Category Archives: North Carolina

‘It’s such a dramatic contrast’: Harris turns North Carolina into a toss-up

Posted on by

The state, usually a Republican stronghold, is in play in a nail-bitingly tight contest for the presidency

Landon Simonini found himself standing in the middle of a Charlotte highway lane at 2.30 in the afternoon, stuck in an artificial traffic jam while drivers waited for Kamala Harris’s plane to land and the motorcade to clear for the rally later that day.

He was out of his car, because why not? He wasn’t going anywhere soon. His red Make America great again cap stood out among others cursing the traffic gods.

Continue reading...

Kamala Harris holds North Carolina rally and calls for another debate with Trump

Posted on by

Democratic nominee criticizes Republican rival and says ‘we owe it to the voters’ to have second TV debate

Kamala Harris held a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina on Thursday, calling for another round of debate with Donald Trump, two days after her strong showing in Philadelphia against the former president.

“I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate,” she said to applause, “because this election and what is at stake could not be more important. On Tuesday night, I talked about issues that I know matter to families across America, like bringing down the cost of living … but that’s not what we heard from Donald Trump.”

Continue reading...

RFK Jr’s name must be taken off ballots, Michigan and North Carolina courts rule

Posted on by

Rulings upend plans in battleground as nation’s first absentee ballots in presidential contest were set for mailing

Robert F Kennedy Jr’s campaign for president failed – but his campaign to avoid being a spoiler in North Carolina and Michigan appears for the moment to be more successful.

The North Carolina court of appeals made a last-minute decision on Friday to remove Kennedy’s name from presidential ballots, creating a scramble to reprint ballots and begin sending them to voters.

Harris campaign raised $361m in August, triple the amount of Trump campaign

If Trump wins the election, it will doom our efforts to slow climate disaster

Presidential poll tracker

Who is running for president?

Continue reading...

‘Georgia’s ours to lose’: Trump and Harris camps zero in on swing states

Posted on by

Amid close race, Harris to go on tour in Georgia as Trump surrogate insists state’s governor will back ex-president

As Kamala Harris and Donald Trump brace themselves for what promises to be an ugly and bruising sprint to the finishing line in November, both presidential candidates’ campaigns are turning their sights back on the handful of desperately close swing states where the battle is likely to be decided.

Georgia is coming into view as a critical battleground for both leaders as they struggle to gain voters’ attention in an epochal election. On Wednesday, the vice-president will travel from the White House to southern Georgia to hold her first campaign event in the state with her recently anointed running mate and former high school football coach, Minnesota governor Tim Walz.

Continue reading...

North Carolina beach house collapses dramatically into sea

Posted on by

National Park Service says collapse is seventh in Rodanthe in four years and warns of dangerous debris on beach

The home on a beach of North Carolina’s Outer Banks leaned against the surf before the pilings below it sagged, then gave way, toppling the entire structure into the sea.

A beachgoer posted video of the collapse on Instagram on 16 August. “A Rodanthe NC house was consumed by the ocean right in front of me!” the caption read.

Continue reading...

Hurricane Ernesto pummels Bermuda with 35ft waves and high winds

Posted on by

Category 1 hurricane described as ‘rare event’ in area as officials warn of severe flooding and storm surges

Hurricane Ernesto walloped Bermuda with winds reaching 85mph (137km/h) and waves exceeding 35ft (10.5 metres) offshore from the small British territory in the Atlantic Ocean, as it made landfall early on Saturday – with officials warning of potentially fatal flooding and storm surges.

The storm arrived as a category 1 hurricane after traveling over the archipelago overnight, a trajectory described as a “rare event” by the Weather Channel. It is uncommon for the eye of tropical cyclones to pass directly over these islands, per the network.

Continue reading...

Escaped prisoner serving murder sentence caught at North Carolina hotel

Posted on by

Ramone Alston will be charged with felony escape from prison after fleeing from van on way to hospital

A prisoner serving a life sentence for murder was captured at a North Carolina hotel early on Friday, three days after his escape on the way to a medical appointment, and authorities say he had help from at least one person.

