• Weather officials confirm tornado hit western North Carolina

    Ben Earp / The Star via AP

    Hannah Martin,15, hands the just-rescued puppy Brownie to North Carolina Gov. Bev Purdue Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012 after the puppy was rescued from the rubble of a mobile home destroyed by a EF2 tornado in Ellenboro, N.C. on Wednesday.

    By Rich Shulman

    Is tornado season starting early this year?

    AP reports: ELLENBORO, N.C. (AP) - Weather officials confirm there was a tornado in the storm system that swept through parts of western North Carolina this week, flinging mobile homes into valleys, damaging dozens of buildings and injuring nearly 20 people.

    The storm system struck Rutherford and Burke counties on Wednesday, as a cold front moved through the western Carolinas. A National Weather Service survey team reported the system produced a tornado of EF2 strength, with winds of roughly 115 miles an hour.

    Ben Earp / The Star via AP

    Volunteers and family help clean up Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012 after a EF2 tornado destroyed several homes in Ellenboro, N.C. Wednesday.

    Related: First Tornado of 2012 Confirmed in Texas

     

  • Ben Earp / The Star via AP

    Shelby Police talk to a witness after Police say a juvenile backed a car up a utility pole support wire Tuesday evening in Shelby, N.C., on Dec. 13.

    Car on a wire: Juvenile backs vehicle up utility pole support

    By Katie Cannon, Senior Multimedia Editor

    I guess the best thing that can be said about this stunt is that it is a testament to the strength of those wires. I never would have imagined they have the ability to support a car.

  • President to Fort Bragg troops: 'You stood up for America'

    Chris Keane / Reuters

    U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to troops at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina Dec. 14, 2011.

    NewsChannel 36 reports:

    FORT BRAGG, North Carolina — President Barack Obama welcomed home some of the last U.S. troops from Iraq on Wednesday, marking a symbolic end to the nearly nine-year war that strained America's armed forces and damaged its standing worldwide.

    Addressing soldiers at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, home of the 82nd Airborne Division, Obama stopped short of declaring victory in Iraq but called the winding down of the conflict "an extraordinary achievement."

    "It is harder to end a war than to begin one," he told about 3,000 soldiers gathered in an airplane hangar as they punctuated his speech with cheers and hollers.

    Gerry Broome / AP

    President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama greet troops during a visit to Fort Bragg, N.C., Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011.

    Chris Keane / Reuters

    U.S. President Barack Obama greets troops at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina Dec. 14, 2011.

    President Obama delivers remarks to troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina on the official end of U.S. involvement in the Iraq war.

     

     

  • Bridal boutique in N.C. donates 43 dresses in 'Operation Wedding Gown'

    Ben Goff / The Gaston Gazette via AP

    U.S. Army Cpl. Fama Fall tries on wedding gowns at Poffie Girls during 'Operation Wedding Gown' in Gastonia, N.C., Nov. 20. The bridal boutique donated 43 gowns Sunday to brides serving in the military or marrying someone in the military. Both Fall and her fiance Sgt. Ricardo Smith are on active duty at Fort Bragg.

    Ben Goff / The Gaston Gazette via AP

    Bridal consultant Eaine Deamer, right, helps Jacqueline Myers looks through dresses during 'Operation Wedding Gown' at Poffie Girls bridal boutique in Gastonia, N.C., Nov. 20. Myers and her fiance, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kassem Sheronick are from Spartanburg, S.C.

    Ben Goff / The Gaston Gazette via AP

    Elaine Deamer, from left, Jeanelle Costner and Maritza Batallas help Ann Marie Toebes try on a dress during 'Operation Wedding Gown' at Poffie Girls bridal boutique in Gastonia, N.C., Nov. 20. Toebes, from Cary, N.C., is a medical student at the Univeristy of North Carolina and is engaged to U.S. Army Spc. Peter Richards who is currently deployed in Afghanistan.

    Ben Goff / The Gaston Gazette via AP

    Jennifer Perricone, who drove from Fort Bragg and camped out to receive her free wedding gown, holds a sign she made supporting her husband reading 'I love you Spc. Michael Perricone. Thank you for risking your life for my dress' at Poffie Girls in Gastonia, N.C., Nov. 20. The bridal boutique donated 43 gowns on Sunday to brides in the military or brides marrying a member of the military, some of whom had a courthouse wedding and plan to have a formal ceremony with family at a later date when their loved ones come home from service overseas.

