Tag Archives: North Carolina

Asheville’s ABC affiliate reports: Macon County authorities say a former youth pastor and current school employee was arrested and charged with felony indecent liberties with a child. Authorities say on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023, officials with the Special Victims Unit of the Macon County Sheriff’s Office were investigating an allegation of sexual misconduct. Authorities arrested and charged Evan Jordan Jensen, …

Charlotte’s NPR affiliate reports: A bill advancing in North Carolina’s Senate would prohibit instruction about sexuality and gender identity in K-4 public school classes, defying the recommendations of parents, educators and LGBTQ youths who testified against it. Sponsors of the bill, approved Wednesday by the Senate education committee, say they want to grant parents greater authority over their children’s education …

Asheville’s ABC affiliate reports: A former pastor of a church in Black Mountain has pleaded guilty after being accused of sexual offense with a minor. District Attorney Todd Williams said Trent Brandon Holbert, formerly the pastor of The Ridge Church in Black Mountain, pled guilty Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, to felony attempted statutory sexual offense. The minor was a 15-year-old …

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: The FBI is asking for the public’s help to find a suspect in a shooting of an electrical substation in Randolph County in mid-January, a month after a shooting in Moore County left tens of thousands without power for days. “In the early morning hours of January 17,” the FBI said, “unknown suspect(s) fired …

CBS News reports: Another power substation in North Carolina has been damaged because of apparent gunfire, energy officials said Tuesday. The damage occurred at a power substation in Thomasville, about an hour away from Moore County, where just weeks ago two other substations were attacked by gunfire. Energy United said that company officials learned of an “equipment issue” at the …

The Hill reports: North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein (D) announced Wednesday that he is running for governor of the state in 2024, becoming the first major candidate to declare their candidacy for the governorship. Stein announced his bid to succeed the term-limited Gov. Roy Cooper (D) in a video posted on his Twitter account, saying that he “learned early …

Winston-Salem’s NPR affiliate reports: For the first time, “GAYPRIDE” is available as a vanity license plate in North Carolina. It’s one of over 200 terms that were removed from the state’s prohibited plates list after a review late last year. As recently as last year, the “Do No Issue” list included “GAYPRIDE,” “LESBIAN,” and “QUEER” – entries that prompted DMV …

Reuters reports: More than a million homes and businesses were without power on the U.S. East Coast, Midwest and Texas on Friday as winter storms battered much of the country, according to data from PowerOutage.us. Most outages were in North Carolina, with over 164,000 customers without power, followed by Virginia with over 92,000 and Connecticut with more than 89,000. The …

Law & Crime reports: A Chick-fil-A restaurant in North Carolina will have to pay almost $7,000 after it was caught having child employees operate dangerous machinery and trying to pay teen employees in meal vouchers. The DOL found that the same employer “also paid certain employees — who were asked to direct traffic — to work for meal vouchers rather …

Durham’s ABC affiliate reports: A Durham pastor, who also worked as a substitute teacher, is facing 14 new criminal charges out of Wake County. Police accuse David Dixon of committing a number of sex crimes with an underage victim at his Raleigh apartment. This comes a week after Durham investigators arrested him on charges of statutory rape and indecent liberties …

Asheville’s ABC affiliate reports: A charge of driving with a revoked license against North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn has been dropped. Dashcam video showed a North Carolina state trooper pulling Cawthorn over in Cleveland County on March 3. The trooper reportedly pulled Cawthorn over for driving left of the center line. The traffic stop resulted in the Republican congressman being …

Raleigh’s NBC affiliate reports: On Thursday, investigators issued multiple search warrants related to attacks on the power grid. The warrants, which will remain sealed, are on the state level. The FBI has also applied for a Federal Order to retrieve cell phone records to identify people in the area of the substations on Saturday night. They are still working on …

Media Matters has the transcript: Let me lay the scene out for you. You have a very quaint downtown of a southern conservative Christian area, and a drag show event coming from Raleigh, called the House of Coxx with the chief performer, Naomi Dix, decides they’re going to do an all-ages drag show in our historic downtown theater. So, like …

The Associated Press reports: Duke Energy said Wednesday that it has completed repairs on substation equipment in Moore County, North Carolina, as the FBI renewed calls to the public for help identifying “unknown” suspect or suspect behind sabotage gunfire at two substations that caused major power outages extending several days. In a statement to customers on its website, the energy …

CNN reports: With no suspects or motive announced, the FBI is joining the investigation into power outages in a North Carolina county believed to have been caused by “intentional” and “targeted” attacks on substations that left around 40,000 customers in the dark Saturday night, prompting a curfew and emergency declaration. The mass outage in Moore County turned into a criminal …

Durham’s ABC affiliate reports: Acts of intentional vandalism caused ten of thousands of people in Moore County to sleep Saturday night without power. Moore County Sheriff’s Office said the outages began just after 7 p.m. because of damaged caused at multiple substations in the county. Sheriff Ronnie Fields said the mass outage is currently believed to have been caused by …

Durham’s ABC affiliate reports: Durham Police have charged a man accused of sex crimes involving minors. David Keandre’ Dixon, 37, of Raleigh, was charged with several counts of felony statutory sex offenses involving a child younger than 15 as well as felony indecent liberties with a child. Dixon, who was arrested Thursday by Raleigh police at his home, is being …

Charlotte’s NBC affiliate reports: A youth leader and soccer coach at several Charlotte-area churches was charged with multiple child sex crimes on Friday, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Police charged 36-year-old Benjamin Damron with nine counts of indecent liberties with a child and one count of sexual battery. Officers said Damron used his position to take advantage of the …

Raleigh’s ABC affiliate reports: Democratic state Sen. Wiley Nickel won North Carolina’s lone toss-up congressional district, giving his party a critical seat in its bid to maintain control of the U.S. House and further President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda. Nickel defeated Republican political newcomer Bo Hines in a highly contentious race where both candidates argued the other was too extreme …

NBC News reports: Republican Rep. Ted Budd defeated Democrat Cheri Beasley in North Carolina’s competitive Senate race Tuesday, NBC News projects, letting Republicans retain a seat that will be vacated by retiring Sen. Richard Burr. The race flew largely under the radar, with more colorful candidates in other states capturing headlines, even as polls showed the contest neck-and-neck. Both parties …