BEACH HOUSE COLLAPSES-WARNING
2 North Carolina beach houses collapse into Atlantic surf
RODANTHE, N.C. (AP) — The National Park Service says two unoccupied beach houses have fallen into the waves along North Carolina’s coast. The unoccupied homes were located along Ocean Drive in the Outer Banks community of Rodanthe. The park service confirmed the collapses Tuesday and has closed off the areas around the fallen structures. Debris from the first fallen house has spreading widely. Officials from the Cape Hatteras National Seashore say they’ll be working closely with the homeowner to coordinate cleanup activities. This is the third time a Rodanthe home has fallen into the surf this year.
SCHOOL BUS-GUN SHOTS
Driver steers school bus into ditch to avoid gunshots
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Police say a North Carolina school bus driver steered his vehicle into a ditch to avoid gunfire and no one on the bus was hurt. Durham police say witnesses told officers that gunfire was exchanged between two vehicles on East Club Boulevard on Monday afternoon and the bus driver took evasive action to avoid the shooting. Police found numerous shell casings at the scene, but didn’t find any shooting victims. Police say the school bus, which was not damaged, was not the intended target of the gunfire. News outlets report that Durham schools spokesman Chip Sudderth says the school bus was carrying 18 students from City of Medicine Academy and Durham School of the Arts.
AMAZON DRIVER-FATAL WRECK
Amazon driver gets 10 years for fatal crash while on meth
YORK, S.C. (AP) — Prosecutors say a North Carolina man delivering packages as a contractor for Amazon has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to causing a fatal crash in South Carolina while high on methamphetamine. The Herald newspaper in Rock Hill reports 30-year-old Semahj Rittenburg of Charlotte pleaded guilty Monday to felony driving under the influence causing death. State troopers say Rittenburg was delivering packages for Amazon after dark in November 2020 when the van he was driving crossed state Highway 49 near Lake Wylie and slammed head on into a Volkswagen. The other driver was killed. Prosecutors say Rittenburg’s blood tested positive for methamphetamine.
MALL SHOOTING-NORTH CAROLINA
Police: 1 wounded in shooting inside North Carolina mall
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Police say one person was shot and wounded at a North Carolina mall Tuesday, prompting an evacuation. News outlets reported Winston-Salem police were dispatched to Hanes Mall after receiving a report of shots fired inside. Officers said the shooting victim suffered injuries that were not life-threatening. There was no word on whether a suspect had been taken into custody, and a police spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The mall was the site of another altercation in July 2020, when police say two groups of men got into an argument before one man fired toward the other group. Investigators said people from the other group returned fire before both groups fled the scene. No injuries were reported.
TAX COLLECTIONS
Officials: Expect $4.2B more NC revenue this year, $2B next
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina officials say state tax collections will smash projections used to help fashion the first year of the current two-year state budget. Economists at the legislature and Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget office now believe state coffers should take in $4.24 billion more in the fiscal year ending June 30 than predicted last June. That’s a nearly 15% increase. A memo released Monday by the General Assembly’s fiscal division also says the state should anticipate collecting almost $2 billion more in the next fiscal year. These numbers will inform Republican budget-writers and Cooper when they consider budget changes. The General Assembly session begins next week.
MURDER CONVICTION VACATED
Murder conviction vacated; judge cites ineffective attorney
WINSTON=SALEM, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man’s conviction for first-degree murder was vacated Monday after a judge said his trial attorney was so ineffective that his constitutional rights were violated. The Winston-Salem Journal reports 54-year-old Henry Jerome White has spent the past 25 years in prison after his conviction in the 1996 death of Carl Marshburn. Assistant District Attorney Jane Garrity and White’s attorney, Elizabeth Hambourger, filed a joint motion for appropriate relief based on claims that White’s trial attorney, Robert Leonard, performed so poorly at his legal representation that White’s constitutional rights were violated. The motion alleges Leonard effectively admitted White was guilty of murder by conceding his guilt in the robbery and that it was done without White’s consent.
AP-US-ELECTION-2022-TRUMP
Trump, emboldened after Ohio victory, faces challenges ahead
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump enters the next stretch of the midterm campaign emboldened by primary victories but facing new risks. Trump’s late-stage endorsement of JD Vance in Ohio’s GOP Senate primary catapulted the “Hillbilly Elegy” author to the nomination in last week’s election. Vance’s win also reinforced the deep ties the former president holds among the most loyal Republican voters. But there’s also caution that the coming phase of the campaign could be more complicated for the former president. The midterm primary elections continue on Tuesday with a tight GOP race for governor in Nebraska.
HIT-AND-RUN DEATH
Man charged in hit-and-run that killed woman, injured man
KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C. (AP) — Police say a woman was killed and a man was injured after they were struck by a car in a North Carolina town. The Star of Shelby reports Kings Mountain police says officers went to an intersection around 8:05 p.m. on Sunday, where they found a man and a woman lying in the street. Police say 76-year-old Minnie Lee Clinton was pronounced dead at the hospital, while 45-year-old Rodney Jemal Clinton was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and released. Police charged 67-year-old Fredrick Wilson with hit and run, death by motor vehicle and going armed to the terror of the public
