Free Republic

A conservative shift by North Carolina's first Republican-led government in more than a century is drawing weekly protests to the state capital of Raleigh, but some lawmakers are defiantly standing their ground. In the latest of the "Moral Monday" demonstrations, dozens of clergy members, doctors, teachers and environmentalists trampled paper copies of legislation before being handcuffed by police officers when they refused to leave the statehouse as an act of civil disobedience. Some lawmakers have been defiant, and at times heated, in their responses to the protests. One state senator referred to the events as "Moron Monday" in a newspaper...

The street vendor emerged from a building and disrupted the patrol as it moved quietly up the sandy street. “Hey, you wanna buy a soda?” he asked as he pushed the can in sailors’ faces. Then, a gunman with an assault rifle appeared up the road and sprayed the patrol with bullets. Sailors scurried behind walls, some returning fire sporadically. “I’m ready to move!” Seaman Anna Schnatzmeyer called out from a compound, where she found herself alone. No one answered. Her comrades were across the street, fighting inside a building where they’d taken shelter. She called again, but getting no...

The Democratic National Convention may be long over, but its organizers have not forgotten the almost half a million dollars worth of electronics they seem to have lost. Organizers of the Charlotte, N.C., convention have filed a police report for lost and stolen electronics, some of which they appear to have valued at as much as 62 times the listed market prices. A reportedly stolen 13-inch MacBook Pro laptop? $75,537. The price listed on the Apple website is $1,199. A lost iPhone? $30,503. A lost Blackberry? $54,250. The DNC did not respond to a request for comment. Calls to the...

Raleigh, N.C. — North Carolinians with concealed handgun permits would be able to carry firearms in more places – including businesses that serve alcohol, funeral processions and playgrounds – under a bill that the Senate gave tentative approval to Wednesday. The legislation is a broad measure that backers say will broaden the application of Second Amendment rights and increase penalties for certain gun crimes. "We should not fear the armed citizens protecting themselves, protecting their families ... they don't commit crimes," said Sen. Thom Goolsby, R-New Hanover.The most striking provision in the bill does away with pistol purchase permits currently required to buy a...

Charlotte, NC --(Ammoland.com)-  As recently reported, your NRA is aggressively working to pass a comprehensive right-to-carry reform bill, House Bill 937. H 937 contains numerous pro-gun provisions, including a section to repeal the antiquated permit-to-purchase requirement for anyone who wishes to purchase a handgun in North Carolina.  However, the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association is apparently circulating a letter to legislators that urges them to remove this section from H 937. H 937 is currently being considered by the state Senate, so it is critical you contact your state Senator IMMEDIATELY and urge her or him to oppose efforts of the...

Over the last two months, hundreds of protesters have walked out of North Carolina’s capitol in handcuffs to show their opposition to policies by the GOP-controlled Legislature. While a broader coalition of supporters is building around the “Moral Mondays” started by the state chapter of the NAACP, the inspiration behind the protests is a throwback to the biblical message of civil rights leaders fighting segregation in the Jim Crow era. They argue that cutting benefit programs and cutting tax breaks for low- and middle-income families violates Jesus Christ’s teaching to care for those with the least. It’s running into another...

For Obama, North Carolina, the state he won by the narrowest margin in 2008 and lost by the tightest margin in 2012, is the one that got away.

RALEIGH -- More than 100 people were arrested Monday at the largest demonstration yet of the North Carolina NAACP's weeks-long protest of the conservative policies of the Republican-led General Assembly. More...

Are they righting a wrong or wronging the Wrights? The Connecticut Senate passed a bill Tuesday evening that would delete the Wright brothers from history, explicitly stripping recognition for the first powered flight from Orville and Wilbur and assigning it to someone else. “The Governor shall proclaim a date certain in each year as Powered Flight Day to honor the first powered flight by [the Wright brothers] Gustave Whitehead and to commemorate the Connecticut aviation and aerospace industry,” reads House Bill No. 6671, which now sits on the governor’s desk awaiting passage into law. "There’s no question that the Wright...

ItÂ’s commencement season. College seniors across the country are donning mortarboards, getting misty-eyed and preparing to face the realities of President Barack ObamaÂ’s sparkling economic recovery. The Daily Caller is a little misty-eyed, too, because college students will soon disperse from campuses for a long summer, which likely means far fewer stories about stupid and otherwise outrageous occurrences on campus. The time is right, then, to celebrate the academic year that was. Here are the 20 stupidest, most outrageous and most cringe-worthy campus moments of 2012-13. Florida Atlantic University: Worst university in AmericaWhat an embarrassing year for Florida Atlantic. The...

