As the state budget impasse plods along, there was news about jobs, a judicial nomination, and healthcare for small businesses.

Rob Schofield, from NC Policy Watch, and Mitch Kokai, with the John Locke Foundation, have a review of the Week in State Politics.

More than 500,000 American veterans were exposed to nuclear weapons tests from the 1940s to the early 1990s. These so-called “atomic veterans” were not permitted to speak about their participation in the tests until 1996 when the Nuclear Radiation and Secrecy Agreements Laws were repealed. Now the veterans who were exposed to the radiation from the weapons program will be offered a certificate marking their contribution.

In their budget, Republican state lawmakers proposed $2.6 million in funding for crisis pregnancy centers and anti-abortion organizations. This funding would quadruple the amount given to one particular nonprofit, despite a report from the state Department of Health and Human Services that does not recommend expanding the program.

Artist Sonny Miles is on a journey back to himself. After a year spent refining mixtape collaborations, he is dropping a new EP: “Gamma.” It is a return to his roots in acoustic soul and pays homage to the last three years he spent learning beat making and hip-hop performance.

Every Friday night at 9:19 there’s a cypher on the streets of downtown Durham. You know that big bull right across from the Marriott? That’s us. We meet there to freestyle – to release - to find reprieve from your everyday routine and express your innermost feeling. 

We've teamed up with Come Hear NC on a podcast series that explores North Carolina music one song at a time. This week, musician Molly Sarlé talks about Jake Xerxes Fussell's version of 'Have You Ever Seen Peaches Growing On a Sweet Potato Vine?'