Morning News Briefs: Monday, October 24, 2016

Greensboro To Pay $6M To Man For Wrongful Incarceration

The city of Greensboro will pay $6 million to a man imprisoned for 17 years for a murder he didn't commit.

The News & Record of Greensboro reports the city agreed Friday to pay the money to 66-year-old LaMonte Armstrong to end the federal civil lawsuit he had filed.

Armstrong had been convicted in 1995 of the murder of North Carolina A&T State University professor Ernestine Compton in her home in July 1988. He was released from prison in 2012.

Buyers Drop Boycott Talk Ahead Of Massive Furniture Market

About 75,000 wholesale furniture buyers and sellers from around the world are in or headed to North Carolina, this time without the ferment over a state law that denies anti-discrimination protection to LGBT people that marked the last meeting six months ago.

The twice-a-year furniture market opened Saturday in the traditional furniture city of High Point for its five-day run.

The High Point Market Authority, furniture retailers and manufacturers say there's no longer much talk of boycotts. The April market was preceded by calls to boycott the event, which brings in an estimated $5 billion a year in economic activity in North Carolina.

Charlotte's Cost Of Police Shooting Protests Put At $4.6M

The city of Charlotte says protests following the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott in September cost city taxpayers $4.6 million.

The Charlotte Observer reports that city officials say almost $4 million of that went to police overtime with varying amounts for damage to public property. The total doesn't include private property damage.

The city plans to use reserves to cover the cost, which covers a three-week period from Sept. 20 through Oct. 7.

Historic African-American Town Slowly Reopens After Matthew

The mayor of Princeville says the historic African-American town in eastern North Carolina is slowly reopening to residents after Hurricane Matthew.

Mayor Bobbie Jones said in a phone interview Saturday that about a quarter of the town's 2,200 residents were allowed to return Friday to their homes in the Southern Terrace neighborhood. He says more residents may be allowed to return Monday with the town opening to everyone else as soon as Wednesday.

Princeville was founded by freed slaves and chartered in 1885. It was inundated in 1999 by Hurricane Floyd, which left up to 11 feet of water standing in the town for nine days. Jones says Hurricane Matthew's floodwaters from the Tar River went around the 37-foot-high dike, rebuilt after Floyd.

Duke Energy Seeking Bids For Renewable Energy Projects

Duke Energy Carolinas is seeking 750,000 megawatt-hours of renewable energy to help the company meet a 2007 North Carolina law.

The Charlotte-based utility is requesting bids from solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas and other facilities that qualify as a renewable energy resource, excluding swine and poultry waste.

A state law requires the company to generate 12.5 percent of its retail sales through renewable energy or energy efficiency programs by 2021.

The company says 750,000 megawatt-hours is equivalent to what 400 megawatts of solar capacity generates in a year. That's enough to supply energy to nearly 62,000 homes.

Rob Caldwell, president of Duke Energy Renewables, says bidders can choose to either build projects themselves or sell projects under development to Duke Energy. All projects must be operating by Dec. 31, 2018.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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