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Bomb threats lead to brief lockdowns and the evacuation of multiple state capitols

Multiple state capitols received bomb threats Wednesday morning that led to brief evacuations or lockdowns as police investigated, but no evidence of explosives was found. The warnings came after a spate of false reports of shootings at the homes of public officials in recent days. Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Montana were among the states that evacuated statehouse offices or buildings. Lawmakers in Kentucky and Mississippi have begun meeting in

An interview with acclaimed civil rights attorney and historian Bryan Stevenson

[caption id="attachment_5732" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson (Photo: Ted Vaden)[/caption] Bryan Stevenson learned early on about the rule of law. As a young African American boy growing up in a mostly white county in rural Delaware, he started out attending "colored" schools. That changed after the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision, when civil rights attorneys came into Delaware seeking to force public schools to integrate. "If you

Warren Buffett, James Simons and Phil Knight are among the top charity donors of 2023

BY MARIA DI MENTO OF THE CHRONICLE OF PHILANTHROPY The Chronicle of Philanthropy's annual list of the biggest charitable donations from individuals or their foundations totaled more than $3.5 billion in 2023. Four universities received big gifts in 2023, along with four scientific research institutes and a health-care system. The other gifts went to a family foundation and a racial-justice group. The list has 11 gifts because of ties. Eight of the donors

Off-duty police officer is killed in North Carolina after witnessing a crime

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — An off-duty police officer was shot and killed in North Carolina after witnessing a crime at a gas station and approaching the two suspects, officials said. The police sergeant, Philip Dale Nix, was a 23-year veteran of the Greensboro Police Department, according to a Sunday news release from the agency.  Three men have been arrested in the case, including Jamere Justice Foster, 18, who is charged

Plagiarism charges downed Harvard’s president. A conservative attack helped to fan the outrage

WASHINGTON (AP) - American higher education has long viewed plagiarism as a cardinal sin. Accusations of academic dishonesty have ruined the careers of faculty and undergraduates alike. The latest target is Harvard President Claudine Gay, who resigned Tuesday. In her case, the outrage came not from her academic peers but her political foes, led by conservatives who put her career under intense scrutiny. Reviews by Harvard found multiple shortcomings in Gay's

US seizes more illegal e-cigarettes, but thousands of new ones are launching

  WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal officials are seizing more shipments of unauthorized electronic cigarettes at U.S. ports, but thousands of new flavored products continue pouring into the country from China, according to government and industry data reviewed by The Associated Press. The figures underscore the chaotic state of the nation's $7 billion vaping market and raise questions about how the U.S. government can stop the flow of fruit-flavored disposable e-cigarettes used by 1 in 10

Stein, other AGs reach $700 million agreement with Google over Android lawsuit

NC NEWSLINE - Attorney General Josh Stein announced that he and 52 other attorneys general had reached a $700 million agreement with Google in a lawsuit over the search engine's behavior with its Google Play Store. "No company is too big to play by the rules," Stein, who is running for governor, said in a statement. "As a result of this agreement, people who were harmed by these practices will be

5 Southern states had most of the nation’s population growth

Southern states continued to get the lion's share of new residents this year as Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina added almost 1.2 million people among them. The South was the only region that drew net new residents from other states. Meanwhile, the national population grew by 1.6 million people from births and immigrants, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released Tuesday. South Carolina had the largest percentage

A new study bolsters evidence that severe obesity is increasing in young kids in the US

NEW YORK (AP) - A new study adds to evidence that severe obesity is becoming more common in young U.S. children. There was some hope that children in a government food program might be bucking a trend in obesity rates - earlier research found rates were dropping a little about a decade ago for those kids. But an update released Monday in the journal Pediatrics shows the rate bounced back up a bit by