North Carolina News – February 22

OFFICER SHOT-ARKANSAS

Arkansas officer expected to fully recover after shooting

LONOKE, Ark. (AP) — Authorities say an Arkansas police officer who was shot multiple times during a confrontation at a fast-food restaurant with a man suspected of kidnapping a 14-year-old North Carolina girl is expected to make a full recovery. Officials in Lonoke, Arkansas, say Officer Cody Carpenter “is in good spirits given the circumstances” after the Saturday night shooting. Police say Carpenter and another officer confronted 38-year-old William Robert Ice of Jackson Center, Pennsylvania, on Saturday night outside of a McDonald’s restaurant. Ice was accused of kidnapping the girl from her North Carolina home. Ice was later found dead of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police say the girl was inside the vehicle at the time of the shootout but was not injured.

BLACK COLLEGES-ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Colleges to house new center that trains Black entrepreneurs

CHICAGO (AP) — A new center for training Black entrepreneurs will be opening in Atlanta as part of a collaboration announced Monday between Spelman College, Morehouse College and an advocacy organization made up of business leaders. The Center for Black Entrepreneurship is expected to start operating for the fall 2021 semester. Details of the collaboration were shared with The Associated Press ahead of the announcement. Morehouse President David A. Thomas said the new center builds on a long history of entrepreneurial spirit at these HBCUs and continues the schools’ legacies of providing opportunities for economic and social mobility for their students. He said he hopes the center will serve as a model for other HBCUs.

DEAD DOGS-REWARD OFFERED

$5,000 reward offered after 2 dogs found dead on road side

HENDERSON, N.C. (AP) — Authorities in North Carolina say that two dogs have been found dead in crates on the side of the road. WRAL reports that the dead dogs were found Wednesday in Vance County on Pool Rock Road. Vance County Animal Services said in a news release that the dogs were both males. One was white with black markings. The other was brown. County officials said that the white dog was in a small wire crate covered with a black tarp. The brown dog was in a beige-colored crate that was plastic. The Ruin Creek Animal Protection Society of Henderson is offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

OFFICER SHOT-NORTH CAROLINA

Police: Officer shot and critically wounded, man arrested

KERNERSVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Authorities in North Carolina say that a police officer is in critical condition after being shot three times with his own gun during a struggle with a man in Kernersville. The Winston-Salem Journal reported Sunday that the man was later arrested. Quinton Donnell Blocker faces charges that include attempted first-degree murder and felony assault on a law-enforcement officer with a firearm. The incident occurred early Sunday at the Century Square Apartments. Arrest warrants said the officer had encountered Blocker earlier in the day after Blocker ran away from a traffic stop. Police said the officer then encountered Blocker at the apartment complex when the officer was there for an unrelated matter.

MOBILE HOME FIRE-CHILDREN DEAD

Two unattended children die in mobile home fire

HICKORY, N.C. (AP) — Authorities say two children have died in a mobile home fire in North Carolina. The fire broke out Saturday afternoon at a residence in Hickory, Officials said the victims are a young boy and girl, ages 7 and 8. Authorities said no adults were home when the fire broke out. Neighbors said the children’s mother was at work and that her boyfriend arrived at the home after the fire started.

AP-NC-NORTH-CAROLINA-DEPUTY-FIRED

Ex-deputy acquitted in incident that led to cries of racism

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — A former North Carolina sheriff’s deputy has been acquitted of criminal charges in an incident that sparked allegations of racism after he led an armed group in search of his missing sister but went to the wrong home. A New Hanover County judge on Thursday acquitted 24-year-old Jordan Kita of forcible trespass, breaking and entering, and failure to discharge duties. Another man who was in the group searching for Kita’s biracial sister also was acquitted after being charged with going armed to the terror of the public. Kita was fired after the May 3 incident in Pender County.

TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT-BURR

Impeachment vote becomes defining moment for GOP senator

WASHINGTON (AP) — Seven Republican senators voted to convict Donald Trump at his impeachment trial, but it was North Carolina’s Richard Burr who was the most unexpected “guilty” vote. There were gasps in the Senate chamber last Saturday as Burr stood up and declared his position. But in looking back at Burr’s career, that vote didn’t necessarily come as a shock. Burr began Trump’s presidency by defending him. But Burr gradually became a quiet check on Trump’s powers as the Senate’s Russia investigation wore on. He distanced himself from Trump, pushed back on Trump’s election rhetoric and, as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, worked to protect the intelligence agencies from Trump’s interference.

REDISTRICTING-HOLDER

Holder: Expect more NC lawsuits in next redistricting round

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says people should expect more redistricting litigation in North Carolina backed by a group he leads unless state Republicans accept anti-gerrymandering reforms this year. The Democrat gave an online speech Friday to the University of North Carolina School of Law. He referred to North Carolina as a “ground zero” for partisan and racial gerrymandering. Holder is chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which has an arm that helped bankroll lawsuits in 2018 and 2019 that successfully challenged North Carolina congressional and legislative districts. The next round of redistricting should begin later this year.