Greensboro Officials Seek $25 Million For Downtown Improvements
Some Greensboro officials are asking the city to spend another $25 million to improve the downtown streets.
City Council member Nancy Hoffman has joined forces with local business people in requesting the money be added to a prospective bond referendum this fall.
Hoffman says it's good strategic thinking to have the money available for future downtown projects.
The News and Record of Greensboro reports the money would top off $200 million already earmarked for downtown improvements by real estate developers, investors and non-profits.
UNC Released From Academic Probation
UNC-Chapel Hill is no longer on probation for its academic fraud scandal. The agency which accredits colleges across the South has released UNC following one year of restrictions.
The board of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools' Commission on Colleges made the announcement Thursday in Memphis.
In June 2015, the board said that the university should be penalized for failing to comply with seven key operating principles for its members, including integrity, program content, control of intercollegiate athletics and academic support services.
UNC Chancellor Carol Folt said the school instituted reforms and initiatives that are working well.
Distributor Pulls Beer Ads Featuring Indian Logo
Beer distributor R-A Jeffreys has removed store signage promoting Budweiser beer using the Lumbee tribe's four-color circular "Heritage, Pride & Strength" logo and slogan.
Anheuser-Busch said it was not involved in creating the ads. Both companies say they respect the tribe.
The tribe says Anheuser-Busch did not ask permission and using the logo makes the tribe look like it condones drinking.
Food Stamp Recipients Who Win Lottery Jackpots Focus Of Bill
A Republican bill requiring crosschecks of food stamp recipients against North Carolina lottery winners as a fraud-prevention tool has cleared the state House after three days of debate.
Final House approval came Thursday largely along party lines, just like the initial approval it received Wednesday. The bill got pulled Tuesday from the floor after several Democrats complained the proposal was too punitive.
The measure directs the lottery to give social services officials list of people who win at least $2,250 and the amount of their prizes. The officials would scrutinize winners who receive food stamps and failed to report those jackpots.
Investigation: No Evidence Teen's Hanging Was Homicide
A federal prosecutor's office in North Carolina says it found no evidence to pursue criminal civil rights charges in the case of a black teen whose body was found in a small-town trailer park, hanging from a swing set by a dog leash and a belt that didn't belong to him.
In a news release, the U.S. attorney in Raleigh said officials met Thursday with the family of 17-year-old Lennon Lacy to inform them of the decision.
The federal investigation began after Lacy's family and the NAACP raised doubts about the official finding of suicide in the August 2014 hanging in Bladenboro about 100 miles south of Raleigh.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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