Isaac-Davy Aronson

North Carolina had a cap on the number of charter schools allowed in the state until last year when state lawmakers lifted the ban. Now, local education leaders are concerned that more charter schools will mean fewer resources for traditional public schools.

Questions of racial identity and cultural heritage have long surrounded a group of Appalachians called the Melungeons. In recent years, curiosities have been piqued about this loosely connected group of people, spawning DNA testing, numerous books, Web sites and a documentary film. Guest host Isaac-Davy Aronson talks with K. Paul Johnson, corresponding secretary for the Melungeon Heritage Association; and Julie Williams Dixon, a Raleigh-based writer and director of the film "Melungeon Voices."

The sudden death of singer Whitney Houston stunned family, friends and fans the world over. The Grammy Award-winning siren had one of the most celebrated voices in music history and became a pop culture icon for both her incomparable talent as an entertainer and her personal troubles.

Jason Bivins grew up during the punk movement of the 1980s, rejecting the mainstream and staring in confusion at Reagan's America. He went off to college and decided he wanted to become a professional musician, but when that failed, he returned to academia and started looking at how religion affects the way we think and talk about politics.

A task force of civic, arts, and business leaders says the arts can be an economic engine for North Carolina. The panel has released recommendations as part of the SmART Initiative. It's mapping out ways for communities to use the arts to increase jobs and quality of life.

A conference opening today at Duke explores the ways in which the digital is transforming the humanities. It's called the CHAT Festival, short for Collaborations: Humanities, Art and Technology. Festival director Victoria Szabo says it will include exhibits in which art and technology come together in ways that challenge traditional distinctions.

The Obama administration says thousands of North Carolina families could benefit from a proposed home-refinancing program. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan came to Raleigh to tout the proposal. He told WUNC that ten percent of North Carolina homeowners owe more on their home than the home is worth and the national average is twice that.

U.S. Senator Kay Hagan says she'll fight to protect North Carolina's military institutions from recently-announced defense cuts. But Hagan told WUNC the Pentagon's plans include certain funding increases as well.

Kay Hagan: The increase will be in areas of cyber-security, special operations forces, and areas like that. And that's gonna be where the increases in the budget are actually going. And in North Carolina, in Fayetteville at Fort Bragg, USASOC is headquartered there, and that's where all our special operations forces are administered from.

The US Department of Agriculture says winters aren't as cold as they used to be in North Carolina. It has released its first new map of planting zones in more than 20 years. Tony Avent is the owner of Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh. He was a technical advisor on the map. He says its detailed, interactive features surpass anything previously available.

A new nursing program at East Carolina University and four area community colleges aims to train new nurses in their home communities. The goal is to increase the number of nurses with bachelor's degrees - to meet the growing demand for highly-trained clinicians and administrators. Kelly Cleaton is recruiting students for the program. She says qualified applicants will pursue their associate's degrees at their local community college, and eventually get their baccalaureates from ECU.