Here’s a look at how AP’s general news coverage is shaping up for select stories. For up-to-the minute information on AP’s complete coverage of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, and the rest of the world, visit Coverage Plan at newsroom.ap.org
Questions about coverage plans are welcome and should be directed to 919-510-8937, 202-641-9660, 410-837-8315, 804-643-6646 or metro@ap.org. Mid-South Assistant News Director Jonathan Drew can be reached at 919-510-8937 or jdrew@ap.org.
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This information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change. Expected stories may not develop, or late-breaking and more newsworthy events may take precedence. Coverage Plan will keep you up to date. All times are Eastern unless specified otherwise.
NORTH CAROLINA
XGR–TRANSGENDER RIGHTS-NORTH CAROLINA RALEIGH, N.C. — A prohibition on transgender girls playing on female sports teams in North Carolina schools cleared a second legislative chamber this week when the state Senate approved a bill on Thursday. The passage means the Republican-dominated General Assembly appears poised to work out in the coming weeks a final agreement to limit athlete participation and send it to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. By Gary Robertson. UPCOMING: 600 words by 3 p.m.
SHOOTING-BASKETBALL IN YARD
GASTONIA, N.C. — Authorities are searching for a man accused of shooting and wounding a 6-year-old North Carolina girl and her parents. A neighbor says the Tuesday night shooting near Gastonia happened after children tried to retrieve a basketball that rolled into 24-year-old Robert Louis Singletary’s yard. Gaston County Police Chief Stephen Zill declined to say what led to the shooting, citing the ongoing investigation. But he says a broad search is underway for Singletary, who was still at-large on Thursday. Six-year-old Kinsley White was grazed in the cheek by a bullet and her mother was grazed in the elbow. The girl’s father, Jamie White, who had run to her aid, was shot in the back and remained hospitalized Wednesday. SENT: 450 words, photo.
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SOUTH CAROLINA
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Richard Quinn Sr., a long time South Carolina political operative, has pleaded guilty to lying to a grand jury, investigating corruption at the state capital several years ago. Quinn was sentenced to 18 months of home detention, The State newspaper reported. By Jeffrey Collins. UPCOMING: 350 words.
ITALY PRINCESS EVICTED
ROME — A Texas-born princess has been evicted from a historic villa in Rome containing the only known ceiling painted by Caravaggio. Princess Rita Jenrette Boncompagni Ludovisi abandoned the Casino dell’Aurora off the swank Via Veneto on Thursday. It was hours after Carabinieri police arrived to enforce a court-mandated eviction order. Her dramatic exit capped a remarkable years-long soap opera that exposed the dirty laundry of one of Rome’s aristocratic families. The Boncompagni Ludovisi are perhaps best known for having produced Pope Gregory XIII of Gregorian calendar fame, but lately have attracted more attention thanks to the inheritance dispute and court-mandated auction of their famous villa in the heart of Rome. By Nicole Winfield and Francesco Stati. SENT: 790 words, photos.
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VIRGINIA
AMAZON HQ2 INCENTIVES
FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Amazon is asking Virginia for nearly $153 million in state incentive payments. It would be the first tranche of funds to be paid out since the tech giant agreed in 2018 to build a headquarters complex in the state. The application comes even as Amazon has paused work on what will be the centerpiece of its corporate campus — a development project that will feature a 350-foot, helix-shaped tower. The grant application was released Wednesday by Virginia economic development officials. The request for $152.7 million is in line with the incentive deal Virginia used to lure Amazon. It calls for Amazon to receive a $22,000 grant for each job it creates. Amazon says that so far it has created nearly 7,000 eligible jobs. By Matthew Barakat. SENT: 380 words, photo.
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MARYLAND/DELAWARE
CHESAPEAKE BAY SETTLEMENT
BALTIMORE — A proposed settlement has been reached in a 2020 lawsuit filed on behalf of several states and environmental groups that asked EPA to start enforcing pollution requirements in Pennsylvania to protect the Chesapeake Bay. By Lea Skene.
MARYLAND PRISONS STAFFING
BALTIMORE — The union representing correctional officers in Maryland state prisons released a report Thursday highlighting a dire staffing shortage and calling on newly elected Gov. Wes Moore to address the problem. By Lea Skene.
CONGRESS-HUNTER-BIDEN
WASHINGTON — An IRS special agent is seeking whistleblower protection to disclose information regarding what the agent contends is mishandling of an investigation into President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. That is according to a letter to Congress obtained by The Associated Press. The attorney for the whistleblower Mark Lytle wrote to lawmakers Wednesday that his client has information about a “failure to mitigate clear conflicts of interest in the ultimate disposition,” of the criminal investigation related to the younger Biden’s taxes and foreign business work. Hunter Biden has been under federal investigation by a federal grand jury in Delaware since at least 2018. So far no charges have been filed. By Farnoush Amiri. SENT: 600 words, photos.
