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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NORTH CAROLINA
POLICE CHASE-WRECK
SHELBY, N.C. — Authorities say three people have died in a truck after someone in it fired at a different vehicle in South Carolina and then the truck crashed into a North Carolina house while trying to get away from law enforcement. Investigators say the chase started around 1 a.m. Sunday in Blacksburg, South Carolina, and ended with the pickup, which had turned off its headlights, slamming into a house in Shelby, North Carolina. Authorities say three people in the truck between the ages of 15 and 20 died, while three others in the vehicle survived the crash. Investigators say no one in the vehicle that was shot at was injured. SENT: 220 words.
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SOUTH CAROLINA
SUPREME COURT-REDISTRICTING-SOUTH CAROLINA
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether South Carolina’s congressional districts need to be redrawn because they discriminate against Black voters. The justices said Monday they would review a lower-court ruling that found a coastal district running from Charleston to Hilton Head was intentionally redrawn to reduce the number of Black Democratic-leaning voters to make it more likely Republican candidates would win. The case probably will be argued in the fall, and decided in the run up to the 2024 elections, when all the seats in the closely divided House of Representatives, now under Republican control, will be on the ballot. SENT: 280 words, photo.
DINING WITH DOGS
Just in time for the summer dining season, the U.S. government has given its blessing to restaurants that want to allow pet dogs in their outdoor spaces. It better reflects reality; nearly half of states already allow canine dining outdoors. Restaurants have been required to allow service dogs for decades. But it wasn’t until the mid-2000’s that states began allowing dogs in outdoor dining spaces. Late last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued new guidance saying restaurants can welcome dogs as long as they get permission from a local authority. The FDA suggests they also require leashes and develop plans to handle dog waste. By Dee-Ann Durbin. SENT: 960 words, photos, video, audio.
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MARYLAND/DELAWARE
IMPRISONED-RAPIST DIES
BALTIMORE — A convicted child rapist whose crimes were recently highlighted in a state report on sex abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore has died in prison. Maryland’s corrections agency says John Merzbacher died Friday of natural causes at the age of 81. Merzbacher was serving four life sentences for raping one of his students at a Catholic middle school in south Baltimore in the 1970s. He was accused of terrorizing dozens of students, including raping them at gunpoint. A yearslong investigation by the Maryland Attorney General’s Office found more than 150 priests and others associated with the Baltimore archdiocese sexually abused over 600 children for decades, often with impunity. SENT: 420 words.
FANATICS-POINTSBET
Fanatics Betting and Gaming is buying the U.S. operations of Australian sportsbook PointsBet for $150 million in a move that will help the sports apparel and memorabilia giant gain market share in the American sports betting and online casino markets. The companies said Sunday night that PointsBet shareholders will vote on the sale in late June. It still faces numerous regulatory approvals. The sale comes as Fanatics is launching sports betting and online casino operations, hoping to draw on its database of 95 million customers, who have bought everything from jerseys to trading cards to autographed memorabilia from the online retailer. By Wayne Parry. SENT: 470 words.
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER CYBERATTACK
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Inquirer has experienced the most significant disruption to its operations in 27 years due to what the newspaper calls a cyberattack. The newspaper’s website reports that the company is working to restore print operations after the cyber incursion that prevented the printing of the newspaper’s Sunday print edition. The Inquirer reports its news website is still operational, although updates are slower than normal. Inquirer publisher Lisa Hughes says the company is not immediately able to provide an exact timeline for full restoration of its systems. The cyberattack has caused the largest disruption to the publication of Pennsylvania’s largest news organization since a massive blizzard in January 1996. SENT: 270 words, photo.
FACIAL RECOGNITION-AIRPORTS
The agency tasked with securing America’s airports is testing the use of facial recognition technology at a number of airports across the country. The Transportation Safety Administration says the technology is an effort to more accurately identify the millions of passengers traveling through its airports every day and that passengers can opt out. The technology is both checking to make sure the person at the airport matches the ID presented and that the identification is in fact real. It’s currently at 16 airports. Critics have raised concerns about questions of bias in facial recognition technology and possible repercussions for passengers who want to opt out. By Rebecca Santana and Rick Gentilo. SENT: 1,050 words, photos, video.
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SPORTS
BBA–ANGELS-ORIOLES
BALTIMORE — Shohei Ohtani takes the mound for the Angels against prized Baltimore rookie Grayson Rodriguez. By Baseball Writer Noah Trister. UPCOMING: 600 words, photos. Game starts at 6:35 p.m. ET.
BBN–METS-NATIONALS
WASHINGTON — The Nationals host the New York Mets. Starts at 4:05 p.m. ET. By Patrick Stevens. UPCOMING: 600 words, photos.
CAR–NASCAR-IN THE PITS
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR spent the weekend at Darlington Raceway celebrating its 75th anniversary and continues the salute as it shifts to the first Cup since 1996 at reopened North Wilkesboro Speedway. Ross Chastain is making headlines every week with talk already starting if his aggressive driving will prevent NASCAR’s points leader from winning a championship. But as everything looks great at a surface level, a labor dispute of sorts between NASCAR and its Cup teams hangs over this summer celebration. By AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer. 800 words. By 5 pm.
CAR–NASCAR-DARLINGTON-CHASTAIN’S ENEMIES
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Another NASCAR Cup Series race, another week where competitors were left seething at reigning bad boy Ross Chastain. While William Byron gave Hendrick Motorsports its 296th all-time victory, another Hendrick driver with a chance to win in Kyle Larson was left in back of the pack due to tangling with Chastain. “He’s making a lot of enemies,” winning owner Rick Hendrick said Sunday. “It’s really getting old with these guys.” By Pete Iacobelli. UPCOMING, 650 words by 2 p.m.
