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Morning News Briefs: Thursday, August 24th, 2017

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NC Politicians Probe Unregulated Chemical In Water Supply

North Carolina legislators are facing growing alarm about an unregulated and little-studied chemical its maker released for years into the water supply for hundreds of thousands of people.

Nearly two dozen lawmakers gathered in Wilmington on Wednesday to hear about discharges of the chemical GenX into the Cape Fear River by the Delaware-based Chemours Co. A spokesman said the company is working with officials on next steps.

GenX is related to the company's previous chemical used to make Teflon. That compound was tied to increased cancer risk.

Posters Promoting Violence Appear In North Carolina Cities

Posters spotted in North Carolina cities appear to advocate violence against anti-fascists.

The signs recently began appearing in Durham and Chapel Hill, and say "hospitalize your local antifa scumbag." It also shows three figures holding weapons.

Antifa refers to an anti-fascist group that seeks to fight fascism with direct action.

The posters have the initials YWNRU, and feature an email address that includes the words "You will not replace us," a white-supremacist slogan.

Matt Gladdek of Downtown Durham Inc. says he reported the email to Proton Mail, which replied the account has been suspended.

Banner Promoting Hate Group Posted At ASU

Someone put up a recruitment banner at Appalachian State University on Tuesday night for Identity Evropa, an organization classified by civil rights advocates as a white nationalist hate group.

Chancellor Sheri Everts said that two white men posted a banner on a pedestrian bridge that read, “A New Dawn Is Breaking, Rise And Get Active, Identity Evropa."

The Winston-Salem Journal reports the banner was removed within 20 minutes. ASU police say they haven't found a connection between the banner and any student organization.

Chancellor Everts says she and other administration officials have spoken with students about the banner.

Student Accused In Killing Extradited Back To North Carolina

A college student arrested in connection with a shooting death has been extradited back to North Carolina.

Greensboro Police Department Capt. Nathaniel Davis says that 20-year-old Samad Dawson was extradited from Philadelphia to Greensboro on Tuesday night. He was arrested on a first-degree murder charge on Aug. 4.

The News and Record of Greensboro reports that Dawson, a sophomore at North Carolina A&T State University, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 27-year-old Kimeko Dejuan James.

Report Highlights Growing Health Disparities In Appalachia

According to a new study, the 25 million people who live among the Appalachian mountains have struggled to keep up with the health gains of the rest of the country, falling behind in nearly every major public health indicator.

The report released Thursday shows the 13-state region lags the rest of the country in 33 out of 41 public health indicators, including seven of the leading 10 causes of death in the United States.

Deaths by poisoning, which include drug overdoses, were 37 percent higher than the rest of the country - a testament to the opioid addiction crisis.

EPA Taps Alabama Business Lobbyist To Lead Southeast Region

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has named a business lobbyist and ex-environmental regulator as regional administrator for the office that oversees eight Southeastern states.

Former Alabama Department of Environmental Management director Trey Glenn will oversee EPA's work in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Alabama state records show that Glenn is a registered lobbyist for the Business Council of Alabama, which promotes business interests in the state.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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