Author: Jordan Meadows

By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer A bill moving through the North Carolina General Assembly aims to address what lawmakers and advocates describe as a growing stillbirth crisis across the state. Senate Bill 909, known as the Building Understanding of Movement in Pregnancy Act, or BUMP Act, would require the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to provide free, standardized education on stillbirth prevention to pregnant patients and training

By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer North Carolina lawmakers advanced a bill that would dramatically reshape how the state regulates natural hair braiding and other textured-hair services, cutting hundreds of required training hours down to just 10 hours focused on infection control. NC Senate Bill 808, which has cleared key Senate committees and passed the full Senate, would replace the state's current 300-hour natural hair care license with a simplified certification

By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer The immigration systems of the United States and Europe have produced dramatically different outcomes for Black and Caribbean populations, shaped by law, geography, and fundamentally different ideas about race, citizenship, and national identity.  While major European cities such as Paris have highly visible Black populations tied to decades of colonial migration, the pathways that created those communities differ sharply from the modern immigration structure of

[caption id="attachment_17596" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Credit: Ashley Fredde, NC Health News[/caption] By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer More than 30 students from 14 counties across North Carolina gathered at the North Carolina General Assembly on Wednesday as part of the Tobacco 21 (T21) Coalition. Their goal was to press lawmakers into adopting stricter nicotine regulations and advance House Bill 430, known as "Solly's Law." The legislation is named after Solomon Wynn, a

By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer The idea of lifetime appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court begins with a very specific institutional problem the framers were trying to solve: how to create a judiciary strong enough to check the other branches, but not so politically entangled that it simply mirrored them.  In the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton argued that courts would be the "least dangerous branch" precisely because they lacked control

By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer A fundraiser was held in Durham highlighting the human toll behind North Carolina's maternal and infant health disparities, as participants walked past signs bearing the names of Black women who died from pregnancy-related causes. The event was organized by MAAME, a Durham-based nonprofit that provides doula support and maternal health services, works primarily with Black mothers and families. The organization's name is both as an

By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer Two outgoing state lawmakers out of Mecklenburg County have changed their political affiliation to unaffiliated after losing their Democratic primaries by wide margins. State Reps. Carla Cunningham and Nasif Majeed announced their departures from the Democratic Party days apart, with Cunningham changing her registration on Friday and Majeed following on Monday. Both are nearing the end of their current terms after being defeated in March

By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer A quarter century in law enforcement led one Fayetteville officer to a conclusion that is now shaping policy across North Carolina: arresting people struggling with addiction was not solving the problem. For 25 years, Lars Paul worked in narcotics enforcement with the Fayetteville Police Department, making drug arrests, responding to overdoses and leading high-risk operations. Over time, he said, the pattern became clear: many individuals

By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer North Carolina lawmakers have approved a sweeping Medicaid funding measure that will keep the state's program operating through the end of the fiscal year while introducing a series of new eligibility requirements and oversight provisions. House Bill 696, which passed in both chambers, allocates $319 million from state reserve funds to address a budget shortfall in the Medicaid program. The measure now heads to Gov.

By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer Fresh signs of strain in the U.S. labor market are fueling concerns, as new data shows the economy shed 92,000 jobs in February and unemployment reached its highest level in years. Economists say the warning signs are especially pronounced for Black workers, who continue to face significantly higher unemployment rates than other groups. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Black unemployment measured 7.3%