RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s governor is asking lawmakers to change part of a state law criticized for its anti-discrimination policies, but he sees no need for a wholesale repeal or reversal of its provisions on transgender bathroom access. Gov. Pat McCrory issued an executive order on Tuesday, April 12 expanding protections for many … Continue reading
MANASSAS, Va. (AP) — After 15 years of denial, a northern Virginia drug dealer admitted his role in a 2001 murder as part of a plea bargain that spares him a possible death sentence. Justin Wolfe’s guilty plea Tuesday in Prince William Circuit Court ends a long-running saga which at one point left him only … Continue reading
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court refused on Monday, Jan. 25 to review lower court rulings overturning North Dakota’s ban on abortion at six weeks of pregnancy — before many women know they’re pregnant. The justices turned away the state’s appeal of decisions striking down the 2013 fetal heartbeat law as unconstitutional. The … Continue reading
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — President Barack Obama on Thursday, Jan 21, praised Louisiana’s new Democratic governor, John Bel Edwards, for his decision to expand the state’s Medicaid program to provide health care coverage to thousands of residents. “He’s already delivering for the people of Louisiana,” Obama said. Edwards’ predecessor, Republican Bobby Jindal, had refused to expand … Continue reading
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Want to know who gave your state delegate or senator money just before the legislative session started? Tough luck. Like they do every year, Virginia lawmakers kept busy raising money from the businesses and trade associations that try to influence the laws they pass — donations that won’t be made public … Continue reading
CANON CITY, Colo. (AP) — Educators in a small Colorado town say they had no choice but alert police when they discovered that many high-schoolers were using a cellphone app to collect and hide hundreds of naked photos of themselves. The law in Colorado and many other states classifies any explicit photos of minors as … Continue reading
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The election of a conservative outsider as Kentucky governor has given Republicans a laboratory to show the rest of the country how they’d replace President Barack Obama’s health care law. Three years into a coverage expansion that has brought the share of uninsured Americans to historically low levels, Matt Bevin’s … Continue reading
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Street performers in Norfolk will have to turn down the volume in the late-night and early morning hours. A revised city ordinance restricts the volume generated by street performers between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. on weeknights and midnight and 7 a.m. on weekends. A street performer is in violation of … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is on track to advance legislation to prevent the government from shutting down after a midnight Wednesday deadline, but a wrinkle remains. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has moved to strip the measure of a provision that would cancel federal funding of Planned Parenthood. McConnell’s move has rankled conservatives such as … Continue reading
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Students with a high school grade-point average of at least 3.5 won’t have to take standardized admissions tests to be admitted to the University of Mary Washington. The Free Lance-Star reports (http://bit.ly/1JaQUFk ) that the university’s governing board unanimously approved the new policy for high-achieving applicants Thursday. The policy does not … Continue reading
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Dramatic video that shows a white South Carolina police officer shooting a fleeing black man after a traffic stop has led authorities to file a murder charge against the officer amid public outrage over a series of deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of law enforcement agents. … Continue reading
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Security lapses at the main gate to the world’s largest naval base allowed a civilian to come on base in 2014 and fatally shoot a sailor aboard a destroyer, according to a Navy investigation. The report says Jeffrey Tyrone Savage drove on base at night without being asked for identification or … Continue reading
TORONTO (AP) — Canada announced a new anti-terror law Friday that will make it a crime for people to call for a terrorist attack, even if they don’t make a specific threat. The law will also allow anyone suspected of being involved in a terror plot to be detained without charge for up to seven days, … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is threatening to veto a Republican bill that would repeal his health care law. The White House says the Affordable Care Act is working and is improving care for Americans. Officials say repealing the law would take health coverage away from millions of Americans and prevent others from gaining coverage. The bill … Continue reading
CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian appeals court on Monday convicted a doctor of manslaughter and performing female genital mutilation that led to the death of a 13-year-old girl, sentencing him to two years and three months in prison in the country’s first case that came to trial over the widespread practice, defense lawyers said. … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 