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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SOUTH CAROLINA
REL-BLACK PROTESTANTS-CHURCH ATTENDANCE
COLUMBIA, South Carolina — The wide empty spaces in pews between parishioners at a service at Zion Baptist Church in South Carolina’s capital highlights a post-pandemic reality common among many Black Protestant churches. Attendance fell 15 percentage points at such churches during COVID outbreak, according to a new Pew survey. Researchers say no other major religious group registered a decline of this magnitude. By Luis Andrew Henao. SENT: 1,400 words, photo, video.
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VIRGINIA
SEVERE WEATHER
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Officials are assessing tornado damage Monday after the storm moved through the City of Virginia Beach Sunday, damaging dozens of homes, downing trees and causing gas leaks. The National Weather Service confirmed Monday that the tornado that touched down Sunday evening was an EF-3, with wind estimates of 140 to 150 mph. No injuries were reported, but Director of Emergency Management David Topczynski says officials assessed 115 damaged structures and that number will likely grow. Severe weather has damaged communities around the U.S. over the weekend. A tornado was also confirmed in Florida and there’s historic flooding on the Mississippi River. In Maine, some 50,000 homes and businesses were without power Monday morning after a windy rainstorm. By Ben Finley. SENT: 530 words, photos, video.
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MARYLAND/DELAWARE
ELECTION 2024-CARDIN
WASHINGTON — Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland has announced that he will not seek reelection at the end of his third term in 2024. His decision, outlined in a statement Monday, triggers what is likely to be a highly competitive primary to replace him in the blue-leaning state. Cardin is 79 and has served in the Senate since 2006 when he won a seat to replace retiring Democrat Paul Sarbanes. Before that, he was a congressman who represented a large part of Baltimore and several nearby suburbs, winning his first U.S. House race in 1986. By Brian Witte and Farnoush Amiri. SENT: 410 words, photos.
COMMUNITY COLLEGE-WASTED CREDITS
America’s high school graduates are often encouraged to start at a community college before getting a bachelor’s degree, but the money-saving move rarely works as planned. National data shows just one in seven community college students gets a bachelor’s within six years. One of the biggest culprits is credit loss: when students take classes that never count toward a degree. Advocates say the transfer process is designed for schools but often confuses students. States like California and Maryland are enacting new rules hoping to smooth the process. And some schools are forming close partnerships to remove barriers, including at George Mason University and Northern Virginia Community College. By Collin Binkley. SENT: 1,190 words, photos, video.
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SPORTS
CAR–NASCAR-DOVER
DOVER, Del. — Kyle Busch starts on the pole and the rain is clear for the delayed NASCAR race at Dover Motor Speedway. By Dan Gelston. UPCOMING. 700 words. Race starts at noon. AP Photos.
BBC–COLLEGE BASEBALL NOTEBOOK
Mac Horvath is coming off one of the best weeks of the season in college baseball, and his monster performance could be just what North Carolina needs to spark a late run to a sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearances. By Eric Olson. 650 words, photo, by 5 p.m. By EOLSON. UPCOMING , By 6:00 p.m. EDT.
BBN–CUBS-NATIONALS
Chicago plays Washington at Nationals Park. UPCOMING: 600 words, photos. By Byron Kerr. UPCOMING : 600 words , By 7:05 p.m. EDT, photo.
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LOCALIZATION:
BLACK PROTESTANTS-CHURCH ATTENDANCE-LOCALIZE IT: The wide empty spaces in pews between parishioners at a service at Zion Baptist Church in South Carolina’s capital highlights a post-pandemic reality common among many Black Protestant churches. Attendance fell 15 percentage points at such churches during COVID outbreak, according to a new Pew survey. Researchers say no other major religious group registered a decline of this magnitude. We provide tips and resources for localizing the story. Find the latest Localize It guides here.
MEDICAID-LOCALIZE IT — The Associated Press has found that confusion and errors are leading to people being erroneously booted off Medicaid during a nationwide review of all 84 million beneficiaries’ eligibility for the government-funded program. The review, also called “redetermination” or “unwinding,” is expected to leave millions over the next year without Medicaid. We tell you which states have started removing people from the Medicaid rolls and offer tips for localizing the story. Find the latest Localize It guides here.
