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For more than a decade we’ve studied the problem exhaustively, we’ve talked about it almost incessantly, we’ve engaged the latest curriculum du jour, and have spent more than $50 million, yet we still can’t solve the mystery of our children’s reading proficiency. Our patience is wearing thin. Now the finger-pointing has begun. We want to know who to blame. Read moreTom Campbell: Get back to basics to make overdue reading improvements

State AP Stories

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North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell says he'll run for governor in 2024. He'll likely be required to best Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson to earn the Republican nomination. Folwell announced his decision at Saturday’s Republican Party convention for Forsyth County. He told The Associated Press he would bring competence to operating government and look out for working people if elected. The state constitution prevents Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper from seeking a third consecutive term. Robinson has scheduled a rally next month to reveal his decision for 2024, but he's been leaning into a gubernatorial bid for some time. Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein announced a campaign for governor in January.

North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has vetoed Republican gun legislation that would no longer require sheriff approval before someone can purchase a handgun. His action Friday initiates his first showdown of the session with a GOP majority that is just one seat shy in the House of veto-proof margins. The bill would repeal the state’s long-standing pistol purchase permit requirement that directs sheriffs to evaluate each gun applicant's character. Cooper successfully blocked a similar proposal in 2021. Bill supporters say substantial updates to the national background check system have rendered the requirement duplicative. But Democrats warn that its repeal would create a dangerous loophole.

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The Republican-controlled North Carolina legislature has given final approval to a Medicaid expansion agreement. Thursday's state House vote reverses longstanding opposition to the measure, which now goes to expansion advocate and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper for his signature. GOP legislative leaders reached a deal earlier this month, capping years of debate over whether the politically closely divided state should accept the federal government’s coverage for hundreds of thousands of low-income adults. North Carolina was one of 11 states that hadn't yet adopted expansion. The bill contains one caveat: A state budget law must be passed before expansion can be carried out.

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North Carolina’s elected auditor has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for leaving the scene of a December crash in which she drove her state-owned vehicle into a parked car. Four-term Democratic State Auditor Beth Wood told a Wake County judge on Thursday that she made a “grave mistake” and should have remained at the accident. A judge sentenced Wood to about $300 in court costs and fines in the hit-and-run plea. He pointed out that Wood already had personally paid over $11,000 to cover damages to both cars. Wood said in court that she had drunk two glasses of wine at the party but was not impaired.

National & World AP Stories

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Honduras has established diplomatic ties with China, leaving Taiwan recognized by only 13 sovereign states, including Vatican City. The new ties come amid rising tensions between Beijing and the United States, including over China’s increasing assertiveness toward self-ruled Taiwan, and signal growing Chinese influence in Latin America. The Honduran and Taiwanese governments earlier made separate announcements they were severing ties. China and Taiwan have been locked in a battle for diplomatic recognition since the sides split amid civil war in 1949, with Beijing spending billions to win recognition for its “one China” policy. Honduras said in a statement it recognizes “only one China in the world” and that Beijing “is the only legitimate government that represents all of China.”

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President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration Sunday for Mississippi, making federal funding available to Carroll, Humphreys, Monroe and Sharkey counties, the areas hardest hit Friday night by a deadly tornado that ripped through the Mississippi Delta. At least 25 people were killed and dozens of others were injured in Mississippi as the massive storm ripped through several towns on its hour-long path. One man was killed after his trailer home flipped several times in Alabama. Search and recovery crews on Sunday resumed digging through debris of homes and buildings after hundreds of people were displaced. The National Weather Service warned of the risk of severe weather moving through eastern Louisiana, south central Mississippi and Southern Central Alabama on Sunday.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is reverberating in a struggle for control of a monastery complex called the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. It's the most revered site in Ukrainian Orthodoxy. The government says it's evicting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the complex as of March 29. Authorities are alleging violations of its lease. Church representatives say this is a pretext for a continued government crackdown on the church which has historic ties to Moscow. The church denies government accusations of pro-Russia actions and ideology. The head of the rival and independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine says monastic life will continue at the Lavra and be free of pro-Russia ideology.

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A new campaign is underway this spring across Russia that seeks volunteers to replenish its troops for the war in Ukraine. Advertisements promise cash bonuses and other benefits. Recruiters make cold calls to eligible men. Enlistment offices are working with universities and social service agencies to lure students and the unemployed. The Kremlin’s war machine badly needs new recruits as fighting grinds on in eastern Ukrainian battlegrounds. Both sides prepare anticipated counteroffensives that could mean even more losses A mobilization in September of 300,000 reservists sent panic through the country because most men under 65 are formally part of the reserve.