ELECTION 2022-SENATE
McCrory, Budd still close in NC Senate campaign fundraising
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — U.S. Senate hopeful Ted Budd is benefitting from President Donald Trump’s endorsement and a super PAC’s commitment to flood airwaves and mailboxes to help him as the May 17 Republican primary approaches. But rival and former Gov. Pat McCrory still has managed to stick close to Budd when it comes to head-to-head fundraising. First-quarter campaign finance reports filed Friday show the current U.S. House member Budd and the former governor McCrory collecting essentially the same amounts. Former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley is the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination and continues to raise the most money among all candidates seeking to succeed the retiring GOP Sen. Richard Burr.
INMATE DEATH-COLD CASE KILLING
Man charged in woman’s 1972 killing dies awaiting trial
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A man charged with raping and killing a woman in North Carolina nearly 50 years ago has died in a state prison while awaiting trial. Authorities say 68-year-old Larry Joe Scott was in the custody of the state Department of Public Safety when he died Friday at a prison in Raleigh. A news release from Johnson County’s sheriff and top prosecutor didn’t identify a possible cause of Scott’s death, but it said he was taken to the prison after getting medical treatment at two hospitals. Scott was scheduled to be tried in August on charges of first-degree murder, rape and kidnapping in the December 1972 killing of 33-year-old Bonnie Neighbors.
BC-NC-RESTAURANT ROBBERY
Police: Robber enters restaurant through drive-thru window
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Police say a knife-wielding woman robbed a fast-food restaurant in North Carolina by climbing through the drive-thru window and grabbing a cash drawer. Winston-Salem police said in a news release that the unidentified woman fled in a brown sport utility vehicle after robbing the Taco Bell on Saturday afternoon. No injures were reported. The Winston-Salem Journal reported that the woman was swinging a large knife as she entered the restaurant through the window, then stole an undisclosed amount of money.
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.
