Hello! The Carolinas News Editor is Tim Rogers. The breaking news supervisor is Jack Jones.

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TOP STORIES:

DUKE ENERGY-COAL ASH FINE

RALEIGH — The nation’s largest electric company and North Carolina’s environment agency are negotiating over a fine of about $7 million to punish Duke Energy for a big spill of liquefied coal ash. Attorneys for the state agency and Duke Energy Corp. said delaying Monday’s scheduled hearing may help resolve the disputed fine for polluting the Dan River in 2014. Duke Energy has called the proposed fine disproportionate and arbitrary. By Business Writer Emery P. Dalesio. SENT: 490 words.

BERGDAHL

FORT BRAGG — The judge overseeing Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s military trial said Monday that a top general must testify about destroying letters that he received from supporters and critics of the soldier who walked off his post in Afghanistan. The judge, Army Col. Jeffery Nance, also cast doubt on the viability of an early 2017 trial date for Bergdahl, but stopped short of changing it. By Jonathan Drew. SENT: 540 words.

— With:

— BERGDAHL-THE LATEST.

LGBT RIGHTS

AUSTIN, Texas — A federal judge in Texas is blocking for now the Obama administration’s directive to U.S. public schools that transgender students must be allowed to use the bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen gender identity. Hundreds of school districts Monday woke up to news of the order by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor on the first day of class in Texas and elsewhere. By Paul J. Weber. SENT: 750 words. With AP Photos TXBS201 and TXAU301

CLIMATE CHANGE-SMOG

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The drier, warmer autumn weather that’s becoming more common due to climate change may extend summer smog well into the fall in the Southeastern U.S. in the years ahead, according to a study published on Monday. Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences also suggests a culprit for the smog that many people might not expect: It’s the lush woodlands that give much of the South a lovely green canopy. That’s because of a natural defense mechanism trees use to protect their leaves from drought conditions. By Jason Dearen. SENT: 715 words.

DIVIDED AMERICA-MILLENNIALS

UNDATED — The oldest millennials — nearing 20 when airplanes slammed into New York City’s Twin Towers — are old enough to remember the relative economic prosperity of the 1990s, and when a different Clinton was running for president. The nation’s youngest adults — now nearing 20 themselves — find it hard to recall a reality without terrorism and economic worry. Now millennials have edged out baby boomers as the largest living generation in U.S. history, and more than 75 million of them have come of age. How they vote on Nov. 8 will shape the political landscape for years to come. Yet with less than three months to go before Election Day, the values of young Americans whose coming-of-age was bookended by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the Great Recession are emerging as an unpredictable grab bag of fiscal conservatism and social liberalism. By Gillian Flaccus, Tamara Lush And Martha Irvine. SENT: 1,990 words. AP Photos NY531, NY532, NY533, NY534, NY535, NY536, NY537, NY538, NY539, NY540, NY541, NY542, NY543, NY544, NY545, NY546, NY547, NY548.

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— DIVIDED AMERICA-MILLENNIALS-ABRIDGED.

CROP MOB

BOLTON, Vt. — Want to help local farms, get your hands dirty in the field and learn about how food is grown? Join a crop mob. Teams of volunteers — from would-be farmers to local food lovers and those who want to support local agriculture — descend on fields helping with everything from weeding and harvesting crops to putting up or cleaning up greenhouses. By Lisa Rathke. SENT: 540 words. AP Photos NY548.RPLR201, RPLR203, RPLR202.

IN BRIEF:

— RALEIGH GARAGE SHOOTING, from RALEIGH — A jury has indicted a Raleigh man accused of fatally shooting a young black man leaving a neighbor’s house party. SENT: 130 words.

— FIERY CRASH, from DURHAM — Authorities say one person died in a fiery, chain-reaction wreck on Interstate 40 in Durham. SENT: 90 words.

— HOG PLANT-WRIGHT COUNTY, from CLARION, Iowa — Wright County supervisors have approved a development agreement with a North Carolina-based company that plans to build a $240 million pork processing plant in northern Iowa. SENT: 130 words.

— DOG DROWNED, from RALEIGH — Two 19-year-old Raleigh teenagers are accused of drowning a dog in a swimming pool. SENT: 120 words.

— FATAL CRASH, from RALEIGH — Authorities have released the names of three people killed in a wreck in Raleigh earlier this week. SENT: 130 words.

— NESTING SEA TURTLE KILLED, from MANTEO — The National Park Service says a green sea turtle was run over by a vehicle while nesting at Cape Hatteras National Seashore. SENT: 130 words.

— WOMEN SHOT-CHARLOTTE, from CHARLOTTE — Police in Charlotte are investigating a shooting that killed one woman and wounded another. SENT: 130 words.

— BONE MARROW DONORS, from RALEIGH — Five people who stepped forward to give a piece of themselves and help fight blood cancer are hoping others will do the same. SENT: 130 words.

— TROPICAL WEATHER, from MIAMI — The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Fiona is holding as a tropical depression in the Atlantic. SENT: 130 words.

— MAN SHOT IN THROAT, from FAYETTEVILLE — Police say a man has been shot in the throat after threatening to drive into a home in Fayetteville. SENT: 130 words.

— ESCAPED INMATE, from MAURY — Authorities are searching for an inmate who they say escaped from a prison in North Carolina. SENT: 130 words.

— CHILD ABUSE-AUNT, from FAYETTEVILLE — A Fayetteville woman has been arrested after police say she tried to drown and smother her 2-year-old nephew. SENT: 130 words.

SPORTS:

FBN–PANTHERS-EALY EXPECTATIONS

CHARLOTTE — Defensive end Kony Ealy likely would have been the MVP had the Panthers managed to win Super Bowl 50, sacking Peyton Manning three times, forcing a fumble and posting an interception. Ealy’s breakout game on the biggest stage has led to huge expectations for the third-year defensive end. By Steve Reed. UPCOMING: 600 words by 7:30 p.m., photos.

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