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Thousands Still Without Power After Carolinas Tornadoes
Thousands of people are still without electricity after storms that sparked at least two tornadoes swept across the Carolinas earlier this week.
Duke Energy reports nearly 26,000 customers were without service in North Carolina while nearly 3,000 South Carolina customers had no electricity Wednesday morning.
The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF1 tornado hit Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro. Wilkes County schools are closed today because of power outages.
Another survey team is looking at damage in Cleveland County, but there is no final report yet.
Officials for Chimney Rock State Park said the wall at the top of a parking lot fell during Monday's heavy rainfall. Some debris washed onto a road below. The park said the section remains closed until further notice.
Berger: New Judicial Panel Part Of Dialogue On Options
The North Carolina Senate's top leader says he wants a "thoughtful dialogue" from many perspectives in the coming months about potentially dramatic changes to the state judiciary.
Republican Sen. Phil Berger on Tuesday announced the creation of the Senate Select Committee on Judicial Reform and Redistricting.
Berger says the panel of 10 Republican senators and five Democrats will consider carefully proposed redrawn judicial election districts the House approved this month.
Chief Justice Opposes Legislation For 2-Year Judicial Terms
The head of North Carolina's court system is against a proposal by some GOP legislators to reduce elected judges' terms to two years, saying it "would disrupt the administration of justice."
The statement by Republican Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Martin on Wednesday to judicial workers marks another key state leader opposing the idea, along with Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
Appeals Court and Superior Court judges serve eight years and District Court judges four. Any proposal would need statewide voter approval.
Court Nixes High Attorney Fees For Wrongly Convicted Man
A judge has thrown out a contract allowing lawyers for a man freed after 30 years on death row to claim a large part of his compensation for wrongful imprisonment.
Judge Terrence Boyle ruled Monday that Henry McCollum lacked the competency to sign with lawyers currently representing him in a lawsuit against investigators who put him behind bars.
A proposed settlement would have allowed the lawyers to claim $400,000 of $1 million in payments to McCollum and his half brother, Leon Brown, from a town and its investigators.
Slain Woman's Estate Wins $100M Award Against Her Killer
The estate of a North Carolina woman who was killed in 2014 has been awarded $100 million in a wrongful death lawsuit against her killer.
Adam Arthur, the attorney for Joyce Price Eaton's estate, told news outlets that a judge made the announcement in Guilford County Superior Court on Monday.
Anthony Clay Campbell pleaded guilty to shooting, beating and cutting Easton's throat. He then left her body in a McLeansville ditch. Campbell was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes said that Eaton and Campbell had been in a relationship for a few months.
Arthur says Campbell has 30 days to appeal the judgment, and if no appeal has been filed in that time, there will be an attempt to collect funds.
Law Firm In Flint Water Cases Suing Over Tainted NC River
A law firm fighting lawsuits for Flint, Michigan, residents over lead-tainted drinking water is filing the latest class-action case blaming a North Carolina chemical plant for releasing little-understood compounds into the water supply for hundreds of thousands of people.
The lawsuit filed Monday is at least the fourth case accusing The Chemours Co. of harm by dumping the chemical GenX and related fluorine-based products into the Cape Fear River. The Wilmington, Delaware-based company was spun off from DuPont in 2015 and both operate at a chemical plant near Fayetteville.
The lawsuit filed by attorneys from Cohen Milstein also targets DuPont.