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With Griffey’s help, MLB hosts HBCU All-Star Game hoping to create opportunity for Black players

SEATTLE (AP) - Ken Griffey Jr. holds a plethora of titles, especially in this part of the country. Hall of Famer. Cultural icon. The guy who made baseball in the Pacific Northwest relevant. Arguably, the greatest of his generation. He even holds a title in association with Major League Baseball as a special adviser to Commissioner Rob Manfred. But what's most meaningful to Griffey currently is his association with Friday

To fight berry-busting fruit flies, researchers focus on sterilizing the bugs

BY MELINA WALLING Paul Nelson is used to doing battle with an invasive fruit fly called the spotted wing drosophila, a pest that one year ruined more than half the berries on the Minnesota farm he and his team run. In recent years, they've cut their losses closer to 5%, but it's been labor-intensive and expensive. "It's a pest that if you're not willing to stick the time into it, it's

Decreased funding for Charlotte Arts and Science 

By: Tyria Bourda - Carolinian Reporter Due to Charlotte City Council's recent decision to cut funding for Charlotte's Arts and Science, artists like Marcus Kiser now wonder if his grant will be affected. According to its February 27th agenda, the city council wants to "diversify funding" by allocating those dollars to "programs based in city-owned facilities." Kiser, a local multimedia designer, has received ASC grants in the past therefore this

Ransomware criminals are dumping kids’ private files online after school hacks

BY FRANK BAJAK, HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH AND LARRY FENN The confidential documents stolen from schools and dumped online by ransomware gangs are raw, intimate and graphic. They describe student sexual assaults, psychiatric hospitalizations, abusive parents, truancy - even suicide attempts. "Please do something," begged a student in one leaked file, recalling the trauma of continually bumping into an ex-abuser at a school in Minneapolis. Other victims talked about wetting the bed or

US citizenship test changes are coming, raising concerns for those with low English skills

BY TRISHA AHMED ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The U.S. citizenship test is being updated, and some immigrants and advocates worry the changes will hurt test-takers with lower levels of English proficiency. The naturalization test is one of the final steps toward citizenship - a monthslong process that requires legal permanent residency for years before applying. Many are still shaken after former Republican President Donald Trump's administration changed the test in

Attorneys: Lawsuit alleging North Carolina House speaker ruined a marriage has been resolved

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Litigation filed by a North Carolina local elected official alleging House Speaker Tim Moore's ruined his marriage by having an affair with his wife is ending, attorneys said on Monday, two weeks after a lawsuit was filed. Lawyers for Scott Lassiter and Moore confirmed the resolution in separate emails. They said little or nothing more when asked for details, such as whether the lawsuit filed in

Deep sea mining permits may be coming soon. What are they and what might happen?

BY VICTORIA MILKO JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - The International Seabed Authority - the United Nations body that regulates the world's ocean floor - is preparing to resume negotiations that could open the international seabed for mining, including for materials critical for the green energy transition. Years long negotiations are reaching a critical point where the authority will soon need to begin accepting mining permit applications, adding to worries over the potential

Judge limits Biden administration in working with social media companies

BY JIM SALTER A judge on Tuesday prohibited several federal agencies and officials of the Biden administration from working with social media companies about "protected speech," a decision called "a blow to censorship" by one of the Republican officials whose lawsuit prompted the ruling. U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty of Louisiana granted the injunction in response to a 2022 lawsuit brought by attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri. Their lawsuit alleged

North Carolina trooper fatally shoots stranded driver who opened fire on him, authorities say

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - A North Carolina state trooper who was trying to help a stranded driver was shot in his protective vest before he killed the motorist who fired at him, authorities said. Trooper Jeffrey Dunlap stopped on Interstate 26 near Asheville on Monday night to help motorist Wesley Scott Taylor, 57. Taylor pulled out a gun and shot Dunlap in the chest, the highway patrol said. Dunlap's ballistic

Former North Carolina legislator, appeals court judge is next parole panel chairman

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A former North Carolina legislative leader and appellate court judge has been named the next chairman of the state parole commission. Gov. Roy Cooper announced Monday that he's elevated Darren Jackson to lead the North Carolina Post-Release Supervision & Parole Commission. The governor had just appointed Jackson to the commission in May. Jackson said he became chairman effective over the weekend, succeeding the retiring Bill Fowler,