Free Republic

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...

Pit bulls might have a reputation among some as rough, gruff dogs from tough neighborhoods. But the breed’s advocates are fiercely loyal and quick to fight back against their bad rap sheet—as Rep. Rodney Moore, a Democrat from Mecklenburg County, found out this week. Moore, a small-business consultant who has owned pit bulls, introduced a bill Tuesday that would require anyone taking ownership of the much-maligned dogs to submit to a criminal background check. The proposal also targets Rottweilers, mastiffs, chows, Perro de Presa Canarios and any “wolf hybrids.” … The bill, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Larry Pittman, a...

Probably the most bracing aspect of Ira Katznelson's new history of the New Deal, Fear Itself, is his portrait of the marriage of progressive domestic policy and white supremacy. I knew the outlines of this stuff, but for a flaming commie like me, the extent of the embrace is hard to take: Far more enduring was the New Deal's intimate partnership with those in the South who preached white supremacy. For this whole period -- the last in American history when public racism was legitimate in speech and action -- southern representatives acted not on the fringes but as an...

Police at a public university locked down the campus for three-hours on Tuesday after school administrators misidentified a student’s umbrella as a rifle. “I had a bunch of automatic weapons pointed at me,” North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (A&T) economics professor Jeffrey Edwards, told The Winston-Salem Journal following the lockdown on Tuesday.

On one of Virginia's small barrier islands, a NASA facility that operates in relative obscurity outside scientific circles is preparing to be thrust into the spotlight. On Wednesday, Orbital Sciences Corp. plans to conduct the first test launch of its Antares rocket under a NASA program in which private companies deliver supplies to the International Space Station. If all goes as planned, the unmanned rocket's practice payload will be vaulted into orbit from Wallops Island before burning up in the atmosphere on its return to Earth several months later.... A successful launch would pave the way for Dulles-based Orbital to...

Dozens of resorts with permits to operate on national forests have bought or acquired rights to use nearby bodies of water for snowmaking. The Forest Service had adopted a clause that said those resorts had to transfer their water rights to the federal government ... After the National Ski Areas Association sued, a judge ruled last year that the agency violated procedure in not seeking public comment before adopting the clause. The agency now plans open houses April 16 in Lakewood, Colo., on April 17 in Salt Lake City, and April 18 in Lake Tahoe, Calif., to get input.

When a group of black men were planning a home-invasion robbery in Fayetteville, N.C., on Friday, they stuck to an M.O. that had succeeded all over the country, but made one fatal error: They chose the wrong home. The residents of the targeted house were home at the time and armed. After what local authorities report as a “gun battle,” two of alleged robbers died. Most home invasion robberies follow the same script: Find a residence in a nice neighborhood where people do not live too close together. Statistics show potential victims are likely white or Asian, though professional athletes...

... Fayetteville Police tell WTVD both robbery suspects fled the home after the exchange of gunfire. One of the suspects, 25-year-old Dominik Council, was found dead on the side of the road nearly two hours after the incident. The other suspect, 20-year-old Xavier White, was found wounded and transported to an area hospital, where he later died, according to the station. ... Police on Saturday identified 24-year-old Lamyer Campbell and 24-year-old Derek Hair as suspects in the attempted home invasion.

What happens when the U.S. Secretary of Labor visits a church in Charlotte? If an incident earlier this month is any indication, faulty political promises and destructive economic policies continue to spread. It took place on April 3rd. Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Seth Harris made an appearance at a Baptist Church in North Carolina’s largest city, along with Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx. He was visiting to promote President Obama’s proposal of elevating the federal minimum wage requirement from the current $7.25 to $9.00 an hour. Harris and Foxx gathered in a large room within a Baptist church building. They sat...

Alexander Ayotte Burr Chambliss Coburn Collins Corker Flake Graham Hoeven Isakson Kirk McCain Toomey Wicker

The Republican plan to block debate on Senate Bill 649, which requires background checks on almost all gun purchases and transfers, failed spectacularly Thursday morning when sixteen Republican Senators joined almost all of the Democrats to vote in favor opening debate on the bill. Among those voting to defeat the filibuster were 9 Democrats with “A” ratings from the National Rifle Association, and 12 A-rated Republicans (out of 16 Republican “ayes”). Two Democrats, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK), joined the majority of Republican Senators who tried to prevent debate, much less a vote, on the bill....

The North Carolina House has approved a bill mandating background checks for welfare recipients. The bill that passed 106-6 Thursday requires all social services employees to perform background checks to bar applicants and recipients with outstanding warrants or other active violations from welfare and food stamp programs. Employees would have to report them to law enforcement.

Fort Bragg is canceling its July 4th celebration because of budget cuts and worker furloughs. The event - a tradition for more than 30 years - usually attracts 50,000 people and includes what many people believe to be among the best fireworks shows in the region. "Our reduced operating budget for the remainder of this year forces many very tough decisions," said Lt. Gen. Daniel B. Allyn, commanding general of 18th Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg ... Fort Bragg announced other cuts and reductions today

CONCORD, NC (WBTV) - Police in Concord are investigating after they say someone sent a white powder substance to the office of a U.S. Congressman. According to police, officers and firefighters were called to the office of U.S. Congressman Richard Hudson around 10:15 a.m. Tuesday morning. Officers say the call was in reference to a white powder substance in a letter that had been opened inside his North Carolina office.

After six years of litigation, I am pleased to report that I have finally won the right to present my case against UNC-Wilmington to a jury of my peers here in North Carolina. My case began in September of 2006 when I was denied promotion to full professor. At the time, I had multiple teaching awards and outstanding reviews from students for my teaching. I had published more peer-reviewed articles than the vast majority of my colleagues. In fact, my department had never denied promotion to full professor to anyone with as many peer reviewed publications as I had accumulated....

Brown-eyed people are more likely than blue-eyed people to pack a gun in North Carolina. Much about the nearly 400,000 concealed pistol permit holders here – including their names, addresses, weights and, yes, even eye colors – is a matter of public record. But state lawmakers are trying to change that. A bill crawling through the N.C. General Assembly aims to make that information confidential, open only to law enforcement. It is one of more than a dozen measures introduced this year as lawmakers bow to long-held demands among gun rights activists. As mass shootings fuel debate about the proper...

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York judge has approved Bank of America's $2.43 billion settlement of a class action lawsuit brought by shareholders over the company's acquisition of former competitor Merrill Lynch. A judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Manhattan approved the settlement Friday. The bank proposed the settlement in late September. The agreement resolves allegations that Bank of America did not disclose the state of its finances or those of Merrill Lynch when it agreed to buy Merrill in September 2008. Judge Kevin Castel said the settlement was "hard fought," but called the...

Senate votes on climate change and the Keystone XL oil pipeline laid bare divisions among Democrats — and underscored why the White House, not Congress, will be where the critical climate decisions reside in President Obama’s second term.Several votes during the freewheeling debate over a nonbinding budget plan provided a political barometer of where the chamber, including vulnerable Democrats, stand on the topics. Advocates of the proposed pipeline scored a symbolic victory Friday when 62 lawmakers voted for an amendment backing the project to bring oil from Canadian tar sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries. Seventeen Democrats supported Sen....

CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C. — He looks like a typical 7-year-old boy, but on Tuesday night, Sam Grant is facing charges that many adults never will. He is charged with two felonies for something that happened when his mother turned her back for just a second. His parents told Eyewitness News that they're outraged. "We are both just shocked. We have been in a state of shock over this," said Ray Robbins. Sam's parents said this scenario began in February when Sam was playing outside with his BB gun. They said he began shooting at an abandoned house right across the...