Piedmont Natural Gas is performing infrastructure maintenance in Snow Hill this week that will include the use of a flare stack that could produce a loud noise and result in a tall flame.
Young patients and their stories of courage during life-threatening illnesses and injuries helped make the 38th annual Children’s Miracle Network fundraiser a tremendous success, organizers said.
The Greenville City Council next week is set to give final consideration of the city’s proposed 2023-24 fiscal year budget with a public hearing today and a vote likely on Thursday.
The Pitt County Board of Commissioners is holding two meetings this week to conduct regular business and hold a public hearing on its proposed 2023-24 budget.
The Winterville Town Council is holding a public hearing on a proposed 2023-24 budget that holds the town’s tax rate steady even though staff is urging the panel to consider “upward adjustments” in the future.
Greenville’s Home Builders Supply Co. announced this week it is celebrating its 75th Anniversary as a leading supplier of building materials in eastern North Carolina.
SNOW HILL — North Carolina’s top elected official said he was “sounding the alarm” about legislative measures he says will harm the state’s public schools during a visit to Greene Central High School.
WINTERVILLE — The Pitt Community College VISIONS Career Development and Scholarship Program recently celebrated the upcoming graduations of its high school participants.
There was a time when concerts on the Town Common weren’t quite so common. So when a free, outdoor music series began there in the 1970s, a lot of people didn’t even give it a 50-50 chance. But Sunday in the Park has played on for half a century.
If there were any doubts about the need for a welcome center and playground at Wildwood Park they were drowned out by squeals of delight from dozens of children who swarmed the slides, swings and climbing elements at the grand opening ceremony.
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East Carolina made it to the doorstep and knocked twice. In the end, the Pirates couldn’t find their way past Virginia. Omaha will have to wait.
East Carolina will play for the Charlottesville Regional championship.
East Carolina’s path to a regional championship just became more difficult.
BURLINGTON — Lots of well-hit baseballs by J.H. Rose’s team were snuffed out by West Henderson’s defense as the Rampants fell 2-1 to the Falcons in Game 2 of the best-of-three series for the NCHSAA Class 3A baseball title at Burlington Athletic Stadium on Saturday.
The East Carolina baseball team put on a display in the opening round of the Charlottesville Regional on Friday that resembled a how-to clinic. It was the perfect start to the double-elimination tournament.
If J.H. Rose's baseball team wants to win its second NCHSAA state title in three years and eighth overall, it must win two games Saturday.
The N.C. General Assembly is proposing to divert over $2.2 billion of taxpayer dollars, in an arguably unconstitutional manner, away from the public schools and into the hands of private and parochial schools with none of the transparency and accountability required of the public schools.
First elected to the United States Senate in 1992, Dianne Feinstein has become, in her 30-odd years in national politics, one of the most senior and influential lawmakers in Congress.
As if we didn’t know before, we do now.
When Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed a crowd of supporters here in Istanbul after winning a new five-year term as Turkey’s president, he was not wearing a red hat proclaiming “Make Turkey Great Again.” But he might as well have been. Erdogan looks and sounds a whole lot like Donald Trump.
There’s been a huge amount of commentary on former President Donald Trump’s big lead over Gov. Ron DeSantis in national polls. In the current RealClearPolitics average of polls, Trump has a 30.8-point lead — 53.2% to DeSantis’ 22.4%. That lead, while enormous, has been shrinking in the last …
Public education is the most important function of state government and we spend more tax dollars on education than any other budget item. Given those two facts, a reasonable person would assume that everyone in our state, especially our legislators, would be doing everything humanly possibl…
Q I had severe pain in my neck and couldn’t turn my head. I saw an orthopedist, and she diagnosed me with bone spurs on my vertebrae. Apparently, my choices are doing physical therapy, seeing a pain specialist or having surgery. Can you please talk about these options?
The overwhelming joy of having pets is unfortunately accompanied by the inevitable sadness that comes with the ending of their lives. As humans, sometimes feeling like parents, we must be witnesses to the death of our family member, our pet. Unfortunately, we are placed in the unique position of having to make a life/death decision of when it’s time to say goodbye to our friend, a process ...
