Down Ballot

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Down Ballot is an independent publication launched in 2024 by journalist Ben Ledbetter, a versatile, battle-tested journalist that has worked as a reporter and copy editor […] 🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://down-ballot.info/, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact

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Longform Stories

Kentucky company purchases 9 weeklies in Western NC and North Georgia

Down Ballot Staff Reports Kentucky-based Paxton Media Group purchased nine newspapers from Georgia-based Community Newspapers, Inc. The weekly publications included in the sale are The Franklin Pres…

16h ago·1 min read·187 words

NCDEQ awards $25 million in community recycling infrastructure grants for Hurricane Helene recovery

Funding supports projects to build resilient waste reduction, recycling, and composting programs in storm-damaged communities

16h ago·3 min read·577 words

More cities are pressing pause on data centers as local backlash grows

By Robbie Sequeira (Stateline) Published: May 28, 2026 Hearing backlash from residents, cities and counties across the country in recent weeks have blocked planned data centers amid concerns over ris…

1d ago·3 min read·512 words

USDA Extends Pause on Loans for Controversial Digesters That Turn Manure Into Biogas

Anaerobic digester loans showed “significant delinquency rates,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture said, while environmental groups see the technology driving an expansion of large-scale animal farmi…

3d ago·7 min read·1242 words

S.C. early voting starts with high turnout

Federal rural health fund meets healthcare desert in eastern NC; Union group wants to bolster Kansas City's affordable housing by investing pension money; After Sarah T. Reed H.S. closure, NOLA teache…

6d ago·71 min read·14155 words

As Funding Declines, Charlotte’s Arts Community Turns to Public Support

By Penelope Goldstein (Queens University News Service) Published: May 18, 2026 As public funding for nonprofits shifts at the local and national level, arts organizations across Charlotte are beginni…

May 27·5 min read·926 words

Southern, midsized cities lead population gains between 2024 and 2025

By Tim Henderson (Stateline), Published: May 14, 2026 Large, immigrant-rich cities saw population fall back between mid-2024 and mid-2025 after nation-leading increases the year before.  Mid-sized c…

May 25·4 min read·709 words

Affordability a larger issue for Georgia voters

NC families with disabled children press lawmakers to maintain funding as federal Medicaid cuts loom; Ex-residents of Chicago apartment building targeted in massive immigration raid seek millions in d…

May 22·70 min read·13882 words

Where Decisions Take Shape: Understanding Charlotte’s City Council Committee Structure

By Allison Chipps (Queens University News Service) Published: April 14, 2026 In Charlotte, the most important decisions aren’t always made under the bright lights of a full council vote. Instead, the…

May 20·5 min read·944 words

BRIEFS: N.C. DEQ announces $1.2M for flood resilience projects in Swannanoa and Rosman

Mecklenburg County's point-in-time count found 2,018 experiencing homelessness

May 19·5 min read·918 words

A New Enbridge Pipeline Spurs Opposition in Central North Carolina

The 28-mile conduit is part of a huge natural gas infrastructure buildout in the state that Duke Energy says is necessary to keep up with demand, especially from a coming wave of data centers.

May 18·9 min read·1604 words

Report: Free prison, jail calls linked to better outcomes

Northampton Co., NC residents win 32‑month pause on data centers; xAI now has 46 gas turbines without air permits in Mississippi; Rent Freeze No Sure Thing in First Vote By Mamdani-Majority Board

May 15·54 min read·10773 words

2.5 million Americans lost food aid in months after passage of GOP megabill, study finds

By Jacob Fischler (DC Bureau (States Newsroom)) Published: April 8, 2026 At least 2.5 million low-income people quickly lost help affording groceries under a Republican-passed law that added new requ…

May 13·1 min read·91 words

Food Stamp Work Rules Don’t Increase Employment, Researchers Say

By Taylor Sisk Published: April 23, 2026 DELBARTON, W.Va. — A half-dozen cars had been in the queue for nearly four hours by the time the House of Hope mobile food pantry line began to move. Seventy …

May 11·1 min read·100 words