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By DON BABWIN and KATHLEEN FOODY Jussie Smollett began a 150-day jail sentence for staging a hate crime against himself in protective custody, separated from other detainees and watched by security cameras and an officer, jail authorities said Friday. Sheriff’s deputies immediately took Smollett to the Cook County Jail on Thursday night after Judge James Linn sentenced the Black and gay actor to 30 months of felony probation — starting with a

FILE - Bradford pear trees bloom as traffic moves along Lejeune Boulevard in Jacksonville, N.C., near the main gate entrance to Camp Lejeune, Monday, March 12, 2012. A new program in North Carolina is placing a “bounty” on invasive Bradford pear trees as they spread through forests in the state. The initiative is set to start with an April 23, 2022 event in Greensboro and could expand to more locations

By JEFFREY COLLINS South Carolina Sens. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, left, and Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, right, talk about a bill that would cut and rebate income taxes by $2 billion on Thursday, March 10, 2022, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins) The South Carolina Senate unanimously passed a $2 billion income tax cut and rebate bill, setting up what will likely be intense negotiations with the House over the $1 billion tax cut it passed

North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has endorsed the challenger of a sitting state senator in the May 17 primary -- an unusual public intervention by Cooper in intraparty politics. The second-term governor is backing Val Applewhite for the Cumberland County seat currently held by Sen. Kirk deViere, who at times has voted with the Republican majority on some measures Cooper opposed. In his endorsement, released Tuesday and affirmed by

This photo provided by The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows an active wildland fire at Dare County Bombing Range, in eastern North Carolina on Tuesday, March 8, 2022. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in North Carolina said Tuesday afternoon that the fire had slightly spread to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, which is one of the only places in the world where endangered red wolves can be

By MARK SHERMAN In a victory for Democrats, the Supreme Court has turned away efforts from Republicans in North Carolina and Pennsylvania to block state court-ordered congressional districting plans. In separate orders late Monday, the justices are allowing maps selected by each state’s Supreme Court to be in effect for the 2022 elections. Those maps are more favorable to Democrats than the ones drawn by the states’ legislatures. In North Carolina,

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Twin Cities teachers and their supporters brave sub-zero temperatures Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022, to march in Minneapolis. Teachers in Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools could go on strike as early as Tuesday, March 8, 2022, over demands for higher wages, smaller class sizes and more mental health services. (Hannah Hobus/Pioneer Press via AP) Teachers in the Minneapolis School District were set to walk off the job

Tuesday is International Women’s Day, an important official holiday in Russia and Ukraine dating from the Soviet era. Women are normally feted with flowers and chocolates and speeches, but this year the holiday was overshadowed in Ukraine by war, and in Russia by economic chaos. Sugary messages of love and support were shared on social networks as in previous years, but many were tinged with sorrow or pleas for peace.

FILE - In this June 1, 2021, file photo, state Sen. Mia McLeod, left, stands in the sanctuary of Shiloh Baptist, her family's church, talking with Rev. Coley Mearite in Bennettsville, S.C. In her campaign for South Carolina governor, state Sen. Mia McLeod has rolled out an agenda she says she hopes will advance opportunities for the state's Black population. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File) In her campaign for South Carolina

By RONALD BLUM Locked gates are shown at Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves baseball team, Wednesday, March 2, 2022, in Atlanta. With owners and players unable to agree on a labor contract to replace the collective bargaining agreement that expired Dec. 1, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred followed through with his threat on Tuesday and canceled the first two series for each of the 30 major league teams. (AP