My new friend, Betty Lou, started a book club, and she asked me to join.
Graduations are over and college towns are quieter. But in Chapel Hill faculty members and some university supporters are deeply worried. They fear the loss of faculty control of the university’s curriculum.
Marvel Entertainment has learned a neat trick from its parent company, The Walt Disney Company. But in reverse.
One of the neatest things about being a botanist is that there is always a surprise right around the corner.
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Cherokee Nation's Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. has won reelection to another four-year term as leader of the nation's most populous tribe. Results certified by the tribe's Election Commission on Monday show Hoskin won nearly 63% of the vote in the four-way race for chief, a position similar to the governor of a state. Hoskin's running mate, Bryan Warner, won reelection to deputy chief with about 62% of the vote. Both needed to secure more than 50% to avoid a runoff. Hoskin ran on a platform of protecting tribal sovereignty, investing in improved health and wellness for tribal citizens and funding efforts to protect its language.
A safe firearm storage campaign from the North Carolina governor’s administration aims to counter a recent surge in gun thefts and shooting injuries by making safety features available to more gun owners statewide. The initiative will distribute free gun locks starting this week and equip local law enforcement, doctors and school personnel with educational toolkits. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said he expects many gun owners will be receptive to the initiative because people do not want their guns stolen or their children accidentally shot. The campaign comes the year after a 15-year-old boy killed five people and injured two more in a shooting rampage in Raleigh.
North Carolina Democratic lawmakers are criticizing a Republican bill containing election and ballot changes that Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper previously vetoed, plus some new ideas. They held a news conference on Monday about the proposal that Senate Republicans unveiled last week. Speakers acknowledged it’ll likely take vocal opposition by the public or possibly judges to halt or modify the measure given that Republicans now hold veto-proof majorities in both the House and Senate. The wide-ranging bill in part would move up the deadline for an absentee ballot received by election officials to count and create new hurdles for people who register during the early-voting period for their ballots to count.
Fort Bragg shed its Confederate namesake Friday to become Fort Liberty in a ceremony some veterans view as a small but important step in making the U.S. Army more welcoming to Black service members. The change is the most prominent in a broad Department of Defense initiative to rename military installations bearing the name of confederate soldiers. It was prompted by the 2020 George Floyd protests. A naming commission estimates the cost of renaming the base will be about $6.37 million. The commission visited the base and met with and members of the surrounding community to solicit their input. The North Carolina base was originally named in 1918 for Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg.
Toyota will invest another $2.1 billion in an electric and hybrid vehicle battery factory that’s under construction near Greensboro, North Carolina. The plant will supply batteries to Toyota’s huge complex in Georgetown, Kentucky, which will build Toyota’s first U.S.-made electric vehicle, a new SUV with three rows of seats. The plans announced Wednesday won’t immediately create any more jobs at either factory. Toyota plans to have 2,100 employees at the battery factory. The investment will prepare infrastructure to expand for growth. Production is to start in 2025. It brings the total investment to $5.9 billion. The huge Kentucky complex now employs 9,500 people. The company says jobs will shift to the new electric vehicle when production starts in 2025.
The North Carolina General Assembly’s chief advocate for legalizing medical marijuana in the state has revealed how he smoked pot over 20 years ago to withstand intense chemotherapy during his fight with cancer. Sen. Bill Rabon of Brunswick County has previously described himself as a colon cancer survivor. But he had been reticent on details like whether he used marijuana until pitching his legislation on Tuesday to the House Health Committee. The measure passed the Senate three months ago. Rabon recalled how a physician told him to obtain marijuana when he sought a more aggressive form of treatment. Medical pot opponents say marijuana may cause harm to patients.
As the Supreme Court decides the fate of affirmative action, most people in the U.S. say the court should allow consideration of race as part of the admissions process. Yet few believe students’ race should play a significant role in those decisions. A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds 63% say the Supreme Court should not stop colleges from considering race or ethnicity in their admission systems. The poll shows little divide along political or racial lines. People are more likely to say grades and standardized test scores should be significant factors. Lawsuits are challenging admissions systems at Harvard and the University of North Carolina.
