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Investigators Sift For Clues In Mississippi Military Crash
Federal and local officials are combing Mississippi soybean fields for clues in a military plane crash that killed 15 Marines and a Navy sailor.
Debris was scattered for miles across the flat countryside Tuesday. The disaster Monday afternoon was the deadliest Marine crash anywhere in the world in more than a decade.
The Marine Corps says six of the Marines and the sailor were from an elite Marine Raider battalion at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The special forces members and their equipment were headed for pre-deployment training in Yuma, Arizona.
Cooper Signs Bills Against Domestic Violence Into Law
Previously convicted domestic violence offenders accused of killing their victims could face the most serious crime and punishment if found guilty, under a new North Carolina law.
Gov. Roy Cooper signed Tuesday "Britny's Law," which creates the presumption that a homicide constitutes first-degree murder if the slaying was committed with malice and the defendant has been convicted before of domestic violence, stalking or similar crimes against the victim.
The legislation is named for a Fuquay-Varina woman who was shot to death in 2014 by her child's father.
Cooper also signed two related bills. One allows domestic violence protective orders granted by a judge to fully go into effect even when they're under appeal. A second expands the state's "revenge porn" law from cases involving former lovers to those involving strangers.
Litigation Ban Aimed At Civil Rights Center, Not Clinics
Conservatives unhappy with the work of a civil rights center at the University of North Carolina say a proposed ban on litigation is meant to apply only to the center while sparing legal clinics.
The Board of Governors member who wrote a revision says it makes the distinction between the clinics and the UNC Center for Civil Rights clear. The board oversees the 16-campus university system.
Attorney Steve Long sent the revised version to UNC officials last week.
Center director Ted Shaw says the revised proposal actually clarifies that the center is the target. He describes the memo as "intemperate."
NC Elected Leaders Agree To Highway Lighting Upgrade
North Carolina's highways will become a little brighter for nighttime motorists through a deal in which anticipated energy savings by using LED lighting helps pay for the project.
Members of the Council of State — comprised of the governor, lieutenant governor and other statewide elected officials — signed off Tuesday on the performance contract for the Department of Transportation.
The $32.3 million agreement with Trane US requires borrowed money to construct and install the lighting statewide over 16 months. Monetary savings through more energy efficient fixtures repay the debt over 15 years.
Woman Shot By Officers On North Carolina Interstate Dies
A driver shot by a North Carolina trooper and deputy investigating a crash on the interstate has died.
The State Bureau of Investigation confirmed Tina Medlin's death Tuesday, three days after she was shot by her wrecked SUV on Interstate 40 near Benson.
The Highway Patrol says the officers found Medlin lying in the road holding a gun Saturday morning. They say she fired at them before the trooper and the Johnston County deputy fired back.
Medlin, who lived in Raleigh, was in her early 50s.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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