Morning News Briefs: Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Cooper, Democrats Pressuring Gov. McCrory To Concede

Nearly two weeks after the election and delays in getting votes counted, North Carolina Democratic gubernatorial candidate Roy Cooper is intensifying efforts to pressure Republican incumbent Pat McCrory to concede.

Cooper has said repeatedly that he won the race and Monday unveiled his transition team for becoming the state's next chief executive. Unofficial results show Cooper leads McCrory by 6,550 votes.

McCrory shows no signs of giving up. His campaign points to formal protests in dozens of counties alleging absentee fraud and ineligible ballots.

NC Election Officials Seek Advice On Pending Ballots

North Carolina election officials still working on final vote tallies for governor two weeks after Election Day are getting some advice on whether certain ballots should be counted or thrown out.

The State Board of Elections scheduled a meeting Tuesday to hear from the state Democratic and Republican parties and their gubernatorial candidate campaigns.

The board wants to provide legal guidance to county election boards hearing formal complaints about early votes by people who died before Election Day or may have voted in multiple states. Also at issue are more than 300 ballots that state officials say may have been cast by convicted felons across the state during early voting.

Moore Nominated By Caucus For Another Term As House Speaker

Cleveland County Rep. Tim Moore appears poised to win a second term as North Carolina House speaker.

House Republicans meeting Monday in Raleigh said they chose Moore as their nominee to lead the chamber when the General Assembly session reconvenes in January. Moore almost assuredly will win because Republicans are expected to hold close to 75 of the chamber's 120 seats.

Rep. Harry Warren of Salisbury also was a speaker's candidate, but Moore says the caucus picked him by acclamation without a horse race vote after Warren withdrew from the race.

Burn Ban In Effect For The Triad

A burn ban is now in effect for Forsyth, Guilford and neighboring counties in the Triad.

North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler has banned open burning and cancelled all burning permits for 22 additional counties in North Carolina, including Rockingham, Stokes, Surry, Wilkes and Yadkin.

Troxler says in a news release that the current drought situation and the increase in available forest fuels made it necessary to increase the number of counties under the burn ban.

Naughty Or Nice? Christmas Parade Float Has Pole Dancers

Some spectators in a North Carolina town say a Christmas parade float belongs on the naughty list after it featured pole dancing.

The Daily News of Jacksonville reports Studio 360 decorated its float with poles for dancing during last weekend's Christmas Holiday Parade. There wasn't any nudity. Still, local youth pastor Dusty Maxwell said he had to turn the heads of his two young children to keep them from seeing the float.

Studio manager Brianna Owens said no one was doing anything inappropriate on the float. The dancers were clothed. The studio teaches dance and gym activities.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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