Two North Carolina state House Republicans have lost their caucus leadership positions following recent comments directed at Democratic colleagues questioning their religion and educational attainment. A top House GOP leader announced on Thursday that Reps. Keith Kidwell and Jeff McNeely, who are both white, are no longer deputy majority whips after their resignations were sought by other GOP leaders. The Democrats who were the subject of the comments are both Black. McNeely took criticism during debate last week on legislation to expand the state’s private-school voucher system when he asked a question about a colleague's time at Harvard University. A television station reported that Kidwell disparaged a colleague's religion as she debated a bill restricting abortion.
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National & World AP Stories
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal trial over Oregon’s voter-approved gun control measure opened Monday in Portland, marking a critical next step for one of the toughest gun control laws in the nation after months of being tied up in the courts.
An Oklahoma school board has voted to approve what would be the nation's first publicly funded religious school. The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 to approve an application by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma. The approval came despite a warning from Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond that it was unconstitutional. The Archdiocese wants to establish the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Catholic Charter School as an online public charter school. It would be open to students across the state in kindergarten through grade 12. Drummond says the board's decision exposes them and the state to potential litigation. The group Americans United for Separation of Church and State vowed to challenge the decision in court.
Cherokee Nation's Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. has won reelection to another four-year term as leader of the nation's most populous tribe. Results certified by the tribe's Election Commission on Monday show Hoskin won nearly 63% of the vote in the four-way race for chief, a position similar to the governor of a state. Hoskin's running mate, Bryan Warner, won reelection to deputy chief with about 62% of the vote. Both needed to secure more than 50% to avoid a runoff. Hoskin ran on a platform of protecting tribal sovereignty, investing in improved health and wellness for tribal citizens and funding efforts to protect its language.
Scientists say they've found evidence an ancient human cousin may have buried its dead and carved symbols into cave walls, surprising findings for a creature with a small brain. Fossil remains of the species were uncovered in underground caves in South Africa around a decade ago. Since then, researchers have kept squeezing into the caves to look for clues. Now, researchers say the burials and carvings show that the species called Homo naledi was capable of more complex behavior than expected, since its brain was only about one-third the size of ours. Their findings were posted online Monday but some outside scientists think more evidence is needed.
The bodies of three Iowa men have been recovered from a collapsed apartment building in Davenport. Police said the last body was removed early Monday and nobody else is believed to have been killed. The dead are Branden Colvin Sr., Ryan Hitchcock and Daniel Prien. One of the injured residents is suing the city and the building’s current and former owners. The lawsuit says they knew conditions were deteriorating and failed to warn residents of the risk. City documents show the historic building’s owner had been warned for months that parts of the century-old building were unstable.
NEW YORK (AP) — A former part owner of the Minnesota Vikings who defrauded a short-lived professional football league known as the Alliance of American Football in a $700 million cryptocurrency scam was sentenced Monday to over six years in prison.
California leaders have lashed out at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and hinted at a criminal investigation over the arrival of two flights of migrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas and then were sent to Sacramento, allegedly at the direction of Florida officials. The flight that arrived Monday with about 20 migrants followed the arrival Friday of 16 others from Colombia and Venezuela who had been taken by van from Texas to New Mexico and then put on a chartered plane to a small airport in the California capital, officials said. They are the latest apparent instances of a Republican-led state transporting migrants to one controlled by Democrats.
Apple has unveiled a long-rumored headset that will place its users between the virtual and real world, while also testing the technology trendsetter’s ability to popularize new-fangled devices after others failed to capture the public’s imagination. After years of speculation, Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday hailed the arrival of the sleek goggles — dubbed "Vision Pro” — at the the company’s annual developers conference held on a park-like campus in Cupertino, California, that Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs helped design. The Vision Pro will sell for $3,500 when it comes out early next year, a price likely to limit its appeal.
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