Hendersonville Woman Appearing In Court After Murder Indictment
(Hendersonville, NC) -- A mother charged in the death of her five-year-old daughter is appearing in Henderson Count court this morning. The district attorney told WLOS-TV Penny Hartle has been indicted by a grand jury for first-degree murder. Investigators say she stabbed her daughter to death at their home in the Fruitland community last month. She waived her first court appearance.
Buncombe County Okays Training Center For Airplane Engine Maker
(Buncombe County, NC) -- Buncombe County is building a training center for an airplane engine maker. Pratt & Whitney will eventually employ 800 people to help make turbine airfoils at a new location being built in the Bent Creek area. The Citizen-Times is reporting commissioners voted Tuesday to spend five-million-dollars to construct a training center for employees. The new jobs at Pratt & Whitney are expected to average 68-thousand-dollars-a-year.
Harrah's Increasing Starting Wage, Hiring Hundreds
(Cherokee, NC) -- Starting pay is going up for employees at Harrah's Cherokee Casinos. The company said yesterday that minimum wage for non-tipped workers is moving to 15-dollars-an-hour, while tipped employees will also see a pay jump which varies by position. Harrah's is in the midst of hiring 700 new team members.
State Investigating Complaints At Henderson County Cemetery
(Hendersonville, NC) -- A Henderson County cemetery is under investigation for a number of complaints. WLOS-TV reports eight people have filed grievances since Monday because they were allegedly denied access at Shepherd Memorial Park on Asheville Highway. The North Carolina Cemetery Commission is now expected to move a planned July inspection to an earlier date. The Shepherd and Son's Funeral and Cremation Center has been under a summary suspension since last November.
Charges Dropped Against Suspect In Murder Case
(Henderson County, NC) -- Charges are dropped against one suspect in a 2017 Henderson County murder. Acting District Attorney R. Andrew Murray said Wednedsay that accessory charges have been dropped against Phillip Stroupe, Senior. His son is accused of kidnapping and killing Tommy Bryson, whose body was found in an Arden corn field. He's expected to respresent himself when his trial begins this summer.
SoCon Basketball Tournament Staying In Asheville
(Asheville, NC) -- The Southern Conference basketball tournaments are here to stay in Asheville. The conference and the city just came to an agreement which extends the tourney games at Harrah's Cherokee Center-Asheville for another five years. The games have been played in Asheville for the past decade. SoCon's commissioner said the men's and women's tournaments are special because of the way the city and community embraces them.
CMPD Rescues Missing Juveniles
(Charlotte, NC) -- The CMPD is reporting success in a recent operation to find missing children. The police department partnered with federal agents to find juveniles who may have run away, gotten involved in drug activity or become the victims of human trafficking. Around 150 juveniles were safely located during the months-long investigation, which wrapped up this month. Health professionals are now working with the kids.
Charlotte Man Files Lawsuit Against Paper Mill
(Catawba, SC) -- The rotten smell coming from a Catawba paper mill is cause for legal action. A Charlotte man has filed a class-action lawsuit against New Indy for allegedly releasing harmful Hydrogen Sulfide emissions into the air. South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control, as well as the EPA, have already ordered the company to reduce its emissions in recent weeks. Thousands of people filed official complaints about the smell.
Search For Murder Suspect Continues In Rock Hill
(Rock Hill, SC) -- The search is continuing around Rock Hill for a murder suspect. Rock Hill Schools were placed on lockdown, but students were safely dismissed with the help of law enforcement yesterday. Investigators have been looking for Tyler Terry, who is accused of killing a man in York earlier this month. Chester County deputies spotted Terry on I-77 Monday, when he allegedly fired shots at them while fleeing.
Charlotte Couple Charged For Stealing From School Booster
(Charlotte, NC) -- A Charlotte couple is accused of stealing over 200-thousand-dollars from a high school booster club. The Justice Department announced yesterday that Anthony and Deana Sharper have been indicted on wire fraud charges, which could land them up to 20 years in prison. Both suspects allegedly wrote checks to themselves as reimbursements from a local athletic booster and used the money on personal expenses between 2017 and 2020. Investigators say Anthony Sharper also applied for and received COVID relief funds to help cover up the thefts.
Kings Mountain Casino Hiring For Temp Gaming Facility
(Kings Mountain, NC) -- A new casino resort in Kings Mountain is looking to hire for the summer. The Catawba Two Kings Casino Resort needs 200 people to work at a pre-launch for its temporary gaming facility. The resort is expected to employ as many as 26-hundred people by the time it's complete. A job fair is slated today at the LeGrand Center in Shelby.
CMS Holding Vaccination Clinics This Saturday
(Charlotte, NC) -- CMS is encouraging students and staff to get vaccinated at upcoming clinics. COVID vaccines will be given out to both walk-in patients and those wishing to make appointments this Saturday for anyone 12-and-up. Five Charlotte high schools, Windsor Park Elementary and McClintock Middle School will serve as sites.
