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A North Carolina woman says she is happier than ever after fulfilling her lifelong wish of becoming blind. Shuping said that her fascination with blindness began when she was about 6-years old. “By the time I was six I remember that thinking about being blind made me feel comfortable,” she told Barcroft TV. As a teen Shuping said she began wearing thick, black sunglasses and walking with a cane. By the age of 20, she was even fluent in braille. “I was ‘blind-simming’, which is pretending to be blind, but the idea kept coming up in my head and by...

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Governor Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency for all 100 counties ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Joaquin -- a category 4 storm. “We’re hoping for the best, but hope is not preparation nor is it a plan,” Governor McCrory said. “I’ve ordered all state agencies to begin preparation for the severe weather, particularly flooding, that is going hit just about every corner of the state during the next few days." McCrory asked that everyone stay away from flooded areas because most storm-related deaths are due to drowning. “Regardless of the impacts of Hurricane Joaquin, North...

RANDLEMAN, N.C. -- A man originally from Randleman was shot and injured in the Oregon community college shooting Thursday that resulted in 10 fatalities. Seven other people were injured when a gunman -- identified as Chris Harper Mercer-- opened fire at Oregon's Umpqua Community College in Roseburg. Chris Mintz graduated from Randleman High School in 2003 and had been in Oregon for at least 10 years, according to family members. Mintz spent most of Thursday in surgery after receiving seven gunshots during the attack. Family members said Mintz was able to talk to loved ones before going into surgery. He...

For most people becoming blind would be a living nightmare - but for Jewel Shuping it was the fulfilment of a lifelong dream. Jewel has Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID), a condition in which able-bodied people believe they are meant to be disabled. Her need to lose her sight was so strong that in 2006 she decided to blind herself - by having a sympathetic psychologist pour DRAIN CLEANER into her eyes. According to Jewel, her fascination with blindness began early in childhood. She said: "When I was young my mother would find me walking in the halls at night,...

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and Charlotte City Council are discussing whether to create “public safety zones,” city areas where people with past arrests would be prohibited from entering. Under the controversial proposal, Chief Kerr Putney could designate a high-crime area as a safety zone in response to crimes such as drug sales or discharging guns that were committed on public property. Someone who has been arrested for crimes in the area could be issued a notice that they are no longer allowed to enter, for as long as the safety zone is in effect. Entering the zone after being prohibited...

PPP's newest North Carolina poll finds that Donald Trump is holding his ground- at least compared to where he was in the state six weeks ago. Trump leads with 26% to 21% for Ben Carson, 12% for Carly Fiorina, 10% for Marco Rubio, 9% for Ted Cruz, 6% for Mike Huckabee, 5% for Jeb Bush, 4% for John Kasich, and 2% for Chris Christie. Rounding out the field are Rick Santorum and Bobby Jindal at 1%, and Jim Gilmore, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki, and Rand Paul all at less than 1%. Trump's 26% is almost identical to his 24% standing...

- The Washington Times - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 Donald Trump Leads Ben Carson By 5 Points In North Carolina: Poll Businessman and 2016 GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump is leading the rest of the Republican field in North Carolina and holds a 5-point advantage over No. 2 Ben Carson, according to a poll released Tuesday. Mr. Trump was at 26 percent in the poll from the Democratic-leaning firm Public Policy Polling (PPP), followed by Mr. Carson, the retired neurosurgeon, at 21 percent. .Next was former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina at 12 percent, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida at 10...

Businessman and 2016 GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump is leading the rest of the Republican field in North Carolina and holds a 5-point advantage over No. 2 Ben Carson, according to a poll released Tuesday. Mr. Trump was at 26 percent in the poll from the Democratic-leaning firm Public Policy Polling (PPP), followed by Mr. Carson, the retired neurosurgeon, at 21 percent. Next was former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina at 12 percent, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida at 10 percent, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at 9 percent, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 6 percent, former Florida Gov. Jeb...

PPP's newest North Carolina poll finds that Donald Trump is holding his ground- at least compared to where he was in the state six weeks ago. Trump leads with 26% to 21% for Ben Carson, 12% for Carly Fiorina, 10% for Marco Rubio, 9% for Ted Cruz, 6% for Mike Huckabee, 5% for Jeb Bu sh, 4% for John Kasich, and 2% for Chris Christie. Rounding out the field are Rick Santorum and Bobby Ji ndal at 1%, and Jim Gilmore, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki , and Rand Paul all at less than 1%

Mayors from eighteen U.S. cities signed a letter to President Obama saying they are willing to take even more refugees than what has been proposed by the administration. “We will welcome the Syrian families to make homes and new lives in our cities,” wrote the mayors, all of whom are part of the Cities United for Immigration Action coalition. “Indeed, we are writing to say that we stand ready to work with your Administration to do much more and to urge you to increase still further the number of Syrian refugees the United States will accept for resettlement.” “This is...