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 tips for localizing the story. Find the latest Localize It guides here.
VIDEO
$80,000 reward offered in Texas shooting manhunt
First Republic Bank seized, sold to JPMorgan Chase
Strong tornado moves through Virginia
Carroll arrives for court as Trump seeks mistrial
AUDIO
Man who lost wife, son in Texas mass shooting tells story
Poll: Americans fault news media for dividing country
Is my money safe? What you need to know about bank failures
Aerosmith announces farewell tour starting in September
U.S. STORIES
TEXAS MASS SHOOTING — The search in Texas for a gunman who fatally shot five neighbors with an AR-style rifle has entered a third day after authorities over the weekend acknowledged they had little sense of the killer’s whereabouts despite a widening dragnet near Houston. The suspect, 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza, has been at large since the shooting just before midnight Friday in the rural town of Cleveland. By Sunday evening, authorities said more than 250 officers from multiple jurisdictions have joined the manhunt and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott put up $50,000 in reward money for tips leading to Oropeza’s capture. Police recovered the AR-15-style rifle that they said Oropeza used in the shootings. Authorities were not sure if he was carrying another weapon. SENT: 480 words, photos, video, audio.
SILENCED TRANSGENDER LAWMAKER — Attorneys for Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr have filed a lawsuit asking a court to allow for her return to the House floor. The lawsuit was filed Monday in state district court in Helena on behalf of the transgender Democrat and several constituents who the attorneys say are being denied their right to adequate representation. Zephyr was silenced and barred after chiding her Republican colleagues over legislation to restrict gender-affirming health care and for encouraging protesters. The legal challenge against House Speaker Matt Regier and statehouse Sergeant-at-Arms Bradley Murfitt comes with just days left in the Legislature’s biennial session. SENT: 470 words, photos.
LGBTQ LAWMAKERS — There are more than 200 LGBTQ+ lawmakers across the country, and they’re increasingly finding themselves fighting against bills that target their communities. It’s a situation that has ratcheted up the emotional stakes for lawmakers who feel like they have to defend their very existence. While Florida has received national attention for what opponents call the “Don’t Say Gay” law, the trend is national, particularly in red states. The American Civil Liberties Union is tracking nearly 470 bills it considers to be anti-LGBTQ+, most of which are in states with Republican-controlled the Legislature, such as Texas, Missouri, Florida and Tennessee. SENT: 990 words, photos, audio.
IMMIGRATION-ASYLUM SCREENINGS — The Biden administration is making its own attempt at speedy asylum screenings at the border, insisting it will be different than under President Donald Trump. Interviews will be done exclusively by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, not by Border Patrol agents, and there will be access to legal counsel. Some advocates for immigrants are doubtful. Generally, about three in four asylum-seekers pass initial screenings. Under Trump’s speedy screening, it was roughly flipped. Internal government watchdog agencies were sharply critical of the fast turnarounds and difficulties with access to legal counsel. SENT: 880 words, photo.
BIDEN-ABORTION INVESTIGATION — A first-of-its-kind federal investigation has found two hospitals put a pregnant woman’s life in jeopardy and violated federal law by refusing to provide an emergency abortion when she experienced premature labor at 17 weeks. The findings are revealed in documents obtained by The Associated Press. The findings serve as a warning to hospitals around the country as they struggle to reconcile new state laws banning or severely restricting abortion with a federal mandate for doctors to provide abortions when a woman’s health is at risk. The hospitals in question are in Missouri and Kansas. The hospitals haven’t responded to requests for comment. The woman had to travel to an abortion clinic in Illinois. SENT: 820 words, photos.
FIRST REPUBLIC BANK — Regulators seized troubled First Republic Bank early Monday, making it the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history, and promptly sold all of its deposits and most of its assets to JPMorgan Chase in a bid to stop further banking turmoil that has dominated the first half of this year. It’s the third midsize bank to fail in less than two months. The only larger bank failure in U.S. history was Washington Mutual, which collapsed at the height of the 2008 financial crisis and was also taken over by JPMorgan in a similar government-orchestrated deal. SENT: 740 words, photos.
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