Debbie Elliott

Charleston, S.C., is reeling in the aftermath of Wednesday night's mass shooting at a historic black church. At the church Friday, residents are coming to pay their respects.

The Ryman Auditorium, home to the Grand Ole Opry and the birthplace of bluegrass, reopens this week with exhibits that tell lesser-known stories about the "mother church of country music."

In conservative Alabama, legislative leaders propose bills to open up gambling and start a state lottery as a way to shore-up sagging state coffers. The governor, instead, proposes higher taxes.

Several U.S. senators are accusing the Federal Emergency Management Agency of injecting "unnecessary, ideological-based red tape" into the disaster-preparedness process.

#NPRreads is a feature we're testing out on Twitter and on The Two-Way. The premise is simple: Correspondents, editors and producers throughout our newsroom will share pieces that have kept them reading. They'll share tidbits on Twitter using the #NPRreads hashtag, and on occasion we'll share a longer take here ...

There's plenty of speculation about whether the octogenarian author really intended to release the manuscript, discovered by her lawyer last year.

An effort is underway to figure out how the BP oil spill harmed the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. The damage may not be as dire as feared, but researchers say it's too soon to know the long-term impacts.

The 2010 explosion at the Deepwater Horizon rig set off an environmental and economic catastrophe. Towns and ecosystems along the Gulf Coast are still struggling to rebound.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its annual youth tobacco survey. Among the findings: The use of electronic cigarettes has tripled among U.S. teenagers in the last year.

The denomination held a summit in Nashville, Tenn., this week to consider how the Gospel speaks to race relations. It wasn't easy, and moving from words to actions may be a challenge.

Authorities in the Florida Panhandle are trying to find out why a military Black Hawk helicopter crashed overnight. All 11 people on board are believed to have died.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of people from around the country packed onto the Edmund Pettus Bridge in a peaceful pilgrimage to mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

In 1965, peaceful marchers were attacked by Alabama state troopers at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Selma has become a rallying cry for equal rights around the world.

A New Orleans attorney has turned an antebellum plantation into a new museum. You won't find hoop skirts and mint juleps but stark relics at a site devoted entirely to a realistic look at slavery.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley apologized to the Indian government and one of its citizens, Sureshbhai Patel, for a police officer's "unfortunate use of excessive force" in an incident near Huntsville.

A federal judge in Alabama has ruled that a probate judge in Mobile must issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

Chief Justice Roy Moore is trying to prevent same-sex marriage from taking hold in his state despite a ruling from a federal judge that would allow it. A hearing is scheduled in Mobile Thursday.

Gay rights advocates have asked a federal court to order probate judges in Alabama to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.