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State Sends Educational Mailer On Voter Photo ID Requirement
North Carolinians are receiving the first of four informational mailers on the voter photo ID requirement that will go into effect next year.
State election officials say the mailer was sent to every residential address in North Carolina – that's 4.7 million mailboxes.
It's an informational postcard including the types of IDs that will be accepted in 2020, more on how individuals can get a free voter ID card at their county board of elections office, and other general policies.
Although there are legal challenges to the new requirement pending, Pat Gannon with the State Board of Elections says that doesn't change anything for now.
The state will send another, more comprehensive 12-page mailing later this month.
Sen. Tillis: "I'm Very Confident" Winning Possible Primary
U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis said on Monday he's "very confident" that he'll win any Republican primary he may be in — a reference to a North Carolina GOP congressman mulling an 11th-hour statewide challenge of him due to recently redrawn House maps.
Speaking to reporters after filing candidate paperwork at the State Board of Elections, Tillis said he hasn't spoken to U.S. Rep. Mark Walker specifically about Walker's immediate political future.
A Walker spokesman said last week that the Greensboro Republican may challenge Tillis for the party's Senate nomination or one of two GOP House colleagues in their March 3 primaries.
George Laurer, Inventor Of Ubiquitous UPC, Dies At 94
George J. Laurer, whose invention of the Universal Product Code at IBM transformed retail and other industries around the world, has died. He was 94.
A funeral was held on Monday for Laurer, who died Thursday at his home in Wendell, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. Sean Bannon with Strickland Funeral Home in Wendell said he had no information on Laurer's cause of death.
Laurer was an electrical engineer with IBM in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park in the early 1970s when he spearheaded the development of the UPC, or bar code.
Line That Provides Power For Ocracoke To Go Underground
The power line that provides electricity to an Outer Banks island will be replaced with an underground cable next year.
Officials with the Cape Hatteras National Seashore said in a news release Monday that they've issued a permit to replace an overhead power line on Hatteras Island that's the only source of electricity for the 1,385 electrical customers on Ocracoke Island. The cable will connect to the existing underwater power line between the two islands.
The project is expected to begin in January and take about two months to complete. The line is being replaced because of erosion and road washouts.
Appalachian State's Drinkwitz Headed To Missouri
For the second season in a row, Appalachian State University is in the market for a new head football coach. Current coach Eli Drinkwitz is heading to Missouri.
Drinkwitz spent his single year with the Mountaineers steering them to a 12-1 season. At No. 20, that makes them the highest-ranked Sun Belt conference team ever on their way to another conference championship.
The 36-year-old Drinkwitz will now move on to become the next head coach at Missouri, taking over an SEC program that finished 6-6 this season.
It's unclear whether Drinkwitz will coach the Mountaineers against UAB in the New Orleans Bowl on Dec. 21. Because he's breaking a five-year contract, there will be a buyout of $1.7 million due to Appalachian State.
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