Morning News Briefs: Thursday, December 8, 2016

Cooper Says He Can Carry Out Agenda

North Carolina's incoming Democratic governor says he's optimistic he'll be able to repeal the state's law limiting LGBT protections, vowing to use an array of strategies to pull back on the conservative agenda of a Republican-dominated legislature.

Roy Cooper told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday — two days after Republican Gov. Pat McCrory conceded — that he wants to assemble issue-specific coalitions in areas like education, criminal justice reform and ending House Bill 2. That law directs transgender people to use restrooms in schools and government buildings corresponding to the sex on their birth certificate.

Lawyers Investigate Duke Energy Coal Ash Compensation

Attorneys who say they represent hundreds of neighbors of North Carolina coal ash pits want details from Duke Energy about its plans to compensate people for depressed property values as a result of feared groundwater pollution.

Three law firms based in Raleigh, Salisbury and Dallas, Texas, said Wednesday their clients are concerned about what the country's largest electric company may offer. The attorneys say people living near the state's 14 coal-burning power plants worry about their property values, health and the cost of getting safe drinking water to replace tainted water wells.

Hundreds of neighbors were warned against drinking their well water last year, a decision reversed this spring.

A Duke Energy spokeswoman says the company is deciding how much to offer neighbors, who could accept or reject compensation.

2 Juveniles Charged In Tennessee Wildfires That Killed 14

Authorities have charged two juveniles with starting an East Tennessee wildfire that killed 14 people and destroyed or damaged more than 1,700 buildings.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, local District Attorney General James Dunn and Great Smoky Mountains National Park announced charges at a news conference Wednesday.

Dunn said the juveniles face aggravated arson charges for the fire in the Chimney Tops area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Nov. 23. The fire spread to the Gatlinburg area, causing widespread damage. They're being held in the Sevier County juvenile detention center.

The investigation is ongoing and more charges could come. Authorities said it's possible they would move the case into adult courts.

Funding Approved For Greensboro Children's Museum

The Greensboro Children's Museum is getting some major upgrades. The city is chipping in a quarter of a million dollars to help pay for the work.

Greensboro City Council members recently approved a plan to help the museum finish the first phase of its project. The money comes from the parks and recreation bond voters passed in November.

The new features include a technology center, indoor water station and picnic area. But Museum CEO Marian King says the biggest highlight will be the new outdoor play plaza.

The money is in addition to $2.6 million the Children's Museum has already raised. The outdoor climbing playground is expected to open in the spring.

Pizza Shop Gunman's Life Showed Recent Signs Of Turbulence

The North Carolina man accused of firing an assault rifle inside a restaurant appears to have lived an aimless life that became turbulent in the weeks before he was drawn to Washington by an online hoax.

Friends and family call Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury a well-meaning father of two girls. But he also unnerved some with his religious fervor and sometimes had trouble detaching himself from the internet.

Police say he came to the pizza restaurant Sunday on a self-imposed mission to investigate a false account of a child sex ring that had spread through fake internet news stories. He's due in court Thursday.

In October, Welch struck a teenage pedestrian with his car, a police report said. More recently, he was dropped from the rolls of a volunteer fire department.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.