Twenty-five Republicans rebelled against John Boehner (R-Ohio), who won a third term as Speaker on Tuesday. The 25 Republicans, including three freshmen, didn't coalesce around a single alternative candidate. Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.), whose nomination for Speaker became public just minutes before the vote, attracted the most votes at 12. Meanwhile, the other two long-shot candidates, Reps. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) only received three and two votes each. Additionally, freshman Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) voted "present" rather than voting for anyone. And two Republican lawmakers voted for people who aren't even members of the House: Rep. Gary...

House Speaker Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) 35% still won’t be able to win reelection without Democratic votes, Breitbart News has learned, and he has abandoned yet another plan to try to embarrass conservatives seeking his ouster, which he was going to move forward with on Friday. The day after Pope Francis addressed the Congress for the first time—in front of a teary-eyed Boehner—the Speaker had planned to move forward by bringing forth a resolution to vacate the chair, then holding a vote for his reelection intended to prove he had widespread support in the GOP conference. But just as when...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) will be the next target of conservatives frustrated with party leadership, according to one of the conservative representatives who pressured House speaker John Boehner in the weeks leading up to his resignation. “Next guy in the crosshairs will probably be McConnell,” Representative Matt Salmon (R., Ariz.) said in a text message to Senator Mike Lee (R., Utah), ... That fits a theory of Boehner’s struggles that is common among the outgoing speaker’s friends and foes alike — that his unpopularity among the grassroots stems more from McConnell’s failure to take advantage of the...

Fundamental law of physics: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. “At the start of the fall semester, a freshman student at UNC-Chapel Hill gave the syllabus for ENG 72:Literature of 9/11 a cursory look and, perceiving an anti-American bias, brought it to the attention of the College Fix, a conservative website,” Jay Schalin wrote in a column distributed by the Pope Center for Higher Education Reform on September 21, 2015. “It then received a considerable amount of national attention, primarily in the conservative press.” “UNC-Chapel Hill responded as it has in other recent controversies: with damage...

A Muslim community ruled by sharia where the call to prayer sounds out five times a day, as noted in this 2014 Creeping Sharia post, Mosque to sound call to prayer in area targeted “to make Islamic community”: “…establishing Islam within the borders of the Gwynn Oaks area of Baltimore City, in accordance to the Quran and Sunnah” via the Muslim Brotherhood’s newspaper The Muslim Link – Building Community Masjid Al-Haq is located on 514 Islamic Way. It is the largest Masjid in Baltimore City. Out of state Muslim visitors are often pleasantly surprised at the masjid’s fitting street address....

s the pope stalkers of the world watched his flight path on the Alitalia website, suddenly… the plane started making donuts. Several loops over North Carolina later, the pope is back on his way to D.C.: A source on the ground at Joint Base Andrews said several government officials told him the reason the plane started circling was that Obama and Biden are running late to the greeting ceremony. Ooops. Seems like even the bishop of Rome has to adjust his schedule around Beltway traffic.

An F/A-18 fighter jet aircraft has crashed west of Naval Air Station Lemoore. The crash, which happened Monday, was north of Highway 198 in a dirt field just east of the Kings/Fresno county line, about two miles west of NASL, according to Adam Barresi, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol. The pilot reportedly ejected from the aircraft in mid-air, parachuted to the ground, landed and walked over to emergency responders on scene, according to Kings County Fire Chief Bill Lynch. Lynch said the crash happened around 4 p.m. The pilot's name wasn't immediately available. The parachute was reported as...

Speaker John Boehner's future was on Rep. Henry Cuellar's mind when he was speaking with fellow House Democrats last week. The question they were mulling: Would they throw Boehner a lifeline and save his job if he needed their votes to survive? "Heck yes!" Cuellar said in an interview when asked if he'd consider it. The Texas Democrat is one of more than a dozen House Democrats who told CNN they'd be willing to vote to keep Boehner in place if he faces a rebellion from the tea party wing of his caucus this fall. In interviews, a number of...

Four energy partners formally asked the federal government on Friday for permission to build a 564-mile natural gas pipeline in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. The 348-page application was submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline is intended to deliver cleaner burning natural gas to the Southeast as utilities move away from coal-burning power plants amid tighter federal rules on pollution that contributes to climate change. Richmond, Virginia-based Dominion Resources Inc. and Charlotte, North Carolina-based Duke Energy would have 45 percent and 40 percent ownership stakes in the pipeline, respectively. Charlotte-based Piedmont Natural...

Police Chief Mike Halstead in Surf City, North Carolina, was forced to retire after posting a statement to his private Facebook page calling the Black Lives Matter movement "an American born terrorist group." Chief Halstead made the post on September 3, and it came to the attention of Surf City Mayor Zander Guy a few days later. The mayor called an emergency meeting of the town leaders on Tuesday and the town told Halstead that if he did not retire, he would be fired. He retired and took 60 days' severance. In his post, Halstead said that the issue is...