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Auditions: Magnolia Arts Center, 1703 E. 14th St., will host auditions for the upcoming play, “An Inspector Calls,” at 6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday. Auditions for “Extra! Extra! The Musical” will be held at 6 p.m. April 7 and 10 a.m. April 8. Visit magnoliaartscenter.com for more information.

District 5 state Sen. Kandie Smith is continuing a series of public forums with an event tonight at Pitt Community College.

The ECU Pirate Club on Wednesday announced a second leadership donation to its $60 million Pirates Unite Campaign to support athletics facilities and programs.

Local Events

East Carolina trailed early after Campbell scored one run in both the first and third innings of Wednesday’s neutral-site game, and the Pirates couldn’t claw back in a 2-1 loss in Fayetteville at Segra Stadium that featured two top-20-pranked programs.

Widely reported in the press is that President Joe Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express his concern about judicial reforms that are currently being considered in Israel.

Are you an employee or a contractor? This isn’t simply a matter of what you call yourself, or how you think about your relationship to those who pay you to perform services. Because formal employment is the subject of so many local, state, and federal rules, its definition is spelled out in …

Are you an employee or a contractor? This isn’t simply a matter of what you call yourself, or how you think about your relationship to those who pay you to perform services. Because formal employment is the subject of so many local, state, and federal rules, its definition is spelled out in …

Do you know what it feels like to be hungry? Do you know what it’s like to worry about how you will get your next meal? If not, consider yourself very fortunate, because there are more than 30,000 people experiencing food insecurity in Pitt County. Do you know who’s making a difference for t…

It’s easy to be greedy with citrus when summer fruits are a mere warm weather promise. Early spring is high season for lemons, and these bars will bring a warming ray of sunshine to your plate.

“Food and nutrition is the determinant of health,” said Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, a mover and shaker in the Nutrition Is Medicine movement. He is a cardiologist from Tufts University and opened the Nutrition in Medical Education Summit I was invited to attend this month. His bold statement, w…

State AP Stories

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The Republican-controlled North Carolina legislature has given final approval to a Medicaid expansion agreement. Thursday's state House vote reverses longstanding opposition to the measure, which now goes to expansion advocate and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper for his signature. GOP legislative leaders reached a deal earlier this month, capping years of debate over whether the politically closely divided state should accept the federal government’s coverage for hundreds of thousands of low-income adults. North Carolina was one of 11 states that hadn't yet adopted expansion. The bill contains one caveat: A state budget law must be passed before expansion can be carried out.

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North Carolina’s elected auditor has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for leaving the scene of a December crash in which she drove her state-owned vehicle into a parked car. Four-term Democratic State Auditor Beth Wood told a Wake County judge on Thursday that she made a “grave mistake” and should have remained at the accident. A judge sentenced Wood to about $300 in court costs and fines in the hit-and-run plea. He pointed out that Wood already had personally paid over $11,000 to cover damages to both cars. Wood said in court that she had drunk two glasses of wine at the party but was not impaired.

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Mexico's president says forensic tests have confirmed that a body found in northern Mexico was that of a drug gang leader accused of murdering two Jesuit priests last year. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador did not say Thursday whether the tests involved a DNA match or fingerprints. The sister of accused killer José Noriel Portillo Gil, alias “El Chueco,” or “The Crooked One,” had earlier identified his body by sight.  The murder of the two beloved Jesuit priests in June 2022 had shocked Mexico. The Jesuits said the suspect’s death proves the government can’t catch criminals and has lost control of parts of the country.

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Proposals in several states would allow or require schools to deadname transgender students or out them to their parents without consent. Transgender kids and their families say the proposals could eliminate K-12 public schools as one of the last remaining havens to explore their identities. The stated aim of the bills is to give parents greater control over their childrens' education. Some parents and teachers argue they have a right to know. But others warn the proposals could jeopardize children's health and safety. And some teachers say the reporting requirements force educators to betray the trust of their students or risk losing their job.

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An agreement to expand Medicaid in North Carolina has reached the cusp of final legislative approval following a state House vote. The House chamber voted 95-21 on Wednesday for legislation that would direct state health officials to accept Medicaid coverage for potentially 600,000 low-income adults. One more affirmative House vote is needed Thursday before it goes to the desk of longtime expansion advocate Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. The Senate voted last week for the agreement reached between Republican lawmakers three weeks ago. GOP lawmakers had been skeptical for nearly a decade about accepting expansion, which originated from the 2010 federal Affordable Care Act.

