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OBX Officials Hope To Have Power Restored Monday
Officials say they now hope to restore power fully to North Carolina's Outer Banks by Monday.
Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative said Tuesday that crews have finished putting up poles and are starting the process of connecting the current underground line to the new overhead poles.
The utility said in a news release that the process must be done carefully and tested fully.
Officials said in a news release that they hope to have all power restored on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands sometime between Saturday and Monday.
Panel OKs Litigation Ban For Civil Rights Center
A committee has approved a ban on courtroom work by a center founded at the University of North Carolina to help the poor and disenfranchised.
The committee of the UNC Board of Governors voted 5-1 Tuesday to approve the ban, which prohibits the UNC Center for Civil Rights in Chapel Hill from pursuing litigation on behalf of its clients. In the past, those clients have included people challenging school segregation or a landfill in a poor community. One committee member abstained.
Center advocates once again described the ban as ideological while ban supporters reiterated their belief that lawsuits are not part of the UNC system's academic mission.
North Carolina Legal Aid Gets Cut Again, It's Unclear Why
Poor people who need help fighting a landlord or keeping government benefits can get an attorney for free through North Carolina legal aid programs, but new state budget cuts mean fewer may have that option.
The budget approved by the General Assembly over Gov. Roy Cooper's veto eliminated well over $1 million in court fees earmarked for the state's three legal aid groups.
The cut originated in the House, but it's unclear why. Legal aid group leaders and the House's top budget-writer say the answer rests with Speaker Tim Moore, but through a spokesman he declined to comment.
North Carolina Lawmaker Faces Opposition In Naming Bill
A North Carolina lawmaker has met opposition in an attempt to name a federal courthouse for a black attorney.
The News & Observer of Raleigh reports Democratic Rep. G.K. Butterfield introduced a bill seeking to name the federal courthouse in Durham for his late mentor, John Hervey Wheeler. But Butterfield said Republican Reps. George Holding and Robert Pittenger won't back his bill because he wouldn't sign a bill to name another federal building in North Carolina after U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms.
NC Company Recalls Ground Beef For Possible Contamination
A North Carolina company is recalling nearly 5,000 pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated with plastic foam.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a news release Tuesday that JBS USA Inc. of Lenoir reports the ground beef was produced on July 15.
JBS USA said the 2-pound, black trays wrapped in plastic were labeled "Certified Angus beef ground chuck 80% lean 20% fat" with a production date 7/15/17 and case code 541640.
The department said the products bear the number "EST. 34176" inside the USDA mark of inspection.
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