Governor Offers Proposed Spending Plan For 5-Point-7 Billion Dollar Federal Stimulus
(Raleigh, NC) -- Governor Roy Cooper Wednesday, released his recommendations for how the state should spend the latest round of federal stimulus funds from the American Rescue Plan. North Carolina will receive five-point-seven billion dollars. Under Cooper's proposal, 350-million would go to assist business that were hurt by the pandemic, such as restaurants, hotels and personal services. Two-hundred-50-million would go to low and middle income families with children, 500-million for affordable housing and one-point-two billion to expand broadband internet access. Cooper's spending plan must first be approved by the legislature.
U.S. Education Secretary To Visit Wake County Today
(Wake County, NC) -- U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona is set to be in Wake County today. Cardona will visit the Bright Beginnings Child Development Center in Cary and also take part in a roundtable discussion with state and local leaders about the new American Families Plan. One provision in the plan would offer free pre-school for all three-and-four-year-old children in the country. Governor Roy Cooper, State Health Officer Dr. Mandy Cohen and North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction will all be in attendance.
Eight Arrested As Outraged Protesters Continued To Demand Justice For Andrew Brown Jr.
(Elizabeth City, NC) -- At least eight people were arrested in Elizabeth City Wednesday as dozens of protesters returned to the streets for another night of demonstrations. The protesters upset over the Pasquotank County District Attorney's decision not to prosecute three Sheriff's Deputies who shot and killed Andrew Brown Jr. last month. D.A. Andrew Womble insisted that a bodycam video proves the fatal shooting of Brown was justified. Attorneys for the Brown family argue that only a portion of the video has been released. A civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting continues.
UNC Chapel Hill Reverses Decision To Offer Tenured Position To Award Winning Black Journalist
(Chapel Hill, NC) -- Faculty members at the UNC School of Journalism and Media are condemning a decision by the University not to offer a tenured teaching position to Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones. Instead, the school has offered her a five year term as the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism with an option to review. Jones is writer of The 1619 Project for the New York Times, a compilation of events about the history of slavery in America. Her work on the project has drawn the ire of many conservatives.
George Floyd Foundation To Establish New Scholarship Fund At Fayetteville State
(Fayetteville, NC) -- As communities across the nation prepare to observe the one-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd, a foundation named in his honor has announced a ten-thousand dollar donation to Fayetteville State University. Floyd, who was born in Fayetteville, was killed on May 25th by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who has since been convicted of the crime. Organizers of the George Floyd Foundation will establish a scholarship at the school during a special presentation on campus tomorrow.
Two Children Killed In Yadkin Co. Crash
(Yadkin Co., NC) -- Two children are dead after a crash involving a tractor-trailer in Yadkin County. It happened Wednesday afternoon on I-77 Northbound, near US 421. Troopers say a Ford Escape crashed into the big-rig and overturned. A 14-year-old and a five-year-old in the SUV died. A woman and a nine-year-old in the SUV were hurt, and so was the truck driver. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Governor Reveals Plans For Federal Relief Funds
(Raleigh, NC) -- Governor Cooper is revealing his plans for the next round of federal COVID-19 relief funds. North Carolina will receive more than five-point-seven-billion dollars from the American Rescue Plan. Twenty-20 relief spending included checks to parents, and Cooper wants to roll them out again. He's proposing 250 dollars for middle-income families and 500 dollars for low-income families. The proposal also sets aside money for affordable housing, environmental upgrades, schools and work-training, among other things.
Gas Prices Up, Shortages Down
(Greensboro, NC) -- Gas prices in North Carolina are rising ahead of the Memorial Day holiday. The average for a gallon of regular gasoline in the Piedmont Triad is about two-94. That's up almost a dime from a week ago, according to Triple-A. About 25-percent of gas stations in the Triad are experiencing fuel shortages, which is a signifiant improvement from last week when a cyber attack choked off the Colonial Pipeline's gas supply.
Greensboro Shooting Victim Dies
(Greensboro, NC) -- A man shot in Greensboro earlier this week has died of his injuries. Twenty-seven-year-old Trebien Womack was shot Monday night in the 25-hundred-block of Cherbonne Drive. He was rushed to a local hospital where he died two days later. Police are now investigating the shooting as a homicide. They have not identified a possible suspect.
UNC Greensboro Names New Vice Chancellor
(Greensboro, NC) -- UNC Greensboro is naming a new vice chancellor and provost. University Chancellor Franklin D. Gilliam Junior yesterday announced Dr. Debbie Storrs as the next vice chancellor and provost. Gilliam called her an "accomplished teacher, scholar and leader." Her first day is June 20th.