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LOCALIZATION:
DARTMOUTH NATIVE AMERICAN REMAINS-LOCALIZE IT: Dartmouth College announced that it found the skeletal remains of 15 Native Americans in its possession and was working to identify and repatriate the remains. The announcement comes as universities around the country have struggled to return tens of thousands of Native artifacts to tribes as required by federal law. We provide details and offer resources for local reporting. Find the latest Localize It guides.
HEALTH WORKER SHORTAGE-LOCALIZE IT: Thousands of doctors and nurses signed on to work in the country’s most desperate regions during the COVID-19 in exchange for forgiveness of their medical school debt. But now, the National Health Service Corps, the program that brought them onboard, is in jeopardy, caught up in the battle over the federal debt ceiling. We provide details and offer tips for local reporting. Find the latest Localize It guides.
STUDENT TEST SCORES-LOCALIZE IT: New data on student test scores from a dozen states has been incorporated into an analysis of learning setbacks tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. The data was released Thursday by researchers at Harvard and Stanford universities as an update to their Education Recovery Scorecard, which now examines learning loss in math and reading across school districts in a total of 41 states. We provide details and offer tips for local reporting. Find the latest Localize It guides here.
IMMIGRATION-ASYLUM-LOCALIZE IT: Migrants who seek refuge in the United States are confronting a fundamental shift in border enforcement and opportunities for seeking asylum amid a surge in arrivals at the Southwest border. Coronavirus restrictions on immigration are coming to an end this week after three years. Those rules were used nearly 3 million times to quickly expel migrants without greater penalties. We provide suggestions for localizing the story. Find the latest Localize It guides here.
TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK-SALARIES-LOCALIZE IT: As many schools struggle to find enough teachers, state governors across the U.S. are pushing for pay increases, bonuses and other perks in a growing competition to attract and retain educators. We offer suggestions for localization. Find the latest Localize It guides here.
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VIDEO
State Dept. releases 2022 Religious Freedom report
TSA tests facial recognition tech at select airports
South Texas residents clean up tornado damage
Biden travels to Philly with debt talks at an impasse
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AUDIO
Biden, congressional leaders likely to meet Tuesday for talks on raising the debt limit
Bells toll for Buffalo supermarket mass shooting victims 1 year after massacre
Vice Media files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the latest in a string of digital media setbacks
Biden proposal would let conservationists lease public land much as drillers and ranchers do
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U.S. STORIES
BALLOT INITIATIVES-REPUBLICANS — Ohio has joined a growing number of Republican-led states moving to restrict citizens’ ability to bypass lawmakers through ballot initiatives. A resolution passed last week will ask Ohio voters in August to boost the threshold for passing constitutional amendments to 60% instead of a simple majority. Voters in Idaho, Missouri and North Dakota also could see Republican-backed ballot questions that seek to limit direct democracy next year. It’s part of a trend that took off as left-leaning groups began increasingly using the initiative process to force public votes on issues opposed by GOP lawmakers but popular with voters, such as ensuring abortion rights. SENT: 1,270 words, photos.
FACIAL RECOGNITION-AIRPORTS — The agency tasked with securing America’s airports is testing the use of facial recognition technology at a number of airports across the country. The Transportation Safety Administration says the technology is an effort to more accurately identify the millions of passengers traveling through its airports every day and that passengers can opt out. The technology is both checking to make sure the person at the airport matches the ID presented and that the identification is in fact real. It’s currently at 16 airports. Critics have raised concerns about questions of bias in facial recognition technology and possible repercussions for passengers who want to opt out. SENT: 1,050 words, photos, video.
AGING CARS ON THE ROAD — Americans are keeping their cars longer than ever. The average age of a passenger vehicle on U.S. roads hit a record 12.5 years this year, according to data gathered by S&P Global Mobility. Sedans are even older, on average — 13.6 years. Blame it mainly on the pandemic, which triggered a shortage of automotive computer chips, the vital component that runs everything from radios to gas pedals to transmissions. The shortage drastically slowed assembly lines, making new vehicles scarce just when consumers were increasingly eager to buy. Prices surged to record highs. And though they’ve eased somewhat, the cost of a vehicle still feels punishingly expensive to many Americans, especially when coupled with now much-higher loan rates. SENT: 990 words, photos.
BIDEN-PUBLIC LANDS — More than a century after the U.S. started selling oil leases on public lands, the Biden administration is seeking to let conservationists lease government property to restore it. The idea is stirring debate over the best use of vast taxpayer-owned property in the West. The proposal would allow conservation groups or others to buy leases to restore degraded government land, much the same way oil companies buy leases to drill. The head of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management says the proposal would make conservation an “equal” priority. But some Republican lawmakers contend the changes are a backdoor to excluding agricultural and energy development interests. SENT: 670 words, photos.
CHINA US SPY CHARGES — China has sentenced a 78-year-old United States citizen to life in prison on spying charges. John Shing-Wan Leung, who also holds permanent residency in Hong Kong, was detained in 2021 by the counterintelligence agency in the southeastern city of Suzhou. The city’s intermediate court announced Leung’s sentencing Monday but gave no details of the charges. Such investigations and trials are held behind closed doors and little or no information is generally made public. Relations between Washington and Beijing have hit a historical low amid disputes over trade, human rights and territorial disputes. The U.S. Embassy says it is aware of the case but wouldn’t comment further due to privacy concerns. SENT: 780 words, photo.
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