Free Republic

Soldier says military lost bin Laden The Associated Press August 2, 2002   6:46 am Fayetteville, N.C. -- A newspaper reports is quoting a Special Forces soldier who says troops knew Osama bin Laden's location but he slipped away because leaders were slow to give orders.The Fayetteville Observer reported today that the soldier said troops and CIA agents knew which cave bin Laden was in during the November assault on the Tora Bora complex in Afghanistan.Military officials said they have no knowledge of the situation and if they had had bin Laden's location they would have gone after him.The...

Duke tracking foreign students with new database The Associated Press August 1, 2002   1:32 am DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University was one of the first schools to use a new database that electronically tracks foreign students studying in the United States.The electronic database, called the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System, was created to replace the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service's lengthy, paper-filled process that precedes a student's enrollment into a college.The database was also designed to enable the immigration service to keep better tabs on foreign students, said Catheryn Cotten, director of the International Office at Duke.Staff...

Sam Davis, a hardware store owner and Democratic county commissioner from Elizabeth City, put $150,000 of his own money into his campaign for the 1st District congressional seat. The contribution dwarfed the $23,000 he received from other donors, according to a report filed this month with the Federal Elections Commission, and left him with about $157,000 in the bank at the end of June. State Sen. Frank Ballance of Warrenton raised about $107,000 in the three months from April through June and had about $130,000 in the bank at the end of the second quarter. Janice McKenzie Cole, a former...

Dole calls for stiffer anti-drug penalties The Associated Press July 24, 2002   11:04 am NEWTON, N.C. -- Republican Senate candidate Elizabeth Dole visited a neighborhood plagued by drugs, then said she would support stiffer penalties for using cocaine and drug-testing for teenagers who apply for drivers' licenses.Dole said Tuesday that anti-drug efforts, from providing helicopters to the Colombian government to fostering faith-based drug treatment homes, would be a priority if she were elected to succeed Republican Sen. Jesse Helms."I would like to leave you today with an image -- Elizabeth Dole's vision," she said at a news conference...

<p>A murder investigation is under way after an Army officer from Fort Bragg was found shot to death in his Fayetteville home.</p> <p>Special Operations Major David Shannon, 40, was found dead in his home around 3 a.m. Tuesday. Police said he was found in a back bedroom and had been shot in the chest and head.</p>

NAACP: Habitual felon law may discriminate The Associated Press July 22, 2002   11:27 am WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The NAACP wants legislators to determine if North Carolina's habitual felon law discriminates against blacks after a woman's research showed the majority of felons are black, the Winston-Salem Journal reported Monday.No prosecutor will acknowledge that the law discriminates against blacks, said Melvin L. "Skip" Alston, the president of the state NAACP chapter."The proof is in the facts. The statistics show the unfairness of the law," Alston said.After her husband was convicted as a habitual felon, Velma Thomas researched state statistics since...

SECRET PANEL DECIDES WHO CAN DRIVE By Dana Davis, The Tribune A woman recently visited a local DMV branch to notify them of a change of address and requested an updated driver's license to indicate as such. What she got was much more than she bargained for. When Sylvia English, 39, single, and no children, went to the East Asheville branch of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to update her driver's license she did not realize that she needed her social security card. Upon finding out, English says she vocalized her disapproval to the DMV examiner. The examiner explained...

Congressional delegation and others visiting Twin Counties this weekendBy BUCK YOUNG, Rocky Mount Telegram A group of congressional representatives, joined by U.S. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., are coming to Eastern North Carolina this weekend to assess the rebuilding since the 1999 flood and what remains to be done. "It is an exciting time," said Princeville Interim Town Manager Bobby Hopkins. The town of approximately 2,000, just east of Tarboro, was completely submerged under the waters of the Tar River when 36 inches of rain fell on the area in three days that fateful September almost three years ago. "The first...

Former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot visited the state capital Tuesday, where he delivered a speech that sounded very much like the opening guns of the 2004 gubernatorial race. Vinroot, a Republican, ripped Gov. Mike Easley and the Democrats for mismanaging the current state budget crisis. Easley defeated Vinroot in the 2000 gubernatorial race, and Vinroot is interested in a rematch. The luncheon was a fund-raiser for Vinroot's foundation, The Foundation for North Carolina's Future, that featured Steve Forbes, editor in chief of Forbes Magazine and a former presidential candidate. "We are unfortunately getting to be the first in a lot...

Greg Dority said he would fight to restore full medical benefits to veterans if he is elected to Congress. Past reductions of medical services have violated a trust with the veterans, Dority said Monday before the Alliance for Retired Military at the Wayne County library. "Make no mistake about it, we are going to war with Iraq by the end of the year," Dority said. "But how can we ask our young men and women to risk their lives and to give 110 percent when they know you've had benefits promised and taken back?" He said he would also fight...

