The North Carolina Youth Tobacco Survey presented Thursday showed 4.3 percent of middle school students and 15.5 percent of high school students smoked cigarettes. That rate has dropped steadily in North Carolina since 2003.

The agency correlated that data with its Tobacco. Reality. Unfiltered non-smoking campaign. When that campaign was launched in 2003, 9.3 percent of middle school students and 43 percent of high school students smoked.

Funding for the program was relocated to the department’s budget last year and is not set to recur.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The Winston-Salem Journal reported that the prosecutors were meeting Thursday in Forsyth County to learn how to fight motions filed under the 2009 law. It allows death row prisoners to use statistics and other evidence to try to prove race proved a significant role in their sentences.

If they’re successful, their sentences are reduced to life in prison without parole. One sentence has been reduced so far.

The training session is being held at an undisclosed location and isn’t open to the public. Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill said he didn’t know the cost, but said the bills will go to the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Each team is comprised of three amateur golfers and one celebrity. Celebrities include Dell and Stephen Curry, Muggsy Bogues, Bimbo Coles, Phil Crosby, Dale Jarrett, Muhsin Muhammad, Eugene Robinson, Tony Womack and local sportscaster and TV personalities. Join us to play or participate as a sponsor for maximum exposure.

Registration will begin at 10:00am with a Noon shotgun start. Boxed lunches will be provided on carts. Following play, dinner and an awards reception will be held in the ballroom. Mulligans and raffle tickets will be available for purchase.

To learn more about the Ada Jenkins Center and all they do within the community visit www.adajenkins.org, call 704-896-0471 or email natisha.rivera@adajenkins.org.

The Celtics captain put in 24 points in Boston’s 101-91 Game 3 victory over the 76ers in Philadelphia, putting his knee injury behind him and getting aggressive when it came to pretty much every aspect of the game.

“Whether I shot the ball well or not, everything I was going to do was being with aggression,” Pierce said.

Aggressive might be an understatement. Pierce was in attack mode early on, even if his shots weren’t falling. Early in the first quarter, he missed four shots from close range, but it was the fact he fought for the three put-backs in the paint that showed he was determined to make a difference after scoring just seven points in Boston’s Game 2 loss.

He continued to go strong to the basket, following up his early misses with two ferocious dunks. Pierce finishing with nine points in the first 12 minutes of the game. He ended up hitting six of his 17 attempts from the floor, but did most of his damage at — and getting to — the free throw line. After just two trips to the charity stripe on Monday, Pierce found his way to the line 14 times in Game 3, scoring 11 of his points at the line.

Special Coverage: NBA Playoffs

He made it known to all of Philly when he was making his way to the line, following each drive to the hoop with an aggressive scream that would make Mel Gibson’s “Braveheart” jealous.

“Everything I was going to do was going to be aggressive because they were really collapsing on me on the down-screens, on my jumpers,” said Pierce. “I just tried to get to the hole and I was able to get to the line; able to get to the rim a number of times. It’s something I have to continue to do.”

“Paul is just a grinder,” head coach Doc Rivers said following the win. “He really is. You look at him at times and you wonder, ‘How is this guy getting open?’ He just has great fundamentals. He never does it with speed. He just knows how to play basketball. He’s a throwback guy, that he knows how to play basketball. We jokingly call him our ‘professional scorer’ and that’s what he is in a lot of ways.”

“[Pierce] played great for us tonight,” said point guard Rajon Rondo, who scored 23 points of his own while dishing out 14 assists. “Paul has been struggling scoring, but he has been doing the intangibles. On those [first-quarter] drives, he didn’t get some calls early in the game and thought they were fouls, so he went out and was aggressive and finished strong.”

Recap: Thunder Go Up 2-0 On Lakers

Pierce had been just 5-for-20 in the series in the first two games, but helped the Celtics send a message as they took a 2-1 series lead. While he only added four assists, he credited the team’s ball movement for getting the offense going.

“Our offense finally came alive,” Pierce said. “We moved the ball. We knew that’s what we were going to have to do to score 100 points.”

“We just wanted to come out and establish who we are as a team,” Pierce said.

They certainly did that. Now they just need to keep it going on Friday night.

Box Score | Playoffs Schedule

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Kevin Durant scored 22 points and rattled in the go-ahead basket on a baseline runner with 18 seconds left, and the Oklahoma City Thunder scored the final nine points to rally for a 77-75 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals Wednesday night.

Oklahoma City trailed by seven with 2 minutes left before surging back with a series of defensive stops by its stars to take a 2-0 lead.

Game 3 is Friday night in Los Angeles.

Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum scored 20 points apiece for the Lakers, who came up empty on their last six possessions after Bynum’s hook shot made it 75-68 with 2:09 remaining.

Game 2 Photo Gallery (Photo:Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)

After struggling throughout the second half, the Thunder suddenly came alive after Scott Brooks called timeout following Bynum’s basket that gave Los Angeles its largest lead of the game.

James Harden drove for a layup before Durant used his height advantage to reach up and tip away a pass from Bryant, who he was guarding. Durant ran out for a right-handed dunk at the other end before Russell Westbrook forced another turnover by aggressively challenging an outlet pass to Bryant along the sideline.

Harden made the next stop, blocking Bryant’s jumper on the next Lakers possession and getting a layup in transition off it to cut the deficit to one in the final minute.

Bryant couldn’t connect again, this time on a 3-pointer, to give the Thunder the ball back with the chance to take the lead and Durant was able to make it happen.

Steve Blake missed a 3-pointer from the right side with about 5 seconds left after Metta World Peace couldn’t get the ball to Bryant on the inbounds play. Durant was then fouled with 0.3 seconds left and made his first try before missing the second on purpose – failing to hit the backboard or rim for a violation.

The Lakers got a desperation try but World Peace’s long pass for Bynum was intercepted by Harden.

Westbrook added 15 points for Oklahoma City, which matched its lowest scoring total of the season but still gutted out the win.

Historically, the loss makes a huge difference. Los Angeles is 29-12 when splitting the first two games of a seven-game series and has lost 17 of 19 when falling into a 2-0 hole. The Lakers’ last comeback was in the 2004 West semifinals against San Antonio.

The Thunder have won all nine of their series after leading 2-0, dating back to the franchise’s days in Seattle.

In a game that was nip-and-tuck throughout, the Lakers started inching away early in the fourth quarter while Westbrook was on the bench.

Bryant drilled a jumper from the left wing and Blake followed with a 3-pointer before World Peace hit one of two free throws for a 69-63 advantage with 7:27 remaining – the Lakers’ largest lead to that point.

Westbrook returned then but only provided the briefest of sparks for the struggling Oklahoma City offense, and Bynum’s second straight basket – on a left-handed hook shot at the left block – made it 75-68 with 2:09 to play.

Until that point, Oklahoma City had made only 7 of 27 shots in the second half while committing eight turnovers.

After getting ripped apart by the Thunder’s pick-and-roll attack and giving up 119 points in Game 1, the Lakers made it an emphasis to put up more resistance in the rematch and it showed. Matt Barnes shuffled back and forth around three Nick Collison screens to contest Harden’s jumper and preserve the Lakers’ 22-21 lead after one quarter.

The Lakers’ defense was at its best just after halftime as they got out of a 48-45 deficit by holding Oklahoma City scoreless for the first 4 minutes and allowing just two baskets in the first 8 minutes. But Los Angeles still couldn’t create any sort of a cushion and Westbrook’s wide-open 3-pointer from the left corner – after World Peace airballed a similar shot on the opposite end – had the Thunder back within 57-56 with 3:31 left in the third.

