Image: Adobe Stock
Looking back on the pandemic, some of its many disturbing impacts, and one community’s controversial plan to revive its economy
In a year upended and dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Policy Watch covered the crisis with daily stories and investigative pieces from the institutional to the personal.
We also kept our eye on lawmakers and decision-makers at the state and federal level, how they use and misuse their power and what it means for North Carolinians.
Here are five particularly noteworthy stories from the past 12 months:
1)
After the pandemic closed UNC System schools and sent students home for a semester of remote learning, the question of bringing them back for the fall was fiercely debated. Students, faculty and staff argued against returning to in-person instruction and congregate living. At UNC-Chapel Hill, the system’s flagship campus, the Orange County Health Director advised against it. But UNC System administrators and chancellors decided to push ahead with their plan anyway.