Free Republic

One person is dead and 15 have been taken to the hospital after an explosion and collapse near Brightleaf Square in downtown Durham on Wednesday morning, a police spokesman said. Crews responded to a reported gas leak and were “actively fighting fire,” according to a post from the City of Durham.

The shooting, the family said, was an attempted robbery that unfolded as Shirley Chan and Hong Zheng returned home from work. It was the fifth time that someone had tried to rob or break into their home since 2015. The family believes they are among a group of Asians who are being targeted because they own restaurants and people think they have money, they said. ... It was pouring rain on Sunday night when Chan and Zheng pulled into their driveway. There two children, Jade and Eastern, 16, were watching in the house for them to return, a routine they...

Durham, N.C. — A judge on Tuesday dismissed a murder charge against a Mebane man arrested last year with the remains of a Durham woman in his backpack. Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson ruled that the state withheld evidence by allowing the family of Lakiea Lacole Boxley to cremate her remains. Durham County District Attorney Tracey Cline immediately said she would appeal the ruling. Michael Charles Dorman, 33, of 1411 Sundown Drive, was arrested in July 2010 after one of his friends told investigators that Dorman admitted to killing a prostitute and asked him to help dispose of her remains....

   DNA Segregation – Separate But Not Equal June 15, 2006 I’m telling you right now, if you want to get ahead in this world...quit school; become a loser; commit some crimes and quit being an average guy. While Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong continues hell-bent to destroy the lives of three college lacrosse players with no evidence other than the representations of an unstable stripper, a Connecticut judge just freed a convicted rapist (with a prior criminal record) based on 18 year old DNA “evidence”. The Fourteenth Amendment, the same Fourteenth Amendment used to guarantee “Equal Protection” in Brown v. Board...

Having seen Texas’ Rick Barnes and Memphis’ John Calipari spurn their offers in recent weeks to take over NC State’s basketball team, the school has turned to an unorthodox – but no doubt brilliant – tactic to lure the new face of the program. “We’re willing to pay top dollar for a new coach to replace Herb Sendek,” said NC State athletics director Lee Fowler, “but so far that hasn’t been enough. So now we’re offering season tickets for both Duke and North Carolina basketball. We’re pretty sure that will do the trick.” College basketball analysts say NC State’s decision...

DURHAM -- Results from the second round of DNA tests in connection with the Duke lacrosse rape investigation will not likely be available before May 15, District Attorney Mike Nifong said Saturday. Nifong also denied an allegation by some defense attorneys that the second exotic dancer at the March 13 party where the rape allegedly occurred received special treatment from Nifong's office so she'd cooperate with the prosecutor. Kim Roberts, 31, was arrested March 22 -- eight days after the lacrosse party -- on a probation violation from a 2001 conviction for embezzling $25,000. The same day a grand jury...

RALEIGH -- The State Attorney General's Office will refund hundreds of thousands of dollars to unsuspecting homeowners and creditors after a scheme to keep public auction prices artificially low was uncovered. Last week, the office's consumer protection team filed 10 lawsuits against 26 people and companies accusing them of making or accepting payments not to bid on properties being auctioned at courthouses in Wake, Durham, Orange and Johnston counties. Defendants in nine of the cases have agreed to repay sellers nearly $800,000 for money lost because of unfair bidding and have agreed to stop the illegal bidding. The complaints allege...