News Stories
The Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Board of Education has named two students as non-voting members of the board and two other students as board alternates.
A poll commissioned by a Republican-aligned political action committee finds two local Democrats leading their Republican opponents in a pair of key General Assembly races in the region.
Gov. Roy Cooper told the N.C. Taskforce for Offshore Wind Economic Resource Strategies Thursday afternoon that offshore wind projects off the state’s coast will put money in the pockets of North Carolinians.
Scores of Coasties at Base Elizabeth City celebrated on Thursday the 232nd anniversary of the U.S. Coast Guard’s establishment on Aug. 4, 1790.
Directors and staff from Main Street programs across North Carolina who are gathered in downtown Elizabeth City this week for their annual meeting say they’ve found inspiration in the Harbor of Hospitality for the work they do in their own cities.
Registration for next year’s Coast Guard Marathon opened Thursday, which also happened to be the U.S. Coast Guard’s 232nd anniversary.
Local Events
TARBORO — Four wins in 13 regular-season games against the Tarboro River Bandits, 1-6 in Tarboro’s stadium, nine of their 11 losses overall this summer to the River Bandits; None of that mattered for the Edenton Steamers Saturday night in the Premier Collegiate League championship game.
The Perquimans County Recreation Department’s 10U softball team is this year’s Tar Heel Leagues’ state champion.
EDENTON — An almost two-hour weather delay didn’t bother Edenton pitcher Nicky Wohleking. The big lefthander from Kilmarnock, Virginia, just re-warmed up and went out and pitched a gem.
In a world seemingly filled with disappointment at times, I will often go to the sports section of the newspaper to rejoice in the accomplishments of others and enjoy some positive news. If you do the same I want to apologize in advance, this isn’t our week.
Opinion
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point in order to battle inflation, even as the economy has begun to slow. This follows a quarter-point move in March, another half a point in May, and three-quarters of a point in June. The Fed also signaled in its post-meeting statement that more rate increases are to come, probably in September, saying that it “anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate.”
Were you as stunned as I was to learn that it will take almost three years for Elizabeth City to replace the small bridge at Rivershore Road and Fairfax Avenue?
Rob Schofield, in his column about who he described as “climate deniers,” is pushing the panic button as hard as he possibly can. He blames these people and calls it a “time for urgent, all-hands-on-deck by every individual.”
You have probably heard about the sideshow put on by Alabama prison officials just before a scheduled execution late last month: A female reporter was hounded and humiliated over her skirt and her shoes. But you may have heard less about the main event, the execution, which was carried out despite pleas for mercy from the family of the victim.
For many people, reaching a certain age causes them to think more about their past life. For me, that age was 70. Since attaining that milestone, I find myself thinking more about my seven decades, particularly the early ones.
Eighty-three is a pretty impressive number. That’s the percentage of Americans who favor empowering the federal government to negotiate prices with drugmakers. Even 7 of 10 Republicans agree, according to polling from KFF, a respected source of health news and statistics.
Features
Brigadier Gen. Billy Mitchell fought between the world wars to update our military through the use of aircraft. The First World War was “the war to end all wars,” and this new technology of planes felt like a luxury in a day so impressed with new guns and bombs.
Elizabeth City State University can stick another feather in its cap, courtesy of its low annual tuition cost.
I could easily imagine myself in this new Brad Pitt movie called “Bullet Train.” I’ve ridden the Shinkansen, the high-speed railway from Kyoto to Tokyo that’s featured in the movie. It was quite a trip, clipping along at close to 200 mph.
College of The Albemarle handed out either high school equivalency or adult high school diplomas to 26 graduates of the college’s College and Career Readiness program in June.
HERTFORD — The Perquimans County Schools Foundation, Inc. recently elected a new president and vice president for 2022-23.
My young Ukrainian friends, Yehor and Vika sent this photo in their work with bulava.org, the small but mighty organization that provides hand-to-hand support to their fellow Ukrainians.
State AP Stories
CARRBORO, N.C. (AP) — Nora El-Khouri Spencer sometimes tells people that she started her nonprofit Hope Renovations because she got mad.
KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C. (AP) — A natural hair school will be opening in Kings Mountain and is the first of its kind in Cleveland County.
North Carolina Democrats have asked a state court to overturn an elections board vote granting the Green Party official recognition despite allegations of fraud. Democrats have been accused by the Green Party of meddling in its petitioning process to qualify candidates for the November ballot. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Wake County Superior Court, precedes the first hearing next Monday in a Green Party lawsuit against the North Carolina State Board of Elections, when the newly certified party will fight for an extension to a statutory deadline preventing its candidates from appearing on the ballot.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein is pushing back against Republican General Assembly leaders’ allegations that he neglected his duty to defend state law by refusing to seek enforcement of a blocked 20-week abortion ban after the fall of Roe v. Wade. Attorneys for Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore filed a brief last week asking U.S. District Judge William Osteen to lift an injunction on a 1973 state law banning nearly all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Stein, an abortion rights supporter, says he will continue to recuse himself from the case, drawing criticisms from Republicans who say he is refusing to do his job.
The remains of two children killed in the 1985 bombing of a Philadelphia home used as the headquarters of a Black radical group have been returned to their brother. Lionell Dotson told reporters Wednesday that the remains of 14-year-old Katricia and 12-year-old Zanetta Dotson will be cremated and taken to North Carolina to be buried. Dotson told WCAU-TV it was a “momentous occasion.” He said he could finally give his relatives “a resting place permanently." They were among five children killed when police bombed the MOVE organization’s headquarters and caused a fire that spread to more than 60 row homes.
