Hello! Here's a look at how AP's general news coverage is shaping up in the Mid-Atlantic, covering North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. 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. AP-Mid-Atlantic News Editor Steve McMillan can be reached at 804-643-6646 or smcmillan@ap.org.
A reminder this information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change. Expected stories may not develop, or late-breaking and more newsworthy events may take precedence. Advisories and digests will keep you up to date. For up-to-the minute information on AP's coverage, visit Coverage Plan at newsroom.ap.org
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TODAY'S TOP STORIES
NORTH CAROLINA
SUPREME COURT-ABORTION-KENTUCKY
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday left in place a Kentucky law requiring doctors to perform ultrasounds and show fetal images to patients before abortions. The justices did not comment in refusing to review an appeals court ruling that upheld the law. Enforcement of the law had been on hold pending the legal challenge but will begin shortly, said Steve Pitt, general counsel to Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin. By Mark Sherman. SENT: 430 words.
OBIT-UPC INVENTOR WENDELL, N.C. — George J. Laurer, whose invention of the Universal Product Code at IBM transformed retail and other industries around the world, has died. He was 94. A funeral was held on Monday for Laurer, who died Thursday at his home in Wendell, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. Sean Bannon with Strickland Funeral Home in Wendell said he had no information on Laurer's cause of death. SENT: 340 words.
OBESITY-BRAIN
UNDATED — New results from the largest long-term study of brain development and children’s health raise provocative questions about obesity and brain function. Does excess body weight somehow reduce brain regions that regulate planning and impulse control? Is obesity a result of that brain difference? Or are eating habits, lifestyle, family circumstances and genetics to blame? By Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner. SENT: 580 words.
IN BRIEF:
— ELECTION 2020-SENATE-TILLIS — U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis said on Monday he's “very confident" that he'll win any Republican primary he may be in — a reference to a North Carolina GOP congressman mulling an 11th-hour statewide challenge of him due to recently redrawn House maps.
— ODD_RUNAWAY-BED BATH BEYOND — Employees at a Bed, Bath & Beyond in North Carolina discovered an uninvited sleepover guest hiding in the store when they opened up.
— TEACHER CHARGED — A former North Carolina teacher faces charges in connection with the sharing of inappropriate photos and videos of herself, authorities said.
— SHARKS-CAROLINA COAST — Great white sharks are showing up off the Carolina coast as winter approaches.
— EMPLOYEE-FATAL SHOOTING — Police say an employee at a sandwich shop in North Carolina has been shot and killed while opening the restaurant for business Monday morning.
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VIRGINIA
GUN RIGHTS RALLY
RICHMOND, Va. —More than 200 gun rights activists wearing “Guns SAVE Lives” stickers rallied Monday in Virginia, vowing to fight any attempt by the new Democratic majority in the state legislature to pass new restrictions on gun ownership. The “God. Family. Guns” rally was held just a month before the General Assembly is set to begin a session that is almost certain to include a variety of gun control proposals, including requiring universal background checks for gun buyers, prohibiting the sale of assault weapons and a '"red flag" law allowing police or family members to petition a court to temporarily take away guns from people who may present a danger to themselves or others. By Denise Lavoie. SENT: 390 words.
NORTHAM-BUDGET
RICHMOND, Va. — irginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday that his budget proposal will include about $22 million for efforts to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies and reduce the racial disparity in the state’s maternal mortality rate. Part of the funding in the spending plan for the legislative session that begins in January would expand Medicaid coverage for new moms and increase home visits from care providers, said Northam, who was surrounded by advocates holding babies and young children as he spoke in Richmond. The plan also would fund access to long-term contraceptives for low-income patients and study the possibility of Medicaid reimbursement for doula services. By Sarah Rankin. SENT: 530 words.
NEW ZEALAND-VOLCANO VICTIMS
RICHMOND, Va. — Relatives of a newlywed American couple are desperately seeking information after learning that the husband and wife were severely burned from a volcano eruption in New Zealand. Barbara Barham told The Washington Post on Monday that daughter Lauren Urey, 32, and husband Matthew Urey, 36, were on their honeymoon. Barham said the couple from Richmond, Virginia, had plans to visit a live volcano and weren't concerned about possible eruptions. SENT: 260 words.
ATLANTIC COAST PIPELINE
CHARLESTON, W. Va, — Attorneys general from 18 states are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to allow construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to continue. West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said his office will lead the coalition. A friend of the court brief scheduled to be filed Monday argues that the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, erred when it ruled last December that the U.S. Forest Service lacked authority to grant the pipeline rights of way across the Appalachian Trail and through the George Washington and Monongahela National Forests. SENT: 340 words.
CNS—CANNABIS REFORM
RICHMOND, Va. — “We do grams, eighths, quarters, half ounces, pounds, wholesale pounds -- however you want it,” Jacob Stretch said, standing between crates of dried hemp in his living room that doubles as his hemp processing and drying facility. Stretch, owner of Chesapeake Blue, just finished his first season growing industrial hemp as a registered grower and processor on his family’s farm. Industrial hemp is poised to be a fast growing sector of agriculture in Virginia. Hemp advocacy group Vote Hemp estimates 2017 retail sales of hemp products neared $820 million nationally and will continue to grow. By Jeff Raines and Morgan Edwards, Capital News Service. SENT: 2,720 words.