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North Carolina’s Republican-controlled House has advanced a previously vetoed proposal to restrict how teachers can discuss certain racial topics that some lawmakers equate to “critical race theory.” The House voted 68-49 along party lines Wednesday for legislation banning public school teachers from compelling students to believe they should feel guilty or responsible for past actions committed by people of the same race or sex. House Democrats challenged Republican claims that the bill would reduce discrimination and argued that a comprehensive history education should make students uncomfortable. Republicans are one seat short of a veto-proof supermajority and will likely need some Democratic support for the measure to become law.

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Authorities in South Carolina say a former soldier shot and killed three children as they slept in their home while their mother frantically sought help. The ex-soldier then killed himself. Sumter Police Chief Russell Roark says Charles Slacks Jr. also killed an Army solider who worked with the children’s mother and happened to be at the home. Slacks and the woman were divorced, but he still had a key and let himself in around 10 p.m. Tuesday. Slacks shot the co-worker in the backyard, pushed past the mother and shot the children upstairs. They were a 5-year-old, 6-year-old and an 11-year-old.

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Conservationists want South Carolina to make the Venus fly trap the state’s official carnivorous plant. Supporters say honoring the Venus fly trap isn’t about one extra thing students see on an elementary school worksheet. Instead, it’s to protect and increase awareness of an interesting species found only in the upper part of the South Carolina coast and a small sliver of southeast North Carolina. In all, South Carolina has about five dozen different official state things, such as the state bird, state opera and even a state snack, which is boiled peanuts.

National & World AP Stories

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Shares have fallen in Asia as worries over turmoil in the banking sector and the risks of recession overshadowed gains on Wall Street. Benchmarks declined in most major markets, while U.S. futures were higher. Oil prices fell. On Thursday, the S&P 500 added 0.3% for its third gain in four days after giving up a much bigger advance of 1.8% early in the day. The Dow saw an early gain of 481 points disappear, dipping to a brief loss before closing with a modest gain. Strength for technology stocks helped the Nasdaq composite hold up better than the rest of the market. Treasury yields sank sharply.

MONTICELLO, Minn. (AP) — Water containing a radioactive material has leaked for a second time from a nuclear plant near Minneapolis and the plant will be shut down, but there is no danger to the public, the plant’s owner said Thursday.

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Utah has become the first state to sign into law legislation that attempts to limit teenagers’ access to social media apps. Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed a pair of measures Thursday that require parental consent before kids can sign up for sites like TikTok and Instagram. The two bills Cox signed into law also prohibit kids under 18 from using social media between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. They also require age verification for anyone who wants to use social media in the state and seek to prevent tech companies from luring kids to their apps using addictive features. Other states, such as Arkansas, Texas, Ohio and Louisiana have similar bills in the works.

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North Korea says its cruise missile launches this week were part of nuclear attack simulations that included a detonation from a purported underwater drone. With multiple types of weapons tests so far this year, North Korea is aiming to diversify its delivery systems and display a dual ability to conduct nuclear strikes on South Korea and the U.S. mainland. Leader Kim Jong Un vowed to make his rivals “plunge into despair" as they intensified their own military drills. The United States and South Korea on Thursday concluded 11-day joint exercises that included their biggest field training in years. The United States reportedly plans to send an aircraft carrier soon for more drills with the South.

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Messi mania gripped Buenos Aires as the Argentina national team led by Lionel Messi beat Panama 2-0 in a friendly match that was essentially a celebration of their World Cup victory last December. Messi scored on a perfectly executed free kick in what was the 800th goal of his professional career. After the match, the celebrations got into full swing and Messi took center stage, smiling from ear to ear as he received awards and accolades. “I personally always dreamt of this moment,” a visibly emotional Messi said as he was handed the microphone. The match culminated a week in which Messi was widely celebrated as a hero after winning Argentina’s third World Cup title. It's marked change for a player who was once blamed for the team's failings in previous championships.

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The specter of missing GoPro camera footage documenting the 2016 ski collision between Gwyneth Paltrow and a retired optometrist has been raised at trial in Park City. The daughter of a man suing Paltrow has testified Thursday that her father Terry Sanderson's health and cognitive function deteriorated after the collision, when he broke his ribs and suffered from a concussion. Paltrow has claimed that Sanderson was actually the culprit for the collision, and her attorneys also questioned the daughter about her father's mentions of Paltrow's wealth and celebrity. Paltrow is likely to be called to testify Friday or early next week.

A Hong Kong department store took down a digital artwork that contained hidden references to jailed dissidents, in an incident the artist says is evidence of erosion of free speech in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. It was unclear whether the government played a role in the decision to remove the artwork, it came just days after a slasher film featuring Winnie the Pooh, a figure often used in playful taunts of China’s President Xi Jinping, was pulled from local cinemas. Patrick Amadon’s “No Rioters” was put on display on a billboard at the SOGO Causeway Bay Store for an exhibition that started last Friday, as the city was promoting its return as a vibrant cultural hub following years of pandemic travel restrictions.