Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Jessica Jones

Jessica Jones covers both the legislature in Raleigh and politics across the state. Before her current assignment, Jessica was given the responsibility to open up WUNC's first Greensboro Bureau at the Triad Stage in 2009. She's a seasoned public radio reporter who's covered everything from education to immigration, and she's a regular contributor to NPR's news programs. Jessica started her career in journalism in Egypt, where she freelanced for international print and radio outlets. After stints in Washington, D.C. with Voice of America and NPR, Jessica joined the staff of WUNC in 1999. She is a graduate of Yale University.

Jessica left WUNC in August 2015.

  • In North Carolina, NAACP leaders are planning a seventh week of protests at the state legislature. The demonstrations have grown in size and number of arrests every week since they started back in April. Protest organizers oppose the social, economic and voting policies of the Republican-led General Assembly, and they want lawmakers to take notice. But it's not clear whether legislators will change their policies as a result of the protests.
  • Same-sex couples in the military will be watching closely now that the U.S. Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. Anxiously awaiting a decision are Army lieutenant colonel Heather Mack and her wife, Ashley Broadway, who've been together for 15 years and have two children. They say repealing DOMA would help many enlisted same-sex military couples, who don't receive funds to move non-military spouses from one base to the next. But most of all, Broadway and Mack say repealing DOMA would give them the recognition they crave: to have their marriage officially recognized in every state in the country. Jessia Jones of WUNC talked with the couple.
  • In North Carolina Tuesday, voters approved a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships. North Carolina becomes the 30th state to pass a measure outlawing same-sex marriage.
  • The state votes Tuesday whether to add an amendment to the state's Constitution that would ban same-sex marriage and civil unions, as well as domestic partnerships. One pollster says a majority of voters support the amendment — but many don't understand its scope.
  • Next month, voters will decide whether to change the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage, as well as civil unions and domestic partnerships. Leading Republican lawmakers think it's one of the most important issues facing voters. But some conservatives worry that the measure goes too far.
  • Several decades ago, more than half the states had eugenics laws — measures that allowed governments and others to forcibly sterilize people. It was a difficult chapter for many states and now North Carolina is looking to make amends. A task force says each of the state's 2,000 living victims should receive $50,000.
  • South Carolina's Tea Party-backed Gov. Nikki Haley has not only endorsed Mitt Romney, she regaled him with glowing tributes at every campaign stop in the multi-city tour over the weekend. Romney is fighting to show South Carolinians he is more conservative than Newt Gingrich.
  • The Republican presidential candidate celebrated Gov. Nikki Haley's announcement Friday, just weeks before the South Carolina Republican primary. He still faces a tough fight in the state, which for three decades has identified who will be the GOP nominee.