Hege endorses Snyder over Dole 7-16-02 From Staff Reports News & Record Posted 4:20 p.m. LEXINGTON -- Davidson County Sheriff Gerald Hege gave a huge boost today to an underdog contender for the U.S. Senate, endorsing local lawyer Jim Snyder over GOP front runner Elizabeth Dole. Davidson County's most prominent public official said that while he respects Dole, she has lived away from North Carolina too many years to be an effective representative of its people. "She is from North Carolina, but she hasn't been around in a long, long time," Hege said in remarks in front of Davidson's former...

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Their fight over new legislative maps finished for the moment, state lawmakers have agreed to hold North Carolina's long-delayed primary elections on Sept. 10. The Senate voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of the plan, which also eliminates runoffs. The House had approved the date Monday evening. Gov. Mike Easley signed the bill Tuesday afternoon. "We tried to make sure that everyone who could be affected was consulted on this," said Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland. "The time frame was compressed so this was about the only way to do it." The compressed election schedule is...

<p>RALEIGH, N.C. -- Too many people in Fayetteville tried to race through intersections before the traffic light turned red, so the city installed cameras to nab red light runners. The traffic cameras are coming soon to Raleigh, Cary and Chapel Hill (also in Rocky Mount - CD). But, before some cameras are up, there is a way around them.</p>

Justice Dept. approves districts By SCOTT MOONEYHAM, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS RALEIGH, N.C. -- The U.S. Justice Department approved new North Carolina legislative districts today, a move expected to clear the way for the state's long-delayed primary elections to be held. The Justice Department said the new maps met the requirements of the Voting Rights Act. It also said a recent state Supreme Court decision, which forced the redrawing of the maps, complied with the federal law. The 1965 act requires federal review of voting plans that affect 40 North Carolina counties. The maps approved today were drawn by Johnston County...

Insight Magazine 8/28/95 How Dick Gephardt Got His $700,000 Mansion in the Sky By Paul M. Rodriguez Nestled among the dunes at an exclusive beach along the Outer Banks in North Carolina is a palatial summer house called "Northern Star." She is bigger and fancier than most of the vacation houses that increasingly dot the eastern shores. But in the upscale community of Corolla Light, the house shines no brighter than those of wealthy neighbors except for one reason: It belongs to Richard Gephardt, a presidential hopeful in 1988, the speaker-in-waiting until last year and now leader of the minority...

Settlement in Burke County offers unique view of early America The Associated Press July 12, 2002   1:11 am MORGANTON, N.C. -- For years, archaeologists didn't want people to know about the site of a 16th-century Spanish fort in rural Burke County.Experts say the creekside land, about 90 miles northwest of Charlotte, is the first spot in the interior of North America where physical evidence exists of an early European settlement.Now they want to raise awareness for fund raising. It will open to the public on Saturday for the first time.Visitors can see the remains of burned buildings and...

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina threw out the disappointing results of a statewide writing test for schoolchildren Thursday, in part because the exam wasn't written clearly enough. The 9-1 vote by the state Board of Education will ensure that teachers and schools are not penalized for the bad marks. The state has the authority to clean house at schools that get low ratings. The test was given to more than 200,000 fourth-graders and seventh-graders. Only 47 percent of fourth-graders passed the single-essay test, down from 69 percent the previous year; 63 percent of seventh-graders received passing scores, a decline...

Democrat Rising SonBy Hans S. Nichols"Sure, I've thought about it." That's as far as first-term North Carolina Sen. John Edwards goes when asked if he's seeking the Democratic nomination for president. Even with his famous trial-lawyer gift for occasional humorous understatement, no one in Washington, let alone his home state, doubts that he's merely "thought about it." In fact, he's probably thought about it a great deal. All the signals suggest that Edwards is running for president. And Republicans and Democrats agree his opponents are running scared. From Al Gore to Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), from Gov. Howard Dean (D-Vt.)...

The Carolina Summer Reading Program is designed as part of new students' orientation to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. All incoming First Year and Transfer Students are required to participate this year by reading Approaching the Qur'án: The Early Revelations, translated and introduced by Michael Sells, and by participating in discussion sessions on August 19. The program is designed to prepare students for some of their first-year courses and to stimulate conversation inside and outside the classroom about social issues facing all of us today as we enter the new millennium. It is important to note that...

  Friday, July 5, 2002 5:47AM EDT Edwards takes annual walk on the beach U.S. Sen. John Edwards poses with Amy Pope of Raleigh during his Fourth of July walk at Wrightsville Beach. AP Photo By Greg Wolf STORY TOOLS printer friendly version send this story to a friend SITE TOOLS subscribe to our e-mail lists get news, weather, movies on your PDA By JOHN WAGNER, Washington Correspondent WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH - After recent swings through Iowa and New Hampshire, U.S. Sen. John Edwards politicked back home Thursday, continuing an annual tradition of shaking hands with sunbathers and posing for...