Notes: The NBA on Wednesday fined Devin Ebanks $25,000 for actions related to his Game 1 ejection and Bynum $15,000 for failing to speak to reporters Tuesday. Bynum, who has had recent disciplinary issues within the team, talked at the Lakers’ morning shootaround Wednesday and called it a make up for skipping the previous day. “I think he’s learning. Is he going to be a perfect citizen the rest of his career? I don’t know,” coach Mike Brown said. “He’s bound to make mistakes. I think everybody makes mistakes.” … World Peace has said he supported Scott Brooks to become Sacramento’s coach back in 2007, when Brooks had been an assistant under Eric Musselman. “Little does he know, if I would have got the job, I was going to ask for him to be traded,” Brooks joked. He then called World Peace, or Ron Artest at the time, the third-best two-way player at the time behind Bryant and Kevin Garnett. … Harden caught World Peace with an inadvertent elbow to the face in the first quarter.

New 2011 census estimates highlight sweeping changes in the nation’s racial makeup and the prolonged impact of a weak economy, which is now resulting in fewer Hispanics entering the U.S.

“This is an important landmark,” said Roderick Harrison, a former chief of racial statistics at the Census Bureau who is now a sociologist at Howard University. “This generation is growing up much more accustomed to diversity than its elders.”

The report comes as the Supreme Court prepares to rule on the legality of Arizona’s strict immigration law, with many states weighing similar get-tough measures.

“We remain in a dangerous period where those appealing to anti-immigration elements are fueling a divisiveness and hostility that might take decades to overcome,” Harrison said.

As a whole, the nation’s minority population continues to rise, following a higher-than-expected Hispanic count in the 2010 census. Minorities increased 1.9 percent to 114.1 million, or 36.6 percent of the total U.S. population, lifted by prior waves of immigration that brought in young families and boosted the number of Hispanic women in their prime childbearing years.

But a recent slowdown in the growth of the Hispanic and Asian populations is shifting notions on when the tipping point in U.S. diversity will come — the time when non-Hispanic whites become a minority. After 2010 census results suggested a crossover as early as 2040, demographers now believe the pivotal moment may be pushed back several years when new projections are released in December.

The annual growth rates for Hispanics and Asians fell sharply last year to just over 2 percent, roughly half the rates in 2000 and the lowest in more than a decade. The black growth rate stayed flat at 1 percent.

The immigrants staying put in the U.S. for now include Narcisa Marcelino, 34, a single mother who lives with her two daughters, ages 10 and 5, in Martinsburg, W.Va. After crossing into the U.S. from Mexico in 2000, she followed her brother to the eastern part of the state just outside the Baltimore-Washington region. The Martinsburg area is known for hiring hundreds of migrants annually to work in fruit orchards. Its Hispanic growth climbed from 14 percent to 18 percent between 2000 and 2005 before shrinking last year to 3.3 percent, still above the national average.

Marcelino says she sells food from her home to make ends meet for her family and continues to hope that one day she will get a hearing with immigration officials to stay legally in the U.S. She aspires to open a restaurant and is learning English at a community college so she can help other Spanish-language speakers.

If she is eventually deported, “it wouldn’t be that tragic,” Marcelino said. “But because the children have been born here, this is their country. And there are more opportunities for them here.”

Of the 30 large metropolitan areas showing the fastest Hispanic growth in the previous decade, all showed slower growth in 2011 than in the peak Hispanic growth years of 2005-2006, when the construction boom attracted new migrants to low-wage work. They include Lakeland, Fla.; Charlotte, N.C.; Atlanta; Provo, Utah; Las Vegas; and Phoenix. All but two — Fort Myers, Fla., and Dallas-Fort Worth — also grew more slowly last year than in 2010, hurt by the jobs slump.

Pointing to a longer-term decline in immigration, demographers believe the Hispanic population boom may have peaked.

“The Latino population is very young, which means they will continue to have a lot of births relative to the general population,” said Mark Mather, associate vice president of the Population Reference Bureau. “But we’re seeing a slowdown that is likely the result of multiple factors: declining Latina birth rates combined with lower immigration levels. If both of these trends continue, they will lead to big changes down the road.”

William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution who analyzed the census data, noted that government debates over immigration enforcement may now be less pressing, given slowing growth. “The current congressional and Supreme Court interest in reducing immigration — and the concerns especially about low-skilled and undocumented Hispanic immigration — represent issues that could well be behind us,” he said.

Minorities made up roughly 2.02 million, or 50.4 percent of U.S. births in the 12-month period ending July 2011. That compares with 37 percent in 1990.

In all, 348 of the nation’s 3,143 counties, or 1 in 9, have minority populations across all age groups that total more than 50 percent. In a sign of future U.S. race and ethnic change, the number of counties reaching the tipping point increases to more than 690, or nearly 1 in 4, when looking only at the under age 5 population.

The counties in transition include Maricopa (Phoenix), Ariz.; King (Seattle), Wash.; Travis (Austin), Texas; and Palm Beach, Fla., where recent Hispanic births are driving the increased diversity among children. Also high on the list are suburban counties such as Fairfax, Va., just outside the nation’s capital, and Westchester, N.Y., near New York City, where more open spaces are a draw for young families who are increasingly minority.

According to the latest data, the percentage growth of Hispanics slowed from 4.2 percent in 2001 to 2.5 percent last year. Their population growth would have been even lower if it weren’t for their relatively high fertility rates — seven births for every death. The median age of U.S. Hispanics is 27.6 years.

Births actually have been declining for both whites and minorities as many women postponed having children during the economic slump. But the drop since 2008 has been larger for whites, who have a median age of 42. The number of white births fell by 11.4 percent, compared with 3.2 percent for minorities, according to Kenneth Johnson, a sociologist at the University of New Hampshire.

Asian population increases also slowed, from 4.5 percent in 2001 to about 2.2 percent. Hispanics and Asians still are the two fastest-growing minority groups, making up about 16.7 percent and 4.8 percent of the U.S. population, respectively.

Blacks, who comprise about 12.3 percent of the population, have increased at a rate of about 1 percent each year. Whites have increased very little in recent years.

Other findings:

—The migration of black Americans back to the South is slowing. New destinations in the South, including Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Raleigh, N.C., and Orlando, Fla., saw sharp drop-offs in black population growth as the prolonged housing bust kept African-Americans locked in place in traditional big cities. Metro areas including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco had reduced declines or gains.

—Nine U.S. counties in five states saw their minority populations across all age groups surpass 50 percent last year. They were Sutter and Yolo in California; Quitman in Georgia; Cumberland in New Jersey; Colfax in New Mexico; and Lynn, Mitchell, Schleicher and Swisher in Texas.

—Maverick County, Texas, had the largest share of minorities at 96.8 percent, followed by Webb County, Texas, and Wade Hampton, Alaska, both at 96 percent.

—Four states — Hawaii, California, New Mexico and Texas — as well as the District of Columbia have minority populations that exceed 50 percent.

The census estimates used local records of births and deaths, tax records of people moving within the U.S., and census statistics on immigrants. The figures for “white” refer to those whites who are not of Hispanic ethnicity.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown, will be contested at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Saturday. Six colts who ran in the Kentucky Derby will return for the Preakness including the top two finishers I’ll Have Another and Bodemeister. Also returning are the fourth and fifth place finishers Went the Day Well and Creative Cause as well as also-rans Daddy Nose Best and Optimizer. The remainder of the field will be made up of unproven colts and minor stakes winners that would be a shock should they come anywhere near a winner’s circle on Saturday.

