Morning News Briefs: Monday, November 21, 2016

State Board Takes Bladen Protest, Not Others

North Carolina state election officials are taking over a potential absentee voting fraud case in Bladen County. But they declined a request by Gov. Pat McCrory's campaign to intervene in other formal protests over fall voting in more than 30 other counties as the governor's election count remains cloudy.

The State Board of Elections decided Sunday that the allegations raised in Bladen have risen to the level that its staff should step in. A local Bladen candidate alleged last week it appeared a handful of people may have signed and filled out roughly a couple hundred absentee ballots.

McCrory's campaign said they preferred local boards continue the fact-finding in the other protests. The state board did decide it wanted to offer legal guidance to local officials on ballot issues. They've planned a public hearing Tuesday to set guidellines for county officials to deal with complaints.

Guilford County Confronts DWI Backlog

Guilford County officials are trying to figure out how to reduce a backlog of thousands of DWI cases. They hope the creation of a special court will help address the problem.

As of Nov. 10, Guilford had the second highest number of DWI pending cases in the state with more than 4,100.

The News and Record reports that there are three factors most responsible for the backlog — an active DWI task force, the time it takes to get blood work back from the labs and a massive daily court docket.

Local officials say the average age of the cases is 19 months.

But the county has a plan to hear them more quickly. Several agencies and community members are working together to provide additional staff and resources for a special court.

Guilford County will hold DWI court for six months, five days a week. That's expected to start in early January.

Firefighters Extinguish Brush Fire Near Greensboro Tank Farm

Firefighters in Guilford County have extinguished a one-acre blaze that erupted near the Greensboro tank farm.

The News & Record of Greensboro reports Greensboro Assistant Fire Chief Pat Henley said firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze that erupted Sunday. Henley said the fire was contained to a field near the tank farm but did not pose an immediate risk to the tanks.

Henley said firefighters are considering several possibilities for the cause of the fire, including whether a discarded cigarette from a nearby roadway could have ignited the dry field or if a power line arced, causing the fire.

Western North Carolina Continues Battle With Wildfires

Dry conditions accompanied by high winds are continuing to hamper efforts to control wildfires across western North Carolina.

Although a cold front passed through the state on Saturday, there was no precipitation to help firefighters.

The U.S. Forest Service reports the Party Rock fire in the Lake Lure area is only 36 percent contained. Officials say the fire didn't grow despite the wind, but firefighters will have to keep an eye on it. The Party Rock fire has consumed 7,171 acres with nearly 1,000 firefighters working the blaze.

Officials say high winds and low humidity are also impacting the Chestnut Knob fire, which is 40 percent contained after consuming 6,424 acres.

Fishermen To Be Allowed To Catch More Monkfish Next Year

Fishermen will likely be allowed to catch more monkfish next year.

Monkfish are a species of bottom-dwelling fish that are a popular item at restaurants and seafood markets. The regulatory New England Fishery Management Council has approved rules for the fishery that will allow fishermen to bring ashore more than 15,000 metric tons of the fish next year.

Fishermen have typically caught between 7,000 and 10,000 metric tons of monkfish annually since 2009.

The fishery council says fishermen harvested less of the fish than they were allowed in 2015. Some fishermen will be allowed slightly more days at sea next year.

Jimmie Johnson Wins His 7th NASCAR Title

Jimmie Johnson has won his seventh NASCAR championship.

The win ties Johnson with Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty in the NASCAR record books. He did it by holding off defending champion Kyle Busch and Kyle Logano on a late restart.

The fourth contender in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship was Carl Edwards. His day ended with 10 laps to go after he was collected in a wreck after contact with Logano.

It was also the final NASCAR race for three-time champion Tony Stewart, who is retiring.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Receive the morning news briefs delivered to your email inbox every morning, click here to sign-up.