Renee Schoof

Danielle R. Holley-Walker, the new dean of the Howard University School of Law in the nation’s capital, says the school will build on its heritage of fighting for civil rights by broadening its pioneering work in social reforms.

The Supreme Court ruling this week that certain business owners don’t have to provide their employees with no-cost access to contraceptives under federal law doesn’t affect North Carolina’s state law on contraceptives.

North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan said she learned on a visit to the Fayetteville Veterans Affairs Medical Center this week that scheduling technology was outdated and space was inadequate in light of the large growth in the region’s veterans population.

Sen. Kay Hagan on Tuesday again became a co-sponsor of a bill that would require corporations and advocacy groups to disclose their donors for political ads. An earlier version of the bill was introduced in the Senate in 2012, but it had no Republican co-sponsors, and it went nowhere.

Parents in Charlotte, N.C., celebrated last week when their county commissioners approved a budget that includes $1.8 million to make sure every public school has a full-time nurse.

America needs new ideas and collective effort to tackle poverty, former President Bill Clinton said Thursday at a conference in Washington.

Senate Democrats next week are expected to bring up a bill that would allow borrowers to refinance student loans at lower interest rates.

North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr and three Republican colleagues on Tuesday announced support for legislation they say would tackle the root causes of treatment delays at veterans medical facilities by giving former service members the option of choosing private health care.

Sloan Gibson, the acting secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department, on Tuesday acknowledged that “not all veterans are getting access to the healthcare that they have earned” and pledged to make addressing the problems quickly the VA’s top priority.

Sen. Richard Burr and other Republican senators plan to introduce a bill on Tuesday that they say will improve accountability in the Veterans Administration and give veterans more choice in health care.

Sen. Richard Burr was under fire this week for publicly chiding veterans groups for what he says was insufficient outrage over allegations of misconduct at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The groups denied Burr’s accusations and criticized him in turn.

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan on Thursday sent a letter formally asking for a debate with her Republican challenger Thom Tillis. And the Tillis campaign responded by calling for a lot of debates – 10 at least.

The federal government is taking a new approach to conservation with a $1.2 billion program in the Farm Bill that will include competitive grants for soil and water improvements in eight regions, including the longleaf pine forests of North Carolina and other Southern states, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Thursday.

The White House on Thursday will host athletes, parents and military leaders to talk about how to keep young people safe from concussions in sports.

A nonprofit advocacy group, Concerned Veterans for America, released an online ad on Wednesday that claims that Sen. Kay Hagan has “done nothing” to hold the Department of Veterans Affairs accountable for allegations that it masked long waits for health care.