FILM INDUSTRY

Hallmark movies key in a big year for N.C. film production

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Hallmark Channel movies are playing a key role in what’s expected to be a big year for North Carolina’s film industry. The StarNews reports that with film productions expected to bring a record-setting $409 million to the state in 2021, and with nearly $300 million spent in the Wilmington area so far, so-called “Hallmark movies” are a staple of local activity. Currently filming is “Christmas in Harmony,” which had multiple Santas roaming a downtown Wilmington street last week. 

ALE ARRESTS

Statewide alcohol law enforcement operation yields arrests

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Authorities in North Carolina executed search warrants, seized guns and fake IDs, and made hundreds of arrests as part of a statewide alcohol law enforcement operation that took place at the start of the weekend. The Department of Public Safety said in a news release that Alcohol Law Enforcement special agents partnered with local police departments in the effort Friday night. The news release says special agents made 371 arrests, executed 10 search warrants, and seized 17 firearms and 86 fraudulent identifications, U.S. currency and various types of illegal controlled substances. 

HAITI-EARTHQUAKE

US airlifts aid to Haiti to reach areas hardest hit by quake

JEREMIE, Haiti (AP) — U.S. military aircraft are ferrying food, tarps and other material into southern Haiti amid a shift in the international relief effort to focus on helping people hit by the recent earthquake to make it through hurricane season. Aircraft flying out of the capital of Port-au-Prince arrived throughout the day Saturday in the mostly rural, mountainous southern peninsula that was the epicenter of the Aug. 14 earthquake. In Jeremie, people waved and cheered as a Marine Corps unit from North Carolina brought pallets of rice, tarps and other supplies. But most of those supplies were bound for remote mountain communities where landslides destroyed homes and the small plots of the many subsistence farmers in the area.

INTERSTATE SHOOTING

Police investigating fatal shooting on I-85 in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Police are investigating a fatal shooting that took place on Interstate 85 in Charlotte. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says in a news release that a call reporting shots fired on I-85 South came in just before 6 p.m. Saturday. Upon arrival, officers located a vehicle with an adult victim suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Police say the driver was pronounced dead at the scene. No information about the victim or a potential suspect was immediately released. 

VIRUS OUTBREAK-SCHOOL FUNDING-NORTH CAROLINA

Rural North Carolina schools using COVID-19 funds for tech

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The federal government has provided $190 billion in pandemic aid to schools since March 2020. This is more than quadruple what the U.S. Education Department spends on K-12 schools in a typical year. The Associated Press tallied how much money was granted to nearly every school district in the country. North Carolina rural districts received far more federal assistance per pupil than the state’s largest public K-12 systems. Weldon City Schools is one of three public school systems in the state that got more than $10,000 per pupil. It says it has used a lot of its money to set up internet hotspots in students’ homes.

POLICE SHOOTING

Man dead, officer hurt after shooting at police department

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Police officers in North Carolina fatally shot a suspect after they said he set fire to a police vehicle and assaulted an officer. The Greensboro Police Department says one officer was injured during the encounter, which took place in the agency’s parking lot Friday afternoon. The department said in a news release that three officers fired their weapons and 41-year-old Christopher Corey Moore was pronounced dead at the scene. It wasn’t immediately clear if he was armed or fired at the officers. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation will take over the case.

CHEMICAL PLANT-VIOLATIONS

State finds Chemours out of compliance with GenX air permit

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina environmental regulators announced this week that a plant that for years discharged so-called “forever chemicals” into the air and water is not currently in compliance with its air permit. The StarNews reports that in a letter to Chemours, the Department of Environmental Quality warned that it is preparing an enforcement action against the company’s Fayetteville Works plant in Bladen County. Regulators say the facility has been exceeding its GenX air pollution limits. In a statement to the newspaper, Chemours said it plans to take corrective action to fix the issue in the long term.

TROPICAL WEATHER-FRED

Officials: 6th person found dead after N. Carolina flooding

CRUSO, N.C. (AP) — A sixth and final victim has been found dead after flooding last week in western North Carolina from the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred. The body of John “Jack” Krolak, 74, of Cruso, was located by search teams and positively identified by his family. TV station WLOS reports that’s according to Haywood County Emergency Services spokesperson Allison Richmond. Richmond says the search and recovery effort for victims is now complete. Gov. Roy Cooper has asked President Joe Biden to issue a federal disaster declaration for North Carolina over the flooding. The weather led to infrastructure damages estimated to exceed $20 million alone across the region.  

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