A Christmas miracle: Boy with illness now able to walk

Duke Energy says it has completed repairs on substation equipment damaged when it was shot up and that it expects power to be fully restored by the evening. In a statement to customers on its website, the energy company said Wednesday that all of the equipment damaged in an attack on two substations Saturday has been fixed or replaced. The company said that Moore County customers will gradually get power back throughout the day as it finishes testing and completes restoration safely. As of late Wednesday morning, fewer than 20,000 customers were without power in the county, according to poweroutage.us. That’s down from a peak of more than 45,000 customers without power over the weekend.

Duke Energy says it expects to be able to restore power by Wednesday night to a county where electric substations were attacked by gunfire. Duke Energy spokesman Jeff Brooks said the company expects to have power back Wednesday just before midnight in Moore County. The company had previously estimated it would be restored Thursday morning. About 35,000 Duke energy customers were still without power Tuesday, down from more than 45,000 at the height of the outage Saturday. Authorities have said the outages began shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday night after one or more people drove up to two substations, breached the gates and opened fire on them.

Two power substations in a North Carolina county were damaged by gunfire in what is being investigated as a criminal act. A spokesman for Duke Energy said at a news conference with local officials on Sunday that the damage caused the night before could take days to repair. Power was out for roughly 37,000 customers Sunday. In response, officials announced a state of emergency that included a curfew from 9 p.m. Sunday to 5 a.m. Monday. County schools will be closed Monday. Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields says authorities have not determined a motivation.

NEW YORK (AP) — More than two decades after a tiny Greek Orthodox church in lower Manhattan was destroyed by the falling south tower of the World Trade Center, that church's far grander replacement opened to the public this week in an elevated park overlooking the rebuilt trade center's memo…

Could trawler cams help save the world’s fish? A bevy of companies is installing high-resolution cameras on U.S. fishing boats to replace scarce in-person observers and meet new federal mandates aimed at protecting dwindling fish stocks. But taking the technology beyond U.S. waters, where the vast majority of seafood consumed in the U.S. is caught, is a steep challenge. Only a few countries in the world can match strict U.S. regulatory mandates. Scientists fear the result could be that well-intended American initiatives to replenish fish stocks and reduce bycatch of threatened species could backfire by transferring more fishing into unregulated overseas waters.

Duke Energy says it has completed repairs on substation equipment damaged when it was shot up and that it expects power to be fully restored by the evening. In a statement to customers on its website, the energy company said Wednesday that all of the equipment damaged in an attack on two substations Saturday has been fixed or replaced. The company said that Moore County customers will gradually get power back throughout the day as it finishes testing and completes restoration safely. As of late Wednesday morning, fewer than 20,000 customers were without power in the county, according to poweroutage.us. That’s down from a peak of more than 45,000 customers without power over the weekend.

Authorities say the leader of a small polygamous group near the Arizona-Utah border had taken at least 20 wives and punished followers who didn't treat him as a prophet. The details of Samuel Bateman's life were alleged in an FBI affidavit released last Friday. It was filed in a case that charges three of his female followers with kidnapping children from state custody in Arizona and impeding a foreseeable prosecution. Two of the women are scheduled to appear in federal court in Flagstaff on Wednesday. Bateman is facing state and federal charges of child abuse and tampering with evidence.

Sports programs across the county are weighing whether tough coaching styles still have a place in the athletic world. The styles once embodied by legends such as Bear Bryant and Bobby Knight have fallen out of favor at a time when student-athletes demand more sensitive treatment and more individualized training. Athletes of this younger generation also possess greater personal power over their career paths, which sometimes forces coaches to accommodate them or risk losing top talent.

Scientists have discovered the oldest known DNA and used it to reveal what life was like 2 million years ago in the northern tip of Greenland. Today, it’s a barren Arctic desert. But back then it was a lush landscape of trees and vegetation with an array of animals, even the now extinct mastodon. The study published Wednesday looks at environmental DNA — bits of genetic material that organisms leave in their surroundings. By studying these tiny pieces, scientists found an unusual mix of species, with reindeer and geese perhaps living alongside mastodons.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Some of Geoff Bond’s rowers loved and appreciated his demanding style. They thrived on how the coach at the University of California-San Diego pushed them to the limit while preparing them to take on the real world.