In recent years, the Preakness has been the most predictable of the Triple Crown races with only three winners since 2000 paying more than $10 for a $2 win bet. During that same period the Kentucky Derby has had eleven win payouts over $10 and the Belmont Stakes has had nine. Another thing to consider is colts that compete in the Derby tend to win the Preakness. Since 1997, only three Preakness winners did not run in the Derby. If the trends hold, the winner of this year’s Preakness will be one of the six that ran in the Derby and will go off at odds of less than 4 to 1.

Here is a closer look at the eleven who will line up for the 2012 Preakness Stakes:

Bodemeister
Morning Line Odds: 8-5
While I’ll Have Another won the Kentucky Derby, more attention is being paid to second place finisher Bodemeister. In fact, Bodemeister was made the morning line favorite in this year’s Preakness. From a pace perspective, he ran one of the most impressive Kentucky Derbys in history. He set a blistering pace and only lost by a length and a half. In perusing the past performances of the field for the Preakness, there are no other colts with early speed so Bodemeister should have an easier time of it on the lead. This anticipated pace scenario makes him the one to beat when the gates open on Saturday.

I’ll Have Another
Morning Line Odds: 5-2
I’ll Have Another, the second choice on the morning line, has been perfect in 2012 and enters the Preakness as the only one with a shot at sweeping the Triple Crown. He shipped to Pimlico soon after his Derby win and reports from the scene say he has trained brilliantly over the track. In looking at his past performances, he has the ability to press a fast pace, so watch for him to run close to pacesetter Bodemeister from the start. The question is: Will he have what it takes to make the lead if Bodemesiter is able to set a more reasonable pace in the Preakness?

Went the Day Well
Morning Line Odds: 6-1
While Bodemeister has received all the attention for his valiant but losing effort in the Derby, Went the Day Well also ran a tremendous race to finish fourth. In only his fifth career start, he ran into trouble early in the race and around the first turn. Jockey John Velazquez had to check twice, literally pull back on the reins, when other horses cut into his path. He was eighteen lengths from the leaders with only three beaten when they turned into the backstretch. Just a few hundred yards from the finish, he was moving as fast as any horse in the field, and ended up only two and a half lengths away from the winner in the end. He will get a better trip in the Preakness and could be in a prime position to make a winning move in the stretch.

Creative Cause
Morning Line Odds: 6-1
The California-based Creative Cause is as game a race horse as any among this year’s 3-year-olds. He showed his class in the Derby making it to third in the deep stretch before being passed by Went the Day Well and Dullahan. He finished fifth just three lengths behind the winner. He will run well in the Preakness, as he always does, but it’s hard to figure him turning the tables on the three that finished in front of him in the Derby.

Teeth of the Dog
Morning Line: 15-1
Teeth of the Dog is the lone entry that did not run in the Derby with a chance to fill out the bottom of trifecta and superfecta tickets. He made his graded stakes debut in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial where he finished third at odds of 53 to 1. He comes into this race as a mystery but his trainer Michael Matz has no reason to embarrass himself with an entry in the Preakness that can’t run.

Daddy Nose Best
Morning line: 12-1
After emerging as many racing pundit’s longshot pick leading up to the Kentucky Derby, he ran mid-pack throughout and finished a disappointing tenth. Should he revert to the form he flashed in winning the Sunland Derby in March, he has a chance to fill out the bottom of exotic tickets but he seems a step below the top contenders.

Zetterholm
Morning Line: 20-1
Zetterholm has won three of five career races but all of his wins have come in races restricted to horses bred in New York. The Preakness is a monumental jump in class and it’s hard to comprehend him being competitive against this group.

Optimizer,
Cozzetti,
Tiger Walk,
Pretension
Morning Line: 30-1
The four colts listed on the morning line at 30-1 are all deserving longshots in this year’s field of eleven.

Betting the 2012 Preakness

Knowing the lack of early speed in the race, watch for jockey Mario Gutierrez aboard I’ll Have Another to run close behind Bodemeister from the start. With those two clocking what is sure to be a swift pace on the front-end, look for Went the Day Well to put himself in a stalking position behind the leaders and make a big move to run by them both in the stretch. Creative Cause is the pick to round out the bottom of the superfecta but it might be worthwhile to play some exotic tickets with Teeth of the Dog as well.

1) Went the Day Well
2) I’ll Have Another
3) Bodemeister
4) Creative Cause

For more information, visit the Hello Race Fans Preakness page. For a quick summary for all of this year’s contenders, check out the HRF Preakness Cheat Sheet.

Kevin Martin is the founder of the thoroughbred racing history site Colin’s Ghost and a contributing editor at Hello Race Fans.

Edwards has pleaded not guilty to six criminal counts related to campaign finance violations stemming from nearly $1 million secretly provided by two wealthy donors that helped hide his pregnant mistress during the 2008 Democratic primary. He faces up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines if convicted of all charges.

Prosecutors likely will argue the payments were intended to influence the outcome of an election by keeping Edwards’ political hopes viable. Defense lawyers will counter that Edwards had limited knowledge of the cover-up and that the payments were gifts intended to keep his cancer-stricken wife from leaning about the out-of-wedlock pregnancy.

U.S. District Court Judge Catherine C. Eagles set the two-hour limit for closing arguments. The jury is expected to begin deliberating Friday.

On Wednesday, Edwards’ team wrapped up their defense without calling him, his mistress or daughter to testify, a move experts said was intended to shift focus from a political sex scandal to the nitty-gritty of campaign finance law.

“The defense wasn’t sexy, but the defense doesn’t want sexy. It wants an acquittal,” said Steve Friedland, a professor at Elon University School of Law and former federal prosecutor who has attended much of the trial.

Experts said Edwards’ bare-bone defense, which lasted just over two days, may be enough to avoid conviction on charges he authorized more than $1 million secretly provided by two wealthy donors to help hide an affair with pregnant mistress Rielle Hunter as he sought the White House in 2008.

The prosecution presented nearly three weeks of evidence and testimony from a former Edwards aide and campaign advisors that painted Edwards as a frequent liar, but showed no direct evidence he intended to break federal campaign finance laws, the experts said.

Many observers believed Edwards would testify so the jury could hear directly from the former U.S. senator and trial lawyer, who had a reputation for his ability to sway jurors. But putting Edwards and Hunter on the stand would have exposed the defense to withering cross-examination about Edwards’ past lies and personal failings.

“The defense may very well have felt that their case was solid enough to go to the jury without the risk of the personal testimony of these witnesses, which would undoubtedly resurrect the salacious details of the affair for the jury,” said Catherine Dunham, another Elon law professor who has been attending the trial.

The defense also elected not to call Edwards’ oldest daughter, Cate, a 30-year-old lawyer who has sat behind her father nearly every day, as a character witness to help humanize him.

At one point during the trial, Cate Edwards ran out of the courtroom in tears during testimony about her cancer-stricken mother, Elizabeth, confronting her father about his extramarital affair.

The former Democratic presidential candidate has sat quietly at the defense table throughout his trial, whispering with his lawyers and rarely showing reaction to the often emotional testimony from witnesses who were once among his strongest supporters and closest friends.

He has made no public statements since October, following a pre-trial hearing where a judge refused to throw out the case.

At the trial, prosecutors have shown two members of Edwards’ inner circle, campaign finance chairman Fred Baron and once-close aide Andrew Young, engaged in a yearlong cover-up to hide the married presidential candidate’s mistress from the media.

The married Young falsely claimed paternity of his boss’ baby and received $725,000 in secret checks from an elderly heiress, using some of the money to care for Hunter.

Baron, a wealthy Texas lawyer, provided Young and Hunter with more than $400,000 in cash, luxury hotels, private jets and a $20,000-a-month rental mansion in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Prosecutors have introduced phone records, voicemails and other evidence showing Edwards in frequent contact with Baron, Young and Hunter while Hunter was in hiding.

