Hello! The Carolinas News Editor is Tim Rogers. The breaking news supervisor is Skip Foreman.

A reminder this information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change.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.

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TOP STORIES:

REDISTRICTING-NORTH CAROLINA

RALEIGH — North Carolina’s Republican-drawn congressional districts were challenged again Friday, this time on arguments that politics played too much of a role in boundaries that were redrawn this year after a court identified racial gerrymandering with a previous map. The national election reform group Common Cause, the state Democratic Party and Democratic voters sued the state, Republican legislative leaders and Gov. Pat McCrory in federal court in Greensboro. By Gary D. Robertson. SENT: 690 words.

CHARTER SCHOOL EXPANSION

RALEIGH — North Carolina’s expanding number of public charter school will grow at a slower pace next year. The state Board of Education took a cautious approach toward groups that proposed opening one of the taxpayer-funded, non-traditional schools in the 2017-18 school year. Board members are being more particular after a handful of charter schools opened and quickly failed due to academic or financial problems. SENT: 240 words.

EXCHANGE-SNAKEBITTEN SUMMER

WILMINGTON — As North Carolinians retreat indoors during this wave of extra heat, snakes are slithering out and about as the warmer temperatures push them from their hiding spaces. And New Hanover Regional Medical Center is prepared for a wave of snake bites. Each year, staff members in the hospital’s emergency department have the opportunity to see venomous snakes up close and personal. By Ashley Morris, StarNews of Wilmington. SENT: 670 words.

IN BRIEF:

— EXPLETIVES-JAIL TIME, from RALEIGH — A North Carolina court is backing a judge who punished a defendant for repeatedly shouting a coarse expletive during his trial. SENT: 120 words.

— DOCTORS GROUP-UNC, from CHAPEL HILL — A doctors group has filed a complaint against the emergency medicine training program at the UNC School of Medicine, saying the program violates federal law by using live animals. SENT: 120 words.

— AMOEBA-RELATED DEATH, from CHARLOTTE — The U.S. National Whitewater Center has begun refilling its raft and kayak channels, weeks after an Ohio teenager died after she visited the center and came into contact with an amoeba. SENT: 120 words.

— CORRECTIONAL OFFICER-SEX CHARGE, from SNOW HILL — Authorities in Greene County have accused a state correctional officer of having sexual contact with an inmate. SENT: 130 words.

— LGBT RIGHTS-NORTH CAROLINA, from WINSTON-SALEM — A federal judge who’s considering whether to block a North Carolina law governing transgender bathroom access wants to hear more from attorneys after the U.S. Supreme Court waded into a Virginia case. SENT: 120 words.

— FAMILY DOLLAR-JOBS, from CHARLOTTE — Dollar Tree says it’s cutting 370 jobs at the former corporate headquarters of Family Dollar Stores in Matthews. SENT: 120 words.

— HEROIN TASK FORCE, from WILMINGTON — A new task force formed to stem the flow of heroin into the Wilmington area has made its first arrests. SENT: 130 words.

— TEACHER-SEX CHARGE, from LINCOLNTON — Police say a North Carolina teacher has been arrested in an undercover operation on charges of trying to solicit an underage girl for sex. SENT: 130 words.

— SCHOOL SECRETARY-SEX CHARGES, from SHELBY — A Cleveland County high school secretary has been charged with having sex with two students. SENT: 130 words.

— FATAL FALL-CONSTRUCTION WORKER, from CARMERTON — Officials are investigating after they say a worker fell to his death at a construction site in Cramerton. SENT: 130 words.

— CONVENIENCE STORE SLAYINGS, from GREENVILLE — A man sentenced to death for killing three convenience store workers will not receive a new trial. SENT: 130 words.

SPORTS:

FBN–PANTHERS-RISING POPULARITY

CHARLOTTE — After three straight NFC South titles and a trip to the Super Bowl, interest in the Carolina Panthers reached an all-tiome high. The Panthers have already set a fan attendance record fro training camp (and it’s not even half over) and soldout their stadium for Friday night’s Fan Fest. By Sports Writer Steve Reed. UPCOMING: 650 words, AP photos by 9 p.m.

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The AP, Raleigh