North Carolina News – November 23

HEROIN DEATH CONVICTION

North Carolina man convicted in 2017 heroin death

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man has been convicted of providing heroin in 2017 to a man who died of an overdose. The Raleigh-based federal prosecutor’s office said in a news release Monday that 37-year-old Randon Austin Jenkins of Jacksonville was convicted by a federal jury last week of distribution of heroin resulting in death along with other drug and firearms charges. The news release said when the deceased victim was discovered they found bags of heroin with a unique stamp in his room. Court documents say that Jenkins provided the victim with the drugs in May of 2017

WALMART ATTACK

Police: Woman attacked with baseball bat at Walmart

BURLINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Police in North Carolina say a woman was arrested and charged with striking another woman with a baseball bat at a Walmart. The Burlington Police Department said in a news release Sunday that officers were called last Wednesday afternoon to the store in response to reports of assault. The news release said officers located the woman who had been struck with the bat and had non-life threatening injuries. Witnesses told WFMY-TV that the woman who was struck was left bloody and appeared to have been attacked without provocation as she was walking. Other shoppers and employees came to the woman’s aid.

AP-US-WHALE CALF DEATH

Scientists study cause of endangered whale calf’s death

CAPE LOOKOUT, N.C. (AP) — The National Park Service says scientists are trying to discover the cause of death of a whale calf belonging to “one of the rarest marine mammals” on earth after it was found stranded on a beach on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Biologists preformed a necropsy on the North Atlantic right whale calf and took DNA samples Saturday. The National Park Service at Cape Lookout National Seashore posted news of the whale’s death on its Facebook page. Right whales are critically endangered. The park service says only about 360 of the animals are still alive and about five or six calves are born each year.

CHARLESTON FLOODING FUTURE

Charleston weighs wall as seas rise and storms strengthen

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Charleston, South Carolina has remained relatively unscathed this hurricane season. That means more time to mull a $1.75 billion proposal by the Army Corps of Engineers that features a sea wall along the city’s peninsula to protect it from deadly storm surge during hurricanes. It’s one of several coastal cities where the Corps has recently suggested surge gates, levees and other infrastructure as potential flooding fixes. The Charleston proposal has spurred animated debate over what to do about flooding in the historic port city that has worsened due to sea level rise and other effects of climate change in recent years.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-THANKSGIVING ROOKIES

For rookie Thanksgiving cooks, expert tips to avoid disaster

NEW YORK (AP) — Food experts say Americans nervous about making their first Thanksgiving meals can follow a few basic tips to avoid disaster. They say to plan in advance, and leave enough time for frozen turkeys to defrost. Once thawed, experts say to resist any urges to rinse the bird before cooking, which could end up splattering germs around. Use a thermometer to make sure the bird is cooked to 165 degrees. That should kill any germs on the bird. And after everyone is done eating, experts say to refrigerate leftovers within two hours.

DEPUTY SHOT

North Carolina shooting suspect caught after days on the run

KINSTON, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man accused of shooting a deputy and another man has been shot and captured by law enforcement after more than two days on the run. Lenoir County Sheriff Ronnie Ingram says 30-year-old Robert Lee Strother was shot multiple times in a gunfight with officers late Saturday. Strother is accused of shooting a deputy Thursday evening during a domestic call. He is also accused of shooting a man and stealing his pickup truck. That man has been hospitalized in critical condition. Strother’s condition has not been released. Strother faces several charges. It’s unclear whether he has an attorney who can speak for him.

FATAL SHOOTING-ELDERLY SUSPECT

Judge orders evaluation of 87-year-old charged with murder

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — A judge has ordered a full psychiatric evaluation of an 87-year-old man charged with murder in the shooting death of his neighbor. The Winston-Salem Journal reported that Hermon Lowell Aycoth appeared confused and couldn’t correctly answer simple questions during a court hearing Thursday. Aycoth has been charged with first-degree murder in the July shooting death of Karla Ragsdale Essick, 54. Prosecutors said in court papers that Aycoth admitted shooting Essick “over some paperwork that she had helped him with the day before.”

AP-NC-SUSHI SICK

Health officials say multiple people sick from sushi

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Health officials in North Carolina say at least 10 people got sick after eating sushi bought from two different grocery stores. The Charlotte Observer reports that health officials say they sushi was sold at two Harris Teeter grocery stores in Concord. Harris Teeter has contacted 429 households that made purchases at the stores’ sushi bars, which are operated by a third-party vendor. Health officials say those who ate the sushi and got sick have been vomiting and experiencing other symptoms like diarrhea, fever, muscle aches and abdominal cramps.