NC Watchdog Reporting Network

An analysis by the N.C. Watchdog Reporting Network of hundreds of fuel sample records from school buses with MaxxForce engines across the state shows that oil sample tests found elevated levels of fuel in the oil more than one third of the time.

The N.C. Watchdog Reporting Network sought public records about redistricting from legislators and their staff. Some failed to live up to the promise of the transparency law.

The N.C. Watchdog Reporting Network requested the calendars of the state’s top leaders. That included members of the Council of State — the 10 statewide elected executive officials — and each of the cabinet secretaries who run state agencies in Cooper’s administration.

At the beginning of November, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported less than half of the funds had been either spent or obligated to schools for reimbursements. The funds must be used by the end of June.

Systems expect spending pace to pick up with major ventilation, other, projects planned, but supply and demand is already delaying work.

In many North Carolina counties, school staff aren't tracking vaccination rates of their faculty or staff, let alone requiring a vaccine, even though educators increasingly say they support mandates, according to a survey by the N.C. Watchdog Reporting Network.

The late summer surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations – driven by the delta variant and a state population that remains nearly 50% unvaccinated – has severely taxed an already burdened health care system.

The North Carolina House and Senate each passed bills that would require centralized reporting of Giglio letters, creating a database that law enforcement agencies could consult when hiring new officers. The letters say which law enforcement officers are deemed too untrustworthy to testify in court.

Since late 2019, federal law has required states to collect details on deaths during interactions with law enforcement. North Carolina officials have again refused to release information on the deaths of people who died in custody.

Although they've been eligible for months, many North Carolina health systems are reporting only about two-thirds of health workers are vaccinated.