AP-US-HOUSE-RETIREMENTS

North Carolina Democratic Rep. David Price won’t run again

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A Democrat who’s the longest-serving congressman from North Carolina says he won’t seek reelection. Rep. David Price announced on Monday that his 17th term will be his last. The 81-year-old Price has represented the 4th District seat in the Raleigh-Durham area for all but one term since first joining Congress in 1987. Price announced his plans for 2022 as state lawmakers start to redraw North Carolina’s U.S. House district boundaries. Any redrawn district in the area is likely to favor the Democratic nominee. Price is North Carolina’s only member on the House Appropriations Committee.

AP-US-EPA-FOREVER-CHEMICALS

EPA unveils strategy to regulate toxic ‘forever chemicals’

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is launching a wide-ranging strategy to regulate toxic industrial compounds used in products including cookware, carpets and firefighting foams. Environmental Protection Agency head Michael Regan says his agency is taking a series of actions to limit pollution from a cluster of long-lasting chemicals known as PFAS that are increasingly turning up in public drinking water systems, private wells and even food. The chemicals are associated with serious health conditions, including cancer. The plan announced Monday in North Carolina is intended to restrict PFAS from being released into the environment, accelerate cleanup of PFAS-contaminated sites such as military bases and increase investments in research.

STOLEN AMBULANCE

North Carolina man accused of stealing, wrecking ambulance

GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Police have accused a patient at a North Carolina emergency room of stealing an ambulance and causing two traffic accidents. News outlets report Greenville police spokeswoman Kristen Hunter says officers were called to a location near Vidant Medical Center early Friday after a report of a crash. Police say Tah’jay Joyner of Raleigh stole the ambulance, which hit a truck while pulling out into traffic, then drove off and crashed into a light pole before stopping in a field. Police filed multiple charges against Joyner as the investigation into the theft continues.

2020 CENSUS-COLLEGE TOWNS

College towns plan to challenge results of 2020 census

Some college towns plan to challenge the results of the 2020 census. They claim they were shortchanged because the pandemic forced students to leave campuses. They also complain that the undercount could cost them federal money and prestige. The affected communities include Bloomington, Indiana; Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and State College, Pennsylvania. Dudley Poston is a sociology professor at Texas A&M University. He says off-campus students ran the greatest risk of being missed. An Associated Press review of 75 metro areas with the largest share of residents between 20 and 24 showed that the census results fell well below population estimates in some cases but also exceeded them significantly in others.

BETTY LYNN

Betty Lynn, Thelma Lou on ‘The Andy Griffith Show,’ has died

MOUNT AIRY, N.C. (AP) — Betty Lynn, who was best known as Barney Fife’s sweetheart Thelma Lou on “The Andy Griffith Show,” has died at the age of 95. The Andy Griffith Museum said in a statement that she died Saturday after a brief illness. Lynn appeared on the show from 1961 until 1966. Later, she was a mainstay at the annual Mayberry Days festival in Mount Airy, North Carolina, where she resided in her latter years. Lynn provided entertainment as a part of the USO during World War II. She moved to New York in the late 1940s and began an acting career in film and television. She is survived by several cousins.

WILD HORSES-PERSIMMONS

Wild horses on North Carolina coast feasting on persimmons

COROLLA, N.C. (AP) — The wild horses on North Carolina’s Outer Banks are in the midst of a feeding frenzy, and observers say persimmons are their overwhelming food of choice. The Corolla Wild Horse Fund says on social media that the America]n persimmon is a fruit-bearing tree native to the coast and can be found growing throughout where the horses roam. According to the organization, the fruit becomes ripe and sweet in the fall and becomes a source of food for the horses. Horses can be seen walking up to the persimmon trees to pluck the fruit from branches, or they forage for the fruit when it falls to the ground.

SCHOOLS REPORT

Judge getting update on NC school funding equity plan

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina judge wants an update on why a funding roadmap designed to reduce public education inequities among students hasn’t been carried out so far. Superior Court Judge David Lee scheduled a court hearing for Monday in the long-running “Leandro” school funding case. He’s said that the legislature and Gov. Roy Cooper should fully fund the remedial spending plan, in particular by earmarking $1.7 billion through mid-2023. Republican lawmakers and the Democratic governor are still in state budget talks that include K-12 spending. Lee wrote last month he was prepared to issue “judicial remedies” if he didn’t see concrete action by Monday. 

BC-NC-FATAL CRASH-FIVE DEAD

5 killed in single-vehicle crash in Raleigh

Raleigh, N.C. (AP) — Police say five people have died after a single-vehicle accident in Raleigh, North Carolina. News outlets report it happened at about 6:15 a.m. Sunday on Capital Boulevard near Fairview Road. Laura Hourigan, a spokeswoman for Raleigh police, told the News & Observer of Raleigh that the vehicle was heading downtown on Capital Boulevard “when it ran off the road to the right and struck a concrete bridge abutment.” All five people in the vehicle died from their injuries. Hourigan told the newspaper that police are still working on the accident report, and she had no further information.

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