When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, the devastation took a disproportionate toll on renters. According to a study (pdf) by Brown University sociologist John Logan, 45.7 percent of homes in storm-wrecked areas were occupied by renters, compared to 30.9... More...

Newly-elected members of Congress may still be learning the ropes about etiquette on Capitol Hill, but they're learning fast about the role of money in politics.Capitol Eye -- website of the Center for Responsive Politics -- reports today that, since... More...

As part of its First 100 Hours Agenda, a bill to increase the federal minimum wage by $2.10 sailed through the U.S. House of Representatives. The a "no-strings-attached" bill (H.R. 2) passed overwhelmingly, 315 to 116 with 82 Republicans voting... More...

Anyone interested in the future of Southern politics should take a long look at Bob Moser's excellent cover piece in this week's issue of The Nation.Moser's story begins with an entertaining personal look back at the year the "solid South"... More...

We don't usually think of New Orleans as a remote place. After all, it's one of the world's most visited cities, a renowned center of art, culture, music, cuisine.How a natural disaster -- compounded by official neglect -- can change... More...

Our sources on the ground in D.C. say that the mood of today's March on Washington against the war is more upbeat than in recent years. Grim determination has been replaced by a real hope that now, with opposition to... More...

This week brought two big pieces of news at the embattled Smithfield Foods plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina -- the largest hog processing plant in the world.On Wednesday, Smithfield announced it had cooperated with Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE)... More...

A federal official has publicly acknowledged that the problem of violent crime in New Orleans is largely the result of a troubled education system and entrenched poverty. Yet he intends to fight the problem not with more teachers or anti-poverty... More...

The latest numbers are in from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and they paint a grim picture for organized labor in the United States:The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday that union membership fell by 326,000 in 2006, to 15.4... More...

The residents of Survivors' Village -- a tent city erected in New Orleans last year to protest plans to tear down virtually undamaged public housing complexes despite a severe affordable housing crisis -- are calling on the Department of Housing... More...

Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers made the news this week as part of an unusual coalition of corporate executives and environmental organizations calling on the federal government to impose limits on greenhouse gases. Known as the U.S. Climate Action Partnership,... More...

The ACLU has released a disturbing report about a secret Pentagon database on peaceful protesters. According to an ACLU press release, their "No Real Threat" report (PDF format, web article here) found that the Defense Department’s Threat and Local Observation... More...

Though President Bush focused on domestic matters in last night's State of the Union address, he failed to make any mention of the ongoing recovery from Hurricane Katrina. There was not a single word about the storm and its aftermath... More...

President Bush, saddled with the lowest presidential job approval rating since Nixon, will deliver his State of the Union address to Congress and the American people tonight. In addition to defending his Iraq strategy, he is expected to speak on... More...

In a bit of good news on Hurricane Katrina and Rita recovery efforts, FEMA on Friday announced that it was extending housing assistance to storm-displaced Gulf Coast residents for at least another six months. The program was scheduled to expire... More...

White House officials sought to federalize the Hurricane Katrina response effort in Louisiana because Gov. Kathleen Blanco was a Democratic woman, but it wanted to leave Gov. Haley Barbour at the helm in Mississippi because he was a Republican man.So... More...

As President Bush scrambles to find support for a "surge" of troops in Iraq, the efforts of Iraq war opponents are gaining steam.First up is the March on Washington to End the War next weekend, Jan. 27-29. Here in North... More...

One of the biggest lingering challenges of Katrina is housing. Nearly 18 months after Katrina, tens of thousands of people displaced by the storm are still in limbo, waiting for housing to be rebuilt in New Orleans and coastal Mississippi.And... More...

As we discussed Tuesday, most Tennessean's aren't willing to raise taxes to fund education. But they are willing to fund education through the purchase of lottery tickets (which some characterize as a tax on the mathematically challenged). According to the... More...

With opposition mounting against a utility company's $10 billion proposal to build new coal-fired power plants across Texas, a report released this week questions the need for the heavily polluting facilities in the first place.Titled "Power to Save: An Alternative... More...

As we reported in December, the latest Census Bureau numbers show that the South and West were the fastest-growing regions in the country last year. Of the top 10 state growing in the most, half are in the South.The Houston... More...

When the levee systems built and maintained by the federal government failed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the resulting deluge flooded 80 percent of New Orleans and surrounding parishes, leading to more than 1,000 deaths and billions of dollars... More...

Once again, a politician has "slipped" to reveal dubious views about race, lurking not far beneath the surface. From Richmond, Virginia:A state legislator said black people "should get over" slavery and questioned whether Jews should apologize "for killing Christ," drawing... More...

Last week we looked at Education Week's 2007 Quality Counts study and its Chance-for-Success Index, which found that Southern states lag behind the national average in a variety of measures. The study ranked Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama tied at 45th... More...

Today, as we celebrate the life of a great man who has become a symbol for millions world-wide in the struggle for justice, freedom and peace, it seems everyone likes Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It's the rare crackpot --... More...

