AP-NC Newswatch

Latest North Carolina News:

RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-NORTH CAROLINA
With Russian sanctions, NC agencies told to end contracts
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has ordered state offices under his control to terminate government contracts that benefit Russian businesses in response to its war against Ukraine. Monday’s directive for sanctions also meant some liquor was getting removed from shelves at government-operated alcohol stores. Cooper’s executive order directs agencies and departments to review existing contracts and terminate those that directly benefit businesses headquartered in Russia or have their principal place of business there. Cooper also told the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission to suspend the approval of products made by Russian businesses. Cooper’s office says three alcohol brands appear subject to the order.

ELECTION 2022-NORTH CAROLINA-CAWTHORN
NC Rep. Cawthorn returns to run in far-mountain district
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn now will run for reelection in a district that largely follows the boundaries of the mountain district he currently represents. The first-term Republican had filed in December to run for an open seat that was further east. But that district essentially no longer exists because a court ordered that the state’s redistricting map be retooled. Cawthorn went to Raleigh on Monday to file for the 11th District. He is a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and spoke at the Jan. 6, 2021, rally that preceded the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Some critics have argued that should disqualify him from running again.

ELECTION 2022-SENATE-BUDD
Rep. Ted Budd officially enters NC Senate race as candidate
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – North Carolina Rep. Ted Budd has filed candidacy paperwork to officially join this year’s U.S. Senate race. The three-term Republican congressman from Davie County filed with the state elections board on Monday at the N.C. State Fairgrounds. He announced his plans to run last April and received former President Donald Trump’s endorsement in June. Budd says his career in small business, connections to agriculture and his religious faith makes him well-suited for the job. Former Gov. Pat McCrory, ex-Rep. Mark Walker and combat veteran Marjorie Eastman are among his rivals for the May 17 Republican primary. Cheri Beasley is the frontrunner in the Democratic primary.

SCHOOL BUS OVERTURNS
Officials: 12 hurt in crash after NC school bus overturns
CLAYTON, N.C. (AP) – Officials say 12 people have been taken to a hospital with minor injuries after a school bus from a North Carolina high school overturned. WRAL-TV reports that officials said the bus from Cleveland High School overturned on Polenta Road in Johnston County around 2:30 p.m. A county school spokesperson says 12 people on board, including the driver, were taken to a hospital for treatment. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol says all of the injuries were minor. Fourteen students who weren’t injured were returned to the school, where they were being reunited with their parents. The cause of the crash hasn’t been determined yet. 

CHEROKEE LANGUAGE-SMARTPHONES
Cherokee on a smartphone: Part of a drive to save a language
By itself, being able to read smartphone home screens in Cherokee won’t be enough to safeguard the Indigenous language, endangered after a long history of erasure. But it might be a step toward immersing younger tribal citizens in the language spoken by a dwindling number of their elders. Cherokee leaders have spent several months consulting with Lenovo-owned Motorola, which last week introduced a Cherokee language interface on its newest line of phones. Now phone users will be able to find apps and toggle settings using the syllable-based written form of the language first created by the Cherokee Nation’s Sequoyah in the early 1800s.

CAR-TRAIN CRASH
Driver killed when car, train collide in North Carolina
THOMASVILLE, N.C. (AP) – Officials say a driver was killed when a car collided with a train passing through Davidson County. The News & Record reports that Amtrak said the crash happened just before 8:30 p.m. Saturday in Thomasville. Officials say a Ford Focus was traveling south on Turner Street and turned right at a railroad crossing when it was struck by the Amtrak train traveling between 65 and 70 mph. Amtrak says the car was obstructing the tracks, but it’s not known whether the crash happened as the car crossed the tracks or if it stopped. Amtrak says 57 passengers were on the train headed from Charlotte to Raleigh at the time of the crash. No one on board was hurt.

REDISTRICTING-NORTH CAROLINA
NC Republicans ask US Supreme Court to block Congress map
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – North Carolina Republican legislators have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block a congressional redistricting plan that state judges drew this week. Friday’s appeal initiates a last-ditch effort to derail a map that likely would give state Democrats another seat on Capitol Hill in 2023. A three-judge judicial panel adopted its own plan for U.S. House districts on Wednesday after deciding a map approved by the Republican-controlled General Assembly failed to meet the standards the state Supreme Court set for partisan fairness. The GOP legislators’ attorney says the judges overstepped their authority because the U.S. Constitution gives legislatures the job of setting the manner of holding congressional elections.

DOWNED AIRCRAFT-SEARCH
NTSB: Plane that crashed off NC coast made no distress calls
The National Transportation Safety Board says a plane that crashed off the North Carolina coast had issued no distress calls and made no declarations of an emergency. The federal agency released its preliminary report on the crash Friday. The single-engine Pilatus PC-12 went down in the Atlantic Ocean on Feb. 13 near the southern edge of the Outer Banks. Everyone onboard died, including four teenagers. The six passengers were from Carteret County and were returning from a charity hunting event. The plane had taken off from the Hyde County Airport on the mainland and was headed south to Beaufort.