Former members of Edwards’ campaign also testified that Baron spoke of “moving Hunter around” in the candidate’s presence and that Edwards told his speechwriter he knew “all along” what Baron was up to.

But in 14 days of testimony, no witness ever said Edwards knew he was violating campaign finance laws, a key element of criminal intent the government must prove to win a conviction.

“There was no direct evidence that John Edwards knew he was violating campaign contribution laws,” Friedland said. “Juries like smoking guns. There were no smoking guns here.”

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

It worked twice, and the Eastern Conference finals are all even, as a result.

David Clarkson scored a tip-in goal off Adam Henrique’s shot 2:31 into the third period to break a tie and lift the Devils to a 3-2 victory over the Rangers that squared the series at one game apiece on Wednesday night.

“It’s a very hard building to play in, and 1-1 sounds much better than down 2-0,” Devils captain Zach Parise said. “We’re happy. We would have liked to have snuck out of here with two wins, but it didn’t happen.

“We’ll take 1-1.”

For the third straight series, the Rangers are wondering what went wrong in Game 2 after they took the opener. They stressed how important it would be to grab a 2-0 lead, which would have been their first two-game edge in this postseason, but didn’t provide the necessary effort to get it done.

New York was riding high after its 3-0 series-opening win on Monday night, but now has relinquished home-ice advantage again.

“You need to improve as a hockey team every game,” said succinct and disappointed coach John Tortorella, who declined to say what areas were deficient.

Game 3 will be Saturday in New Jersey.

Clarkson built off the momentum created by Ryan Carter’s deflected goal late in the second that tied the game, 2-2. Ilya Kovalchuk had given the Devils a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal in the first. Defenseman Bryce Salvador added two assists, and Martin Brodeur stopped 23 saves for his 108th playoff win.

Clarkson has three goals in this postseason, and every one has been a winner, including the clincher against Philadelphia in Game 5 of the second round.

“Mr. Clutch? I don’t know about that,” Clarkson said. “I’m going to skate up and down and finish the checks and just bounce off people. It’s just a great feeling to be able to contribute. To get a tip on that felt pretty good.”

New Jersey had 26 attempted shots blocked in Game 1, five more than they got through to goalie Henrik Lundqvist. The Devils cut the blocks to 16 on Wednesday and managed to get 27 on goal — two more than New York.

“That team blocks so many shots,” Clarkson said. “It’s unbelievable how many. I think we found a way to shoot it and get sticks on it, and definitely that was big for us.”

Marc Staal and Chris Kreider scored power-play goals in the second for the top-seeded Rangers, who received 24 saves by Lundqvist.

New Jersey got even at 2 when Salvador wound up for a shot at the blue line and fired a drive that Carter — with his back to the net — brilliantly deflected past Lundqvist with 1:51 left in the second. Marian Gaborik stood up straight in front of Salvador, but didn’t drop down as many of his teammates have to try to block the shot. For that, he was pinned to the bench by Tortorella, even through New York’s power play in the third.

Gaborik returned to the ice with 8:40 remaining as the Rangers pressed to tie.

The Devils kept the pressure on the Rangers at the start of the third and wiped out the good work the Rangers displayed in the second.

“It was a much different reaction when we went down by a goal than it was in the first game,” Parise said. “We didn’t change the way we played, and I think that was a big difference. We were comfortable with how we were playing.

“All I think they got was really on their power play.”

After spending much of the first trapped in their own end, the Rangers rebounded to erase their early deficit and briefly take the lead thanks to the previously inept power play.

With Alexei Ponikarovsky off for interference, Staal fired a shot that sailed wide of the net and struck the back boards before popping back in front and pinballing into the net off Salvador and Brodeur at 2:23. The goal was originally credited to Derek Stepan, who was in front, but the puck managed to miss him both on the way toward the net and on the bounce back.

“I saw most of the pucks, but the Rangers came out hard,” Brodeur said. “They were around me a lot, and there were some bad bounces. It’s such a tough place to play sometimes here. There are bad bounces, and the boards are terrible.”

Staal nearly netted another moments later when he ripped a drive that Brodeur had to lunge fully to his left to snare with his glove.

Kreider, the rookie from Boston College, scored for the second straight game to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 12:19. Anton Stralman let go a shot from above the right circle that ticked Kreider’s stick and fluttered past Brodeur for the rookie’s fourth goal. He had to wait to get it because it was first given to Stralman before being changed during a commercial break.

But that was hardly the longest delay of the night. Before Kreider’s power-play goal, the action was stopped for about eight minutes as arena workers struggled to get the door to the Devils’ penalty box opened. Travis Zajac stood patiently as he waited to have a seat in the box. He even managed to laugh as did New Jersey coach Peter DeBoer and the usually stoic and agitated Tortorella.

Zajac, who first was sent to the Rangers’ box, stayed in New Jersey’s sin bin for only 1:47 before Kreider scored the Rangers’ second power-play goal of the night.

New York registered the first six shots of the period before New Jersey had its first about eight minutes in, but the teams were even at 17 through 40 minutes.

Lundqvist had a bit of glove magic of his own midway through the second when a shot by Anton Volchenkov was deflected by Kovalchuk but tracked and grabbed by Lundqvist.

The Devils got their elusive first goal of the series, and the all-important lead in the game, when Kovalchuk connected on the power play late in the first period.

After Brian Boyle was sent off for slashing Parise, the Devils continued their puck-possession prowess in the Rangers’ end. New Jersey moved the puck all around the zone in search of a clean shot that could get past the diving New York defense and perhaps challenge Lundqvist, who made 21 saves in the series-opening win.

Marek Zidlicky curled with the puck to the center of the blue line and slid a pass down to the left circle to Kovalchuk, who calmly and patiently drifted in and snapped a shot up and under the crossbar in the upper corner of the net for his sixth goal of the playoffs and fourth on the power play.

“We had to keep going to the net, and I think we were doing some good things,” Clarkson said. “We’ve been playing some good hockey and we’ve got to continue to do it. That is a big win for us.”

The Devils didn’t record a shot on goal until 6:01 in when Patrik Elias put a wrist shot in on Lundqvist, but New Jersey finished the first period with an 8-5 edge in shots — despite having six more blocked by the Rangers.

Whether Brodeur was kidding or not about wanting Rangers to be injured by blocking shots, the home team wasn’t deterred from getting in front of drives. New York forward Brandon Prust was doing a bit of a dance in front of the dangerous Kovalchuk, trying to deny any potential drive, even though he was defending without a stick.

“We have to try to get in lanes,” Rangers captain Ryan Callahan said. “Try to limit their time with the puck. If we do that, they are not going to have time to shoot.”

When Kovalchuk finally scored later in the period, he let out a big yell — part celebration and an exclamation of relief — as he skated in front of the glass behind the net.

“We have built some momentum,” Brodeur said. “And now, we have to try to take that into our building, and make our building a tough place to play.”

NOTES: The Rangers were 10 for 61 (16.4 percent) on the power play in the postseason before Wednesday. This marked the second time they netted a man-advantage goal in consecutive games, but the fourth time they scored two in a game. … The Devils returned defenseman Peter Harrold to the lineup and sat rookie Adam Larsson. Harrold replaced Larsson in the lineup late in the season and started the first nine postseason games. Larsson played in the previous five games.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

South Carolina GOP Chairman Chad Connelly says he’s pledging 1,000 volunteers to work phones, knock on doors and register voters in North Carolina.

He says South Carolina is a solidly red state so they can focus on North Carolina.

