RALEIGH (AP) — North Carolina House Republicans want to move as scheduled to eliminate a tax credit designed to put more money in wallets of the working poor.
The House tentatively agreed Tuesday to legislation that moves annually and conforms or differentiates state tax law to federal changes. The bill adjusts the state’s version of the Earned Income Tax Credit slightly but doesn’t change a previous decision to end the credit starting with 2014 returns.
The credit allows families to collect checks if their credit exceeds what they owe in taxes. An outside group says 900,000 tax returns filed for the credit valued at $105 million in 2011.
The bill passed after the chamber defeated a Democratic amendment that would have extended the credit until 2019.
A final House vote could come Wednesday.
DURHAM (AP) — A North Carolina Highway Patrol trooper was recovering Tuesday after being shot during a traffic stop in Durham, and police have arrested a man who was wanted in Vermont.
Mikel Edward Brady, 23, of Durham was arrested Tuesday for assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill in the shooting of 42-year-old Trooper Michael Potts, Attorney General Roy Cooper said. Cooper’s office said Brady had been wanted on a felony warrants from Vermont
Potts was shot four times with bullets piercing each hand, his right shoulder and the right side of his face, said Public Safety Secretary Kieran Shanahan. The 11-year patrol veteran had two surgeries and was in fair condition Tuesday, but Shanahan called Potts’ survival a miracle.
Potts was shot after stopping a car because the driver was not wearing a seatbelt, Shanahan said.
Brady was charged in Vermont last fall with shooting deer out of season. He had been sentenced to 28 months in federal prison in December 2010, after stealing dynamite from a Vermont quarry. Brady also allegedly jumped bail while awaiting trial on state home invasion charges before being arrested in Mexico by U.S. marshals in 2009.
SPARTA (AP) — A North Carolina judge says a man deported two years ago to Mexico can take his three sons home with him.
The Winston-Salem Journal reported that Alleghany County District Court Judge Michael Duncan on Tuesday awarded permanent custody of the children to 33-year-old Felipe Montes.
Montes was deported because he had numerous ticket violations, and his wife lost custody of them. The children were placed in state custody.
Foster families had sought to adopt the children, who are 5, 3, and 2 years old. But Duncan ruled in November to give Montes temporary custody of the children.
Montes can stay in the United States until March 23, when his humanitarian visa expires. Montes says he’s making arrangements to take his children back to Mexico.
CHARLOTTE (AP) — Authorities say a 12-year-old girl from South Carolina led police on a slow chase through part of Charlotte.
Investigators said the girl got in an argument with her father Monday night at his Gaffney, S.C. home then waited for him to fall asleep before driving off in a pickup truck to see a friend in Fort Mill, S.C.
Police spotted the pickup about 50 miles away driving around 20 mph on Interstate 77 in Charlotte. The girl didn’t stop until authorities say she was forced off the highway near Interstate 85.
The girl was charged with several traffic violations, and her family was contacted by authorities. Police are still investigating the incident.

RALEIGH (AP) — The North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled that a county school system can sue the state over control of court fines imposed through a new law.
A three-judge panel ruled Tuesday the Richmond County Board of Education does have standing to sue state office holders that typically have immunity from lawsuits.
North Carolina lawmakers in 2011 created a $50 fine for traffic violations resulting in a conviction for improper equipment. Under the law, the money collected statewide is funneled to the state treasury to pay for services that reduce county jail populations.
Lawyers for the Richmond schools sued last year, claiming the new law violates language in the state Constitution that says court fines must be spent to benefit public education in the county where the fines are collected.