The Panthers have chosen in the first round of the NFL Draft. The Observer calls former University of Washington linebacker Shaq Thompson a "do-it-all defense player."
When law enforcement officers go bad: Thirteen former and current ones in Eastern North Carolina were arrested in a drug-trafficking setup, what officials described yesterday at a press conference as "a coordinated attempt to move what they thought were large shipments of cocaine and heroin through North Carolina to other East Coast states."
The U.S. House has passed a budget plan that opens the door to allow Republicans to try to repeal Obamacare. (Fun fact: The House has voted more than 50 times to delay or repeal the healthcare legislation.) The budget plan calls "for $5.3 trillion in spending cuts to reach balance in nine years. Most of the reductions, $4.1 trillion, would come from programs including entitlements like Medicare. The plan would use a reserve fund to increase military spending."
Baltimore's ABC7 News reports that the medical examiner investigating the death of Freddie Gray found evidence that the 25-year-old sustained the neck injury that nearly severed his spine while riding in the back of the police van. "Gray's catastrophic injury was caused when he slammed into the back of the police transport van, apparently breaking his neck; a head injury he sustained matches a bolt in the back of the van." But the police officer who was driving the van has still not given a statement.
It's the first of the month (cue Bone Thug N' Harmony). Here's a story on the history of May Day, a day of worker solidarity and protest.