Can we talk about gun violence?

CHARLOTTE – On the federal level, the gun-control debate is now focused on proposed changes to gun legislation, from tightening background checks (given little chance of passage) to efforts to ban military-style assault weapons and limit the capacity of ammunition magazines (given even less).

On the local level, however, in the city neighborhoods where violence doesn’t merit the headlines of Newtown or Aurora, that debate is secondary. The concern there is concentrated on gun violence rather than gun control. At a community conversation in Charlotte on Tuesday evening, a police officer, a doctor and a minister – all experienced in dealing with the daily consequences of young men with guns – led an effort to find solutions.

More Mark Sanford drama? Like you’re surprised

Just when his apology tour was going so well, South Carolina’s Mark Sanford is in the headlines again — and not for his conservative fiscal policies. His ex-wife Jenny Sanford has filed a trespassing complaint saying that in violation of their divorce settlement, she caught him leaving her home in February, using his cell phone as a flashlight.

Jenny Sanford has confirmed that court documents obtained by The Associated Press were authentic, but didn’t give any more details. She told The State newspaper on Tuesday, “We have had a number of matters [in the divorce], and we have to deal with them in private.” Well, except that her husband is running a very public U.S. Congressional race. “The race is not a concern,” Jenny Sanford said. “I am focused on raising my children.”

This can’t be the news South Carolina Republicans wanted to see weeks before a May 7 special election Sanford has a great chance of winning.

Kermit Gosnell trial: It’s about more than politics

Karnamaya Mongar is the name of the 41-year-old woman Kermit Gosnell is charged with murdering; she allegedly received high doses of anesthetic at his Philadelphia abortion clinic. The seven children Gosnell is accused of killing at his Women’s Medical Society, as it was called, didn’t have the chance to be named. They are what the trial of the Philadelphia abortion doctor is about. But in the media coverage – and the arguments over the amount and prominence of that coverage – those individuals often fade into the background.

The women and children of color, the alleged victims, need to be at the top of every story now guaranteed to be written about the Gosnell trial, not pushed off center stage, replaced by an agenda.

Charlotte’s Mayor Anthony Foxx won’t run again. Is he headed for Washington?

CHARLOTTE — The occasion was an open-to-the-public reception to introduce Charlotte’s new city manager. But everyone in the lobby of the government center was talking about the decision by Mayor Anthony Foxx not to run for the third term he certainly would have won handily, and the reports – not confirmed – that he may take a spot as U.S. Secretary of Transportation as Ray LaHood steps down.

Only that would satisfy Sandra Clory, a retired school system dance instructor who has worked with the Mayor’s Mentoring Alliance. “It’s the only way I won’t be angry with him” for leaving the mayor’s office, she said at the Tuesday event, crowded with the neighborhood, nonprofit and business leaders who make Charlotte run. Just then, Foxx walked by; Clory took his arm and asked him if he was going to Washington to work with President Obama. “I don’t know nothing,” he jokingly replied.

It mirrored what Foxx, 41, said in a more serious conversation this week. “I don’t have any comment on that,” Foxx told me. “As I’ve said before, I’ve got plenty of things to focus on in the short and medium term, and that’s what I’m focused on.”

Annette Funicello never lost her smile

As fans of Annette Funicello mourn her death at 70 after a long battle with multiple sclerosis, I realized that although the after-school, black-and-white memories belong to those who grew up with the Mousketeers (I didn’t watched the show), her smile belonged to everyone.

It’s a smile she wore even after she announced her MS diagnosis in 1992, when she greeted fans with kind words and good humor at events and shows. When she could no longer walk, and used a wheelchair, I would see photos of her taking care with each person who showed up with a doll or a lunchbox, a record or picture.

Roger Ebert: Passionate critic, half of a great love story

His long and loving tribute to the woman who ended his bachelorhood showed how much his passion for film extended to the partner he credited with completing his life.

A state religion? What’s next, North Carolina, secession?

As a North Carolina resident also proud to be a United States citizen, I’m starting to worry.

Since Republicans swept the North Carolina state government, from the statehouse to the House and Senate, the tilt right has been unmistakable. But the latest move out of Raleigh has even a lot of die-hard conservatives shaking their heads. Two representatives from Rowan County have filed legislation that would give North Carolina, its counties and towns  the right to establish an official religion.

You know you’ve stepped over religious and constitutional boundaries when evangelist Franklin Graham thinks you’ve gone too far.

Note to Ben Carson: It’s not racism or a ‘plantation’ mentality; it’s just politics

Compared to politics, separating babies conjoined at the head in a 22-hour-long surgical procedure is nothing. I wonder if Dr. Ben Carson is thinking that right about now.

Carson has had a pretty rough time lately. The pediatric neurosurgeon studied hard and worked his way out of rough circumstances to make a name for himself at the top of his field. Today that name is being pummeled, and all because he opened his mouth.

Carson knows who to blame for the metaphorical beating he’s taking, though. White liberals. “They’re the most racist people there are,” he told radio host Mark Levin on Monday. “Because they put you in a little category, a box: ‘You have to think this way, how could you dare come off the plantation?’”

That was a quick turnaround.

In ‘Buckwild’ death, another case of a too real ‘reality’ show

Is it just entertainment? A young cast member’s death again raises questions about the shows that clog network and cable schedules.

What kind of state is North Carolina? Democrats and GOP make high-stakes bets

Democrats and Republicans in North Carolina are in an ideological standoff, with future elections in the balance. That explains why Kay Hagan, a Democratic senator facing a tough 2014 reelection race, endorsed same-sex marriage, and Republicans in control of the statehouse made moves to tighten voting restrictions – all in one week.