Author: The Carolinian

By some measures, Jacksonville was making strides to emerge from its racist past. But the killing of three Black people by a young, white shooter was a painful and startling reminder that the remnants of racism still fester in the Florida city. What happened Saturday in Jacksonville, said 79-year-old longtime resident Rodney Hurst, "could have happened anywhere, except it did happen in Jacksonville." The shooting occurred as the community prepared

BY CARLA K. JOHNSON (AP) The number of gender-affirming surgeries in the U.S. nearly tripled from 2016 to 2019 before dropping slightly in 2020, according to a study published Wednesday. The increase likely reflects expanded insurance coverage for transgender care after the Obama administration and some states actively discouraged discrimination based on gender identity, lead author Dr. Jason Wright of Columbia University said. The dip in 2020 can be attributed to

BY JAMES POLLARD COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina's new all-male Supreme Court reversed course on abortion Wednesday, upholding a ban on most such procedures after about six weeks of pregnancy. The continued erosion of legal abortion access across the U.S. South comes after Republican state lawmakers replaced the lone woman on the court, Justice Kaye Hearn, who reached the state's mandatory retirement age. The 4-1 ruling departs from the court's

BY LUIS ANDRES HENAO NEW YORK (AP) - A coalition advocating for Native American people traumatized by an oppressive system of boarding schools for Native youths plans to digitize 20,000 archival pages related to schools in that system that were operated by the Quakers. The Quakers and other faith groups - including Episcopalians, Methodists and Catholics - have in recent years either begun or increased efforts to research and atone for

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Four months after he was shot in the head after ringing the doorbell at the wrong house to pick up his brothers, Ralph Yarl has begun his senior year in high school. Next week, the man accused of shooting him will be in court. Yarl's first day of school was Tuesday. "He was ready," his aunt, Faith Spoonmore, told the Kansas City Star. "Ralph was

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Donald Trump won't be on the Republican debate stage Wednesday. But the former president is driving the conversation on and off the debate stage anyway. Trump supporters including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene will be in Milwaukee. There are questions about how many of his campaign surrogates will be allowed into Fox News' spin room. The network has restricted their access unless they are the guests of

BY TJ L'HEUREUX, ADRIENNE WASHINGTON, ALBERT SERNA JR., ANISA SHABIR, ISAAC STONE SIMONELLI, THE HOWARD CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM AND ARIZONA CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - Against the background hum of the convention center, Dar Leaf settled into a club chair to explain the sacred mission of America's sheriffs, his bright blue eyes and warm smile belying the intensity of the cause. "The sheriff is supposed to

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina state officials joined historians and Black community leaders Wednesday under a sprawling oak tree in the heart of downtown Raleigh for the long-anticipated unveiling of the state's first park honoring the African American struggle for freedom. Located between the state Legislative Building and the governor's Executive Mansion, the new North Carolina Freedom Park stands as a beacon of hope for Black North Carolinians and

BY JONATHAN MATTISE AND KIMBERLEE KRUESI NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Families close to a Nashville fatal school shooting broke down in tears Tuesday after a Tennessee Republican leader ordered state troopers to remove them and others from a legislative hearing room while they waited to testify in favor of gun control measures. The emotional scene was just one of several chaotic moments that erupted during the second day of Tennessee's special

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - The generic drug maker Teva Pharmaceuticals agreed Monday to pay $225 million to settle price-fixing charges related to sales of a major cholesterol-lowering drug. The U.S. Department of Justice said the agreement also requires Teva to divest its business making and selling the drug, pravastatin, a generic version of the brand-name medicine Pravachol. Another generic drug maker, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, agreed to pay a $30