MURDER CHARGE

Police: Man charged in fatal stabbing of his mother

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Authorities in North Carolina say a man has been charged in the stabbing death of his mother. The Winston-Salem Journal reports that Jacob Christian Jones was charged with murder on Sunday. Authorities said his mother, Rosalyn Jalperya Howard was killed on Saturday. Winston-Salem police said officers responded to a report of an assault on Saturday afternoon at Howards’ house. Police said detectives learned that Jones had been at the house and had left with his four kids. Police said he did not have legal custody of the children and issued an Amber Alert for a 9-year-old. Police said Jones and the children were found hours later. The children are now with relatives.

CAPE HATTERAS VISITATION

Hatteras seashore saw record-breaking visitation in January

NAGS HEAD, N.C. (AP) — Officials with the Cape Hatteras National Seashore say its beaches on North Carolina’s Outer Banks recently saw a record-breaking surge in visitors. The Virginian-Pilot reports that the national seashore recorded nearly 87,000 visitors in January. The park said in a news release that the number breaks the record for January 2020 by 5,000.  The Cape Hatteras National Seashore has 67 miles of shoreline from Oregon Inlet to Ocracoke. People visit in the winter months for walks on the beach, shell collecting and reeling in fish. Dave Hallac, superintendent of the National Parks of Eastern North Carolina, said people wanting to escape coronavirus-related isolation helped fuel the increase in visitors.

FATAL I-95 ACCIDENT

Fuel tanker overturns, killing 1 and closing I-95 in N.C.

SMITHFIELD, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man has died after his fuel tanker overturned on Interstate 95. The Sunday morning accident near Smithfield left I-95 closed in both directions throughout the day. News reports showed the flipped over tanker sitting in the highway median, affecting traffic on both sides. An  4,000 gallons of gasoline spilled from the tanker. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol said the driver, 25-year-old Bryan Cook of Erwin, was going south toward Fayetteville when he ran off the road and hit the guardrail around 6:15 a.m. Sunday. The State Department of Transportation said the northbound lanes reopened before 5 p.m. Sunday but the southbound lanes were expected to remain closed into the night.

ABORTION CLINIC-SHOOTING

Anti-abortion protester shoots himself in leg outside clinic

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — An anti-abortion protester is facing a criminal charge after accidentally shooting himself in the leg at outside a North Carolina abortion clinic. Raleigh Police say the shooting occurred Saturday around 9 a.m. outside A Woman’s Choice of Raleigh. Police say the man fired his weapon accidentally, and he was taken to the hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. He was charged with possession of a firearm at a protest. Police did not release his name. The clinic issued a news release criticizing police response to the shooting as insufficient and the criminal charge “a slap on the wrist.”

VIRUS OUTBREAK-SCHOOLS

Judge tosses North Carolina lawsuit over remote learning

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by parents in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools who want in-person learning for their students over virtual classrooms. The Charlotte Observer reports that parents filed the lawsuit in September. They argued that remote learning is particularly difficult for special education students and those without home computers. But Superior Court Judge Karen Eady-Williams ruled Friday that the parents failed to show how such learning hurt their children’s education. Students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools returned to in-person learning on a limited basis last month.

FAYETTEVILLE SHOOTING

One killed, four others wounded in Fayetteville shooting

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A Fayetteville man is dead, a second is in critical condition and three others also suffered gunshot wounds after a shooting in the city. Police say the shooting occurred shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday on Shads Ford Lane. Thirty-two-year-old Albert Alexander Harris was pronounced dead at the scene. A second victim, who has not been identified, was in critical condition Saturday after being taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. Three others suffered non-life threatening gunshot injuries. Police say multiple vehicles fled the scene, and that their investigation is ongoing.

LIFE FLIGHT CRASH-NTSB

NTSB: Duke Life Flight pilot may have shut down wrong engine

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Federal investigators say the pilot of a Duke Life Flight helicopter that crashed in North Carolina in 2017 may have accidentally shut off one of the aircraft’s engines just before the second malfunctioning engine failed. News sources report the investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board suggested the pilot likely got confused by an array of emergency indicators about a problem with one of the engines. The helicopter was en route to Duke University Hospital in Durham from Sentara Albemarle Medical Center in Elizabeth City on Sept. 8, 2017, when it crashed in a grassy field outside the town of Belvidere. All four people onboard were killed.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-RENT RELIEF

NC agency unhappy with rule changes in new virus aid bill

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina government agency helping distribute aid to people facing economic hardship due to COVID-19 is unhappy with some language in a coronavirus relief bill now on Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk. The General Assembly passed legislation unanimously Thursday that distributes another $1.7 billion in federal assistance and makes changes to how previously allotted funds should be spent. The Office of Recovery and Resiliency is worried new restrictions would make it harder to get federal money out quickly to pay rent and utilities. A legislative Republican says the changes promote equity in distributing money to people in all 100 counties.