VOLUME 11 ISSUE 1 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2026
NSJONLINE.COM
COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA JUDICIAL CENTER
The North Carolina Judicial Center is flying a modified Betsy Ross American flag that includes a 250 in honor of the United States’ upcoming landmark anniversary.
America 250 prep gains momentum
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BRIEF this week
Armed N.C. man shot, killed after entering Mar-a-Lago Washington, D.C. An armed Moore County man entered the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Florida, before being shot and killed early Sunday morning, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service. Although Trump often spends weekends at his resort, he was at the White House when the breach occurred around 1:30 a.m. Austin Tucker Martin, 21 of Cameron, had a gas can and a shotgun, and his family had recently reported him missing, authorities said. Investigators have not identified a motive.
Ukraine marks 4 years since Russian invasion Kyiv, Ukraine Tuesday marked four years since Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine, attacking the country from multiple directions. On Feb. 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special operation,” a campaign that many expected to be brief and to end with Kyiv’s capitulation. Instead, European officials traveled to the Ukrainian capital Tuesday to show their support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his country’s people, who are fighting on. While Putin did not get the quick and overwhelming victory he had hoped for, the cost has been high on both sides. And as Europe’s biggest conflict enters its fifth year, there is no sign of any peace deal despite U.S. diplomatic efforts over the past year.
The North Carolina Judicial Center is flying a Betsy Ross flag emblazoned with 250
NC voters given more time to fix registrations A joint consent agreement was reached to end a 2024 lawsuit By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — A joint consent agreement to end a 2024 lawsuit over incomplete vote registrations in North Carolina was filed last Monday in federal court. The agreement will give
more than 73,000 North Carolina voters additional time to update their registration information to stay on the state’s active voter rolls. Voters casting provisional ballots in federal races will have that ballot count, but verification or curing of missing data is required before state and local ballots can be counted. The parties involved in the lawsuit and agreement
RALEIGH — The North Carolina General Assembly’s America 250 Semiquincentennial Committee continued its celebration work during its meeting this month. Co-chair Sen. Ted Alexander (R-Cleveland) opened the meeting with historical anecdotes for that day’s meeting, including Annie Oakley’s cherished time in Pinehurst, which she regarded as “the happiest years of her life.” The committee has an upcoming deadline to submit a progress report on America 250 preparations to the full General Assembly by the end of March. The committee heard from three students from the North Carolina Youth and Government program: Joshua Brown, Stella McClure and Ava Lupson. “America 250 is not just a historical milestone,” said Brown. “It’s a moment to ask, who are we? How did we get here? And what part do we play in the next 250 years?” McClure urged support for youth-led initiatives, noting that “America 250 is a beautiful catalyst for right now.”
See VOTERS, page A2
See AMERICA 250, page A2
Groups urge rejection of Trump school choice tax credit “It’s a moment to ask, who are we? How did we get here? And what part do we play in the next 250 years?” Joshua Brown, NC Youth and Government program
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By A.P. Dillon North State Journal
The letter was signed by 150 organizations, including six North Carolina activist groups By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — One-hundred fifty groups nationally, including many unions, are calling on governors to reject opting in to the Trump administration’s Education Freedom Tax Credit Program, which was included in the One Big Beautiful Bill. Under the OBBB, the program is a federal tax credit for individuals contributing to scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs), which must be a 501(c)(3) organization. “We write to you today with
the fervent hope that you will stand strong as a champion for all children and public education by rejecting the federal private school voucher tax credit,” the letter reads. The letter’s signatories are from 27 states, though 10 of those states appear to have already signed up for the program, based on a White House-produced map: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. “The federal voucher is another attempt to move our society from the greater ‘we’ to a focus on ‘me,’” the letter claims. “Rather than directly investing federal dollars into critical programs, such as IDEA and Title I, which have never been See CREDIT, page A3
“It’s a moment to ask, who are we? How did we get here? And what part do we play in the next 250 years?” Joshua Brown, NC Youth and Government program