Barack Obama carried North Carolina in the 2008 presidential election. But this time it will be tough sledding for the president, even though the Democratic National Convention is in Charlotte this summer.

Labor unions, a core Democratic constituency, are up in arms because the convention is being held in a right-to-work state. The state Democratic Party is in disarray over an explosive sexual harassment scandal. And voters recently approved amending the state constitution to ban gay marriage.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Shane Cranfield and Allen Carlyle, along with police officer James Lambeth, were acquitted of charges Tuesday, putting to rest in court as to whether the men used the Taser on the high school student during the East Spencer fire department’s Christmas party last year. WBTV reports that the Taser was used at least nine times on John Resino, a North Rowan High School student and volunteer fireman.

According to police, Resino allegedly ran out of a room during the department’s Christmas Party on Dec. 10 in an attempt to get away from Cranfield and Carlyle. WBTV reports that Cranfield and Carlyle allegedly broke the handle of the door Resino had shut and stunned the 18-year-old nine times with a Taser of Lambeth, an on-duty police officer at the time of the incident. Police have indicated that the Taser went off 18 times in a three-minute span, about once every 10 seconds.

Cranfield believed that the inconsistencies in Resino’s story throughout the course of the trial led to the verdict.

“I have lost my position as the Chief of the East Spencer fire department, as well as my part time paid position,” Cranfield told WBTV. “My reputation, career, and life have been ran through the mud and destroyed.  I have been blacked balled throughout the county and shunned by people I have known for years and considered to be my brothers. Along with me, two other people, firefighter Alan Carlyle and officer James Lambeth, have also faced the same ridicule and public embarrassment as myself.”

While the House was tasked with offering the first proposed changes to the second year of the two-year state budget, the Senate started work on several other matters within hours of the chamber leader gaveling in the midday floor sessions.

“We’re hitting the ground running,” Senate Rules Committee Chairman Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, said. “We’re here for a purpose and we want to be out of here in six weeks.”

Over in the House, budget writers continued to focus on the $19.9 billion plan set to take effect July 1 and Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue’s proposed changes. But a bipartisan group led by Speaker Thom Tillis also filed separately what was labeled consensus legislation to compensate $50,000 to each living victim of North Carolina’s forced sterilization program from the last century. Tillis said the bill had support from Perdue and the Senate.

“The North Carolina House took a historic step toward a long-awaited resolution to a sad chapter in our state’s past,” Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, said in a statement. A committee meeting on the bill was expected next week.

The Senate moved ahead with other legislation as a committee voted to change laws needed for the Cherokee Indians to offer live dealer games at its casino. Another panel was expected Wednesday afternoon to consider a $206 million plan to eliminate a gap between spending and revenue. Some of the bills were expected to come to the Senate floor Wednesday evening.

Legislators arriving for the session were greeted by more than 100 protesters representing liberal and union groups who banged on pots and pans to express anger with Republican policies over the past year. They also suggested that members of the GOP majority that pushed the conservative agenda after taking control of the Legislature following the 2010 elections would be targeted during this fall’s campaign.

“We’re out here saying it’s time to listen to the people,” said MaryBe McMillan with the state chapter of the AFL-CIO, and “we’re going to continue to build this movement so that we can make our voices heard and our votes count in November.”

Many protesters carried signs expressing their unhappiness with the Legislature allowing a referendum on gay marriage that was passed last week with 61 percent of the vote.

“I’m mad at this Legislature,” said Marianne Carter-Maschal, an organic farmer from Siler City. “I don’t care what they’re talking about today. I’m mad at this Legislature (for) the things that have been going in our state the past year.”

The state chapter of the conservative-leaning Americans for Prosperity handed out earplugs to passers-by and suggested legislators should use them to tune out a vocal minority. State director Dallas Woodhouse said many of the protesters want to raise taxes.

“What I hope is the group that the legislators will listen to is the voters,” Woodhouse said. “We don’t believe these people are representative of their folks back home.”

The Senate Rules Committee voted to change state gambling and other laws needed for an updated gambling compact reached in November between Perdue and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to be carried out.

The tribe would be permitted to offer live dealer gambling at its western North Carolina casino.

The state’s school districts would get a share of revenue from the new games, which Perdue said could also create hundreds of new jobs. A coalition of social conservatives and liberal Democrats opposed to gambling could refuse to pass the gambling law changes.

Senators also pushed through a committee changes to involuntary annexation laws to respond to a Superior Court’s judge decision in March that rejected a new method the Legislature approved in 2011. That method allows landowners to petition to block a municipality’s efforts to expand its borders.

The legislation would replace the petition process with an up-or-down referendum by voters in the area where the proposed annexation would occur. Another bill would cancel nine pending and contentious annexations on the outer edges of towns and cities from Wilmington to Asheville that also were subject to the 2011 petition method that’s now been blocked in court.

The House Rules Committee also met briefly Wednesday to take up a handful of bills, including one that would prevent death-row inmates from watching television. The bill is in response to a letter written by convicted killer Danny Robbie Hembree Jr. predicting how he’d get to watch color TV as a gentleman of leisure while he awaits an execution that’s likely decades away. The rules committee’s action means the bill can be introduced this year.

Dozens of House members spent Wednesday afternoon holding a mock floor session to get acclimated to an electronic system in which members will follow bills and amendments during floor debate on laptops or other devices, not paper.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Lana Kuykendall remains hospitalized with necrotizing fasciitis more than a week after giving birth to twins. On May 8, Kuykendall began to experience leg cramps so bad that she couldn’t stand or walk, according to Greenville Online. On Friday, Kuykendall’s husband, Darren, saw his wife suffering. She had discovered a large lesion on the back of her left leg, originally thinking it was a blood clot.

“And the longer she sat there, the bigger that spot got,” Darren Kuykendall told Greenville Online. “It was initially the size of a 3-by-5 index card. But it got bigger and bigger. It moved a quarter of an inch in half an hour. Then the high-risk OB physician had a suspicion of what it was.”

It wasn’t a blood clot but necrotizing fasciitis, the same bacteria that has been at the heart of the case involving Aimee Copeland, the Georgia graduate student who contracted the infection due to a zip-line accident. WYFF reports that friends of Kuykendall’s still aren’t sure how their friend contracted the bacteria.

“(Lana Kuykendall) just kept getting worse in front of your eyes,” friend Kayla Moon told WYFF-TV. “She would just get worse and worse and worse. Every minute it was like she was going down. She was never really able to hold (her babies) and enjoy it.”

But Lana Kuykendall’s fortune could be turning around. Friends have indicated that her last surgery went well and that the bacteria has stopped spreading.

Legislation introduced in the General Assembly on Wednesday would validate a gambling compact reached in November between Gov. Beverly Perdue and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

The key changes allow live dealers for card games like poker and blackjack at the tribe’s western North Carolina casino, with a share of the revenue from the new games going to the state. The 30-year agreement would begin sharing 4 percent of card-game revenues and increase that to 8 percent.

Opponents believe the measure’s path through the Senate seems assured, but a coalition of social conservatives and liberal Democrats could fight it in the House.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The defense called a series of witnesses aimed at shifting the jury’s focus from the lurid details of a political sex scandal to the legal question of whether the Edwards’ actions violated federal campaign finance laws.

Prosecutors spent nearly three weeks trying to convince a jury that Edwards masterminded a conspiracy to use nearly $1 million secretly provided by two wealthy donors to help hide his pregnant mistress, Rielle Hunter, as he sought the White House in 2008.

