Unsurprisingly, critics of the locally proposed municipal IDs have started speaking out. The IDs are meant for people who don't have Social Security numbers - often undocumented immigrants - and critics argue that implementing such a program, as Charlotte's mayor has proposed, would encourage such immigrants to come to Charlotte. Backers of the IDs, which are in use in other cities around the U.S., argue they address an issue the federal government doesn't seem to want to touch.

Gov. McCrory's plan to reform Medicaid relied heavily on federal approval - but he pitched the idea to the public two weeks before he even mentioned it to the feds, who quickly rejected it. It's a mess of a system that has plagued North Carolina's leadership for decades, including this current regime. "Medicaid management is so messy that the General Assembly is resorting to guesswork on how much money the program will need this year. The state program, hamstrung by troubled new computer systems, cannot provide trusted data on claims and enrollment."

This seems to be an all-too-common story these days. Hospital officials have confirmed that a 3-year-old boy in Lancaster has died from a heatstroke four days after being left in a hot car. The news comes on the heels of a high-profile case of another such incident, in Georgia, which authorities say could have been carried out intentionally by the boy's parents.

Pope Francis invited a few victims of sexual abuse carried out by Catholic priests to a private mass in Rome and asked for their forgiveness. "I ask for the grace to weep, the grace for the Church to weep and make reparation for her sons and daughters who betrayed their mission, who abused innocent persons," the pope said in his homily. "I beg your forgiveness, too, for the sins of omission on the part of Church leaders who did not respond adequately to reports of abuse."