Lisa Worf

You don't need an ID to vote in the North Carolina primaries. That's because a federal court put a state law on hold until a case challenging voter ID can be heard. Last week, a state appeals court blocked it indefinitely. In his response to the federal ruling in December, North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore described the law as "one of the nation's most lenient voter ID laws."

North Carolina’s primary is less than three weeks away. It’s Super Tuesday and former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg will be on primary ballots for the first time. He’s been spending big on TV ads in North Carolina. 

Recently his campaign mailed letters to people, criticizing President Donald Trump for creating chaos while in office, and asked for people’s vote. It included this phrase, "North Carolina election law allows all registered voters, regardless of registration to vote in the Democratic primary."

New Hampshire is casting its vote in the Democratic presidential primary today, and in less than three weeks — Feb. 29 — all eyes will turn toward South Carolina. It’s a crucial vote, since it’ll be the first primary in the South and the first in which a majority of voters are expected to be African American.

You won’t need an ID to cast a ballot next month for the primaries in North Carolina. A federal judge blocked that 2018 law until a court could decide whether it was constitutional. Speaking about that decision, state Rep. Holly Grange, a Republican running for governor, said that makes it easy to impersonate a voter.

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis has put immigration at the center of his reelection campaign. To set himself apart from his Democratic opponents Cal Cunningham and state Sen. Erica Smith, he’s highlighting their stances on state policies.

Charlotte is just seven months away from hosting the Republican National Convention – and there are a lot of preparations to make and questions to be answered. WFAE’s new podcast Inside Politics, the RNC in Charlotte, looks at the RNC and the 2020 election through the lens of Charlotte. It launched Thursday.

Joining Gwendolyn Glenn are the podcast’s co-hosts – WFAE’s political reporter Steve Harrison and Lisa Worf, who you usually hear on Morning Edition. 

We are beginning the second year of our affordable housing series, Finding Home. In 2019, we had a story nearly every Monday on the Charlotte area’s affordable housing crisis. In 2020, Finding Home airs every other Monday on "Morning Edition," And we start with today’s guest, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles.

On Monday, the Charlotte Diocese release a list of 14 clergy credibly accused of sexually abusing children. It also released names of people who worked in the Charlotte Diocese but were credibly accused elsewhere, and names of clergy accused of sexual abuse when the region was covered by the Raleigh Diocese.

But, the list is not complete in the view of Seth Langson. He’s a Charlotte attorney who has represented victims in lawsuits against the Charlotte Diocese. Some of his clients sued priests who were on the list released yesterday. He joins us now.

One symptom of Charlotte's growth is an increased demand on hospitals. The state has approved 76 additional beds in Mecklenburg County to accommodate that growth, and Atrium and Novant are vying for them. It's up to the state to decide which hospitals get them. This week, regulators heard from doctors and county residents on the subject. In this week's BizWorthy, Tony Mecia of the Charlotte Ledger Business Newsletter joins us to break this down and talk about this week's other business news -- including soccer.

When it comes to the state budget stalemate, Republicans and Democrats have been blaming each other – especially when it comes to teacher pay. 

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the budget, saying, for one, it didn’t do enough for teachers. Democratic State Sen. Jeff Jackson of Charlotte waded into the subject this month, tweeting, "We need to raise North Carolina teacher pay to at least the national average – which is where it was back when I was in public school.”

The Trump administration has made a number of proposals that would cut the number of people who receive food stamps, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. U.S. Rep. Alma Adams, a Democrat who represents the Charlotte area, drew attention last month to one of those proposals. 

After nearly nine seasons, 76 wins and a Super Bowl appearance, the Ron Rivera era is over for the Carolina Panthers. Owner David Tepper fired Rivera, the head coach, on Tuesday, saying he "just thought it was time given the way things have gone the last two seasons."

North Carolina has new Congressional districts — and it was a process. When lawmakers went back to the drawing board last month, they had a lot to say. 

Finding a good assisted-living home for a loved one can be tough work. But there’s a new tool that may make the search a bit easier. 

Former North Carolina state lawmaker Cal Cunningham is campaigning to be the Democratic nominee against Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, and he wants to send a message – that he won’t be a pawn of big businesses.

On Thursday night, WFAE honored a legendary Charlotte journalist. Ed Williams, a longtime editorial page editor for the Charlotte Observer, received WFAE’s inaugural First Amendment Award. 

Williams spent 25 years at the Observer before retiring in 2008. He’s also served as chairman of WFAE’s Board of Directors. WFAE’s Lisa Worf spoke to him about his career, including his days as a student journalist at the University of Mississippi.

The North Carolina House on Thursday approved a new Congressional map, two weeks after a three-judge panel said the state’s current map couldn’t be used in the upcoming 2020 elections.

Under the current map, the Republicans control 10 of 13 seats. The new map appears to give Democrats the inside track on picking up two more seats, making it an 8-to-5 map. Joining Lisa Worf to talk about the new map is WFAE’s political reporter, Steve Harrison.

North Carolina has the country’s second-largest collection of poorly maintained dams built in places where a failure could kill people. That’s according to reporting from The Associated Press that looked at the condition of dams across the United States. 

After the 2015 shooting at Emanuel AME shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, donations from across the globe poured in to the church. That show of care and support added up to several million dollars. How church leaders handled and distributed that money is now the subject of lawsuits by families of victims.