     

  • Red Labrador Sully is a K-9 'cop' in Graham, N.C.

    By Rich Shulman

    I have to admit a soft spot for man's best friend. It looks like Officer Walker has one too.

    Sam Roberts / Burlington Times-News via AP

    Graham Police Department K-9 Officer Adam Walker looks at Sully, a red Labrador used in narcotics, tracking, and evidence work, inside Walker's patrol car in Graham, N.C., Thursday Nov. 17, 2011.

    Sam Roberts / Burlington Times-News via AP

    Graham Police Department K-9 Officer Adam Walker plays with Sully, a red Labrador used in narcotics, tracking, and evidence work, at the department in Graham, N.C., Thursday Nov. 17, 2011.

     

  • Carrier Classic under way on board USS Carl Vinson

    Gregory Bull / AP

    North Carolina plays Michigan State in the first half of the Carrier Classic NCAA college basketball game on Friday night.

    Mark J. Terrill / AP

    North Carolina forward John Henson fights for a rebound with Michigan State center Adreian Payne and forward Branden Dawson during the first half of the Carrier Classic NCAA college basketball game on Friday night.

    Jim Watson / AFP - Getty Images

    President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama walk through an honor guard on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego, Calif., Nov. 11, 2011.

    Ezra Shaw / Getty Images

    President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama speak to the crowd on Friday night.

    Mike Blake / Reuters

    Former NBA star Earvin 'Magic' Johnson poses with U.S. sailors at the NCAA Carrier Classic men's college basketball game on Friday.

    AP reports:

    CORONADO, Calif. - President Barack Obama says every American should make a solemn pledge to find some way to support U.S. troops - not just on Veterans Day but every day.

    Obama made the comments to military personnel on board the USS Carl Vinson, where he was spending a memorable evening watching a college basketball game being played on the 95,000-ton Navy warship that buried Osama bin Laden's body at sea.

    Michigan State takes on North Carolina Friday night before an audience of 7,000, including President Obama on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. NBC's Savannah Guthrie reports.

    Related stories:

  • Preparations underway for historic hoops game on board USS Carl Vinson

    Alex Gallardo / Reuters

    Workers prepare the Carrier Classic NCAA men's basketball court on board the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, Calif., Nov. 10, 2011.

    Ezra Shaw / Getty Images

    Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels talks to his players during practice for the Carrier Classic NCAA college basketball game aboard the USS Carl Vinson on Nov. 10, 2011 in San Diego, Calif.

    Ezra Shaw / Getty Images

    Members of North Carolina Tar Heels practice for the Carrier Classic NCAA college basketball game on board the USS Carl Vinson on Nov. 10, 2011 in San Diego, Calif.

    By James Cheng

    Wow, that is one big aircraft carrier.

    From AP: As long as the rain stays away from the Carrier Classic on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson on Friday afternoon, coaches Tom Izzo of Michigan State and Roy Williams of No. 1 North Carolina are confident their teams will put on a great Veterans Day show for the approximately 7,000 in the crowd, including the nation's basketball-fan-in-chief, President Barack Obama, plus a national TV audience.

    Izzo and Williams said they and their players were blown away when they boarded the nuclear-powered carrier, which stretches 1,092 feet, weighs 95,000 tons and has four steam catapults that can accelerate a jet fighter from 0 to 165 mph in just more than two seconds. 

    Read the full story here. Also, listed below are other stories from our site related to the ball game.

  • Chuck Beckley / The Jacksonville Daily News via AP

    Researchers led by the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources' Underwater Archaeology Branch recover a 2,000-pound cannon from the wreck of the pirate Blackbeard's ship, which has been on the ocean floor off the North Carolina coast for nearly 300 years, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011 in Beaufort, N.C. (AP Photo/The Jacksonville Daily News, Chuck Beckley)

    Blackbeard's cannon salvaged from shipwreck off North Carolina

    AP reports:

    BEAUFORT, N.C. — A 2,000-pound cannon pulled from the waters near Beaufort Wednesday will give archeologists and historians more ammunition for separating fact from legend surrounding the infamous pirate Blackbeard.

    The Queen Anne's Revenge Project brought the massive gun ashore and displayed it to the public before taking to a laboratory at East Carolina University. Onlookers cheered as the 8-foot-long gun was raised above the water's surface.

