Morning News Briefs: Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Charlotte Quiet After Police Shooting Protest

The streets in Charlotte were quiet Wednesday morning after angry protests over the fatal police shooting of a black man left officers injured and shut down an interstate.

Traffic was flowing again on Interstate 85, hours after protesters blocked the highway and television footage showed some apparently looting semi-trucks and setting their contents on fire.

No protesters could be seen around 5 a.m. but broken glass and rocks littered the ground where a police car had been vandalized during protests earlier. Less than five miles away, wooden pallets barricaded the entrance to a Wal-Mart that had apparently been looted.

The protests broke out Tuesday after 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott was fatally shot by a black officer at an apartment complex on the city's northeast side.

Trump Returns To North Carolina

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addressed a packed house Tuesday at High Point University, in the first of two North Carolina stops.

It was a short speech, by campaign standards – just under 30 minutes. Trump opened by referencing the recent attacks in New York, New Jersey, and Minnesota. Attacks that he says are the result of an open immigration policy.

He criticized his opponent Hillary Clinton's stance on refugees, saying “immigration security is national security.”

Trump also took on the economy, promising to re-work NAFTA, and claiming the Trans-Pacific Partnership would be a disaster.  

Trump and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton have been running a tight race in North Carolina, which is a key battleground state. The Republican nominee stumped later in the day in Kenansville, North Carolina.

McCrory Campaign Planted Questions At Event

Gov. Pat McCrory took a few questions at a public event last week and a moderator described them as coming from a local newspaper.

Turns out, they were from McCrory's re-election campaign.

The Charlotte Observer says the planted questions generally were favorable to the Republican and opened the door for him to criticize his opponent Democrat Roy Cooper.

A McCrory campaign spokesman told the newspaper they provided questions because they were asked to. But the event organizer says McCrory's campaign demanded providing questions of its own.

The Observer didn't submit any written questions and when a reporter tried to ask something, the governor said he had answered enough from the paper.

It's not clear how the written questions became attributed to the paper.

NC's Unemployment Rate Below National Average For 2nd Month

North Carolina's unemployment rate is better than the national average for the second month in a row, dropping in August to 4.6 percent.

The state Commerce Department reported Tuesday that the state's jobless rate fell from 4.7 percent in July while the national rate remained unchanged at 4.9 percent.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says North Carolina had one of the biggest improvements in unemployment rate in the country over the year, with the jobless rate falling from 5.7 percent.

North Carolina Teacher Suspended For Stomping On U.S. Flag

A North Carolina high school teacher says he has been placed on leave after students say he stepped on an American flag as part of a history lesson.

The Fayetteville Observer reports Massey Hill Classical High School teacher Lee Francis said he was informed of his status by the Cumberland County Schools human resources department. Francis said he's scheduled to meet with system officials on Thursday to discuss the incident stemming from a lesson in his history class.

Some students say Francis asked them for a lighter or scissors, and when no one produced them, he put the flag on the floor and stomped on it. Reports quote Francis as saying on his Facebook page that he was discussing a court case involving flag desecration.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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