skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

NC Tops in Census Response, but Pockets of Mistrust Remain

play audio
Play

Thursday, April 29, 2010   

DURHAM, N.C. - North Carolina is a "rock star" when it comes to the 2010 Census. The mail-in response rate is at 74 percent, up from 66 percent 10 years ago. But even with such good state numbers, there are still neighborhoods and communities where the response rate is much lower.

Avery Book is the census outreach coordinator for the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, Durham. He says volunteers will continue to try to raise the response rate as census workers start going door-to-door this weekend. He points out that those who are traditionally under-counted often have valid reasons for mistrust, which have to be acknowledged as part of re-establishing trust.

"People who haven't always been in the best of relationships with law enforcement or government don't trust that this information is not shared around."

Food festivals, art fairs and local gathering spots are targets for volunteers encouraging people to respond to the census in North Carolina.

Juvencio Peralta, president of the Association of Mexicans in North Carolina, says anyone with a concern about a census worker knocking at their door can contact his group, and a volunteer will go to the home to bridge any mistrust issues.

"We also go to churches, schools, just to make them aware of the importance of the census."

U.S. Census Bureau director Robert Groves admits Arizona's new immigration law could make some people in any area of the country nervous about answering census questions.

"No one need fear participating in the census. We're different than enforcement agencies, and we protect the data from use by enforcement agencies. We are re-doubling that message."

He says those going door-to-door are prepared to answer questions about the Arizona law.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021