Receive the morning news briefs delivered to your email inbox every morning. Click here to sign up.
GOP Candidate In Undecided House Race: Operative Got Results
The Republican in the nation's last undecided congressional election says he recruited a political operative who's now at the center of a ballot fraud investigation because he produced election results in his rural North Carolina county and other Republicans vouched for him.
Mark Harris told The Associated Press on Monday he didn't know before November's election that state elections board investigators had accused McCrae Dowless of illegally handling ballots in 2016 and didn't know that evidence went to federal prosecutors.
State elections officials suspect Dowless of tampering with or even discarding mail-in ballots last year.
Harris says he wanted to hire Dowless after the operative's 2016 GOP primary candidate got an incredible 98 percent of Bladen County's absentee votes.
Harris narrowly leads Democrat Dan McCready in the 9th District race.
Candidates In Disputed Sheriff's Race Call Temporary Truce
The men battling over a North Carolina sheriff's seat have called a cease-fire, jointly deciding neither will be sheriff until state officials certify the election.
Republican candidate Jody Greene led Democratic incumbent Lewis Hatcher by 40 votes in unofficial results from November's election. Several voters appealed to the state elections board, citing voting difficulties and questions about Greene's residency.
The race is also connected to the ballot fraud investigation in the country's last unresolved congressional race. The political operative at the center of that investigation worked for both the Republican candidate in North Carolina's 9th District and Greene.
Loosening North Carolina Control Of Liquor Considered Again
The North Carolina legislature is again weighing whether altering how liquor sales have been regulated for over 80 years is worth likely increasing the number of retail outlets but also increasing public consumption.
The General Assembly's government watchdog agency released Monday a study advising lawmakers on the implications of privatizing the state's government-run stores and wholesale operations.
The report doesn't give an opinion whether to shift away from the control system, saying it should be evaluated carefully by a separate House-Senate study panel. But it did recommend incremental changes, such as opening Alcohol Beverage Control stores on Sundays if local governments agree.
Legislature Inviting Gov. Cooper To Give Biennial Address
Gov. Roy Cooper is being invited to speak to a joint session of the General Assembly later this month.
The Senate approved Monday night a resolution for Cooper to give his biennial State of the State address the evening of Feb. 25. The House previously set the speech date as Feb. 18, but it was pushed back a week at Cooper's request.
North Carolina Rep. Walter Jones Funeral Set For Thursday
Services for North Carolina U.S. Rep. Walter Jones Jr. will be held later this week at the church he attended.
An obituary released by Farmville Funeral Home said Jones' body will lie in repose late Wednesday at St. Peter Catholic Church in Greenville, with a funeral to follow at the church Thursday afternoon.
Jones died Sunday on his 76th birthday.
3 Rare Black Coyotes Killed During Hunt In North Carolina
Three rare black coyotes were among the nearly 150 coyotes killed during a massive hunting tournament near Charlotte.
The Charlotte Observer reports tournament organizer 704 Outdoors TV says the amount of coyotes killed over the weekend during the Carolina Coyote Classic tournament was double the amount hunted last year.
The state Wildlife Resources Commission says black coyotes are rare. Tournament spokesman John MacPherson says black coyotes are highly sought after by hunters.
300x250 Ad
300x250 Ad