As of July 31, at least 26 trans people have been killed in the U.S. this year, and a majority of them were people of color. The violence each of them endured is horrific and should not happen to anybody, especially those who are merely trying to be who they are.

U.S. House votes for big funding boost as two new reports document the problem in NC [Editor's note: One of the many preexisting structural problems in American society exposed and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic is the inadequacy of the nation's child care system. For several years now, analysts and and advocates have advanced report after report documenting the fact that the nation's system for providing early childhood education is underfunded, inadequate and fragile. Today, however, with the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to rage, many believe the system could, effectively, be on the verge of collapse.

Impact would be even larger than previously forecast due to the COVID-19 pandemic The Trump administration was expected to file briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court today asking justices to strike down the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional. In anticipation of this event, analysts at two major Washington, DC policy think tanks released reports this week...

In late 2016, the North Carolina Poverty Research Fund issued a significant report on state access to health care entitled, “Putting A Face On Medicaid Expansion in North Carolina.” The study not only heavily documented the dramatic economic, social and health costs resulting from the state’s decision to refuse the proffered expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, but it focused (somewhat atypically) on the stories of patients, families, doctors, nurses and other health care providers to illustrate, more concretely, the often tragic impact of the denial of expanded coverage on the lived experience of Tar Heels.

Restaurants, streets, parks and bus stops. All empty on a sunny afternoon. Owens Daniels had never seen his city quite like this. A seasoned photographer, Daniels began to document the eerie desolation of Winston-Salem in March, as the COVID-19 pandemic cleared streets, closed businesses and changed lives.

Nikki-Miller Ka loves the grocery store. Checking out the fresh produce, stocking her pantry for favorite meals, getting inspiration for new dishes, chatting with fellow customers and check-out folks. But that was before the pandemic. “Now...it’s a very harrowing experience,” she said. Bare shelves. Nervous customers. Exhausted employees.

Editor’s note: This is the second in a new series of special reports from NC Policy Watch that we’ve entitled “Voices from the pandemic.” In these brief vignettes, our award-winning team of journalists will share snippets from the lives of typical North Carolinians attempting to cope with and respond to the unprecedented global public health crisis.