Morning News Briefs: Monday, November 28, 2016

NC Board Could Consider Key Ballot Appeal This Week

North Carolina's election board could formally consider later this week a Republican attorney's demand for a manual recount of Durham County ballots that could affect the yet-resolved race for governor.

The State Board of Elections met Sunday by phone to discuss a request filed this weekend to accelerate the appeal of a decision by the Durham County elections board earlier this month rejecting the recount request. The Durham board decided there was no evidence the tally of 94,000 ballots was wrong.

State board members Sunday wanted more documents from Durham's board before taking up the appeal.

Unofficial results show GOP Gov. Pat McCrory trailing Democratic challenger Roy Cooper by 7,700 votes from 4.7 million cast, but some counties haven't finished their counting or have other appeals pending.

Firefighters Make Progress On North Carolina Wildfires

Authorities say 2,500 firefighters and other personnel have achieved high containment of some of the biggest wildfires in western North Carolina.

As of Saturday morning, five of 11 wildfires listed in the Joint Information Center's update were more than 50 percent contained.

That includes several of the biggest fires. The Party Rock fire near Lake Lure was 80 percent contained as nearly 300 firefighters continued to work on it.

The Maple Springs fire in Graham County, the Chestnut Knob Fire in Burke County and the Botelier Fire in Clay County were also all above 70 percent containment.

Fired Mocksville Officers Who Won $4M Suit Want Jobs Back

Two of three former Mocksville police officers who won a $4 million judgment after being fired by the city want their jobs back.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports that Lt. Rick Donathan and Detective Jerry Medlin asked a federal court to return them to their jobs in a motion Tuesday after Mocksville's town manager retired.

In their lawsuit, the three officers said Town Manager Christine Bralley and former Mocksville Police Chief Robert Cook fired them because they reported corruption to state officials.

Bralley and Cook said the officers were fired because of poor performance.

After winning the lawsuit, Bralley said she didn't want to re-hire the officers because they would have to fire others to make room and there was animosity to the lawsuit in the police force.

North Carolina Central Chancellor Dies After Cancer Battle

The chancellor of North Carolina Central University, who was the first woman to serve full-time in that role, has died.

The university announced that Debra Saunders-White died Saturday after a battle with cancer. She was 59.

The university says she became chancellor in 2013 and improved the classroom and campus experience through the "Eagle Excellence" campaign.

She previously worked at the U.S. Department of Education and other schools including Hampton University in Virginia.

She took a medical leave in August months after she was diagnosed with kidney cancer.

Carr Overcomes Injury To Rally Raiders Past Panthers 35-32

Derek Carr came back from an injured pinkie to lead another fourth-quarter comeback and the Oakland Raiders won their fifth straight game, beating the Carolina Panthers 35-32 on Sunday.

Carr threw for 315 yards and two touchdowns despite missing a series after the injury, leading the Raiders (9-2) back from an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter to clinch their first winning season since 2002.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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