The intuitive trend in America to move to where the land is open and the climate warm has hit a road bump. Thanks to the housing crisis, which makes the idea of taking on a new mortgage scary and risky, people are staying put. The population slowdown specifically hit the western and southern states, which had seen huge growth and migration over the last decade. While this trend could mean less Read more

The last time New Orleans saw snow was a white Christmas day in 2004, and the Southern city has only been painted white 17 times since 1850. But this morning residents woke up to as much as six inches of snowflakes. Today marks the earliest date for snowfall in the city, and the rare weather found some unprepared. The snow halted bus services and flights out of Armstrong International Airport, Read more

Fallout from Hurricane Ike and Gustav has spiraled into massive gas shortages in the Southeast. Drivers in Nashville, TN, where the problem is the worst, wait in long lines and some follow tankers around in hopes of being the first to fill up before a station goes dry. In western North Carolina local governments have been forced to cancel programs, since there's not much gas to travel to Read more

Americans everywhere are shocked and stressed as gas reaches the all-time high with the national average at $4 per gallon. But, common outrage does not mean common hardship. High gas prices impact rural USA the worst. Those living outside cities are facing tough decisions, especially in the Southeast where public transportation is lacking and commute distances are sprawling. For farm workers, Read more

Three recent upsets in special elections for US House of Representative seats in the deep South, have Democrats rethinking their political fortunes in the region. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson famously said: "There goes the South for a generation" as he signed the Civil Rights Act. But recent and unlikely victories mean it might be time for the Democrats to draw a new map. Alabama Pollster Read more