Anne Blythe, Author at The Assembly NC

How a Disaster-Relief Package Constrains N.C.’s New Governor

Josh Stein meets community members at Asheville-Buncombe Technical College in January 2023. (Mike Belleme for The Assembly

The Republican-led legislature’s hurricane relief bill took away a number of executive powers.

Power in the Public Sector

A file photo of state workers rallying in downtown Raleigh in 2002.

The State Employees Association of North Carolina is parting ways with the nation’s second-biggest service union after 15 years.

The New Judge in Town

Chief Administrative Law Judge and Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings Donald van de Vaart // Photos by Cornell Watson

An independent state office that functions like a court has long had a reputation for stability and impartiality. But its new leader, with help from the legislature, is making waves and consolidating power.

Bad Environment

Top image: EPA Administrator Michael Regan speaks at an event in Lorain, Ohio on February 17, 2021. (Photo by Dominick Sokotoff/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

A veteran human resources officer says she told former state environmental secretary Michael Regan, who now leads the EPA, that his deputy used racist language, and that Regan covered up the allegation. He says that’s not true.

Disorder in the Court

As it tackles high-profile cases, the North Carolina Supreme Court is struggling to be seen as nonpartisan. Among its critics is its own chief justice, a steadfast Republican who recently scolded Democratic justices for having what he says is a partisan agenda.