GREENVILLE, N.C. — A former Fayetteville postal carrier who was receiving worker's compensation payments after injuring herself on the job pleaded guilty to fraud in federal court Monday. Cathy Wrench Cashwell's claim that she couldn't lift mail trays into a truck due to a 2004 on-the-job shoulder injury was called into question in September 2009 when she appeared on "The Price is Right" and spun the "big wheel" twice. According to an indictment filed in September 2012, Cashwell "raised her left arm above her head and gripped the handle with her left hand." On a second spin, she "raised both...

With the signature of Governor Pat McCrory on May 30, 2013, North Carolina enacted Senate Bill 189, which redefines the term “home school” in state law.... the old law limited the source of instruction for children to parents, legal guardians, or a member of either household in a two-household home school, the new law provides more flexibility and options for families to obtain instruction from other sources. The thrust of the new law is that the home school option for educating children is parent-directed, but parents and others named in the definition do not have to personally teach all of...

<p>RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- About 140 people have been arrested during the latest weekly demonstration led by the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP against the state's Republican-led General Assembly.</p> <p>Police estimate that roughly 1,000 people attended a rally late Monday afternoon behind the Legislative Building. Hundreds later entered the building, with those intending to get arrested wearing green wrist bands.</p>

Unemployment insurance payments to more than 70,000 North Carolinians are set to run out in four weeks, one result of an overhaul in North Carolina’s unemployment system that takes effect on June 30. Those affected include anyone receiving federal extended unemployment payments, or most people who started drawing benefits before January 1. The N.C. Employment Security Commission has begun notifying people through its website and over the phone when they file required weekly claims.The state legislature’s unemployment system overhaul, which both raised taxes on employers and cut the length and amount of benefits, makes the state ineligible to receive federal...

JOHN Edwards is a naughty man! The shamed politician has decided to break a deathbed promise to his late wife Elizabeth by moving his former mis­tress Rielle Hunter and their love child Quinn into the family home. “This has got to be one of John’s worst ideas ever,” a source said. “Since he’ll be traveling a lot for work, John didn’t want to also be shuttling back and forth between his house in Chapel Hill and Rielle’s place in Charlotte. Edwards’ younger children with his late wife — Jack, 13, and Emma Claire, 15 — have bonded with Rielle and...

MARSHVILLE, N.C. -- The Union County Sheriff’s Office has identified a man shot and killed during a home invasion Thursday. Deputies say Robby Charles Blount, 25, broke into a home in the 3400 block of Lanesboro Road in Marshville around 1 a.m. The residents shot and killed Blount when he allegedly forced his way in the house with a small handgun. Blount ran from the house but collapsed in the yard, where he died. Investigators have not said who fired the shot at Blount. No one has been charged.

It’s not a political alliance people are used to seeing. But in states like Texas and North Carolina, Tea Party supporters have been teaming up with Democrats to defeat measures that would expand gun rights for lawmakers but not the general public. In Texas, the House defeated a measure on Sunday that would have given prosecuting attorneys and lawmakers permission to carry guns anywhere they wanted to in the state. Just 38 lawmakers voted for it, while 103 voted against.

Thread for the All-star weekend and Charlotte. Charlotte is a Sunday "night" race.

A man who forced his way into a Union County home early Thursday was shot and killed by an occupant of the residence, according to the sheriff’s office. Calling the case a “home invasion,” detectives say the intruder tried to escape after being shot but never made it past the front yard of the house. The incident happened shortly before 1 a.m. at a home in the 3400 block of Lanesboro Road, off Ansonville Road. That is north of Marshville, in the northeastern part of Union County. Capt. Ronnie Whitaker says someone inside the home called 911 and said an...

Former presidential contender John Edwards has reactivated his license to practice law and is setting out on the speaking circuit. The two-time presidential candidate and former North Carolina senator is scheduled to appear June 6 at a private retreat in Orlando, Fla., for lawyer clients of the marketing firm PMP. A records check with the N.C. State Bar shows Edwards has also reactivated his license to practice law, which had been inactive for more than a decade.....