IN BRIEF:
— GUN SANCTUARIES-VIRGINIA — A Virginia sheriff has vowed to deputize county residents if the new Democratic majority in the state legislature passes gun control measures.
— PASSENGER JET-COCKPIT SMOKE — An American Eagle flight bound for Washington, D.C., from Florida landed safely Monday after the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
— VIRGINIA BEACH SHOOTING-WORKERS COMP — Workers' compensation claims have emerged as another yardstick for measuring the devastation of the mass shooting in Virginia Beach. The Virginian-Pilot reported Sunday that 450 city employees have filed for workers' compensation benefits.
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MARYLAND/DELAWARE
COLLEGE STABBING-HATE CRIME
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — Jury selection began Monday for the trial of a white man charged with a hate crime in the fatal stabbing of a black college student on the University of Maryland’s campus. Jurors are expected to hear opening statements for Sean Urbanski’s trial later this week. Urbanski is charged with first-degree murder and a hate crime in the May 2017 killing of Richard Collins III, 23, a Bowie State University student who had recently been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. SENT: 220 words.
SOCIAL MEDIA-POLITICAL ADS
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Maryland law approved by state legislators to prevent foreign interference in local elections is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment, a federal appeals court has ruled. A three-judge panel of the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the law targets political expression and compels certain speech, and affirmed a lower court's ruling to strike the law down. By Brian Witte. SENT: 5:30 words.
CLERGY STRESS-PLIGHT OF THE PRIESTHOOD
UNDATED — More than a century ago, waves of Catholic immigrants from Ireland, Poland and Quebec settled in Chicopee and other western Massachusetts mill towns, helping build churches, rectories and schools to accommodate their faith. Today the priests leading those churches are under siege due to stresses, challenges and sex abuse scandals complicating their lives and those of their fellow priests across the United States. The Rev. Mark Stelzer is among those trying to persevere. He's a professor at a Roman Catholic college in Chicopee, and its chaplain. He travels frequently to out-of-state events organized by a Catholic addiction-treatment provider, recounting his own recovery from alcoholism.By David Crary. SENT: 2,160 words. Abridged version available.
IN BRIEF:
— SOFTBALL FIELDS-CHILD'S — Police in Delaware say they're still following up on tips they've received about the remains of a young girl that were found near some softball fields.
— TEACHER PAY — The four highest-paid teachers in one Maryland county are high school athletic directors, each earning more than $114,000 per year.
— TRAFFIC STOP-DRIVER DEATH — Police in Maryland say a driver attempting to get away from a traffic stop crashed into a house and died. Citing tweets from the Prince George's County Police Department, news outlets report the crash happened early Monday morning in the Adelphi area.
— FATAL CRASH — A Maryland man has been sentenced to three months in prison for a 2018 crash that killed a Delaware woman.
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SPORTS
FBN--RAVENS ANALYSIS
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — A year ago, the Baltimore Ravens didn't earn a playoff berth until the final day of the regular season. They're already there now, and could clinch the top seed in the AFC before the season finale. By Sports Writer David Ginsburg. UPCOMING: 650 words, AP Photos by 6:30 p.m. ET.
FBN—PANTHERS-ANALYSIS
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Panthers have lost five straight games and are out of playoff contention, which would appear to be a perfect time to get a look at rookie third-round draft pick Will Grier. But that won't happen — at least not this week. Interim coach Perry Fewell said Monday the quarterback situation will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis, but that right now the team is sticking with Kyle Allen this week against the Seattle Seahawks because he give the team the best chance to win. By Sports Writer Steve Reed. SENT: 840 words, AP Photos.
CAR—NASCAR-PEARN STEPS DOWN
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Cole Pearn, considered one of the top crew chiefs in NASCAR, is leaving the sport to spend more time with his family. Pearn won the 2017 NASCAR championship with Martin Truex Jr. and guided Truex to the title race in four of their five years together, including the last three seasons. Truex was the championship runner-up the last two years, including last month when a rare mistake in the pits cost the No. 19 team a shot at the title. By Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer. SENT: 460 words.
FBC--NAGURSKI AWARD
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Bronko Nagurski Award will be given out to the nation's top defensive players. The finalists are Clemson's Isaiah Simmons, Georgia’s J.R. Reed, Auburn's Derrick Brown, Minnesota's Antoine Winfield and Ohio State's Chase Young. By Sports Writer Steve Reed. UPCOMING, 400 words. Lead expected approximately 9 p.m. ET
BKC--T25-TOP 25 POLL
UNDATED — Louisville and Kansas remained atop the Top 25 this week. Ohio State jumped three spots to No. 3 after routing then-No. 7 North Carolina and blowing out Penn State. Maryland dropped one spot to fourth despite continuing to pile up wins. Michigan slid one spot to round out the top five after Louisville handed the Wolverines their first loss of the season. San Diego State joined the rankings at No. 25. By Sports Writer Dave Skretta. SENT 800 words, photos.
