Politics Apr 21 Tea Party Mapped: How Big Is It and Where Is It based? If you turned to a cable news channel in recent weeks, you may have seen a large group of "tea party" protesters, signs in hand, expressing outrage over government tyranny. But how big are those groups really? The tea party…
Politics Apr 16 Patchwork Nation: Land-Use Measure Could Create More Varied Florida The story of Florida over the past half-century has been a story of real estate. Booms and busts and disputes between developers and preservationists can be deep and lead to tensions within communities in the state. We wrote about the…
Health Apr 14 Among Florida Retirees, Anger Over Health Care Reform Clermont, Fla. - Mike Glantz has never been particularly politically involved. But the 70-something decided he was bothered enough by what's going on in Washington to organize a "tea party" meeting in this central Florida community. He booked time in…
Economy Apr 12 Florida’s Economic Dilemma: Change We Need, or Not? Clermont, Fla. -- Economic times are hard in this small town in the center of the Florida peninsula. Unemployment in Lake County hovers around 13 percent, and home foreclosures, which clocked in at about 5,800 last year, look to…
Politics Apr 07 Patchwork Nation: Obama Approval Ratings Vary Across Communities One thing seems clear from a look at President Obama's approval ratings: He is not as popular in April 2010 as he was in April 2009. Much of that is to be expected, of course: The presidential honeymoon often doesn't…
Science Apr 05 Patchwork Nation: Using Technology to Change the World Ask the same question to people in Patchwork Nation's 12 community types and you will likely find very different answers. That is just what a group of journalism students from Syracuse University did last summer. The students, working on…
Science Mar 31 Patchwork Nation: Ohio’s Broadband Availability vs. Affordability The state of Internet connectivity in the U.S. has been a big story the past few weeks. Officials everywhere from the Federal Communications Commission to Google are looking to improve America's high-speed networks. But what exactly do the…
Politics Mar 29 Cape Cod and Scott Brown: Lessons For the Midterm Elections? Hyannis, Mass. -- The Massachusetts special Senate election is more than two months old now - ancient history by American political standards. But if you walk up Main Street here, past the Cape Cod Central Railroad Building, you'll still see…
Economy Mar 24 Patchwork Nation: Healthcare Aside, Economy Still Dominant The headlines may be all about health care reform this week, but throughout the United States, the biggest story continues to be the sputtering economy. Poll after poll shows that the economy and unemployment are the top issue with…
Politics Mar 09 America’s Populist Turn: Who Will It Favor in 2010 Elections? In recent months, political populism has been defined by the Tea Party movement and framed by ire aimed at debt and government spending. But populism is a phrase that defies easy ideological pigeonholing, and another view of populism was on…