<p>Presidential contender John Edwards has reactivated his license to practice law and is setting out on the speaking circuit.</p> <p>The two-time presidential candidate, former North Carolina senator and 2004 Democratic vice-presidential nominee is scheduled to appear June 6 at a private retreat in Orlando, Fla., for lawyer clients of the marketing firm PMP.</p>

A North Carolina teacher is brain-washing students telling them Republican policies are hurting schools.EAG News reported: It appears that one North Carolina teacher is getting into the spirit of the new Common Core learning standards that promote the use of “informational” texts in the classroom. According to the StopCommonCoreNC.com, a fourth-grade teacher with Henderson County Public Schools gave students a brief reading assignment, titled “Raleigh’s Educational Plan.”(continued)

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - State health officials say a Charlotte abortion clinic, which was forced to shut its doors after an investigation, will be allowed to reopen. Officials from North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services told WBTV that A Preferred Women's Health Center, LLC will be allowed to reopen as early as Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. The clinic, located on Latrobe Drive, has proven they are safe to open, according to a state spokesman. The clinic closed at the end of the day on Friday at the request of the DHHS. Debbie Lang, who owns a dog...

CHARLOTTE, NC, May 14, 2013 (LifeSiteNews) – A Charlotte, North Carolina abortion clinic has been shut down following an investigation that revealed abortionists were incorrectly administering abortion drugs to their clients. Workers at the “A Preferred Women’s Health Center” were found to have given injectable methotrexate orally to abortion-seeking women, in violation of FDA and manufacturer guidelines.

A North Carolina man who the FBI says spoke of killing U.S. Army soldiers as part of a personal jihad has pleaded guilty to possessing a stolen firearm. (snip) In an affidavit filed with the court, FBI Special Agent Frank Brostrom said the 19-year-old from Fayetteville holds extremist Islamic views and told a government informant he would like to kill Fort Bragg soldiers.

Thanks to a mild winter, swarms of turkey vultures have made themselves at home in Shelby, N.C., but town residents are wary of their neighbors. While the birds normally pass through the city while migrating south for the winter, the vultures have been sticking around this year, swarming lawns and making residents nervous. "We are just not getting cold enough to push them along," Kristen Duren, an intern with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension, the state agriculture service, told ABC's Charlotte, N.C. affiliate WSOC-TV. "What used to be five to 10 birds is going up to 150 birds."

RALEIGH — The historians, doctors, preachers, lawyers, raging grannies, students and others gathered around the second-floor fountain inside the Legislative Building and belted out “This Little Light of Mine” and other songs. They were diverse in age and backgrounds but united in voice as part of a protest movement gaining numbers in recent weeks. In the four months since North Carolina Republicans took control of both General Assembly chambers and the governor’s mansion, the lawmakers have proposed rapid and sweeping change to the state’s electoral processes, health care policies, welfare management and publicly-funded education systems. The Republicans, some who emerged...

WASHINGTON – Nearly 12 years after 9/11, Americans are still waiting for the U.S. government to release key information about the attack that killed more than 3,000 of their countrymen. Related topics Reps. Frank Wolf, R-Va., and Peter King, R-N.Y., introduced legislation in 2011 to review the original 9/11 Commission findings. Their bill passed the House Homeland Security Committee and was referred to three additional committees: the House Committees on Energy and Commerce, Space Science and Technology, and Transportation and Infrastructure. But the measure has yet to be acted upon by the House as a whole. Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C.,...

"I am in pain and moderate shock from what just happened which I am trying to write about. It is 4 am and I am still not calmed down enough to sleep! Tonight 6-10+ male Law enforcement Officers in heavy body armor broke into my home and did much destruction. I am injured, but do not know how bad." That is the beginning of a Facebook post that I received late Wednesday / early Thursday morning. The post came from Tim Manning a 62-year-old pastor who resides in Kernersville, NC. Manning states that he was on the phone with his...

The 82nd Airborne Division Band struck up “Carolina in the Morning ” as a coalition color guard held the U.S. and Indian flags side by side Friday on Fort Bragg. The ceremony on Pike Field marked the beginning of Yudh Abhyas 2013. About 200 soldiers from the Indian army will be on Fort Bragg for the U.S.-Indian exercise through May 17. The scenario calls for the two armies to work together under a United Nations mandate. “The United States has the world’s oldest democracy, and India, the largest,” Brig. Jagdish Chaudhari said. “We have a lot to learn from each...

May 3, 2013 N.C. high school student arrested for leaving shotgun in car gets scholarship to Liberty University By Katie LaPotin There is a silver lining in the story of the North Carolina high school student arrested Monday for accidentally leaving his shotgun in his locked car – he’s just earned himself a scholarship to his dream school, Liberty University.Cole Withrow was expelled from school and charged with a felony after school administrators overheard a private conversation between Withrow and his mother about the gun. According to a family friend, Withrow had gone skeet shooting the day before and forgot...

