Skip to main content

News Stories

Local Events

Latest e-Edition

Daily Advance Special Editions

Online Poll

Are you mostly optimistic or pessimistic about the future?

You voted:

Opinion

Having repeatedly failed to remove former President Donald Trump from the political chessboard for the upcoming 2024 presidential election, his detractors are now counting on a former porn star to do the heavy lifting.

It’s been two years since Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey joined other Republican governors in cutting unemployment benefits. Ivey and her cohort of conservatives insisted that businesses were having trouble finding enough workers because the extra financial support — $300 a month that congressional Democrats had pushed through in a COVID relief bill — was making folks lazy.

On my occasional visits to our nation’s capital I usually make a pilgrimage to our Vietnam Memorial, to panel 7W Line 109. There as I look at the engraved “John Winborne” I remember, reflect and grieve. Johnny Winborne is the only man I knew personally who died in Vietnam. It was a terrible …

A few weeks ago, three members of the North Carolina Senate — Amy Scott Galey of Alamance County, Lisa Barnes of Nash County, and Michael Lee of New Hanover County — filed a state Parents’ Bill of Rights to ensure that local schools respect parental authority to direct the education, development, and medical treatment of their children. This legislation, Senate Bill 49, is well-crafted and deserves support.

Features

State AP Stories

  • Updated

North Carolina residents can now buy a handgun without getting a permit from a local sheriff. The Republican-controlled state House on Wednesday overrode the Democratic governor’s veto. It’s the legislature’s first veto override since 2018. The GOP-led Senate already voted that way Tuesday. The bill scraps the longstanding requirement that sheriffs perform character evaluations and criminal history checks of pistol applicants. Bill supporters say the sheriff screening process is no longer necessary in light of updates to the national background check system. But Gov. Roy Cooper and other opponents say the repeal allows a greater number of dangerous people to obtain weapons through private sales.

  • Updated

Mississippi's Republican-led Senate has voted against confirming longtime educator Robert P. Taylor as state superintendent of education, angering some lawmakers. Some Black Democrats say they believe the rejection Wednesday was at least partly because Taylor is Black and because he wrote years ago about Mississippi's racist history. Taylor graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1990. His comments about race came in a 2020 article on the university's Center for Black Studies website. The state education board had announced Taylor as their unanimous choice for superintendent. Taylor told The Associated Press he's disappointed but respects the process. He said senators in the past have confirmed all previous nominees for state superintendent.

  • Updated

A former longtime North Carolina state senator who led on tax and finance matters when Democrats last controlled the General Assembly has died. The son of David Hoyle confirmed his father died on Wednesday at age 84.  Hoyle served nine terms in the Senate, where he was a longtime co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Hoyle was a small-town Gaston County mayor in his 20s and later served on the state Board of Transportation. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper served briefly with Hoyle in the Senate and said “North Carolina is a better place for his work.” Funeral arrangements were incomplete Wednesday.

  • Updated

North Carolina House Republicans have unveiled a two-year spending proposal that includes sizeable raises for teachers. Wednesday's unveiling of the House budget plan comes two weeks after Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper offered his own proposal. GOP leaders had dismissed it as spending too much. Cooper’s plan seeks much higher pay raises for teachers. Speaker Tim Moore said a recession threat warrants a more conservative spending approach. House budget committees will consider amendments Thursday. House floor votes are expected next week. Senate Republicans will then advance their own spending plan. The two chambers ultimately will negotiate a final plan to present to Cooper.

  • Updated

An FBI informant who marched to the U.S. Capitol with fellow Proud Boys members has testified that he didn’t know of any plans for the far-right extremist group to invade the building on Jan. 6. The informant identified himself in court only as “Aaron” when he testified on Wednesday as a defense witness. On trial for seditious conspiracy are former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants. The informant was communicating with his FBI handler as a mob of Trump supporters breached police barricades at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He told the handler that the Proud Boys didn't inspire the violence.

  • Updated

President Joe Biden says Republicans’ budget plans could undermine U.S. manufacturing and help China dominate the world economy. Being tough on China has been a core part of the identity of former President Donald Trump, who is seeking to return to the White House in 2024. Biden says the GOP push to cut his incentives for clean energy “would mean ceding the future of innovation and technology to China.” He spoke Tuesday at a semiconductor maker in North Carolina. Biden is trying to shape public sentiment as he faces off with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy about whether the federal government should raise its legal borrowing capacity.

  • Updated

North Carolina House Republicans have approved a measure that would require sheriffs to help federal agents interested in picking up jail inmates they believe are in the country illegally. Similar measures have passed the General Assembly in 2019 and 2022. But each of them was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. Now Republicans hold more seats so it's easier to override a Cooper veto. The bill passed Tuesday now goes to the Senate. The bill stemmed from several sheriffs who declined to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Opponents say sheriffs should be allowed to set their own enforcement priorities and that some people who fear deportation won't report crimes.

