Julie Rose

In North Carolina Tuesday, a state eugenics task force has recommended paying $50,000 to people the state sterilized against their will. It's not as much money as the victims had hoped, but it's one of the first times a state has offered any money.

South Carolina's Republican governor paints an optimistic picture of the state's economy. But with a higher-than-average unemployment rate, voters are focused on economic issues when it comes to the 2012 presidential election.

One county sterilized more people than any other, partially because the head of welfare believed it was a good option for women at a time when abortion was illegal and the birth control pill didn't yet exist. But in the context of an ugly eugenics campaign, serious questions remain over whether consent was forced.

Every family seems to have a holiday food tradition. Occasionally, it's a dish unusual enough to make guests at the table recoil in disgust. That's the first response reporter Julie Rose gets when she tells people she can't wait to eat sauerkraut — a nod to her Czech heritage — with her turkey.

Unionized businesses in Charlotte, N.C., have traditionally had to keep a low profile in this right-to-work state. But with the Democratic National Convention headed to town in 2012, having union ties could now be something to flaunt — and cash in on.

The president won the state by a narrow margin in 2008. His fall in support among independents in North Carolina means Obama now faces a struggle to stay competitive for 2012. His problem in the state is the same one he faces everywhere: unemployment.

The North Carolina city is perhaps best known as the home of Bank of America. But Mayor Anthony Foxx, banks aren't the city's only job engines. Other big sectors include energy, health care and transportation. Energy workers now compete with bankers for a sunny spot to lunch downtown.

It's the holiday season, so it's no surprise that employees at Lickety Split Chocolate are hard at work. But this is no ordinary candy company. The CEO is 15 years old, and the other employees are even younger. But like any good entrepreneurs, these kids -- all from the Navajo tribe -- know a good business idea when they see it.