A North Carolina Eagle Scout who was expelled and arrested for accidentally leaving a shotgun in his pickup truck in the school parking lot has been offered a scholarship to attend Liberty University. Cole Withrow was just a few weeks from graduating with honors from Princeton High School when he was arrested on Monday and slapped with a felony weapons charge. Withrow had been skeet shooting with friends a day before and had only noticed he had left his shotgun in his truck as he reached to grab his book bag. When he realized his mistake, he went to...

The Johnston County Eagle Scout who was expelled from Princeton High School for accidentally bringing a shotgun on campus was offered an opportunity to attend an alternative school so he can graduate Thursday. ... In a news release sent to ABC11 Thursday, an attorney for the district denied Withrow was actually expelled or suspended for 365 days as previously reported and as officials told ABC11 Wednesday. ... Whatever happens with Johnston County schools, Withrow's future education appears to be taken care of. Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. has offered the teen a full scholarship to the university.

Eagle Scout Cole Withrow was just a few weeks from graduating with honors from his North Carolina high school, but now the active church member is facing a felony weapons charge and a precarious future after accidentally leaving a shotgun in his pickup truck in the school parking lot. Most members of the Johnston County community, just southeast of Raleigh believe the 18-year-old is paying far too big a price for an honest mistake. Withrow had been skeet shooting with friends a day before, and only noticed he had left his shotgun in his truck on Monday morning as he...

Duke University plans to raise its student fees in order pay for students' sex reassignment surgery. Duke University recently made the decision to raise student fees in order add sex-reassignment surgery to their healthcare plan. The private university, located in North Carolina, follows Brown and other universities in offering coverage for the controversial operation. Administrators say they will cover the cost of the reassignment surgery up to $50,000 that will be covered with a cause a 0.3 percent increase to overall student fees. LGBT advocates on campus immediately celebrated the university’s decision.

PRINCETON, N.C. (WTVD) -- According to law enforcement officials, punishments are not the same for students and school administrators who commit crimes on school property in Johnston County. One day after a Johnston County high school senior was expelled for having an unloaded gun on campus, ABC11 learned administrators only suspended an assistant principal at the same school for a similar incident last year.

PRINCETON, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Johnston County high school student has been expelled for bringing a gun onto school property, but the school's student body is coming to his defense. David "Cole" Withrow is a senior at Princeton High School. He was set to graduate in just a few weeks, until his arrest Monday for bringing a gun to school. Cole, who is an Eagle Scout and an honors student, said he forgot to take his gun out of his truck after skeet shooting. When he got to school and realized the gun was in his car, he went into...

President Obama will nominate Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC) today to be the Director of the Federal Finance Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Many have called for the firing of the agency’s current director, Ed DeMarco. DeMarco has headed the agency since 2009 and was a Bush appointee. Watt’s nomination is subject to Senate confirmation. Watt played a key role in the he Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that is now law and has been an advocte for minority lending institutions. Watt is 67 and a graduate of Yale Law School. He has served in Congress since 1993 and...

Author's Note: If you don't get this, then you aren't reading enough Walter Williams. Of course, one can never read enough Walter Williams.I used to be caring and compassionate and liberal. I supported gun control and the “right” of the government to seize a large chunk of my paycheck in order to plan my retirement for me. But, somewhere, somehow, along life's twisted way, I became a greedy capitalist pig. And, truth be known, it's affecting my entire neighborhood. It all started on New Year's Eve when my friend Adam came by to help me with a small project inside...

President Barack Obama is nominating Charlotte, N.C., Mayor Anthony Foxx, a rising star in Democratic politics, to run the Transportation Department, a White House official said... Foxx will be the first black nominee among Obama’s picks for open spots in his second-term Cabinet. The president has faced questions, including from the Congressional Black Caucus, about a lack of diversity in his first round of nominations after winning re-election. If confirmed by the Senate, Foxx would take over a department that has been at the center of Washington’s debate over the impact of the so-called sequester cuts. The automatic cuts resulted...

