Friends who have attended every Super Bowl plan final trip

By PATRICK WHITTLE FILE — Members of the Never Miss a Super Bowl Club, from the left, Tom Henschel, Gregory Eaton, and Don Crisman pose for a group photograph during a welcome luncheon, in Atlanta, Friday, Feb. 1, 2019. The three men have attended every game since the first AFL-NFL World Championship held 55 years ago. They're meeting at the Super Bowl once again for this year's game, but future

Police trainer testifies against officers in Floyd’s death

By STEVE KARNOWSKI FILE - This combination of photos provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office in Minnesota on June 3, 2020, shows, from left, former Minneapolis police officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao. The former policer officers are on trial in federal court accused of violating Floyd's civil rights as fellow Officer Derek Chauvin killed him. Judge Paul Magnuson abruptly recessed on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022

N. Carolina Republicans cautious after redistricting order

By GARY D. ROBERTSON House Minority Leader Robert Reives, left, D-Chatham, speaks while Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue, D-Wake, listens at a news conference at the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C., Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. Reives and Blue spoke about a redistricting ruling by the state Supreme Court that struck down General Assembly and congressional maps approved by the legislature in November. (AP Photo/Gary D. Robertson)  North Carolina’s top legislative

Duke’s Coach K making last trip to UNC in famed rivalry

By AARON BEARD Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski directs his players during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Notre Dame, Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Robert Franklin) The famed rivalry between No. 9 Duke and North Carolina is changing. One Hall of Fame coach is gone, with the Tar Heels’ Roy Williams retiring last spring and former UNC player and assistant Hubert

Arbery’s shooter withdraws guilty plea on hate crime charge

By RUSS BYNUM FILE - Travis McMichael looks on during the sentencing in his trial along with his father Greg McMichael and neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan in the Glynn County Courthouse, on Jan. 7, 2022, in Brunswick, Ga. Travis McMichael, the man convicted of murder for shooting Ahmaud Arbery is withdrawing his guilty plea on a federal hate crime charge. McMichael announced his decision Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Stephen

Emboldened China opens Olympics, with lockdown and boycotts

By SARAH DiLORENZO China's athletes Dinigeer Yilamujian and Zhao Jiawen prepare to light the Olympic Cauldron during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) BEIJING (AP) — China, which used its first Olympics to amplify its international aspirations, invited the world back Friday — sort of — for the pandemic era’s second Games, this time as an emboldened and more

Biden says IS leader killed during US raid in Syria

By GHAITH ALSAYED, LOLITA C. BALDOR, BASSEM MROUE and ZEKE MILLER People inspect a destroyed house following an operation by the U.S. military in the Syrian village of Atmeh, in Idlib province, Syria, Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022. U.S. special operations forces conducted a large-scale counterterrorism raid in northwestern Syria overnight Thursday, in what the Pentagon said was a "successful mission." Residents and activists reported multiple deaths including civilians from the

Hearn, three dozen more judges elected by SC Legislature

South Carolina Judicial Merit Selection Commission Chairman Rep. Murrell Smith reads out the nominees for state judgeships on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins). South Carolina Supreme Court associate Justice Kaye Hearn was elected to another six-year term Wednesday, one of more than three dozen judges put on the bench by the General Assembly. There were no contested races, but in several races, at least a few House

Dolly Parton, Eminem, Lionel Richie among Rock Hall nominees

Dolly Parton, Eminem, Lionel Richie, Duran Duran and A Tribe Called Quest are among this year’s first-time nominees for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The Cleveland-based institution announced 17 artists and groups being considered for Rock Hall induction, including Rage Against the Machine, Pat Benatar, Dionne Warwick, Carly Simon, Judas Priest and Beck. Beck and Simon are also in their first year of eligibility. This year’s

Shooting outside Milwaukee high school leaves 5 wounded

Five people were shot and wounded outside a Milwaukee high school where an evening basketball game reportedly was taking place. Four teenage girls and a woman were shot about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday near Rufus King High School, police said. The five had left a basketball game and were involved in some sort of a fight when they were shot, WISN-TV reported. Their wounds were not believed to be life threatening.  Authorities said