  • Updated

An Arkansas bathroom bill that had been criticized as the most extreme in the country has been revamped to address concerns it would criminalize transgender people using public restrooms matching gender identity. The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday endorsed the bathroom bill after it was amended. The bill allows someone to be charged with a misdemeanor for using a public restroom of the opposite sex when a minor is present. It was changed to make it only a crime if the person enters the restroom for sexual purposes. The proposal now heads to the full House. The bill was revised after hours of testimony from members of the transgender community and their families.

National & World AP Stories

  • Updated

Indonesia has been stripped of hosting rights for the Under-20 World Cup amid political turmoil regarding Israel’s participation. FIFA says Indonesia was removed from staging the 24-team tournament scheduled to start on May 20 “due to the current circumstances." The decision comes after a meeting in Doha between FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Indonesian soccer federation president Erick Thohir. Israel qualified for its first Under-20 World Cup in June. Israel's participation in scheduled official draw for tournament groups in Bali on Friday provoked political opposition this month. The draw had to be postponed. Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation and does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel.

  • Updated

Hundreds of people have gathered at a candlelight vigil to mourn the three children and three adults slain in a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee. The crowd in the city's downtown was largely somber and silent and filled with young people. First lady Jill Biden and Sheryl Crow were among those featured. So were fellow musicians Margo Price and Ketch Secor. Civic leaders were also in the evening's lineup. Mayor John Cooper called Monday's shootings at the private Christian school “our worst day.” Earlier in the day, Pope Francis sent his condolences to the city and offered prayers to those affected.

Mexican authorities say eight employees or officials are being investigated for possible misconduct at a migrant detention center where a fire killed 39 detained men. Anger and frustration following the blaze in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez boiled over Wednesday as hundreds of migrants walked to a U.S. border gate hoping to make a mass crossing. Mexican officials appear to place blame for the fire deaths largely on private, subcontracted security guards. Video showed guards hurrying away from the smoky fire apparently without trying to free detainees. No charges have been announced, but authorities say they will seek arrest warrants, including one for a migrant who allegedly was involved into starting the fire.

  • Updated

North Carolina residents can now buy a handgun without getting a permit from a local sheriff. The Republican-controlled state House on Wednesday overrode the Democratic governor’s veto. It’s the legislature’s first veto override since 2018. The GOP-led Senate already voted that way Tuesday. The bill scraps the longstanding requirement that sheriffs perform character evaluations and criminal history checks of pistol applicants. Bill supporters say the sheriff screening process is no longer necessary in light of updates to the national background check system. But Gov. Roy Cooper and other opponents say the repeal allows a greater number of dangerous people to obtain weapons through private sales.

  • Updated

Mississippi's Republican-led Senate has voted against confirming longtime educator Robert P. Taylor as state superintendent of education, angering some lawmakers. Some Black Democrats say they believe the rejection Wednesday was at least partly because Taylor is Black and because he wrote years ago about Mississippi's racist history. Taylor graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1990. His comments about race came in a 2020 article on the university's Center for Black Studies website. The state education board had announced Taylor as their unanimous choice for superintendent. Taylor told The Associated Press he's disappointed but respects the process. He said senators in the past have confirmed all previous nominees for state superintendent.

  • Updated

Board members picked by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to oversee the governance of Walt Disney World say their Disney-controlled predecessors pulled a fast one on them by passing restrictive covenants that strip the new board of many of its powers. The current supervisors of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District said at a meeting Wednesday that their predecessors last month signed a development agreement with the company that gave Disney maximum developmental power over Disney World’s 27,000 acres. The supervisors were appointed to the board after the Florida Legislature overhauled Disney’s government in retaliation for the entertainment giant publicly opposing “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.

  • Updated

Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal is facing a possible misdemeanor charge in central Florida. A fan accused the NBA All-Star of hitting him during an argument after a March 21 game against the Orlando Magic. An Orlando police report says probable cause exists to charge Beal with simple battery. The report says Beal was walking down a tunnel to the Wizards’ locker room when a fan swore and accused Beal of causing the fan to lose a $1,300 bet. Investigators say Beal walked back to the fan and his friends. According to the report, Beal hit one friend’s head when he swatted the man's hat off. Beal had not been arrested or charged as of Wednesday.

  • Updated

The leader of California’s reparations task force said it won't take a stance on how much the state should compensate individual Black residents. Economists estimated that residents may be owed more than $800 billion for over-policing and housing discrimination. The $800 billion estimate is more than 2.5 times California's annual budget. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation creating the reparations task force in 2020. It has until July 1 to submit recommendations on how the state can atone for its role in perpetuating damage done by slavery. Ultimately, it's up to lawmakers to decide which reparations to approve, if any. Opponents say California taxpayers are not responsible for slavery.