Ramone Alston, 30, escaped from a van on Tuesday as it arrived at the UNC Gastroenterology hospital in Hillsborough, where he was being taken for a medical appointment. He freed himself from his leg restraints and fled into the woods with handcuffs on, according to the North Carolina department of adult correction.

Continue reading...

Biden comes out swinging in first speech after presidential debate with Trump

Posted on by

Attendees note ‘night and day’ difference between campaign stop in North Carolina and ‘lackluster’ debate showing

In what several supporters described as a “night and day” difference from his performance in last night’s debate, President Joe Biden on Friday vowed to keep fighting against what he framed as an existential threat to America.

In his first campaign stop following the debate, Biden showed off a louder and more dynamic voice at the North Carolina state fairgrounds in Raleigh.

Continue reading...

Officers killed in shootout identified as rifle found in suspect’s North Carolina home

Posted on by

Police say four officers who died serving warrant over firearms possession were ‘heroes’ as investigation into shooting continues

Eight law-enforcement officers were shot, four fatally, during a shootout on Monday outside a home in North Carolina while serving a warrant to someone wanted for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. It was the deadliest attack on US law enforcement since 2016.

Three of the four law-enforcement officers killed were working on a fugitive taskforce as agents with the US Marshals Service, and the fourth was a police officer who had recently been named officer of the month by his department.

Continue reading...

Four officers killed and four wounded in shooting at North Carolina home

Posted on by

Police say officers were in Charlotte serving warrant for suspect, who was also killed, wanted over firearms possession

Eight law-enforcement officers were shot, four fatally, during a shootout on Monday outside a home in North Carolina. The officers were serving a warrant to a person wanted for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon when the shooting began.

As marshals approached a home on the 5000 block of Galway Drive in Charlotte, the subject of the warrant began shooting at them in the front yard, police said. Officers shot back and killed the man.

Continue reading...

Trump cancels North Carolina rally due to storm in first public address since New York trial

Posted on by

Former president told thousands of supporters gathered at Wilmington airport the event would be rescheduled ‘bigger and better’

Donald Trump called for debates with Joe Biden before cancelling his own appearance at a planned rally in Wilmington, North Carolina as a rain storm approached the airport where it was staged on Saturday.

Trump called as he was approaching the international airport to tell rally goers that the event would be rescheduled “bigger and better”. This would have been the first time he addressed supporters in public after a week of relative silence in a New York courtroom.

Continue reading...

One last dish: US restaurateur drives six hours to fulfil dying woman’s wish

Posted on by

Heather Bowers was suffering from cancer and wanted to eat her favorite meal from Mama Kwans – Kevin Cherry made it happen

Kevin Cherry didn’t want recognition for dropping everything he was doing and driving a half-dozen hours across state lines to fulfil a person’s dying wish.

But he got it anyway after loved ones of a West Virginia woman who received one last act of kindness in her final hours publicly expressed their eternal gratitude to Cherry, a North Carolina restaurant owner whose benevolence has vaulted him to internet virality.

Continue reading...

North Carolina schools candidate who called for Obama’s death put on the spot

Posted on by

Michele Morrow, the far-right Republican running to oversee public schools in the state, said she is facing ‘radical extremists’

A far-right Republican candidate running to oversee public schools in North Carolina decried “extreme agendas that threaten our children’s future”, after being confronted by reporters over tweets in which she called for the executions of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

“Don’t let extreme agendas threaten our children’s future,” Michele Morrow said on social media on Thursday, posting an address in which she said she was “facing the most radical extremist Democrats [that] have ever run for superintendent in the history of North Carolina”.

Continue reading...

Super Tuesday 2024 live: millions of voters head to polls in the US as Haley suggests she could stay in the race

Posted on by

Donald Trump looks all but certain of Republican presidential nomination as Nikki Haley rejects suggestions of third-party bid and says she may keep fighting

Over at CNN, Ronald Brownstein has an analysis piece which looks a little at the potential weakness of Donald Trump support away from his core base. Brownstein writes:

[Trump’s] performance so far reflects his success at transforming the Republican Party in his image. He’s reshaped the Republicans into a more blue-collar, populist and pugnacious party, focused more on his volatile blend of resentments against elites and cultural and racial change than the Ronald Reagan-era priorities of smaller government and active global leadership that former South Carolina Gov Nikki Haley has stressed.

