Sarah Ovaska

Sarah Ovaska

Senior Editor, Cardinal & Pine

is an senior editor and reporter at Cardinal & Pine. A veteran investigative journalist from North Carolina, her byline has appeared at The News & Observer, NC Policy Watch, NC Health News & More.

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Education COVID relief funding allowed schools to provide meals at no cost to all school children over the last year. (Image via Shutterstock.)
Education ‘We Have to Feed Their Minds’: Why NC School Officials Don’t Want to See a COVID Relief Program End

Schools participating in the federal school lunch program provided meals at no cost for the last year. That will end in June.

Sarah Ovaska Sarah Ovaska May 12, 2022 1:50 pm EDT
Elections Early voting is underway for the May primaries in North Carolina, where candidates will be winnowed down for the important mid-term elections. (Image via Shutterstock.)
Elections You’ve Got the Power (to Vote Early). Now Do It.

We’ve got the answers to your basic questions about the May 17 primary elections in North Carolina.

Sarah Ovaska Sarah Ovaska May 2, 2022 6:52 pm EDT
Education Lactation certificate program student Sierra Bizzell, left, demonstrates a technique with a breast model for program director Janiya Mitnaul Williams March 17. The Cone Health Women’s MedCenter clinic serves women from all backgrounds in East Greensboro. (Photo by James Parker/NC A&T University)
Education NC’s Biggest HBCU Is Boosting Breastfeeding and Survival Rates for Black Babies

NC A&T is leading the effort to swell the ranks of Black lactation consultants, yielding better health outcomes for Black mothers and kids.

Sarah Ovaska Sarah Ovaska May 2, 2022 10:56 am EDT
Elections Early voting begins Thursday and lasts through May 14 for North Carolina's 2022 primary elections. (Image via Shutterstock)
Elections Early Voting Kicks Off Thursday in North Carolina. Here’s What You Need to Know

The May 17 primary is a few weeks out, but voters can start casting their ballots Thursday across the state.

Sarah Ovaska Sarah Ovaska April 27, 2022 11:32 am EDT
Social Justice Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd, left, and Benjamin Crump, civil rights attorney who represented the family of George Floyd, right, pause for reporters at the Capitol in Washington, on May 25, 2021. (Image via AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Social Justice Attorney Ben Crump:  NC Must Change Laws that “Justify” Police Killings of Black People 

The call for changes came after a special prosecutor announced an off-duty law enforcement officer won’t be charged for killing Fayetteville’s Jason Walker. 

Sarah Ovaska Sarah Ovaska April 26, 2022 2:05 pm EDT

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The late U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, in a 2005 file photo. (Photo by Andrew Councill/MCT/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) Commentary North Carolina Republicans Are Overdue for a Reckoning on Jesse Helms
Voters in Wake Forest wait in long lines to cast their ballots on the first day of early voting. (Shutterstock) Elections North Carolina, Here’s a Quick Reminder of What’s at Stake on Election Day
Amanda Darrow, director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center, poses with books that have been the subject of complaints from parents in Salt Lake City on Dec. 16, 2021. The wave of attempted book banning and restrictions continues to intensify, the American Library Association reported. Numbers for 2022 already approach last year's totals, which were the highest in decades. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) Commentary Why Banning Books Is A Jim Crow Practice
Robinson, who was elected in May, called on Gov. Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein, to provide additional resources for local police, to visit Enfield, and to denounce the racist intimidation. To refuse, Robinson said, would make them complicit in the threats. (Photos by Michael McElroy/Cardinal & Pine.) Race A New Black Mayor in Eastern NC Removed a Confederate Monument. Then Came the Racist Threats.
Culture You've got a month to get your hands on those sweet NC-grown berries before they're gone.
Culture Those Shortcakes Look Lonely: Where to Pick Your Own NC Strawberries

Few things taste better than a North Carolina-grown strawberry. Here’s where to get your fix this year.  

Sarah Ovaska Sarah Ovaska April 25, 2022 2:07 pm EDT
Coronavirus Tests for COVID from the federal government get sent right to your home, shortly after you sign up.
Coronavirus Hey NC: Don’t Forget to Order Your Second Batch of Free COVID Tests

Every household can get two sets of at-home tests mailed to them, free of charge. Don’t forget to get yours! 

Sarah Ovaska Sarah Ovaska April 18, 2022 4:27 pm EDT