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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

California and three other states are joining a federal lawsuit against JetBlue over its proposed $3.8 billion purchase of Spirit Airlines. New Jersey, Maryland and North Carolina also joined the case on Friday. The Biden administration argues that the deal will reduce competition and drive up prices by eliminating Spirit, which is known for low fares. The original lawsuit against JetBlue was filed in early March by the U.S. Justice Department, Massachusetts, New York and the District of Columbia. A federal judge has scheduled a trial to begin Oct. 16 in Boston.

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.

National & World AP Stories

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A tornado has plowed through Arkansas’ capital and surrounding areas, reducing rooftops to splinters, toppling vehicles and tossing debris on roadways as people scrambled for shelter. The twister tore first through neighborhoods in west Little Rock, and shredded a small shopping center that included a Kroger grocery store. It then crossed the Arkansas River into North Little Rock and surrounding cities, where widespread damage was reported to homes, businesses and vehicles. Little Rock's main trauma center said Friday that it was expecting at least 15 to 20 patients. The city's Fire Department reported heavy damage and debris in the western end of the city and said firefighters were performing rescue operations in the area.

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ROLLING FORK, Miss. (AP) — President Joe Biden saw for himself the flattened homes, broken furniture and upended lives left behind by last week's deadly tornado in Mississippi and pledged Friday that the federal government is not leaving until the area is back on its feet.

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A Florida teenager has documented how it feels to be young and transgender for a film set to debut at a festival as transgender people around the world celebrate visibility and lawmakers across the country look to restrict their rights and care. The film “You're Loved” debuts Friday at a time when access to gender-affirming care for transgender and nonbinary young people is under assault across the United States. The film was produced and directed by 19-year-old Carys Mullins, who is gender non-conforming and uses she and they pronouns. Mullins hopes their documentary shows transgender people that they are loved and seen.

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A Romanian official says the divisive internet personality Andrew Tate has won an appeal to replace his months of detention in jail with house arrest while under investigation for possible organized crime and human trafficking. The Bucharest Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Tate’s appeal, which challenged a judge’s decision last week to extend his arrest a fourth time for 30 days, Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, said Friday. Tate, 36, a British-U.S. citizen who has 5.4 million Twitter followers, was initially detained in December in Romania’s capital Bucharest, along with his brother and two Romanian women. All four won an appeal Friday, and will remain under house arrest until Apr. 29.