Many people watching the case believed Edwards would testify so the jury could hear directly from the former U.S. senator and trial lawyer, who had a reputation for his ability to sway jurors. But putting Edwards on the stand was also a risk: It would have exposed him to withering cross-examination about his past lies and personal failings.

Most experts were convinced calling Hunter to testify would have dredged up more negatives and lies. The defense also elected not to call Edwards’ oldest daughter, Cate, who has sat behind Edwards nearly every day of the trial and could have helped humanize him.

At one point during the trial, she ran out of the courtroom in tears during testimony about her cancer-stricken mother confronting her father about his extramarital affair.

The judge told jurors that no more witnesses would be called. It’s unclear exactly when closing arguments would start, but most likely Thursday.

Edwards has pleaded not guilty to six criminal counts including conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act, accepting contributions that exceeded campaign finance limits, and causing his campaign to file a false financial disclosure report.

He faces up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines if convicted of all charges.

Edwards has sat quietly at the defense table throughout his trial, whispering with his lawyers and rarely showing reaction to the often emotional testimony from witnesses who were once among his strongest supporters and closest friends. He has made no public statements since October, following a pre-trial hearing where a judge refused to throw out the criminal case against him.

“After all these years, I finally get my day in court and people get to hear my side of this, and what actually happened,” Edwards said last year on the steps of the federal courthouse in Greensboro. “And what I know with complete and absolute certainty is I didn’t violate campaign laws and I never for a second believed I was violating campaign laws.”

At the trial, prosecutors have shown two members of Edwards’ inner circle, campaign finance chairman Fred Baron and once-close aide Andrew Young, engaged in a yearlong cover-up to hide the married presidential candidate’s mistress from the media. Young, who is married, falsely claimed paternity of his boss’ baby and received $725,000 in secret checks from an elderly heiress, using some of the money to care for Hunter.

Baron, a wealthy Texas lawyer, provided Young and Hunter with more than $400,000 in cash, luxury hotels, private jets and a $20,000-a-month rental mansion in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Prosecutors have introduced phone records, voicemails and other evidence showing Edwards was in frequent contact with Baron, Young and Hunter, all while his mistress was in hiding. Former members of Edwards’ campaign also testified that Baron spoke of “moving Hunter around” in the candidate’s presence and that Edwards told his speechwriter he knew “all along” what Baron was up to.

However, in 14 days of testimony, no witness ever said Edwards knew he was violating campaign finance laws, a key element of criminal intent the government must prove to win a conviction.

The defense also undercut the credibility of Young, whom bank records showed siphoned off most of the money from Mellon to build his expansive $1.6 million dream house. Baron wired another $325,000 to the company building Young’s house.

Before his indictment, Edwards rejected a potential plea agreement with federal prosecutors that would have allowed him to serve as little as six months and keep his law license.

A graduate of the University of North Carolina law school, John Edwards made his fortune handling medical malpractice and corporate negligence cases before turning to politics following the death of his 16-year-old son Wade in a 1996 auto accident. Edwards was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1998 and was John Kerry’s running mate in 2004.

Edwards’ wife, Elizabeth, died of cancer in December 2010. He is now a single parent of two school-aged children, ages 13 and 11, who live with their father at the family’s gated estate outside Chapel Hill. Edwards’ 30-year-old daughter Cate is a lawyer who married last year.

After years of denials, Edwards admitted fathering his Hunter’s baby in January 2010, shortly after agreeing to pay child support. The girl, now 4, lives with her mother in Charlotte.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Authorities said Lottie Young is facing charges including assault by mob and delinquency of a minor.

Video of the incident shows a man trying to help the 16-year-old girl being beaten when he is grabbed by Young and pushed against a car. Witnesses say they saw Young kicking the victim on the ground.

Young says the fight was already going on when she got out of her car and she helped break things up. The mother says the beating victim has been bullying her 15-year-old daughter for the past month.

“Enough is enough, people are killing themselves for getting bullied,” Young told WHNS-TV.

Seneca High School Resource Officer Eric Brown says that Young was holding the victim’s arms while Young’s daughters were beating her.

“There’s no justification for a parent getting involved against a student,” Brown told WSPA-TV.

Young’s daughters have also been charged. It wasn’t known if they or their mother had attorneys.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Playing for the sixth time in 11 days, Los Angeles gave San Antonio its toughest first half of the playoffs before fading fast. And unlike their stunning Game 1 comeback at Memphis in the first round, the Clippers didn’t have the wind this time.

Manu Ginobili added 22 points for the Spurs, who’ve won 15 in a row. It’s the longest winning streak sustained in the NBA playoffs since the 2004 Spurs won 17 straight.

“It’s the playoffs. It’s going to be physical. We knew that coming in,” Duncan said. “We just expected to attack the basket as much as possible.”

Eric Bledsoe led the Clippers with 23 points.

Game 2 is Thursday night.

That gives the beat-up and banged-up Clippers one full day of rest — which is all the time they’ve had to recover between games for the past week and a half.

Los Angeles couldn’t even fly home first after knocking out the Grizzlies on Sunday in Game 7 of a grueling series that had the Clippers hobbling next to Texas. Blake Griffin scored 15 points in 28 minutes a day after estimating his sprained left knee had him feeling “80 percent” at best.

The Clippers said the injury is bad enough that their All-Star and leading scorer might be missing up to two weeks if this were the regular season. But unlike in Game 7 on Sunday, Griffin didn’t take a seat in the fourth quarter until the Spurs were safely ahead in the final minutes.

Rookie Kawhi Leonard added 16 points, hitting all three of his 3s, and Danny Green added 15 points for the Spurs.

The marquee matchup of the series — All-Star point guards Tony Parker and Chris Paul — was a fizzle. Paul, who ended the first round with an aching hip, scored just six points and didn’t make a single basket in the second half. Parker had seven points and 11 assists.

Caron Butler scored 15 points and Nick Young had 13 for the Clippers. Los Angeles cut the deficit to single digits with a 10-burst in the fourth quarter before San Antonio, which hasn’t lost in a month, ran away with its 11th double-digit victory during this dominating winning streak.

The Clippers didn’t even need San Antonio’s help getting more bumps and bruises: Mo Williams, already playing with his sore right fingers taped, took a lump on the head when teammate Reggie Evans kicked him with an errant foot after Williams fell on his back in the lane.

Williams wobbled when he tried standing, sat back down, and the Clippers burned a timeout. He never left the game, but the Clippers weren’t getting any fresher.

Parker, meanwhile, finally felt the hard knocks and slow-him-down shoves that Utah repeatedly promised but never delivered in the first round. Sometimes, the All-Star looked in vain to officials when the whistle didn’t blow. When that didn’t work once in the first quarter, he kept jabbering about a no-call on the last possession while lining up to shoot free throws on the current one.

Popovich, pacing and sensing an impending technical foul, silenced his leading scorer.

“Tony!” Popovich snapped from the sideline. “Shoot!”

Parker waved off the NBA Coach of the Year — he was under control. But his frustrations didn’t end there. He was 1 for 9 despite playing 38 minutes, scoring all but two of his points at the foul line.

Notes: Before this became the deepest Spurs team yet under Popovich, Butler said he came so close to signing with the Spurs after the lockout that he canceled a flight to San Antonio when the Clippers counteroffered. “They made a great pitch,” Butler said. …Leonard finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting, the highest finish for a Spurs player since Ginobili finished fourth in 2003. Said Popovich: “He’s done a good enough job to make me trust him to be in the starting lineup. I’m happy for him.”

David West scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, George Hill added 15 and the Indiana Pacers took home-court advantage away from Miami by beating the Heat 78-75 in Game 2 of the teams’ Eastern Conference semifinal series Tuesday night.