But while the primaries have underscored Trump’s grip on the GOP, they have also demonstrated continued vulnerability for him in the areas where he has labored since he first announced his candidacy in 2015 – particularly among the white-collar suburban voters who mostly leaned toward the GOP before his emergence. The early 2024 nominating contests have shown that a substantial minority of Republican-leaning voters remain resistant to Trump’s vision.

Continue reading...

Students for Trump founder arrested, accused of striking girlfriend with gun

Posted on by

Ryan Fournier, 27, charged with domestic assault on a female and assault with a deadly weapon over incident in North Carolina

The co-founder of Students for Trump, a supporters group formed ahead of the 2016 election, was arrested last week on domestic violence charges in North Carolina, court documents show.

Ryan Fournier, 27, was detained last Tuesday and accused of assaulting a woman, later identified as his girlfriend, by “grabbing her right arm and striking her in the forehead” with a handgun, according to an order issued by a magistrate in Johnston county.

Continue reading...

UN human rights experts express alarm over PFAS pollution in North Carolina

Posted on by

Evidence of Chemours-operated plant contaminating region is ‘alleged human rights violations’, say experts appointed by council

A new investigation by human rights experts appointed by the United Nations has expressed alarm at evidence of pollution from a North Carolina PFAS manufacturing plant, describing it as “alleged human rights violations and abuses against residents”.

The ongoing PFAS crisis in North Carolina has been linked to a Fayetteville Works plant operated by Chemours, a chemical giant that was spun off from DuPont in 2015.

Continue reading...

Tails I win: coin toss sends North Carolina candidate into mayor’s office

Posted on by

Robert Burns and Bob Yanacsek tie for 970 votes in race for Monroe mayor – and Burns wins it after Yanacsek incorrectly calls heads

In US politics, the slimmer the margins, the crazier things can get. And that reality has vaulted the winner of a coin flip into the mayor’s office of a North Carolina city.

The new mayor of Monroe, Robert Burns, and the runner-up, Bob Yanacsek, had signed up to run alongside three other candidates in a 7 November election that generated low voter turnout.

Continue reading...

Revealed: how a little-known pollution rule keeps the air dirty for millions of Americans

Posted on by

Major investigation shows local governments are increasingly exploiting a loophole in the Clean Air Act, leaving more than 21 million Americans with air that’s dirtier than they realize

A legal loophole has allowed the US Environmental Protection Agency to strike pollution from clean air tallies in more than 70 counties, enabling local regulators to claim the air was cleaner than it really was for more than 21 million Americans.

Regulators have exploited a little-known provision in the Clean Air Act called the “exceptional events rule” to forgive pollution caused by “natural” or “uncontrollable” events – including wildfires – on records used by the EPA for regulatory decisions, a new investigation from The California Newsroom, MuckRock and the Guardian reveals.

Continue reading...

Abortions in North Carolina drop by 30% in wake of new restrictions, data shows

Posted on by

Nearby states didn’t see similar increases, suggesting those denied abortions in the state are self-managing, or going without

Abortions in North Carolina fell by more than 30% after the state enacted new abortion restrictions on 1 July, including a 12-week abortion ban, new data released on Wednesday by the Guttmacher Institute shows.

North Carolina abortion clinics performed more than 4,200 abortions in June, but just 2,920 abortions in July. Nearby states did not see a comparable surge in abortions, suggesting that patients denied abortions in North Carolina had to self-manage their own – or simply went without.

Continue reading...

Tropical Storm Ophelia makes landfall in North Carolina as it moves up east coast

Posted on by

Governors of Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland declare states of emergency as storm expected to bring heavy rainfall

Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall on the coast of North Carolina near Emerald Isle early on Saturday as the storm moved north along the US east coast.

Before the storm’s landfall, the governors of Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland declared states of emergency. Ophelia was predicted to bring heavy rainfall, tropical-storm-force winds and minor flooding along the states’ coasts through the weekend.

Continue reading...