DEPUTY STANDOFF-ASSAULT

Sheriff: Ex-deputy arrested, charged after 4-hour standoff

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (AP) — Officials say a former North Carolina deputy accused of assaulting his wife was arrested after a four-hour standoff with authorities. The Wake County Sheriff’s Office says deputies were attempting to serve Brad Woodlief with a warrant and a restraining order Wednesday night when he threatened authorities and refused to leave his home. The sheriff’s office says deputies believed Woodlief was armed and later, a Tactical Response Team used tear gas to end the standoff. Woodlief’s charges include second-degree kidnapping. It’s unclear whether Woodlief has an attorney. Authorities say Woodlief was a Wake County deputy under a previous administration.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-NORTH CAROLINA

Cooper extends curfew as GOP questions COVID-19 vaccine plan

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Republican lawmakers are concerned about a new strategy from Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration. A pivot toward more mass vaccination sites has caused some counties in the state to get fewer doses than expected. This has resulted in thousands of appointment delays or cancellations. The state is working to balance out geographic imbalances. It will soon get 20,000 additional weekly doses from President Joe Biden’s administration. In the meantime, Cooper has extended three executive orders that halt evictions, ease alcohol sale restrictions and keep people at home from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The statewide curfew will remain in place until the end of February.

EDUCATION BOARD-SOCIAL STUDIES SQUABBLE

Republicans on education board attack social studies plan

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Republican members of the State Board of Education say that proposed social studies standards are “anti-American” and will teach North Carolina public school students that the nation is oppressive and racist. The News & Observer of Raleigh reports the board on Wednesday reviewed new K-12 social studies standards that would have teachers discuss racism, discrimination and the perspectives of marginalized groups. Several GOP board members argued that the new standards are divisive and have a leftist political agenda. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican and the first Black man to hold the position in North Carolina, said the standards would inaccurately teach that the United States is a racist nation.

SESSION RECONVENES

NC General Assembly returns to begin work session in earnest

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina General Assembly has returned to Raleigh to begin in earnest its annual work period. The Republican-controlled House and Senate reconvened Wednesday after a two-week layoff. State law initially required lawmakers to hold a one-day meeting Jan. 13 to seat members, then reelect Rep. Tim Moore as House speaker and Sen. Phil Berger as Senate leader. Early-year legislation is likely to include addressing how to distribute more federal COVID-19 dollars Congress approved and locating money for rural broadband service. Legislators also filed their first bills Wednesday. The first votes could come next week.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-FREE STORE

Charlotte trio supports homeless people during pandemic

In North Carolina’s largest city, Magena Morris, Tyler Bone and Nic White are on a mission to help homeless people, a population that has grown during the pandemic and economic downturn. Once a month they bring racks loaded with clothes into Charlotte’s largest homeless encampment and invite residents to shop their free store. The idea behind the racks is to give residents of “tent city” the feeling of browsing a normal store and spare them having to dig through piles of secondhand apparel. Through donations collected in drop-boxes and online, they’re providing not just clothes but much-needed goods from batteries to books.

BC-NC-CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS-CHARGES DISMISSED

Charges tossed for two men accused of toppling UNC statue

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. (AP) — Prosecutors have dismissed charges against two men who appealed their convictions in the 2018 toppling of a Confederate statue on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The News & Observer of Raleigh reports Orange-Chatham District Attorney Jim Woodall says the decision was based on having to prioritize cases piling up in the Orange County court system since it was shut down by the COVID-19 outbreak in March. Raul Arce Jimenez and Shawn Birchfield-Finn, along with three others, were charged with injury to real property, misdemeanor riot and defacing a public statue or monument after the statue known as Silent Sam came was removed in August 2018.

ODD-LOTTERY WINNER

Man hits 2 deer with new car, then he hits $2M in lottery

LELAND, N.C. (AP) — An unlucky start to a North Carolina man’s day turned upside down when he discovered he won a $2 million lottery prize hours after hitting two deer with his new car. The North Carolina Education Lottery says Anthony Dowe, of Leland, had the accident on his way to work. It ruined his day, so he returned home and went to sleep. When he got up, he saw that his ticket numbers matched. Dowe claimed his prize at the lottery headquarters in Raleigh Monday, taking home about $1.4 million after taxes. He says he’s getting his car fixed with the money.

AP-NC-NORTH CAROLINA-DEPUTY FIRED-LAWSUIT

Suit: Armed group seeking teen targeted Black woman’s home

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — A law firm that advocates for victims of discrimination has filed a lawsuit over an incident last year in which it said a Black woman’s home in North Carolina came under siege by an armed group looking for a missing white teenager. The Washington-based Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed the suit Tuesday in a Pender County court on behalf of Monica Shepard and her son. It said the group went to the home last May 3, seeking a teenage girl who had been reported missing earlier that day but was later found safe. An ex-sheriff’s deputy and more than a dozen others are named as defendants.