NAACP to hold training in South Carolina

COLUMBIA (AP) - The NAACP plans to hold an event in South Carolina for the first time since it imposed economic sanctions on the state because of the Confederate flag at the Statehouse.

The civil rights organization said in a news release Tuesday it will conduct a three-day advocacy training course in Columbia starting March 29. It's the first time the national NAACP has sponsored an event in South Carolina since its boycott was implemented in 2000.

The boycott came after lawmakers removed the flag from atop the Statehouse dome and placed it on the front lawn of the building.

The Confederate flag was removed from the Statehouse grounds in 2015 after the shooting of nine people at a historically black church in Charleston.

More than 500 people are expected to attend.