A North Carolina political strategist died from stab wounds after she and her husband were allegedly attacked in their home by their close friend and best man from their wedding. Jonathan Broyhill, 31, is recovering from "self-inflicted wounds" and was charged with attempted murder after police say he attacked Jamie Hahn, 29, and wounded her husband, Nation, 27, in their Raleigh home Monday night. Jamie Hahn, who helped raise money for Democrat John Edwards' 2008 presidential campaign, died two days later from her injuries. The charge against Broyhill has yet to be upgraded and it's unclear whether he has entered...

the Obama administration’s political appointees at the Justice and Agriculture Departments engineered a stunning turnabout: they committed $1.33 billion to compensate... The deal... was fashioned in White House meetings... the $50,000 payouts to black farmers had proved a magnet for fraud. the claims process prompted allegations of widespread fraud and criticism that its very design encouraged people to lie... Agriculture Department reviewers found reams of suspicious claims, from nursery-school-age children and pockets of urban dwellers, sometimes in the same handwriting with nearly identical accounts of discrimination. As a senator, Barack Obama supported expanding compensation for black farmers, and then as...

Raleigh, N.C. — It took just 45 minutes Thursday morning for the Senate Commerce Committee to approve a massive rollback of rules and regulations meant to protect the state's environment. Senate Bill 612 would require cities and counties to repeal any rules stricter than state or federal law. It would also require a list of environmental oversight boards and agencies to repeal or rewrite any state rule stricter than federal regulation on any given matter. Those agencies include the Mining and Energy Commission, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Environmental Management Commission, the Commission for Public Health, the...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A man who walks around his neighborhood with a rifle strapped to his back says he is not a threat to harm anyone, but some neighbors fear he is an incident of vigilante justice waiting to happen. John Schultz, 19, also wears a bullet-proof vest, carries ammunition and has a knife in a holster as he walks through Walnut Creek, which is off Sunset Road in north Charlotte. The gun is his grandfather’s 303 British Enfield from WWII. His walks cause double-takes as well as safety concerns for some. Schultz says others thank him and wave at...

RALEIGH — The state House passed a bill Wednesday requiring voters to show a photo ID when they go to the polls in 2016, after an emotionally charged debate that underscored North Carolina’s political polarization. House Republicans pushed through the measure saying that the public demanded more stringent ballot security at polling places, that voter fraud was more prevalent than is understood, and that in a modern, mobile society fewer election officials personally knew voters. “Our system of government depends upon open and honest elections,” said Rep. David Lewis, a farm equipment dealer from Dunn and a Republican. “Having people...

A report out of North Carolina seems almost like a Lifetime move: best man fatally stabs bride. Sadly, that is the situation in Raleigh after Jonathan Broyhill allegedly killed Jameson Kirk Hahn this week. The Associated Press via WMBF News shared the details on April 24. A wedding announcement from the wedding of Jamie Kirk Hahn to Nation Hahn from 2009 lists Broyhill as the groom's best man. Now he is facing charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. Both Jamie and Nation Kirk were stabbed in their home Monday night. Jamie Kirk...

April 23, 2013 New Congressional Quest: End Prison Phone Call Price Gouging Bridget Johnson The Congressional Black Caucus Working Group on Prison Telecomm Reform is protesting high call costs for phone-homers behind bars. The CBC group will hold a press conference with former inmates and family members “to expose the often exorbitant rates that prisoners and their families are being charged for telephone calls and to announce the CBC response to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to resolve the issue after more than a decade of delay,” according to D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s (D)...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police said they are investigating after a home intruder was shot and killed while trying to force his way into a Charlotte apartment. WBTV reported that the shooting happened around 3 a.m. Sunday at the Alta Grove apartments on Season Grove Lane in northwest Charlotte. Charlotte-Mecklenburg homicide investigators said the intruder was shot after struggling over a weapon with the man who lived there. Authorities said the apartment resident suffered a minor gunshot wound to the hand. They said a woman was also at the apartment and was not injured. Officials said the intruder was pronounced dead...

After years of pretending to be a Navy SEAL and a member of law enforcement, a Rhode Island felon is facing multiple years in California and Rhode Island prisons after finally slipping up because of expired vehicle tags. William Burley pleaded not guilty to charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and in possession of ammunition on Wednesday in Morongo Superior Court. Just the previous week in the same court, Burley, a Yucaipa resident, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, a prohibited person in possession of ammunition and receiving stolen property. Due...

On Saturday, East Carolina produced a big, heart-warming moment. This one was centered around Noah Roberts, an eight-year-old who in 2010 was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that has resulted in the child needing to have two tumors removed from his brain and one from his spinal cord. Roberts, a big Pirates fan, has been out to ECU to watch football practice several times over the past two years. On Saturday morning at 9:15 a.m. on the day of the Pirates' annual Purple-Gold Spring Football Game, Roberts was invited into a meeting with Ruffin McNeill. The Pirates head...