CARJACKING-TWO ARRESTED

2 accused of carjacking woman, 74, caught in North Carolina

ASHEBORO, N.C. (AP) — Authorities in North Carolina have apprehended a man and a woman accused of assaulting and carjacking a 74-year-old woman. News outlets report the Craven County Sheriff’s Office says deputies responding to the call learned that the woman had been eating in her car when two people approached, demanded that she get out and then assaulted her when she refused to get out. Warrants were issued for Danny Lee Minor and Kimberly Elizabet Woodell, both of Asheboro. The Randolph County Sheriff’s Office says they were found in the county and taken into custody.

INMATE DEATH

Sheriff: 19-year-old woman dies in N.C. detention center

STATESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A 19-year-old woman who was facing a murder charge was found dead inside a North Carolina detention center. That’s according to the local sheriff, who tells the Statesville Record & Landmark that Jessica Cheyenne Nichols was found early Thursday morning in an observance room. An autopsy is scheduled for Friday. Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell says surveillance video shows there were no incidents between Nichols and jail staff.

ROADSIDE ZOO CITED

Feds: Primates frostbit in North Carolina lose tips of tails

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Federal inspectors say three primates suffered frostbite while enduring subfreezing conditions this year at an exotic animal farm in North Carolina. Zootastic Park has been repeatedly cited for animal welfare violations. In March, an inspector found that the frostbite injured a lemur’s hand and a monkey and capuchin lost the tips of their tails. The Charlotte Observer reports that the park is operated by Iredell County commissioner Scottie Brown, who didn’t reply to a request for comment. The park has been repeatedly cited for animal welfare violations. The latest citations were obtained and made public by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

SEWAGE SPILL-LAKE NORMAN

Damaged line leads to sewage spill into North Carolina lake

CORNELIUS, N.C. (AP) — A cable provider has apologized after a fiber subcontractors damaged an underground line and sent raw sewage into a North Carolina lake. The Charlotte Observer reports Jennifer Frost, a Charlotte Water spokeswoman, said a Spectrum subcontractor installing fiber damaged a line from which sewage spilled into the lake. According to a news release, Charlotte Water crews responded to the spill on Spinnakers Reach Drive in Cornelius on Tuesday. About 400 gallons reached Lake Norman out of 630 gallons that poured from the broken line. Spectrum apologized but said the underground line in question hadn’t been correctly marked.

BC-US-SCI-HBCU-CLIMATE-CHANGE

HBCU students, faculty press urgent need for climate action

New Orleans (AP) — Both joy and frustration are in the air in New Orleans at the HBCU Climate Change Conference this week as environmental and climate advocates and researchers from around the United States express an urgent need for climate action and pollution cleanup in poor communities and communities of color. The conference has featured top officials and key advisors in the Biden administration, advocates from around the southeastern U.S. and faculty and students from the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities sharing their research.

WILD FOAL DIES

1st foal born this year to Outer Banks wild horses dies

COROLLA, N.C. (AP) — A foal born this year to a herd of wild Spanish mustangs that roams North Carolina’s Outer Banks has died unexpectedly. That’s according to the group that manages the herd. The Corolla Wild Horse Fund said in a Facebook post that the foal named Charlie was seen on camera footage walking near his mom Thursday afternoon. Minutes later he laid down, and by about 10 minutes later he had died. A necropsy is planned Friday. The Virginian-Pilot reports the foal was the first born this spring to the herd that lives along the northern beaches in Currituck County.

ADOPTIVE FATHER CHARGED-BABY DEATH

Ex-North Carolina college professor charged in baby’s death

GASTONIA, N.C. (AP) — Authorities have charged a former North Carolina college professor with first-degree murder after his adopted 6-week-old son died from injuries that investigators said resulted from physical abuse. Gastonia police said in a news release on Thursday that 42-year-old Van Erick Custodio of Gastonia was previously charged with felony child abuse causing severe bodily injury. According to police, officers and emergency personnel responded to a home on April 1 after a report of an infant in cardiac arrest. The infant was taken to a local hospital, and detectives determined that the baby’s condition resulted from being physically abused. Police say the baby died on Wednesday.

MEADOWS-VOTER REGISTRATION

Mark Meadows removed as North Carolina registered voter

An elections board in a North Carolina county has removed Mark Meadows, a former chief of staff to President Donald Trump, from its list of registered voters after documents showed he lived in Virginia and voted in the 2021 election there. Questions had already arisen last month about Meadows when North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein’s office asked the State Bureau of Investigation to look into his voter registration, which listed a home he never owned as his legal residence. A representative for Meadows did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Meadows frequently raised the prospect of voter fraud before the 2020 presidential election and in the months after Trump’s loss.