  • Gay marriage ban will be on May ballot in North Carolina

    By Rich Shulman

    Haven't we seen this movie before? It was called California Proposition 8.

    Full story.

    Ted Richardson / AP

    Steve Tanis, left, and his partner Rich Garraputa, both from Greensboro, N.C., walk toward the Noth Carolina Legislative Building after a rally against a state constitutional amendment that would say marriage between a man and a woman is the only domestic legal union in North Carolina, on Halifax Mall in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, Sept. 13. The N.C. Senate voted Tuesday to put the marriage issue to a vote in 2012. The men have been together for 13 years.

    Ted Richardson / AP

    L.F. Eason of Cary, N.C., looks up at his flag during a rally against a state constitutional amendment that would say marriage between a man and a woman is the only domestic legal union in North Carolina.

    Ted Richardson / AP

    Ashley Malinowski and Jacqui Kaluza, foreground, a couple from Raleigh, N.C., attend a rally against a state constitutional amendment that would say marriage between a man and a woman is the only domestic legal union in North Carolina.

  • Shawn Rocco / AP

    Standing on a neighbors porch in Stumpy Point, N.C., Darnel and Debbie Talbert lean on each other as Nationwide insurance agent Paul Tine checks on information concerning their policy on Tuesday, Aug. 30. The Talbert's house was heavily damaged by Hurricane Irene.

    Couple meet insurance agent to deal with Hurricane Irene damage

    By Rich Shulman

    Anyone who has ever had flooding in their house can relate to this moment.

    Related: Irene sends floundering flood insurance program further under water

  • Irene leaves hard times for East Coast farmers

    Jim R. Bounds / AP

    Keith Beavers examines his tobacco crop in aftermath of Hurricane Irene in Mount Olive, N.C., Tuesday, Aug. 30. Far from the beach towns that took Hurricane Irene's first hit, the storm inflicted some of its worst damage on inland farms from North Carolina to New York as crops were pummeled by wind, scalded by salt spray and submerged by floodwaters. Some farmers, like Beavers, are reporting total losses.

    AP reports:

    STONEWALL, N.C. — Far from the beach towns that took Hurricane Irene's first hit, the storm inflicted some of its worst damage on inland farms as crops were pummeled by wind, scalded by salt spray and submerged by floodwaters. Some farmers are reporting total losses.

    "My tobacco crop is completely wiped out. I can't harvest any of it," said Keith Beavers, whose Mount Olive farm lies about 70 miles from the ocean. "It's either blown off the stalk or off the limb, and what's left is raggedy."

    Related: New Jersey still flooding, evacuating

  • Residents hungry for power in the wake of Hurricane Irene

    By Katie Cannon, Senior Multimedia Editor

    According to Dominion Power, which services the vast majority of those without power in North Carolina and Virginia, 1.2 million customers are in need of having service restored. The company expects to complete an assessment of damage and have an estimate of when restoration for all customers will be complete by noon on Monday. This will be the second-largest restoration after Hurricane Isabel in 2003.

    Takaaki Iwabu / The News & Observer via AP

    Chris Respess, middle, buys an electric generator from Randy Sparks in Washington, N.C., Aug. 28. Respess said there are lot of people in Washington who still don't have electricity and are getting desperate. Sparks, who owns a discount grocery store in Belmont, Miss., brought a few hundred of generators to sell along Rt. 264.

    AP reports that the Colonial Pipeline, which transports gasoline and other fuels from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast, stopped fuel deliveries to Selma, N.C., and to Virginia's Tidewater area as the storm knocked out power. Colonial Pipeline's website states that they are working with customers to restore service to all areas supplied by the Houston-to-New York pipeline.

    Chris Carmichael

    Sam Liptrap of Atlantic Beach siphons gas from his car to fuel his generator. Liptrap, who owns the Sand Dollar Hotel, says Hurricane Irene cost him $2,500 in lost revenue this past weekend. Atlantic Beach was largely spared from the worst of the storm, but residents are likely to remain without power until crews can repair feeds to the area, which could mean more vacant rooms in the coming days for Liptrap.

    Chris Carmichael

    Phillip Henry, left, of Morehead City, N.C., and Henderson Douglas, center, of Newport, N.C., wait in line for gas at a Shell Station on NC 24. By early afternoon, only two gas stations were reported to be pumping gas in the area. Supplies waned as residents looked to fuel their generators.

    See more images from the storm here.

Newer postsOlder posts