LeBron James scored 28 points for Miami and Dwyane Wade finished with 24, but both missed big chances for the Heat late. James missed two free throws with 54.3 seconds left and Miami down one, and Wade was short on a layup that would have tied the game with 16 seconds remaining.

Mario Chalmers’ 3-pointer to tie bounced away on the final play, and the series was tied 1-1.

Danny Granger scored 11 points and Paul George added 10 for Indiana, which took advantage of Heat forward Chris Bosh’s absence and outrebounded Miami 50-40.

Game 3 is Thursday in Indianapolis.

James had a chance to give Miami the lead with 1:22 left, but his shot was blocked from behind by George, who was fouled two seconds later. He missed both free throws, keeping the Indiana lead at 76-75. And after Wade missed a jumper, James was fouled by Granger — his sixth — battling for the rebound with 54.3 seconds remaining.

James couldn’t connect on either, and the Heat didn’t score again.

Bosh is expected to miss the rest of the series with a strained abdominal muscle. Without him, James and Wade combined for 52 points — and no other Miami player scored more than five.

A dreadful third quarter by Miami — 3 for 17 shooting — allowed Indiana to lead by as much as 11, before the emotions picked up considerably in the fourth.

Wade was steaming when he missed a shot after trying to create contact with Indiana’s Dahntay Jones with 9:53 left. As Wade argued, Jones went the other way and set Leandro Barbosa up for a score that put the Pacers up 63-56.

Chalmers turned the ball over on the next possession, and as the Pacers took off for what set up as a 2-on-none break, Wade caught Darren Collison from behind and knocked him over. A flagrant-1 was called, Collison hit both free throws, the Indiana lead was nine and tensions were suddenly high.

It all seemed to spark Miami.

The Heat scored the next six points, James — who got hit in the head by Granger with 7:25 left, sparking a bit of shoving that led to double-technicals given to both players — added a putback off an offensive rebound and Wade did the same about a minute later, getting Miami within 69-66 with 5:57 left.

James missed a free throw that would have tied it with 4:30 remaining, but after George got the rebound, James dove in to create a jump ball situation. The MVP easily won the tap, sending it to Wade, whose bank shot over West put Miami back on top 72-71.

Barbosa scored on the next Indiana possession. The Pacers weren’t rattled, and left celebrating minutes later.

Indiana scored 16 points in the first seven minutes of the first half, then scored 17 in the next 17 minutes. And even after a drought like that, Miami’s lead was only 38-33 at the break.

George missed four shots in a 60-second span early on, setting the tone for an icy-cold half by the Pacers. Indiana was up 16-9 midway through the first when the Heat went to a smaller lineup that paid quick dividends.

Three baskets at the rim — a layup by Wade, then James firing a pass to Turiaf for a dunk, followed by a Wade touch pass to James for another slam — erased most of the early deficit, and defense did the rest. Indiana missed 24 of 29 shots in one stretch, and after Hibbert used his size advantage to get three shots in the first 1:11, he only got two attempts over the rest of the half.

Miami was 0-for-7 on shots that would have pushed its margin to double digits in the first half, continuing a trend from Game 1. Neither team ever led the series opener by more than nine either, and when George made a 3-pointer with 6:09 left in the third, the Pacers had pulled into a 46-all tie. A steal and dunk by George followed on the next possession, putting the Pacers back on top.

Before long, the Pacers had that first 10-point edge of the series. Collison’s jumper with 1:29 left in the third put Indiana up 59-49, and the margin was 61-52 entering the fourth.

For as bad as Indiana’s first half was offensively, Miami’s third quarter was equally dreadful — the Heat were outscored 28-14 on 3-for-17 shooting in the period, the third-worst shooting effort by the reigning East champs in any quarter this season.

Los Angeles dominated the opener and was even better in Game 2, withstanding Phoenix’s initial push and string of penalties for a 2-0 series lead.

Dwight King scored his third goal in two games and Quick tied a team record with his third career playoff shutout to give the Kings a dominating lead heading into Game 3 Thursday night in Los Angeles.

The Kings have won nine straight road playoff games in two seasons, matching the NHL record set by the New York Islanders from 1982-83.

The Islanders won the Stanley Cup both of those years.

Quick matched Felix Potvin’s team record for playoff shutouts and Carter finished off his first career playoff hat trick in the third period, securing the Kings’ seventh straight win overall.

The Coyotes played better early and fell apart late, becoming frustrated after being unable to contain the more-skilled Kings.

Phoenix was hit with a string of penalties starting late in the second period, including a game misconduct to captain Shane Doan for boarding Kings center Trevor Lewis. Martin Hanzal also received one for boarding Dustin Brown in the third period and the Coyotes had 13 penalties for 56 minutes — most coming after the final 5 minutes of the second period.

The Kings won the opener 4-2 by outplaying and outhustling Phoenix.

Knowing Phoenix’s makeup, the Kings figured to get more of a pushback in Game 2.

And the Coyotes were much more aggressive early, winning some of the individual battles they lost in Game 1 while creating some decent scoring chances.

Even with all of Phoenix’s hard work and a couple of line changes by coach Dave Tippett, the Kings still managed to score first. King got it, redirecting a shot by Drew Doughty that beat Mike Smith stick side late in the period.

Hard work in the corners by Mike Richards set up Los Angeles’ second goal, by Carter. He muscled the puck past Smith’s glove side as he was going down on a feed from Dustin Penner that made it 2-0 early in the second period.

“I’ve been working hard in practice to get my game where I wanted it,” Carter said.

Then things completely unraveled for the Coyotes.

Doan, who was suspended three games for elbowing earlier in the season, was given a game misconduct and a five-minute boarding penalty for ramming Lewis from behind. Defenseman Keith Yandle was already in the penalty box and Daymond Langkow joined him after a slashing penalty, giving Los Angeles a two-man advantage for more than 2 minutes.

Brown was sent off for diving on a slash by Smith, but that didn’t bother the Kings. Carter scored his second a few seconds later on a redirect of a shot by Anze Kopitar, putting Los Angeles up 3-0.

“It’s no secret we been struggling a bit with the power play and to get some goals will give us confidence on it,” Carter said. “We have some pretty skilled guys out there on the power play.”

With the Coyotes racking up penalties seemingly on every shift, Carter finished them off with his fifth career hat trick, punching in a rebound with the Kings on a two-man advantage after Hanzal’s hit on Brown.

Notes: The Kings were without D Colin Fraser, out of the lineup attending to a family matter. … Coyotes LW Ray Whitney played in his 100th career playoff game. D Michael Stone played his first with Adrian Aucoin still out of the lineup and David Schlemko still not fully healthy. … Rocker Alice Cooper, who lives in the Valley, attended the game. … The last team to win seven straight road playoff games in one season was Chicago in 2010.

“I’m for Mitt Romney,” the former president said Tuesday in Washington as the doors of his elevator shut, perhaps his only public statement on the race before the Nov. 6 election.

Romney’s campaign doesn’t foresee the 43rd president playing a substantive role in the race. Aides are carefully weighing how much the former president should be involved in the GOP convention — and for good reason. The Bush fatigue that was a drag on GOP nominee John McCain four years ago, and on the country, still lingers, including among Republicans.

“The Iraq war? The economy? Let’s not revisit President Bush’s record,” Richard Rinaldi, a 72-year-old Republican, said at a Romney rally last week in Charlotte. “There’s no desire to see him campaigning.”

Standing nearby, Roger Burba, a 73-year-old Republican from Pineville, N.C., put it this way: “He’s back in Texas, where he should be.”

