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 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.
The Pitt County Board of Commissioners is holding two meetings next week to conduct regular business and hold a public hearing on its proposed 2023-24 budget.
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 on Monday and a vote likely on Thursday.
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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.
Most of us have heard people say something along the lines of “I get more out of it than they do” when talking about the volunteer experience. Some will even couch that statement with “I know it sounds cliché, but …” as if others may not believe the genuine feeling they get from their belief.
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 …
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.
State AP Stories
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.
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.
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.
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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Ukraine on Tuesday accused Russian forces of blowing up a major dam in a part of southern Ukraine they control, alerting residents further along the Dnipro River to evacuate and warning of flooding downstream. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry wrote on Telegram that the Kakhovka dam, upriver from Kherson, had been blown up, and called for residents of 10 villages on the river’s right bank and parts of the city of Kherson to gather essential documents and pets, turn off appliances and leave, while cautioning against possible disinformation. Footage from what appeared to be a monitoring camera overlooking the dam that was circulating on social media purported to show a flash, explosion and breakage of the dam.
Asian stock markets are higher after Wall Street fell on concern the U.S. economy may be weakening following a report that showed growth in service industries slowing. Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong rose. Sydney retreated. Oil prices declined. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.2% after an industry group’s index of activity in construction, hospitality and other services fell to a three-year low in May. That conflicted with hopes data last week that showed unexpectedly strong hiring in May meant a potential U.S. recession brought on by interest rate hikes might be farther away.
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.
Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. faces the start of a civil trial on accusations that he raped a woman in a New York City hotel a decade ago. The trial is scheduled to begin with jury selection Tuesday morning. The woman says Gooding lured her into a hotel room by saying he had to change his clothing and then attacked her. Gooding maintains through his lawyers that it was consensual sex. The accuser is seeking $6 million in damages. Authorities have said at least 30 women have made sexual misconduct allegations against Gooding, accusing him of groping, unwanted kissing and other inappropriate behavior.
Jonathan Marchessault scored twice and started an early blitz that chased the NHL’s hottest postseason goalie, and the Vegas Golden Knights seized control of the Stanley Cup Final with a 7-2 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 2. Adin Hill continued his stellar play in net with 29 saves for the Golden Knights, who grabbed a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Marchessault also had an assist to finish with three points. Brett Howden scored twice for the Knights, who also got goals from Alec Martinez, Nicolas Roy and Michael Amadio. Matthew Tkachuk and Anton Lundell scored for the Panthers. The series shifts to Florida for Game 3 on Thursday.
On December 1, a boat carrying 180 Rohingya refugees set out from Bangladesh, bound for Indonesia. On board were babies, pregnant women and frightened children fleeing surging violence in Bangladesh's refugee camps. One week later, the boat vanished. The Associated Press has reconstructed the passengers' journey based on dozens of interviews, videos and audio recordings of calls from the boat. Those aboard the doomed vessel were among at least 348 Rohingya who died or went missing while attempting to cross the Bay of Bengal or Andaman Sea last year. That's the highest death toll since 2014. Yet the United Nations’ refugee agency says its repeated pleas to maritime authorities to rescue some of these distressed boats in recent months have been ignored.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie set to launch 2024 presidential bid at New Hampshire town hall
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is set to launch his campaign for the White House at a town hall in New Hampshire on Tuesday evening. He's cast himself as the only candidate willing to directly take on former President Donald Trump. The presidential bid will be the second for Christie, who lost to Trump in 2016 and went on to become a close on-and-off adviser before breaking with the former president over his refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election. Christie faces an uphill battle in a party that remains deeply loyal to Trump.
LONDON (AP) — Missing penalties in a major international soccer final was bad enough for three Black players on England’s national team. Being subjected to a torrent of racial abuse on social media in the aftermath made it worse.
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