AP-US-VIRUS-OUTBREAK-OCRACOKE-ISLAND
Outer Banks island ravaged by storms and virus restrictions
OCRACOKE, N.C. (AP) — A secluded tourist destination on North Carolina’s Outer Banks is having an extremely tough year. Ocracoke Island is recovering from the most damaging hurricane in its recorded history and the near-economic paralysis wrought by one of the world’s worst pandemics. A little more than half of the island’s businesses have reopened since the hurricane struck and pandemic-related restrictions were lifted. Their owners are hoping to recoup some of their losses as tourists return, albeit in smaller than usual numbers. They don’t have much time: The hurricane season is expected to heat up again here in August.
AP-US-ELECTION-2020-GOP-CONVENTION
It’s Trump’s call on what the GOP convention will look like
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is slowly coming to accept that the Republican National Convention won’t be the four-night infomercial for his reelection that he’d anticipated. Already the late August event has moved from North Carolina to Florida, and now coronavirus cases are spiking and there’s an economic recession. Trump aides and allies are increasingly questioning whether the convention will be worth the trouble. Some are advocating that it be scrapped altogether. They reason that conventions are meant to lay out a candidate’s vision for the coming four years, not spark months of intrigue over the health and safety those who attend. Ultimately, the call on whether to move forward will be Trump’s alone.
BC-NC-HIKER DEATH
Man, 54, dies while hiking in Pisgah National Forest
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A 54-year-old man has died while hiking in western North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest. The Asheville Citizen Times reports that Robert James Frye, died July 5. Frye was hiking with a friend on the border of the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests and a few miles below the Blue Ridge Parkway. Transylvania County Sheriff David Mahoney said it appeared that Frye “had some medical issues and died of natural causes.” Frye was from Campobello, South Carolina. The Pisgah and Nantahala national forests are said to be two of the busiest in the country. They draw about 5 million visitors a year.
INMATE DEAD-JAIL
Officials: Inmate dies at county jail in North Carolina
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — An inmate in a North Carolina jail has died two days after he was booked into the facility. News outlets report 51-year-old Michael Daniel Mangan was found unresponsive in his Mecklenburg County Jail cell in Charlotte early Sunday morning. The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that jail staff and first responders attempted CPR on Mangan before he died. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation will investigate his death. Records obtained by The Charlotte Observer show Mangan was booked into the jail Friday on larceny charges. The release says he was put in a separate unit to screen for coronavirus symptoms.
SWIMMER-DEAD
Officials: 65-year-old swimmer dies at North Carolina beach
OCRACOKE, N.C. (AP) — A swimmer that had been reported missing at a beach on North Carolina’s Outer Banks has died. The National Park Service said in a news release Cape Hatteras National Seashore Rangers received a call about the 65-year-old swimmer from Pennsylvania 15 minutes after he went missing near Pony Pen beach on Ocracoke Island Sunday. The release says the swimmer was spotted face down in the water by a ranger at the scene. Officials brought him to shore and administered CPR but their efforts were not successful. The release says a large rip current was seen at the site the man went missing.
FATAL FIERY CAR CRASH
Fiery car crash in North Carolina leaves 3 men dead
GASTON, N.C. (AP) — Emergency responders say three men were found dead Sunday in North Carolina near the border with Virginia after firefighters extinguished a blaze in a wooded area following a car crash. The fire department in Gaston says firefighters at 8:02 a.m. responded to a call about a vehicle on fire along North Carolina Highway 48 in Pleasant Hill. They found a car split in two and fully engulfed in flames. The fire had already spread to surrounding brush. The department in a statement said the men were ejected from the vehicle in the crash, and their bodies were found when firefighters put out the blaze.
WRONG GEAR-CAR CRASH
Police: Driver accidentally backs car, hits 7 people
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Law enforcement authorities in North Carolina say four people were hospitalized Sunday after a woman put her vehicle into the wrong gear and backed into seven individuals. WBTV-TV reports the crash happened just before 10 a.m. in Charlotte. Police say the woman was trying to drive forward out of a parking space when she accidentally reversed, ran over the curb and hit the people. Police say four people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Authorities say the woman had been handing out food to homeless people before the crash. Police have not released the name of the driver.
PROTEST PERMITS-LAWSUIT
Demostrators gather near North Carolina Confederate statue
GRAHAM, N.C. (AP) — Hundreds of people protested near a Confederate monument in a central North Carolina city where local officials have tried to limit the activities of demonstrators. WXII-TV reports the protesters on Saturday marched 1.5 miles from Burlington into downtown Graham, where the century-old statue of a soldier is located. The protest featured speeches calling for an end to racial oppression. Many demonstrators held signs and at one point chanted, “Racism, we are going to tear your kingdom down.” Law enforcement officers guarded the monument as part of a state of emergency declared Friday by the mayor of Graham ahead of the protest.
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