MEDICAID-MOTHERS
Expanded Medicaid for new mothers begins in NC
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — New mothers can now receive one year of full Medicaid coverage after delivery as a new state law expanding services takes effect. The 12-month post-partum coverage began on Friday. The expansion was offered to states in a COVID-19 relief and stimulus package approved by Congress last year. Until now, women whose households received up to nearly twice the poverty level could receive 60 days of post-partum coverage. Most pregnant women and those whose pregnancies have ended also will receive full Medicaid benefits — and not just maternity-focused benefits previously provided. The state’s cost share will be paid for through increased hospital assesment receipts.
MURDER CHARGE-MAN CONVICTED
NC man convicted of murder in 2017 fatal beating of uncle
ELIZABETHTOWN, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina prosecutor says a man has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2017 beating death of his uncle. District Attorney Jon David said 21-year-old Gabriel McDowell of Elizabethtown was convicted on Thursday after a trial that began last week. In a news release, David says the court has discretion to sentence McDowell to less than life without parole because he was 16 at the time the crime was committed. News outlets report McDowell was charged in the death of his uncle, 60-year-old Charles Leach in December 2017. Authorities said Leach, who lived in Clarkton, was the target of a robbery.
ELECTION-2022-GEORGIA-GREENE
Greene sues to stop challenge to her reelection eligibility
ATLANTA (AP) — U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has filed a lawsuit challenging a state law that a group of voters is using to challenge her eligibility to run for reelection. The challenge filed last month with the Georgia secretary of state’s office alleges that Greene helped facilitate the Jan. 6, 2021 riot that disrupted Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential election victory. That violates a provision of the 14th Amendment and makes her ineligible to run for reelection, the challenge says. Greene filed a lawsuit Friday asking a judge to declare that the law that the voters are using to challenge her eligibility is itself unconstitutional and to prohibit state officials from enforcing it.
NATO-PLANE-CRASH
Body of Marine killed in NATO crash in Norway returned to US
LEOMINSTER, Mass. (AP) — The body of a Marine officer killed during a NATO training exercise in Norway has been returned to his home in Massachusetts. A plane carrying the remains of Capt. Ross Reynolds landed Saturday at Logan International Airport in Boston. There it was met by his family and Gov. Charlie Baker. Six Marines loaded the casket into a hearse, which then was escorted to his hometown of Leominster, west of Boston. Hundreds of city residents, many of them bearing U.S. and Marine Corps flags, lined the streets as the hearse made its way to a funeral home in neighboring Fitchburg.
ELECTION 2022-NORTH CAROLINA-CAWTHORN
NC Sen. Tillis joins Republicans supporting Cawthorn rival
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis has endorsed a state legislator over U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn in the upcoming Republican primary. Tillis’ backing of state Sen. Chuck Edwards adds another consequential voice in North Carolina’s GOP willing to oppose Cawthorn in his reelection bid in the 11th Congressional District. Cawthorn has received criticisms from a larger swath of Republicans for recent comments, including one in which he called the Ukrainian president a “thug.” Tillis says Cawthorn has “fallen well short” of expectations. North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger also were featured guests at a lunch fundraiser Thursday for Edwards.
MACY’S-FULFILLMENT CENTER
Macy’s building NC distribution center, 2,800 jobs to come
CHINA GROVE, N.C. (AP) — Macy’s Inc. has announced plans to build a distribution and online order fulfillment center in central North Carolina that ultimately will employ 2,800 people. The department store and online retail giant said Thursday it will invest $584 million in the project in China Grove, which is northeast of Charlotte. The center could one day handle 30% of the company’s digital supply chain capacity. South Carolina also was in the running for the center. North Carolina state and local governments could ultimately give Macy’s incentives valued over $60 million. State government announced earlier this week that an electric car maker planned to create 7,500 jobs in Chatham County.
ARMED ROBBERIES-SUSPECT SENTENCED
South Carolina man gets 12 years for robbing 3 NC pharmacies
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man has been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for a series of armed robberies involving pharmacies in North Carolina. U.S. Attorney Dena King says Christopher Michaud of Chesterfield, South Carolina, was sentenced on Wednesday and was also given three years of supervised release for his robbery and firearms offenses. Court documents and testimony at the sentencing hearing showed that between January and April 2020, Michaud robbed three pharmacies in the city of Monroe and illegally obtained large amounts of prescription opioids and other controlled substances. In two of the robberies, Michaud used a firearm. Michaud pleaded guilty last June and is awaiting transfer to a federal prison.
ELECTION 2022-NORTH CAROLINA-CAWTHORN
US judge won’t let 2nd group of voters fight Cawthorn suit
WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge has refused to allow a second group of voters seeking to challenge the candidacy of North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn through a section of the Constitution addressing insurrection from opposing him in court. U.S. District Judge Richard Myers denied on Wednesday the request of voters from 11th Congressional District to enter Cawthorn’s lawsuit against the State Board of Elections. This involves an effort to disqualify the first-term Republican from seeking reelection because of his involvement with the rally that preceded the U.S. Capitol riot in January 2021. Cawthorn has won in court so far and says he’s never participated in an insurrection.
