Politics May 26 Voters will rank candidates in Maine’s June primary As states around the country run primaries ahead of midterm elections, Maine will be the first to use a ranked-choice system where voters rate candidates instead of voting for their favorite. This structure ensures that winners collect the majority of…
Nation May 06 How work requirements for social security programs impact people in need President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month pushing certain work requirements for access to social security programs like Medicaid. But lawmakers in Maine, which requires individuals work at least 20 hours a week to qualify for more than…
Education Apr 22 Black families increasingly choose to homeschool kids In the last 15 years, the number of black children in homeschool has doubled from 103,000 to about 220,000. Black parents cite a number of reasons for homeschooling children, including concern over peer pressure and drugs at school -- but…
Health Mar 24 What makes eggs ‘organic’? It depends on who you ask The U.S. Department of Agriculture finalized a plan under the Obama administration that required chickens laying organic eggs to have access to soil, not just enclosures attached to hen houses. But before the rule could be implemented under the Trump…
Economy Mar 11 What a well-off couple learned from cutting consumer habits A software engineer and professional fundraiser in Boston decided four years ago to purge some of their consumerist habits to save more than 70 percent of their salaries. The result was a big move to rural Vermont and the release…
Health Dec 17 How an unregulated chemical entered a North Carolina community’s drinking water One of about 85,000 chemicals registered in the United States are not tested for in drinking water. One of them is GenX, a man-made compound that manufacturing facilities have discharged into North Carolina’s Cape Fear River for decades. In the…
Health Dec 16 Long Island residents worry their tap water is unsafe While most of the country’s tap water is tested for hundreds of pollutants, including volatile chemicals, pesticides, metals and bacteria, it is not always safe to drink. In the first of a two-part series, NewsHour Weekend’s Hari Sreenivasan reports from…
Politics Oct 01 Supreme Court to hear case testing the limits of partisan gerrymandering In the 2012 elections, Republicans in Wisconsin won 60 of the 99 Assembly seats, despite Democrats having a majority of the statewide vote. The disparity lead to the federal lawsuit Gill v. Whitford, in which plaintiffs alleged that voting districts…
Nation Jun 24 Private prisons help with overcrowding, but at what cost? The Obama administration last year announced it would phase out privately-run prisons, citing little benefits to public safety and higher rates of assault and violence on the inside. The Trump administration reversed that decision while pointing to potential increases in…
Nation Jun 11 A year after Pulse shooting, survivor reflects on recovery In the early morning of June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen opened fire at Pulse, a popular gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. It was the worst mass shooting of civilians in American history, leaving 49 people dead and dozens injured. NewsHour…