A top official says the Justice Department has charged five people for making threats of violence against election workers amid a rising wave of harassment and intimidation tied to the 2020 presidential election. Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite tells a Senate committee that one charge has led to a conviction so far through a task force launched last year as reports of threats to election officials, workers and volunteers raised concerns about safety and the security of future elections. threatening messages directed at election workers since launching a task force a year ago. Overall, the department has investigated more than 1,000 harassing and threatening messages directed at election workers.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled that Gov. Roy Cooper’s secretary of health and human services is not immune from a lawsuit over the administration’s restrictions on large gatherings in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. The Department of Health and Human Services temporarily shut down Ace Speedway in June 2020 after it repeatedly defied Cooper’s executive order limiting outdoor crowds to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The racetrack filed counterclaims that August, alleging the department unlawfully singled out the business and violated its employees’ constitutional right to earn a living. The court unanimously voted Tuesday to uphold a January 2021 trial court ruling denying a DHHS motion to dismiss Ace Speedway’s claims.
Officials say a single-engine plane made an emergency landing on a North Carolina highway, but no injuries were reported. News outlets report that the Washington County Sheriff’s Office says the plane had a problem and landed on Highway 64 west of Creswell on Monday. Lt. Charles Arnold says the pilot heading from Dare County to Plymouth experienced a loss of power and when he set the Piper Turbo Arrow down without landing gear, it skidded across the highway. Arnold says the pilot was, “The calmest I’ve ever seen,” after such an emergency. The Federal Aviation Administration was called in to investigate.
{{summary}}
National & World AP Stories
A lack of running water in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk means that residents must fill bottles by hand at public pumps throughout the city. The city's remaining population has adapted to this new way of life. But local officials warn that the coming of winter could set the stage for a humanitarian crisis. Most of the eastern Donetsk region is without gas for heating and public wells and municipal water pipes are likely to freeze in winter. The head of the city military administration in nearby Kramatorsk said that this lack of utilities would prompt people to use other means to heat and light their houses. And that raises the risk of fires.
China says it is extending threatening military exercises surrounding Taiwan that have disrupted shipping and air traffic and substantially raised concerns about the potential for conflict. Military leaders say the exercises will include anti-submarine drills, apparently targeting U.S. support for Taiwan in the event of a potential Chinese invasion. China has said the exercises involving missile strikes, warplanes and ship movements crossing the midline of the Taiwan Strait are a response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the self-ruled island last week. China has ignored calls to calm the tensions, and there was no immediate indication when it would end what amounts to a blockade.
Former Manchester United star Ryan Giggs is set to go on trial on charges of assault and use of coercive behavior against a former girlfriend. Giggs, 48, is accused of assaulting Kate Greville, 36, causing her actual bodily harm, on Nov. 1, 2020, at his home in Worsley, greater Manchester. He is also charged with common assault of her younger sister, Emma Greville, during the same incident. Giggs is also charged with using controlling and coercive behavior against his former girlfriend between August 2017 and November 2020. His trial in Manchester that starts Monday is expected to last up to 10 days.
Stocks are opening slightly higher on Wall Street with gains spread widely across sectors. Pharmaceutical company Viatris is leading the S&P 500 higher after it reported strong quarterly results early Monday. The benchmark index is up 0.6% just after the opening bell, and the Nasdaq and Dow Jones industrials are also rising. Senate approval for Democrats’ big election-year economic package is lifting clean energy companies: SunPower is up 3.4%. Investors will continue to focus on inflation, with reports on consumer and producer prices due this week.
The Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers are central arms of California's water system. But they are becoming too salty to use for some farmers and cities that rely on them as the state's punishing drought drags on. In dry times, less fresh water flows from the mountains through California's rivers and into an estuary known as the Delta. That means saltier water from the Pacific Ocean is able to push further into the system, which supplies water to millions of people and acres of farmland. The Delta's challenges foreshadow the risks to come for key water supplies from drought and sea level rise made worse by climate change.
Two men accused of coming up with a plan to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 are facing a second trial this week. It comes months after a jury couldn’t reach a verdict on Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. while acquitting two others. The result in April was a blow to federal prosecutors. They had set out to show that extremists were committed to snatching Whitmer and causing chaos close to the election between Joe Biden and then-President Donald Trump. The trial means another public airing of secretly recorded conversations, text messages and chilling social media posts. Defense attorneys will argue that Fox and Croft were shielded by the First Amendment when they expressed malicious opinions and were entrapped every step of the way by agents. Jury selection starts Tuesday.
With a cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants holding after nearly three days of violence, Gaza’s sole power plant resumed operations. That came as Israel began reopening crossings into the territory Monday. Israel also lifted security restrictions on southern Israeli communities after the Egyptian-mediated truce took effect late Sunday. It was the worst round of violence since an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas last year. Since Friday, Israeli aircraft had pummeled targets in Gaza while the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group fired hundreds of rockets at Israel. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 44 Palestinians were killed. Islamic Jihad said 12 were militants. Israel said some of the dead were killed by misfired rockets.
The capital of China’s Hainan province has locked down its residents for 13 hours as a COVID-19 outbreak grows on the tropical island during the summer school holidays. More than 470 new cases were recorded in the province on Sunday. The temporary lockdown of Haikou city from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. follows an ongoing and indefinite lockdown of the beach resort of Sanya since Saturday. Some 80,000 tourists have reportedly been stranded in Sanya. Tourists wanting to leave must test negative five times over seven days. China has stuck to a “zero-COVID” approach despite the economic and social costs.
{{summary}}