About 400 workers at the giant Smithfield hog-processing facility in Tar Heel, N.C. missed the first shift today to protest the company's decision not to give them the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday as a paid day off, the Associated... More...

The New Orleans Times-Picayune has launched a public blog allowing readers to weigh in on the worsening city's crime problem, which led to yesterday's anti-violence protest marches that drew about 3,000 people and put Mayor Ray Nagin and other city... More...

Has Sen. Joe Lieberman sold out on his campaign promise to hold the Bush regime accountable for its disastrous mishandling of Hurricane Katrina in order to serve as the Democratic lackey for its unpopular Iraq surge strategy?Reporters Michael Isikoff and... More...

As political leaders opposed to the Iraq tragedy struggle to find their voice, and progressives generally grapple with the role of faith, it's valuable to look back at the words of a minister from Georgia, only 38 years old at... More...

ICF International -- the private company that received a $756 million contract from Louisiana to administer its Road Home recovery program -- has reneged on a promise it made to step up processing of grants to homeowners, the Times-Picayune reports.Last... More...

The Associated Press reports:A federal judge ruled against an insurance company Thursday in a Hurricane Katrina damage case that may have implications for hundreds of other homeowner lawsuits against insurers who refused to cover billions of dollars in damage from... More...

In a recent two-part series called "The Wrong Side of the Tracks" (Part 1, Part 2), the Orangeburg SC Times and Democrat takes a detailed look at South Carolina's "poverty corridor" and how the state compares with other Southern states... More...

With at least two marches now planned for tomorrow to protest a recent spike in homicides, New Orleans city officials yesterday announced various plans to fight street crime. Unfortunately, the proposals fail to address the blind rage and growing desperation... More...

While media and Congress debate a "surge" of new troops in Iraq, apparently President Bush has already launched it, drawing on a small number of "advance troops" from North Carolina's 82nd Airborne Division. ABC news reports:ABC News has learned that... More...

North Carolina calls itself "the most military-friendly state in the country." It's home to several key military bases that have been engaged in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and it's also home to private contracts like Blackwater International and Research... More...

President Bush is expected to announce his decision to send an additional 20,000 troops to Iraq during his TV address to the nation tonight. But some members of his own party -- including representatives of Southern states with a large... More...

A jury trial gets underway today in Mississippi involving Katrina insurance claims that State Farm says refusing to pay claimsare not covered:Many policyholders with damage, including those who had coverage from companies other than State Farm, contend that they received... More...

Our friend Andy at KnoxViews has a post about the tragic and senseless murder of Helen Hill in New Orleans last week:I've long been a supporter of the reconstruction effort, but I don't know that I'd put my life on... More...

In the interesting demographics department, Memphis is set to become the nation's first major metropolitan area with a black majority : A good indication of what's to come can be gleaned from 2005 U.S. Census Bureau estimates that show the... More...

Last week we blogged about the big Military Times poll which got short shrift in the media, despite its eye-opening findings that under a third of U.S. service member approve of Bush's handling of the Iraq war and only 41%... More...

Anger is building among New Orleans' residents over the recent surge of violent crime in the city, where nine people have been killed already this year. A march on City Hall to protest the violence -- and to urge authorities... More...

Speaking of global warming, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy has produced two short films documenting the potentially devastating impact climate change could have on natural treasures in the Southeast: the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and the Florida Everglades... More...

[This post marks number 1,500 since Facing South launched in February 2005. We hope you've enjoyed our daily dose of fresh information and ideas from the South. Thank you to our readers for all your support -- if you didn't... More...

Whether or not Washington will act on the growing global warming crisis remains to be seen. In the meantime, states and localities are taking steps on their own. As the Washington Post reported earlier this week, the city of Arlington,... More...

My post earlier today, linking the strange fascination with Saddam's hanging to our country's out-of-step embrace of death sentences, especially in Texas, has turned out to be sadly salient:HOUSTON -- A 10-year-old boy was apparently mimicking Saddam Hussein's execution when... More...

In the U.S. we like to think of ourselves as a civilized lot, but visitors to YouTube earlier this week discovered that the descent into barbarism can be quick and steep. Barely 24 hours after Saddam Hussein was hung, the... More...

Cable TV and wire reports are pouring in about the heroic efforts to feed cattle and other livestock affected by the blizzards out West:Hundreds of hay bales fell from the sky across Colorado's rangeland as military helicopter and cargo plane... More...

As if New Orleans didn't have enough problems to contend with, deadly violence is on the rise in the city, which has long suffered from a high crime rate.Three killings on New Year's Eve brought the city's murder total for... More...

A national civil rights group worries that a recent New York Times story about New Orleans' post-Katrina baby boom among Latinos—and the stress it's placing on the city's storm-devastated health care system—promotes prejudice against the people doing reconstruction's dirty work.Written... More...

It's hard for news to break into the holiday media cycle, what with wall-to-wall coverage of consumer spending habits and college bowl games. But some stories deserve special attention no matter what -- like this news, which came out a... More...

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a nice holiday and that you and yours have a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year. Along with the New Year come lots of new state laws. Here are some from around the South…Alabama... More...