PLANT EMPLOYEES DEAD
Authorities: 2 workers at eastern North Carolina plant die
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Authorities say two employees at an eastern North Carolina industrial operation have died at the site. It happened Sunday at the Valley Proteins Inc. plant in Fayetteville. The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office says deputies came to the operation Sunday afternoon after the employees were found unresponsive. Their names haven’t been released pending family notification. Sheriff’s detectives are investigating what caused the deaths. Valley Proteins is based in Virginia and collects, renders and recycles fat and bone trimmings, meat waste and used cooking oil.
FELONS-VOTING-NORTH CAROLINA
NC’s highest court: Felons who registered recently can vote
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s highest court has ruled that felony offenders who are out of prison and registered to vote in North Carolina during a roughly 10-day period thanks to a recent order by trial judges will remain on voting rolls for now. The state Supreme Court declined on Friday to reinstate an order last month that declared any offender no longer behind bars could register. But the court declared that a felony offender who registered to vote because the order was enforceable at the time “are legally registered voters” until told otherwise. Those offenders can vote in this fall’s municipal elections.
MOTORISTS-CHILD SHOT
NC sheriff: 9-year-old in critical condition after shooting
PEMBROKE, N.C. (AP) — Authorities in southeastern North Carolina say a 9-year-old girl was critically injured after being shot along with her mother. The Robeson County Sheriff’s Office said that deputies responding Saturday night to a report of two people being shot while traveling in a vehicle in Pembroke found the mother and child with gunshot wounds. A sheriff’s news release says the child’s medical condition was listed as critical after being taken to a medical center, while the mother was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The sheriff’s office said Sunday the investigation was ongoing.
STUDENT DIES-VEHICLE
NC driver facing murder charge following 11-year-old’s death
CURRITUCK, N.C. (AP) — Charges against an Outer Banks motorist now include second-degree murder after an 11-year-old girl struck by a vehicle on a North Carolina road last month died. Daniel Deweese of Kitty Hawk already had been arrested after authorities said his vehicle hit Julie Hope Randel as she crossed a highway near her middle school. She died on Wednesday at a Virginia hospital. District Attorney Andrew Womble says Deweese is now charged with felony death by vehicle as well as second-degree murder. Deweese was in the Currituck County jail on Sunday. A state trooper says the Highway Patrol believes alcohol played a role in the collision.
PORCH SHOOTING
Police: North Carolina man shot on front porch has died
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man shot this weekend while sitting on his porch has died. Winston-Salem police said Sunday that 58-year-old Timothy Lee Jackson died at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital after being shot in the torso outside his home Saturday evening. Police say Jackson was confronted by male subjects and a verbal altercation occurred, leading to the shooting. Police say the fled the area in a vehicle after the shooting. The investigation was ongoing, with police seeking help from the public about what happened.
CHILD KILLED-SHOOTING
Police: 2nd man charged in 3-year-old’s shooting death in NC
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Police in North Carolina’s largest city say a second man has been charged in connection with this week’s drive-by shooting death of a 3-year-old boy while he slept inside his home. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said Saturday that 21-year-old Jacob Lanier was arrested on Friday and is accused of multiple crimes, including murder. Police say Asiah Figueroa was killed and his 4-year-old sister was wounded when people in multiple vehicles opened fire on a house Tuesday night. On Friday, the department said they had filed multiple charges against Qua’Tonio Stephens for what happened, including accessory after the fact to murder.
TEACHING-RACE-NORTH-CAROLINA
Gov vetoes North Carolina bill limiting K-12 racial teaching
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has rejected a bill to limit how teachers can discuss certain racial concepts inside the classroom. Republicans do not appear to have the necessary votes to override the Democratic governor’s veto on Friday. The proposal would have prohibited teachers from compelling students to personally adopt any ideas from a list of 13 beliefs. North Carolina’s bill follows a national trend of Republican-controlled legislatures looking to combat certain ideas they associate with “critical race theory.” The GOP has not identified a single case of alleged “indoctrination” that House Bill 324 would have prevented.
COURTHOUSE SHOOTING
Defendant who scuffled with deputies inside courtroom dies
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Authorities say the defendant in a North Carolina trial who was shot by a police officer after he scuffled with sheriff’s deputies inside a courtroom has died. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation says in a news release that the shooting occurred on Thursday inside the Person County Courthouse in Roxboro after 36-year-old Christopher Thomas Vaughan tried to take a bailiff’s weapon. News outlets report Vaughan had become enraged after he was found guilty of false imprisonment. Vaughan charged at the judge’s bench and was stopped by two deputies before he was shot. The SBI is investigating the incident.
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