DECEMBER 2009 | Facing South was one of the first to report on the huge -- and hugely under-reported -- coal ash disaster last in Tennessee last December: the biggest industrial waste accident in U.S. history, and a warning to millions of Americans living near similarly unregulated coal waste dumps. More...

DECEMBER 2009 | Despite wall-to-wall coverage of the health reform debate, the media missed some of the biggest stories -- which get to the heart of power, profit and politics in Washington. More...

DECEMBER 2009 | 30 years ago, disaster struck at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. In an in-depth investigation this April, Facing South revealed flaws in the official story of what happened -- and what it means for the new "nuclear revival." More...

DECEMBER 2009 | When the battle over the Employee Free Choice Act geared up this spring, the media trumpeted a study claiming the labor bill would cost thousands of jobs. They forgot to mention it was based on shoddy research and paid for by corporate interests. More...

We continue our countdown of the biggest stories at Facing South with a look at Americans for Prosperity -- the right-wing group that channeled Big Oil money into leading the fight against the stimulus bill. More...

DECEMBER 2009 | A year after a massive coal ash spill in east Tennessee, residents say the TVA has yet to confront the aftermath -- and Washington has failed to ensure millions of Americans won't be vulnerable to similar disasters. More...

Washington has handed out more than $150 million in contracts for street, highway and bridge projects. Not one dollar of that has gone to an African-American owned business. More...

Facing South made it onto CNN, Time and CBS News for a report grading Obama's recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast. Not everyone liked it, but our #6 story of the year had a message that needed to be heard -- and helped inspire new policy for still-devastated communities. More...

Remember the death panel debate which almost derailed health reform? In our series on the year's top news, we look at how Facing South broke a key story that shifted national attention away from Sarah Palin's bogus claims and back to the real issues. More...

We continue our count-down of the biggest stories at Facing South in 2009. This edition: The right-wing's nutty war against ACORN -- and Congressional hypocrisy over Blackwater and Halliburton. More...

Swine flu has to make anyone's list of the top stories of 2009. But Facing South told you things about the h1n1 epidemic you couldn't find anywhere else. More...

New Orleans activists are taking out full-page ads in a Copenhagen newspaper to highlight the risks of climate disruption for Gulf residents and encourage leaders to protect vulnerable communities. More...

In 2009, readership at Facing South more than doubled. In the first of a series, we look at the stories you helped turn into a national splash this year. Part one: What was Rep. Joe Wilson REALLY yelling about? More...

Should the U.S. government help finance new hog production facilities at the same time it's buying up excess pork? More...

In some countries, bank executives are facing big taxes on year-end bonuses. In the U.S., the only expectation seems to be that government will keep bailing them out. More...

Amidst a pitched battle over school diversity policy in Wake County, residents have received anonymous automated phone polls that appear to run afoul of North Carolina consumer protection laws. More...

The Tennessee Valley Authority should no longer be allowed to flout the law while the Department of Justice looks the other way because of a questionable legal theory. More...

The Texas-based corporation is the world's most profitable -- and has spent millions to sow confusion over climate science. So why is the Obama administration giving it billions of dollars in taxpayer-financed assistance? More...

Last Friday, a U.S. district judge issued a preliminary injunction against the U.S. government for unconstitutionally withholding funds from ACORN. Bill Quigley of the Center for Constitutional Rights argues it's a landmark ruling. More...

Anti-nuclear groups placed a radiation mask on the iconic Little Mermaid statue in the Danish city where international climate talks are taking place. Here in the U.S., they're organizing street theater and a congressional call-in day against taxpayer subsidies for nuclear power. More...

A new report finds that states like Georgia, Florida and North Carolina are slashing school jobs even after using up federal stimulus funds -- and will have to make more cuts unless they get more help. More...

States are broke -- and the "fiscal nightmare" they face is one of our biggest barriers to bringing down unemployment. Will President Obama make aid to struggling states a key part of his new jobs agenda? More...

With thousands of stimulus funding recipients failing to file reports detailing what they did with the money, the government's watchdog has threatened to embarrass them into compliance. Some of them blame problems with the computerized reporting system. More...

As the president works to address double-digit unemployment, he must remember that for young African-Americans the crisis did not start with this latest economic meltdown. More...

A new Google video will help people attending the U.N. Climate Summit see for themselves what's at stake in the coalfields of Appalachia. More...

Reports filed with the Environmental Protection Agency by the Tennessee Valley Authority show just how environmentally devastating the 2008 disaster was -- and make the case for more stringent regulation of coal ash. More...

With 1 out of 10 Americans still out of work, President Obama today laid out a new jobs strategy focused on boosting small businesses. Will that be enough to turn around the jobless recovery that's kept millions unemployed? More...

The current administration has done more to address the climate crisis in the past 11 months than the previous administration did in eight years -- but high-ranking Bush aides still play key roles in the debate over curbing greenhouse gas emissions. More...

With both of West Virginia's U.S. senators warning that Washington is increasingly opposed to the mining industry's environmentally destructive practices, it appears that activists are succeeding in raising consciousness about what's happening in Appalachia's coalfields. More...

A key lobbyist for the family of state Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance plans is pushing legislation -- now moving in 24 states -- to preempt Congress' health reform package by declaring key federal standards to be in violation of the 10th amendment. More...

Regulators closed six banks on Friday -- including three in Georgia, which continues to lead the nation in bank failures. More...

Three environmental advocacy groups want to force the Environmental Protection Agency to hand over data it's withholding on toxic coal ash ponds. Utilities including Duke Energy and the Southern Company want the details treated as "confidential business information." More...

A new report from the FDIC finds that millions of Americans lack bank accounts, making them dependent on high-risk financial services like payday loans -- and the problem is especially severe in the South. More...

President Barack Obama announced this week that he was sending 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan -- but private contractors will still outnumber U.S. troops once the deployment is complete. More...

NASA's James Hansen compares the issue of climate change to slavery and Nazism, saying there's no room for compromise. More...

Labor leaders say that unless Congress and President Obama create a "bold jobs program," state and local governments could lose almost a million jobs next year, further worsening our already high national unemployment rate. More...

The House is poised to take up banking reform legislation next week. Which side will they be on: Mr. Potter or George Bailey? More...

A new report finds that the nation's coal-fired power plants are dirty and old -- and that those two characteristics tend to go hand in hand. It comes as Progress Energy announced plans to shutter 11 of its aging coal units in North Carolina. More...

Some are calling President Obama's expected announcement that he's sending up to 35,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan a betrayal -- but not the defense contractors who generously contributed to his presidential campaign. More...