North Carolina News – August 19

North Carolina News – August 19

North Carolina teen found shot to death in car; 4 charged

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina teenager was found shot to death inside her car last weekend, and police say four teenagers have been charged in connection with the incident. News outlets report police found 17-year-old Veronica Baker shot to death in her car in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant in Garner, just south of Raleigh. Raleigh police said 19-year-old Keyshara Michelle Deans, 19-year-old Nezyiha Zamir Collins and 18-year-old Tyreek Qumay Rogers were arrested and charged with felony accessory after the fact to murder. An unidentified 17-year-old was arrested Wednesday and accused of killing Baker.

AP-US-BIG-DONOR-NORTH-CAROLINA

Insurance magnate, ex-N.C. Congress member learn sentences

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A big political donor, his consultant and a former North Carolina congressman are receiving punishments for their roles in trying to bribe the state’s top insurance regulator. U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn scheduled sentencing on Wednesday for insurance magnate Greg Lindberg, John Gray and former Rep. Robin Hayes. Federal prosecutors want Lindberg and Gray to receive long prison sentences. The defendants’ lawyers are seeking much less. Gray wants to serve any time at home. The U.S. attorneys are asking Hayes receive probation. Hayes pleaded guilty last year to lying to the FBI and agreed to cooperate with authorities.

AP-US-LOWE’S-RESULTS

DIY projects ramp up in pandemic, and so do sales at Lowe’s

A massive surge in online sales and increased business at its U.S. stores helped push Lowe’s second-quarter performance above analysts’ estimates. Similar to rival Home Depot, Lowe’s Cos. has experienced stronger interest in its products as people continue to stay home amid the virus outbreak. Revenue for the three months ended July 31 climbed to $27.3 billion from $21 billion. Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research were calling for $24.85 billion.

CASINO PLANS

North Carolina county opposes South Carolina tribe’s casino

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina county has passed a resolution opposing a casino being built by a South Carolina Native American tribe. The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners voted 6-1 on Monday against the $273 million casino project underway by the South Carolina Catawba tribe outside of Charlotte. The Asheville Citizen Times reports commissioners are worried the plans would hurt investment and jobs provided by the Eastern Band of Cherokee’s casinos in Western North Carolina. The Catawbas broke ground on the project last month, despite a lawsuit from the Cherokees seeking to stop them. The Catawba Nation has said it has a historical claim to the land.

COOPER-HIRING PRACTICES

NC agencies implement ‘fair chance’ employment policies

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina agencies within Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration are changing hiring practices to help give people with criminal histories more job opportunities. Cooper issued an executive order this week that directs state agencies and offices under his control to implement “fair chance” policies by Nov. 1. The order tells the agencies to omit criminal records questions from employment applications. Background checks must wait until later, and applicants will be given the opportunity to explain that history. Criminal pardons and expunctions can’t be considered in hiring, either. Cooper’s office says more than 1.7 million North Carolina residents have criminal records.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-UNIVERSITIES

Colleges grapple with coronavirus as students return

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — The University of Notre Dame and Michigan State universities have become the latest colleges to move classes online because of the coronavirus. Officials at both schools announced the switch on Tuesday. As COVID-19 makes its mark on colleges across the U.S., many are reconsidering plans to hold in-person classes or implementing new testing regimes. Others are threatening crackdowns on students who ignore social distancing rules. Over the past few days, college students at Notre Dame and at schools in North Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Vermont, Kansas and Colorado have tested positive.

AP-NC-JAIL RELEASE-PREGNANT WOMAN

Judge releases pregnant woman from jail with virus outbreak

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge in North Carolina has released an inmate who is eight months pregnant from a jail that has seen dozens of coronavirus cases. The Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday that the woman’s lawyer had asked U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler to release her because of an outbreak in the Mecklenburg County Jail. Cowick was among a group of federal inmates who asked the courts to reconsider their detention after four dozen Mecklenburg inmates tested positive for COVID-19. Brittany Cowick left the jail last week and is on house arrest at her mother’s home in Lenoir. She still faces trial on drug charges that federal prosecutors say are connected a methamphetamine ring.

AP-US-BAIL-BONDS-DEPORTATION

Appeals court: Bond isn’t lost if feds take defendant first

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s intermediate-level appeals court says a bail bond company shouldn’t lose $100,000 when a defendant failed to appear in court because federal immigration agents took him away first. Tuesday’s unanimous opinion at the Court of Appeals favored the Raleigh company that had posted the $100,000 bond in April 2018. By the next day, immigration agents took him away and ultimately deported him to Mexico. A trial judge later ruled the company had to forefit the bond because the defendant was absent on a court date. But the appeals court says the forfeiture never should have been initiated because he was never actually released.

JORDAN’S FATHER DEATH-PAROLE

Man convicted in death of Michael Jordan’s dad to be paroled

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — State officials say one of the two men convicted of murdering Michael Jordan’s father in 1993 will be released from prison in three years. The N.C. Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission announced in a three-paragraph statement on Tuesday that it has granted parole to Larry Demery, who is to be released in August 2023. During their trial, prosecutors used testimony from Demery to identify Daniel Green as the triggerman in a deadly robbery of James Jordan early on July 23, 1993. James Jordan’s body was found 11 days later in a South Carolina swamp and identified with dental records.

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