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Good morning! Here’s a look at how AP’s general news coverage is shaping up today in North Carolina. Questions about today’s coverage plans are welcome, and should be directed to Carolinas News Editor Tim Rogers at 919-510-8937 or at [email protected]. Jack Jones is on the desk, followed by Skip Foreman at 2 p.m.

A reminder this information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change.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, digests and digest advisories will keep you up to date.

Some TV and radio stations will receive shorter APNewsNow versions of the stories below, along with all updates.

UPCOMING TODAY:

COAL ASH-NORTH CAROLINA-WATER WARNINGS

RALEIGH — A state toxicologist says officials in North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory’s administration are the ones responsible for fear and confusion about the safety of well water near Duke Energy coal ash pits found to contain a cancer-causing chemical. Toxicologist Ken Rudo says in a statement issued by his attorneys late Tuesday that the state’s environmental and health agencies last year agreed on a safety standard for hexavalent chromium in groundwater after intense scientific discussions. Officials this year decided that standard was too high and declared the water safe to drink. By Emery P. Dalesio. SENT: 130 words. UPCOMING: 500 words by 5 p.m.

CAMPAIGN 2016

BRISTOL, Va. — On the defensive once again, Donald Trump is blaming faulty interpretations and media bias for an uproar over his comments about the Second Amendment. He’s insisting he never advocated violence against Hillary Clinton, even as undeterred Democrats pile on. The latest controversy to strike Trump’s campaign arose, as they often do, out of an offhand quip at a boisterous campaign rally. Claiming falsely that Clinton wants to revoke the right to gun ownership guaranteed in the Constitution’s Second Amendment, Trump said there would be “nothing you can do,” if she’s elected, to stop her from stacking the Supreme Court with anti-gun justices. By Josh Lederman. AP Photos NCEV223, FLAH108. SENT: 800 words.

— With:

— CAMPAIGN 2016-THE LATEST.

FERRIS WHEEL FALL

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Government investigators have not yet determined how a Ferris wheel seat flipped over at a Tennessee county fair, sending three children plummeting 30 to 45 feet to the ground. But the accident that left a 6-year-old girl with a traumatic brain injury sharpened the focus Tuesday on how carnival ride operators are regulated. After a 2014 audit found shortcomings in Tennessee’s regulatory program for rides at fairs and amusement parks, state officials decided to get out of the inspection business altogether. Now, the state relies on private inspectors hired by operators and other states’ regulators to determine whether roller coasters, zip lines and Ferris wheels are safe. By Erik Schelzig. SENT: 610 words. AP Photos TNGRE104, TNGRE102, TNGRE101, TNGRE107.

FROM AP MEMBERS:

IN BRIEF:

— AMOEBA-RELATED DEATH, from CHARLOTTE — The whitewater channels at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in North Carolina are scheduled to reopen six weeks after a visitor died from a brain-eating amoeba. SENT: 130 words.

— CHILD SEX CHARGES-ADOPTION, from WILMINGTON — A North Carolina woman has pleaded guilty to sex charges involving a 14-year-old boy who her family was in the process of adopting from the Philippines. SENT: 130 words.

— POLICE STANDOFF-MAN DIES-NORTH CAROLINA, from ASHEVILLE — Authorities in North Carolina say an Asheville man involved in a standoff with police officers has died. SENT: 130 words.

— UNION FIRE DEATH, from WEDDINGTON — Officials have identified a former Union County prosecutor as the person found dead in a Weddington house fire. SENT: 130 words.

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