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Suspect In Trooper's Shooting Identified
Authorities have identified the suspect in the fatal shooting of a North Carolina state trooper.
The North Carolina Highway Patrol said in a news release Wednesday that 20-year-old Raheem Cole Dashanell Davis of Chadbourn has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 11-year veteran Trooper Kevin Conner.
The patrol said Conner was shot and killed early Wednesday during a traffic stop in Columbus County. Sgt. Mike Baker said the trooper stopped a white pickup truck on suspicion of speeding on a highway in rural Columbus County southwest of Whiteville. Baker said the driver shot Conner as he approached.
Board: North Carolina Lawmaker Didn't Disclose $140K In Activity
North Carolina's elections board has sent to prosecutors the case of a state House member whom investigators allege failed to report over $140,000 in campaign contributions expenditures over several years.
The elections panel voted unanimously Wednesday to send their findings involving Democratic Rep. Rodney Moore of Charlotte and his campaign to the Mecklenburg County district attorney. The board agreed there's "clear and convincing evidence" of false campaign reports and unlawful spending.
Moore has served in the General Assembly since 2011 but lost in a May primary. The investigation began last year following an audit.
Pfizer PAC Agrees To $40K Settlement On Political Donations
A political action committee for employees of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has agreed to pay about $40,000 to the state after elections officials say it violated campaign laws by making donations during General Assembly sessions.
The state elections board agreed Wednesday to the settlement with the Pfizer Inc. PAC.
Board staff discovered nearly 50 checks from the PAC for legislators and Council of State members dated for 2016 and 2017 when lawmakers were meeting in their regular sessions. State law prevents such giving because Pfizer has a lobbyist.
Conservationists Ask Court To Step In As Red Wolf Plan Looms
Conservationists told a judge that an imminent federal plan to shrink the territory of the only wild red wolves would hasten the animal's extinction.
Lawyers for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, however, countered that new rules for the red wolf program, set to be finalized next month, mean that the conservationists' current arguments are moot. The federal lawyers say a new lawsuit would need to be filed to halt new plans set to be finalized by the end of November.
The lawsuit by conservationists argues that the federal government has for years neglected the wolves and allowed their wild population to decline to its most precarious position since the species was reintroduced to the wild in the 1980s. An estimated 35 wild red wolves remain — all in eastern North Carolina.
Warm Weather Delays Annual Fall Foliage Peak
Mid-October usually means the peak fall color season in the North Carolina mountains. But so far, the trees on the Blue ridge are still mostly green.
Howard Neufeld, a plant physiologist at Appalachian State University, blames temperatures that so far haven't been fall-like.
"From the beginning of September to the first week through October, the low temperature for each day was nine degrees higher than normal,” Neufeld says. “So it's been one of the most unusually warm falls we've ever had. And as a result, the trees think it is still summer, and they've just held onto their leaves and they just haven't started to turn color.”
Neufeld says the autumn color change is about 10 days behind the typical schedule. With lower temperatures in the forecast, he's hopeful fall foliage will begin in earnest over the next few days.
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