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Athletic Outdoorsman, Tech Enthusiast Killed In NC Classroom

Riley Howell had an athlete's physique and loved being outdoors on his family's farm. Ellis Parlier studied computer technology and liked video games.

Both college students were killed Tuesday when a gunman opened fire in their anthropology class at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. Four other students were wounded.

The family of 21-year-old Howell remembered him in a statement Wednesday as "a big, muscular guy with a huge heart." Police said Howell was also a hero, having tackled the gunman before he could shoot more people.

A friend of 19-year-old Parlier said he was passionate about video games and had a caring personality.

Fatal Shooting Adds Somber Note To Teacher Rally

The fatal shooting at UNC-Charlotte added a somber note to a teacher rally in support of overhauling North Carolina's education priorities.

Public school teachers and their supporters rallied Wednesday in Raleigh for the second year in a row. They want more money for student support staff, such as counselors and nurses. Those features are now included in the state House budget written by Republican legislators.

North Carolina House State Budget Ready For Vote

Fashioning a North Carolina government budget for the next two years takes a big step forward with the full House ready to consider a proposal.

The House scheduled floor debate Thursday to consider amendments and hold the first of two required votes on the spending plan.

Republicans who wrote the plan that spends $24 billion next year are highlighting funding for education, government construction projects and Hurricane Matthew recovery. There's also money set aside to implement a previously approved plan to keep most teenage criminal suspects out of the adult criminal justice system.

Republican Seen As Democratic Plant Loses Bid For GOP Data

A North Carolina judge says there's little likelihood that a candidate for the Republican nomination in a still-vacant North Carolina congressional seat will succeed in suing the GOP for access to internal party data and debate stages.

Candidate Chris Anglin of Raleigh said Wake County Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway decided Tuesday he won't order the state Republican Party to treat Anglin the same as nine other GOP candidates in the 9th Congressional District field.

Anglin has been barred from participating in Republican events ahead of the May 14 GOP primary.

Republicans call Anglin a Democratic plant who cost them a seat on the state's top court last year. He was a registered Democrat before running as a Republican against a GOP incumbent, splitting the vote and helping a Democrat win.

State Says 'Serious' Safety Violations Led To Worker's Fatal Fall

The North Carolina Department of Labor has cited the City of Greensboro and its water resources department for “serious” safety violations after a city employee fell to her death last November at a water tower in McLeansville.

The News and Record reports the department also levied a fine of $26,000 against the city.

Twenty-eight-year-old Sheria Stringer died November 1st when she fell 80 feet while descending a ladder inside the tower.

The four citations fault deficient training and equipment procedures.

A labor department spokeswoman says that while the penalties won't make up for loss of life, they're designed in part “to get the attention of other employers with similar work environments.”

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