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US Judge Keeps Alive Duke Energy Water Pollution Lawsuit
A federal judge is keeping alive a lawsuit accusing the country's second-largest electricity company of violating water pollution laws by allowing potentially toxic coal ash sludge into neighboring waterways.
U.S. District Judge Loretta Biggs ruled this week that environmentalists can keep suing Duke Energy.
Biggs says the pollution claims involving Duke Energy's Stokes County coal-burning power plant don't conflict with a separate lawsuit by North Carolina's environmental agency. Biggs added the lawsuit by the group Appalachian Voices and the state and local NAACP chapters adds to government efforts to force the company's compliance with environmental laws.
On The Way Out, ABC Commissioner Criticizes Gov. Cooper
A member of the panel regulating North Carolina's alcohol sales has resigned following a state audit that found it did a poor job controlling costs by a vendor that manages liquor warehouse space.
But Mike Herring's resignation letter this week to Gov. Roy Cooper also criticized Cooper for his response to what Herring called "fictitious findings" in the performance review of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission by State Auditor Beth Wood's office.
Herring wasn't just an ABC commissioner but previously the commission's longtime top administrator, working with Maryland-based vendor LB&B Associates for years. The audit counted close to $14 million in cost overruns or missed savings and fees covering more than a decade.
Duke Will Leave Robert E. Lee Statue Site Empty For Good
Duke University is making permanent its earlier decision to leave vacant the space where Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's statue formerly stood.
The private university in Durham plans to install a plaque explaining the empty spot outside the door to its Gothic-style campus chapel.
Duke University President Vincent Price announced his decision Thursday in an email to students, faculty and others at the school. Duke also plans to honor the school's first black students.
North Carolina Sees Nation's Second Highest Surge In Opioid Deaths
A new report shows North Carolina has the nation's second highest increase in opioid deaths.
A study from the Centers For Disease Control estimates that just over 2,500 people in North Carolina overdosed on opioids and other drugs last year.
That's a nearly 22 percent increase from the year before.
Public officials told the News and Observer that the rise is due in part to the rapid spread of synthetic fentanyl, which is cheaper and more potent than heroin.
Deacons Ignite Interest In Winston-Salem Open
The Winston-Salem Open tennis tournament kicks off this weekend, and this year's event could get a boost from Wake Forest's run to the NCAA tennis championship.
The Winston-Salem Open has helped Wake Forest build a tennis facility good enough to lure the NCAA championship to the city this year. The Deacons men's team paid back that investment by winning it all three months ago.
Bill Oakes, the director of the Winston-Salem Open, says the NCAA's brought big, boisterous crowds to the tennis facility, and that's spurring interest in this year's tournament.
This year's Open features 20 players ranked among the top 50 in the world. Greensboro's John Isner, who reached the semifinals of Wimbledon last month, is not in this year's field. But two other high-ranking Americans - Sam Querry and Steve Johnson - are scheduled to play.
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