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Train Carrying GOP Lawmakers To Retreat Hits Garbage Truck
A train carrying members of North Carolina's congressional delegation crashed into a garbage truck in Virginia Tuesday.
No lawmakers were seriously hurt, but at least one person was killed and several others injured.
Representatives Virginia Foxx, Ted Budd, and Mark Walker, along with Senator Thom Tillis and others were among the North Carolinians taking the train.
The lawmakers were travelling to West Virginia for a strategy retreat when the collision took place. That retreat is going ahead as planned.
Judge Restores Judicial Primaries For Appellate Court Races
A federal judge decided Wednesday that partisan primaries must go ahead for North Carolina appellate court races in 2018, partially halting a state law that had canceled them this year.
U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles in Greensboro said there was no justification from the state or the Republican legislators who passed the cancellation law to hold only free-for-all general elections in November for the statewide judgeships.
But Eagles refused to extend the preliminary injunction sought by Democrats to local trial court seats, saying Republican legislators offered "a legitimate government interest" in eliminating those primary elections because they've been debating whether to redraw election districts for District Court and Superior Court.
School Leader Promises More Dollars For Education
The leader of North Carolina's Public Schools is promising more investment for K-12 education. This comes one week after Republican Superintendent Mark Johnson made controversial remarks about teacher pay.
In a YouTube video Johnson covers a range of issues he says he'll discuss with state lawmakers this year, including increasing educator pay and expanding personalized learning and early childhood education.
Teacher pay was a sore subject for Johnson last week when the North Carolina Association of Educators criticized Johnson and announced it would not invite him to their convention. This came after Johnson's remarks that $35,000 dollars is a good base starting salary for some teachers among other things.
A spokesman for Johnson clarified his comments, saying he was referring to younger teachers starting their careers in places where the median income is below $40,000.
Top Leaders Suspended At Understaffed Prison Where 4 Died
Top administrators at a North Carolina prison where four employees were killed during the deadliest breakout attempt in state history are suspended with pay after an outside investigation found multiple security lapses before and after the slayings.
State prisons spokesman Jerry Higgins said Wednesday that Pasquotank Correctional Institution Administrator Felix Taylor and assistant superintendent for custody operations Colbert Respass were placed on leave with pay this week.
Higgins says they'll stay out until the end of an investigation. He refused to say whether that was the criminal investigation into the assaults, or something else.
North Carolina Tennis Coach Suspended Over Player's Comment
A college men's tennis coach has been suspended after one of his players made a racially charged comment to an opposing player.
The Winston-Salem Journal reports Appalachian State University athletics officials announced Tuesday that coach Bob Lake was suspended following a review of the incident.
Appalachian State player Spencer Brown was suspended Monday after a black opponent tweeted that Brown told him "at least I know my dad" during their weekend match.
The school offered no additional details on what led to the coach's subsequent suspension.
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