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Free-falling: Top skydivers descend on NC for USPA Nationals
Skydivers soar to new heights at Raeford's Skydive Paraclete XP, where the 2024 USPA Nationals bring together the best in the nation for a high-flying competition.
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Q&A: Raleigh lawyer at the center of the Leandro case discusses it 25 years later
The young man who agreed to be the public face of the original Leandro v. State, case in 1994 is all grown up practicing law and raising four children with his wife in Raleigh.
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State senator’s residence claim still murky
A 2,367 square-foot house, built about 2016, sits deep in the woods off Poplar Hill Road east of Fayetteville. You can’t see the house from the street. Signs in the driveway say, “Smile. You’re on camera.” Tax bills for 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 list the owners as Robert and Dion Clark with a property...
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Does more money for education lead to better student performance?
Twenty-five years ago, Robert Leandro and his mother, Kathleen Leandro, lent their name to one of the most significant education lawsuits in North Carolina history. At the time, the family lived in Raeford, a town with a small tax base and a struggling economy. Robert attended a local high school. Robert, speaking to Scalawag Magazine...
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Hoke County High School tests panic button app in active shooter drill
Hoke County High School in Raeford caught a glimpse of what an active shooter situation might look like during a Monday drill. It was an opportunity for school officials and the local police department to test out the Rave Panic Button app. Rave Mobile Safety designed the app five years ago as a way to...
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Clark survives residency challenge at state elections board
State Sen. Ben Clark, D-Hoke, survived an eligibility challenge that could have knocked him out of his re-election race a few days before the May 8 primary. But his credibility took some blows. The Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement voted 7-1 Thursday, May 3, to uphold a three-member local election board decision...
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D’Annunzio: I Would Not Be Spoiler in Senate Race
DURHAM — Tim D’Annunzio shocked the audience at an April 5 candidate forum sponsored by the Libertarian Party of North Carolina that if he defeated Sean Haugh for the party’s U.S. Senate nomination and Republican Greg Brannon prevailed in the GOP primary, he would do his best to make sure Brannon defeated incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan in the fall.
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Senate ‘Protect Commerce’ Bill Would Silence Whistleblowers, Critics Say
RALEIGH — Lawmakers are considering a bill that critics say would stifle the actions of whistleblowers trying to uncover wrongdoing by North Carolina businesses. It also would require recordings taken or documentation removed in secret to be turned over to law enforcement agencies within 24 hours. Failure to do so would be a crime.
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Teacher Suspended Over Chicken Nugget Incident
RALEIGH — The Hoke County School District has suspended the teacher who substituted homemade lunches from preschoolers Jan. 30. State officials have said substituting bag lunches did not violate state policy.
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Marshall, Johnson Victorious in Closely Watched N.C. Runoffs
RALEIGH — In the 8th Congressional District, Republicans voted in droves for former sportscaster Harold Johnson rather than irascible Raeford businessman Tim D’Annunzio. Republicans also nominated U.S. Navy veteran Bill Randall in the 13th Congressional District and Beaufort County businessman Greg Dority in the 12th.
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Runoff Fever Heats Up N.C. Republicans
RALEIGH — The GOP has three congressional runoffs scheduled for June 22, a development that’s sure to drain resources and could dilute candidates’ strength in the general election.
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DOT Slush Funds Remain Active
RALEIGH — N.C. Department of Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett continues to maintain a slush fund of $5 million for House Speaker Jim Black and Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight in the wake of a controversy that erupted when the practice was exposed in March. A spreadsheet maintained in the office of DOT Chief Engineer W. S. Varnedoe, and obtained Thursday by Carolina Journal, shows that projects submitted by Black and Basnight are still being charged against their respective $5 million accounts.