While Bush’s standing has improved since he left office in January 2009, he remains a polarizing political figure. Romney’s aides fear Bush’s status could hurt the new Republican standard-bearer in battleground states like Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin even though Bush could energize the party faithful — and help raise money — in solid Republican parts of the country.

There’s another risk: Romney linking himself too closely to the former president in any way would give Democrats ammunition to boost President Barack Obama’s argument that his Republican rival would restore Bush-era policies.

Bush is said to be enjoying retirement at home in Dallas. He’s largely stayed out of sight and out of politics since leaving office and is likely to sit much of the campaign, too. He spends his time raising money for and promoting his presidential library at Southern Methodist University — the reason he was in Washington on Tuesday when ABC News caught him and elicited the unscripted endorsement. He also gives speeches for charitable causes.

“He’s been a very private person. I don’t know why that would change,” said Republican strategist Danny Diaz, a veteran of Bush’s team.

Romney’s aides won’t speak for the record about the campaign’s plans — if there are any — for Bush. Bush’s office did not respond to a message seeking comment about the campaign or the convention.

Behind the scenes, Republicans close to Romney’s campaign say there are no plans to use Bush in a significant way and that the signal from Romney’s Boston headquarters — it’s loaded with veterans of Bush’s two successful campaigns — is that any role for Bush would be minimal at best. The Republicans, who insisted on anonymity to discuss strategy, said Romney’s team will determine, if it hasn’t already, how best to recognize Bush at the party’s national convention in August in Florida, where Bush’s brother, Jeb, was governor.

Romney’s advisers are studying exit polls from the 2008 presidential election, when nearly three-fourths of voters, or 71 percent, said they disapproved of Bush’s job performance. Twenty-seven percent approved. Voters were evenly split — 48 percent apiece — on whether McCain would continue Bush’s policies or take the country in a different direction. Democrats’ central criticism of McCain was that his presidency would have amounted to a third Bush term.

Of those who said McCain would continue Bush’s policies, just 8 percent voted for McCain; 90 percent supported Obama. McCain carried a substantial majority of those who approved of Bush’s performance. But of the 51 percent who strongly disapproved of Bush’s performance, McCain won just 16 percent.

Bush’s standing is not nearly as dreary any more, but the numbers still show little incentive for Romney to wrap himself in Bush.

A March poll by Bloomberg found that 45 percent of adults had a favorable opinion of Bush, to 50 percent unfavorable. That was better than a January 2009 Pew Research Center poll, taken as Bush was leaving office, that found that 37 percent had a favorable opinion of him, to 60 percent unfavorable.

That’s not to say Romney completely ignores Bush, either. On the March day when he was endorsed by Jeb Bush, Romney credited the former president with averting another Depression in 2008. Bush’s father, George H.W. Bush, endorsed Romney little more than a week later.

“I keep hearing the president say that he’s responsible for keeping America from going into a Great Depression,” Romney said of Obama. “No, no, no. That was President George W. Bush and (Treasury Secretary) Hank Paulson that stepped in and kept that from happening.”

There are no rules for using former presidents in political campaigns, nor are potential successors bound to embrace them.

But Obama is keeping his Democratic predecessor closer this time around.

Democrat Bill Clinton had a muted role in the 2008 general election after the nasty primary fight between his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Obama. But Obama has signaled this year that he intends to fully embrace the popular former president — and take advantage of his political strengths. A prolific fundraiser, Clinton recently appeared with Obama at a money event near Washington. He also has a prominent role in Obama campaign videos.

Clinton was sidelined while still in office in 2000 when Vice President Al Gore kept him at bay after the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

History doesn’t offer much precedent for handling former presidents at party conventions, either.

Clinton and Jimmy Carter gave speeches on the first day of the 2004 Democratic convention. In 2000, the elder Bush and Gerald Ford were present when George W. Bush was nominated, but neither man spoke. In 1996, both Ford and George H.W. Bush spoke.

Four years ago, McCain kept Bush at a distance after an awkward joint appearance in the White House Rose Garden. McCain had challenged Bush for the nomination in 2000 and didn’t endorse him after Bush prevailed.

During his convention speech in 2008, McCain spoke the Bush name only once — in reference to Laura Bush.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The governor has proclaimed Wednesday as Tourism Day.

A statement from the governor’s office says visitors spend more than $50 million per day in North Carolina and contribute more than $4.3 million per day in state and local tax revenues as a result of that spending. Each North Carolina household saves over $430 annually in state and local taxes as a result of taxes generated by visitor expenditures.

Perdue’s office also says that for the first time, state tax receipts as a result of visitor spending topped $1 billion in 2011 and have increased more than 50 percent in the last 10 years.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Defense lawyer Abbe Lowell has said the defense could close out its case by calling Edwards, his oldest daughter Cate and Rielle Hunter, the woman with whom he had an extramarital affair while running for president in 2008.

They also could recall Edwards’ former aide Andrew Young.

Edwards is charged with masterminding a plan to use about $1 million from two wealthy donors to hide his pregnant mistress as he ran for the White House.

He has pleaded not guilty to six criminal counts including conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act, accepting contributions that exceeded federal limits, and filing false campaign-finance statements.

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Commanders from Camp Lejeune and the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force are supporting the investigation, a base spokesman said in an email Tuesday. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is leading the investigation, which began more than a year and a half ago.

“This is some damn fine police work and two years of undercover — $1.8 million is pretty sizable,” NCIS spokesman Ed Buice said by phone from Quantico, Va. “That said, this is not the first time such crimes have occurred with military members selling government-issued combat gear.”

The 66 NCIS investigations involve 47 active-duty Marines and sailors, along with 21 civilians who sold stolen property, said base spokesman Nat Fahy. About half the cases have been settled in court, Buice said.

“This is guys stealing stuff and selling it at garage sales and out of the back of their cars” and other places, Buice said.

NCIS agents also found property stolen from the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Army and other federal agencies, Fahy said. That information was forwarded to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI and North Carolina’s  State Bureau of Investigation, among numerous other federal and local agencies.

Buice and Fahy did not say whether weapons were among the items stolen.

The ongoing investigation was first reported by The Daily News of Jacksonville.

A sergeant with Marine Corps Special Operations Command, which is located at Camp Lejeune, was convicted in March of stealing and reselling property.

Sgt. Daniel Adam Reich was a member of 3rd Marine Special Operations Command when he was convicted and sentenced to 40 months in prison and a dishonorable discharge, said Maj. Jeff Landis, a spokesman for the command.

Landis wouldn’t say what type of property Reich stole but did say that weapons were not involved. All of the property was recovered, he said.

The thefts came to light after NCIS received tips, Buice said. Crime analysts did research that suggested more property was being stolen, he said, leading to the investigation.

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The Jacksonville Daily News reports that the two-year undercover investigation implicated nearly 60 people.

“The case is still active and ongoing in partnership with several other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies,” Ed Buice, public affairs officer for NCIS in Quantico, told the Daily News. “I can’t go into much detail.”

Buice said the Marines were selling the stolen equipment on websites such as eBay, Craigslist and Lejeune Yard Sales. Investigators first got wind of it from tip into the NCIS Carolinas Field Office.

“NCIS did an in-depth analysis of the cases and saw there was definitely a growing problem,” Buice told the Daily News. “Undercover agents have worked extensively to build cases against those involved during the last two years.”

Stars and Stripes reports that $1.8 million in stolen guns and combat gear has so far been recovered.

“We’re talking about sophisticated, hi-tech flashlights that cost the government up to $800 per unit,” an official told Stars and Stripes. “The temptation and ease with which to steal and sell them, for some, is irresistible.”

So far, 47 Marines and sailors and 21 civilians are being prosecuted.