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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. Read moreCynthia Tucker: US economy needs immigrant labor more than ever

State AP Stories

Donald Trump is the first former president ever to be indicted, but he’s not the first politician who will have a mug shot taken. Lawmakers arrested on past criminal charges have taken different approaches to their mug shots. While some are somber, others see them as an opportunity to rally supporters who believe the cases against them are politically motivated. New York Police Department policy prohibits publicly releasing mug shots, though they have leaked in the past. Less clear is whether Trump would seek to have the picture released himself, for political or other reasons.

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North Carolina state government budgets usually include policy or spending directives that give any sitting governor heartburn, and this year will be no exception. But those provisions will take on new importance given a budget must be passed for the coming year before Medicaid expansion in a law signed this week by Gov. Roy Cooper can be carried out. A House budget proposal debated Thursday contains provisions restricting the Democratic governor or his administration on environmmental policy, oversight of the State Bureau of Investigation and election administration. The competing Senate budget likely will have additional provisions that will give Cooper pause.

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Carl Lentz, the ousted pastor of Hillsong New York City, has landed on staff at Transformation Church. It is a predominantly Black, nondenominational megachurch in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that is led by pastor, author and popular YouTuber Michael Todd. Transformation is a juggernaut in a town replete with megachurches. The church has confirmed that Lentz, who was fired from Hillsong in 2020 when an extramarital affair came to light, has joined its staff. Lentz, 44, was once labeled a “hypepriest” by GQ Magazine for his fashionable attire and ministry to NBA players and celebrities such as Justin Bieber. He has been mostly silent since his firing.

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A funeral will be held this weekend for former Democratic U.S. Rep. Nick Galifianakis, who represented central North Carolina for several years before two unsuccessful Senate bids. An obituary from a funeral home said Galifianakis died on Monday at age 94. A family spokesman told a newspaper that Galifianakis died at a Raleigh retirement community. He served in the General Assembly and in Congress for over a decade. He unseated the Democratic incumbent in the 1972 Democratic primary but lost to archconservative Jesse Helms in the general election. Galifianakis also lost in the 1974 U.S. Senate primary to then-Attorney General Robert Morgan.

National & World AP Stories

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Concerned with preventing growing numbers of suicides, the US Navy is planning to make chaplains regular members of the crew on ships with more than 300 sailors, instead of only the largest carriers as in the past. The goal is for chaplains – who are both clergy in different denominations and naval officers – to connect with sailors, believers and non-believers alike, as life coaches. Complete confidentiality protects all their conversations, making them a relief valve for young sailors especially who are struggling with mental health and lack the usual coping mechanisms of online communication while at sea. Depression and anxiety have marked many young adults, especially post-pandemic, but struggles in the military carry unique challenges and security implications.

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Meteorologists are urging people to be ready for dangerous weather in parts of the Midwest and South. The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center warns that an outbreak of severe thunderstorms Friday could cause hail, damaging wind gusts and tornadoes that could be strong and move on the ground over long distances. Meteorologists say the areas at greatest risk include eastern Iowa, western and northern Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee. Meteorologists say the conditions are similar to those a week ago that unleashed a devastating twister that killed at least 21 people in Mississippi.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear joined with Republican lawmakers as he signed historic measures Friday that will legalize medical marijuana and sports wagering in Kentucky, calling it an example of divided government working to get the “tough things” done that voters want.

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ROLLING FORK, Miss. (AP) — President Joe Biden during his visit to a Mississippi town ravaged by a deadly tornado vowed that the federal government is “not leaving” until the area is back on its feet.