Duke Energy announced Thursday a multi-stepped plan to permanently close coal ash basins and store coal ash generated from its North Carolina power plants. The company submitted detailed coal ash excavation plans to the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources for ash stored at the high-priority Asheville Steam Electric Plant, Dan River Steam Station (Eden), Riverbend Steam Station (Mount Holly) and L.V. Sutton Steam Electric Plant (Wilmington) facilities, the company said in a news release.

Gov. Pat McCrory and two of his predecessors have sued the General Assembly to stop a newly created Coal Ash Management Commission. Lawmakers created the panel to oversee the cleanup and regulation of coal ash, material left over after coal is burned for fuel, after a coal ash spill dumped millions of gallons of toxin-laced water into the Dan River in February. Legislators said that an independent body was needed, but the lawsuit, filed in Wake County Superior Court on Thursday, says that lawmakers usurped McCrory's authority by creating commissions to carry out functions normally overseen by state agencies directed by the governor.

The publishing gazelle has escaped the e-commerce cheetah—at least for now. Book publisher Hachette has reached a new multiyear agreement with Amazon.com, ending months of contentious contract negotiations. It looks like a victory for the publisher: Under the agreement, Hachette will control e-book pricing and authors won’t give up any of their current e-book royalties to Amazon. It was widely believed that Amazon was seeking to lower e-book prices and to collect a larger cut of the resulting royalties.

President Obama will ignore angry protests from Republicans and announce as soon as next week a broad overhaul of the nation’s immigration enforcement system that will protect up to five million unauthorized immigrants from the threat of deportation and provide many of them with work permits, according to administration officials who have direct knowledge of the plan.