimulus contracts, 34 are also among the biggest lobbyists, Phil Mattera reports. More...

The deadline to contribute to help us win $1,000 for the Freedom Journalism School is at 2:59 p.m. ET today -- so please take a moment to kick in as little as $10 to help fund this important effort to train grassroots public-interest journalists! More...

One fact stands above all others in explaining Republican Bob McDonnell's resounding victory for Virginia governor: Turnout was the lowest it's been in 40 years. More...

Phil Mattera of Dirt Diggers Digest reports on activist groups including Florida's Coalition of Immokalee Workers that are successfully changing corporate behavior for the better. More...

Two House Democrats have introduced legislation guaranteeing workers ordered to stay home because of illness five paid sick days. Labor advocates call the measure a first step toward the comprehensive sick-leave policy the U.S. needs. More...

Donate $10 to our Facebook cause after 3pm today, and you could help us win $1,000 to launch the Freedom Journalism School. More...

Following a heated election in which busing opponents prevailed, the NAACP has warned it may sue to force Wake County to continue a policy of promoting socioeconomic diversity in its schools. More...

Yesterday Virginia went red, Charlotte went blue, and gay candidates across the South won a series of local victories. Can we draw any clear message from Election 2009? More...

Civil rights was the issue of the day for Martin Luther King, Jr. Now, it's gay rights. As Bernice King carries on her father's legacy and work, she must renounce her anti-gay bigotry, writes New America Media contributing editor Earl Ofari Hutchinson. More...

Donate just $10 to our Facebook campaign kicking off at 3pm tomorrow, and you could help win $1,000 to launch the Freedom Journalism School More...

The federal government is urging employers to allow sick workers to stay home -- so why does Wal-Mart punish flu-stricken employees for taking sick leave? More...

A New Orleans resident facing eviction barricaded himself in his apartment last week and fired an assault rifle into his neighborhood. As Jordan Flaherty of Justice Roars reports, the incident highlights the housing crisis that's deepening in that city and others around the nation. More...

Mayoral elections in some of the South's biggest cities will be closely watched for signs of the shifting political mood; a likely Republican win for Virginia governor will come down to a battle of spin. More...

The Government Accountability Office finds that 26 coal-burning power plants have reported spills or other unpermitted releases of coal ash from 35 surface impoundments over the past decade. More...

A trailblazing African-American physician with a long record of service to Alabama's rural poor, Dr. Regina Benjamin has said she will emphasize disease prevention and public health. More...

President Obama visited the nation's largest solar photovoltaic facility in Florida last week -- but Dr. Stephen A. Smith of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy says that doesn't necessarily signal that the state is on its way to a clean energy future. More...

When Massey's Spartan Mining bought the West Virginia coal mine where they once worked but refused to rehire more than 200 miners over the age of 40, they filed suit -- and won. More...