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    The Kentucky Derby turns 150 years old this Saturday. America's longest continuously held sporting event has survived two world wars, the Great Depression and pandemics, including COVID-19 in 2020. That year it was run in virtual silence without the usual crowd of 150,000. The first Saturday in May is known for fast horses, stylishly dressed fans and mint juleps served in souvenir glasses. Among the changes this year is the value of the race, which has been boosted to $5 million, and the new $200 million paddock where the Derby horses will be saddled at Churchill Downs.

    A deadly shootout in Charlotte that left five dead illustrates how smartphone-wielding bystanders don’t always run for cover when bullets start to fly. Increasingly, they look to livestream their perspective of the attack. Experts say the reaction reflects the new role that bystanders play in the age of smartphones. Saing Chhoeun was locked out of his home Monday as law enforcement with high-powered riles descended into his yard and garage. He took out his phone and started live-streaming the standoff between officials and his neighbor, a man wanted for possession of a firearm by an ex-felon and fleeing to elude. Other residents did the same.

      Friends, colleagues and the wife of fallen Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Joshua Eyer are remembering him as a hard-charging outwardly stern cop who also peppered friends with “how’s things” texts and showered love on his wife and young son. Thousands packed the sanctuary at Charlotte’s First Baptist Church on Friday for Eyer’s memorial service. They honored the life and sacrifice of a man who would push as hard to arrest a homicide suspect as he would someone who stole a sandwich. Eyer was one of four officers killed Monday as they tried to serve a warrant on a man wanted for being a felon in possession of a weapon. The suspect also was killed.

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      About a week after legislators brushed off his amendments to bills ensuring the right to contraception and requiring insurance coverage, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said he’s still thinking about what do.

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