STUDENT FUGITIVE-KILLINGS
Former University of Connecticut student Peter Manfredonia is expected to be sentenced Thursday for killing a man and wounding another in a sword attack in 2020. Manfredonia later shot another man to death and led police on a multistate search that ended in Maryland.
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SPORTS
HKN–FACEOFF
Things have changed quickly in a handful of first-round series around the NHL playoffs. Record-setting Boston goes on the road at Florida no longer looking invincible, Carolina is up 2-0 on New York but down another offensive star, Connor McDavid and Edmonton have awoken against Los Angeles and Minnesota goes home even with Dallas and suddenly has a goalie controversy. By Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos by 5 p.m. EDT
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LOCALIZATION:
LEARNING TO READ-LOCALIZE IT — Third-graders across the country face a looming crisis. The majority will move onto fourth grade next year and will be expected to read well, even though many haven’t received adequate instruction because of the pandemic-fueled school interruptions and a reliance in some places on ineffective teaching methods. The latest data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress — which tested hundreds of thousands of fourth and eighth graders across the country this year — reflected historic learning setbacks. We provide suggestions for localizing the story. Find the latest Localize It guides here.
DIVERSITY BANS-STATES-LOCALIZE IT — Diversity. Equity. Inclusion. Taken alone, each of those words may appear laudable — even noncontroversial. But strung together, those words have become a new flashpoint in a cultural and political battle over the role of race, gender and sexuality in American institutions. Governors and lawmakers in numerous Republican-led states have proposed restricting “diversity, equity and inclusion” initiatives at higher education institutions and, in some cases, throughout state government. We provide tips for localizing the story. Find the latest Localize It guides here.
EARTH DAY-LOCALIZE IT — More than 190 countries celebrate Earth Day on April 22 each year. We offer suggestions for local coverage. Find the latest Localize It guides here.
PHILANTHROPY-VOLUNTEERISM-LOCALIZE IT — As pandemic-related government aid programs end and inflation rises, nonprofits of all kinds are looking everywhere and trying everything to get volunteers. The Associated Press has produced a series of stories set to run beginning April 17 to coincide with National Volunteer Week. We are making our first story, a Localize It guide with state data and an audio Q&A with AP reporter Thalia Beaty available early on embargo as background for your reporting. Find the latest Localize It guides here.
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VIDEO
Oklahoma tornado damage forces elderly residents from facility
SpaceX giant rocket fails minutes after launch
Suspect in deadly Maine shootings appears in court
More peril for Trump in GA probe than NY indictment
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AUDIO
More say Trump broke law in Ga. case than NY’s: AP-NORC poll
Mexico ends search for missing Americans, Coast Guard says
An end to the reading wars? More US schools embrace phonics
Producers reboot ‘Rust’ after fatal shooting by Alec Baldwin
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U.S. STORIES
SHOOTINGS-HALLMARKS OF DISTRUST — In suburban Detroit, it was a lost 14-year-old looking for directions. In Kansas City, it was a 16-year-old who went to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers. There was the 12-year-old rummaging around in a yard in small-town Alabama, the 20-year-old woman who found herself in the wrong driveway in upstate New York and the cheerleaders who got into the wrong car in Texas. All of them, and dozens more across America, were met by gunfire. In the United States, strangers are often seen as threats and fear has been politicized. And now simple acts like ringing the wrong doorbell can seem like a fateful question of trust. SENT: 1,190 words, photos.
STARSHIP-TEST FLIGHT — SpaceX’s giant new rocket exploded minutes after blasting off on its first test flight and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. Elon Musk’s company was aiming to send the nearly 400-foot (120-meter) Starship rocket on a round-the-world trip from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border. It carried no people or satellites. SENT – 460 words, photos, video.
CONGRESS-TRANSGENDER ATHLETES — The Republican-led House has passed a bill that would bar federally supported schools and colleges from allowing transgender athletes whose biological sex assigned at birth was male from competing on girls or women’s sports teams. The legislation is unlikely to advance further because the Democratic-led Senate will not support it and the White House said President Joe Biden would veto it. SENT: 720 words, photos, audio. With TRANSGENDER HEALTH-NORTH DAKOTA — North Dakota’s Republican Gov. Doug Burgum has signed a veto-proof bill into law that restricts transgender health care and criminalizes providers who give gender-affirming care to people under 18. SENT: 740 words, photos.
LEARNING TO READ — Many American third graders aren’t reading well — and that poses an urgent problem. These students were kindergarteners when the pandemic first hit, and some missed most of first grade, the foundational year for learning to read. For many, second grade was disrupted by illness and quarantines, too. Third grade is the last chance for them to master reading before they face more rigorous expectations. If they don’t, research shows they’re less likely to complete high school. SENT: 2,090 words, video, photos. With LEARNING TO READ-EXPLAINER — An end to the reading wars? More US schools embrace phonics. SENT: 1,180 words, photos.
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