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When Wrightsville Beach police detective Shaun Appler pulled over a suspected drunk driver in 2000, he couldn’t have foreseen the dangerous situation that was about to ensue. Thankfully Appler’s partner, Kimberly Munley, was there to save his life.

When Wrightsville Beach police detective Shaun Appler pulled over a suspected drunk driver in 2000, he couldn’t have foreseen the dangerous situation that was about to ensue. Thankfully Appler’s partner, Kimberly Munley, was there to save his life. While Appler was talking to the driver of the vehicle, a third man approached the detective and interjected himself into the discussion. Appler said he asked the third man to leave, when he didn’t, the detective tried to arrest him. A struggle ensued, and the two men eventually rolled down a hill. When they came to a stop, the man was straddling...

Due to the amazing energy of the 9-12 March on Washington, we are BRINGING IT HOME TO NORTH CAROLINA! North Carolina FreedomWorks is sponsoring a “Taxpayer March On Raleigh” The 11-14 event will begin at 11AM and include a march and rally. The event will begin on Halifax Mall, the large grassy area located between the Legislative Building and the Legislative Office Building. As FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe is fond of saying, “Government goes to those who show up.” We showed up to march on our nation’s capitol. It’s time to bring it home to our state capitol! From...

<p>Below is a list of selected Democrats and their positions on the House healthcare reform bill based on media accounts, press releases and spokesmen for the lawmakers.</p>

RALEIGH — Rep. Pricey Harrison has asked the state’s attorney general and Department of Insurance to investigate Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina’s use of campaign-style tactics aimed at defeating controversial federal health insurance legislation. The Greensboro Democrat wants to know whether the insurer violated the state’s do-not-call registry law with an automated message in late October. And she questions whether it is proper for the insurer to use its premiums to pay for the calls and two recent pieces of direct mail. “I have heard from a number of constituents who were really upset about the postcard campaign,”...

The civilian police officer credited with stopping the shooting rampage that killed 13 people at Fort Hood is a Carolina Beach native and graduate of Hoggard High School. Fort Hood police Sgt. Kimberly Munley and her partner responded within three minutes of reported gunfire Thursday afternoon, Lt. Gen. Bob Cone said Friday morning. Cone said Munley shot the gunman four times despite being shot herself. “She happened to encounter the gunman. In an exchange of gunfire, she was wounded but managed to wound him four times,” Cone said. “It was an amazing and aggressive performance by this police officer.” Munley,...

While roaming the grounds of the US Capitol yesterday, Kristinn Taylor obtained a list of possible democrat defectors of the now infamous “Healthcare” bill. Kristinn was asked to post this list of wobbly democrats on FreeRepublic in an effort to mobilize our forces and overwhelm these members with phone calls and e-mails asking them to vote NO on the socialization of our healthcare. We also learned that Nancy Pelosi had just scheduled the vote for tomorrow; Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 6:00 PM. For all those who were unable to answer the call to surround the Capitol yesterday, here is...

TAMPA - Charlotte, N.C.'s mayor politely suggested Monday that the Tampa Bay area was behind its competition when it comes to the transportation networks necessary for job recruitment. Then Mayor Patrick McCrory shared with 300 community leaders the experiences that led to Charlotte's recent transit-oriented success. The strong turnout for the regional transportation session provided a further example the local transit movement is gaining momentum. Hillsborough County leaders are trying to get a 1-cent sales tax referendum for transit on the November 2010 ballot. "You are taking a very courageous political step," McCrory told elected officials advocating improved transit. "You...

GREENSBORO — The City Council just got a lot more conservative — starting with the guy at the top. First-time mayoral candidate Bill Knight ousted incumbent Yvonne Johnson in Tuesday’s City Council election. The victory is the first by a challenger over an incumbent mayor since voters began electing the mayor at-large in 1973. Knight ran on a platform of fiscal conservatism and cleaning up the city’s police department. He will lead a council that, in the course of one election, now has a supermajority of registered Republicans. “The voters spoke to change,” Knight said. About 18 percent of the...

Voters ended more than two decades of Republican leadership in Charlotte Tuesday by electing Democrat Anthony Foxx the city's second African-American mayor and the youngest in memory. Foxx won Charlotte's closest mayoral race in years, taking just over 51 percent of the vote over Republican John Lassiter in unofficial totals. At a victory celebration, Foxx shared a long hug with a jubilant Harvey Gantt, the last Democratic and first African-American mayor. "It's been 22 years since we've had this moment," a hoarse Foxx told a cheering crowd at the Westin hotel. "The work of rebuilding our community starts very soon....

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Greensboro’s first African-American mayor was ousted Tuesday by Republican challenger Bill Knight. Knight won 51.36 percent of the votes to Johnson’s 48.54 percent in unofficial election results. Knight, during an interview this week, said that while businesses in the Gate City have had to cut back on expenses, the city budget needs to be more heavily scrutinized. Knight said he is also willing to consider reopening the White Street landfill as a way to save money. Knight lost his first political campaign for City Council two years ago. A former certified public accountant, he earned a bachelor’s...

New York beef manufacturer Fairbanks Farms has issued a voluntary recall of a little more than half a million pounds of ground beef. The recall, which affects states from Maine to North Carolina -- Maryland included -- comes after one person died in New Hampshire and people were sickened in other states after eating beef thought to be contaminated by the bacteria E.coli. The products, which include ground beef, meatloaf and meatball mix, carry sell-by dates from Sept. 19-28 and were sold under such brands as Trader Joe's Butcher Shop Fine Quality Meats, Giant Meatloaf & Meatball Mix and BJ's...

A month ago, Almeta Whitsett was on the waiting list for Mobile Meals. With two hip replacements and a husband with Alzheimer’s, the 84-year-old Greensboro woman was finding it harder to cook. She already had someone who came in to clean her house every two weeks. Now, she has help in the kitchen, too. Senior Resources of Guilford learned over the summer that it would receive $80,000 in stimulus money from the state Department of Health and Human Services. The money officially arrives today for Senior Resources. But since the agency knew that the funds were coming, Whitsett started receiving...

ROWAN COUNTY, N.C.-- Police have made an arrest after a team of robbers invaded a home in Rowan County twice in the same week. Timani Starks and Tiffany Horne have been charged with multiple counts of robbery and Starks is also being charged with attempted murder. Investigators say a home on Corriher Grange Road near Highway 152, was first held up Monday night. NewsChannel 36 spoke exclusively with the Deadmon family after the first home invasion. They told us how the robbers forced them to open the safe at gunpoint. Timani Starks and Tiffany Horne They reported the robbery to...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zayow4PaQr4 This is an account of over 5 years of research and collection of evidence that many of North Carolina's elected county officials have assumed office illegally, and are acting in a CRIMINAL capacity, according to statute, but the Attorney General, having acknowledged the problem, refuses to do anything about it. See for your self. Absent assumption of liability, absent assurance of value, absent offer of recourse. The viewer must decide. FOR A PDF VERSION: www.amossigngraphics.com/movie/abovelaw.pdf

North Carolina elections officials penalized former Gov. Mike Easley's campaign $100,000 Friday for not reporting flights provided by a political ally and asked prosecutors to investigate whether he or others broke laws by trying to hide them or other expenses.

North Carolina voters are not very happy with their representation and tend to think the country is on the wrong track, a poll released Friday by Elon University shows. Elon polled more than 700 randomly selected adults between Monday and Thursday, asking if they approved of the job being done by President Barack Obama, Sens. Kay Hagan and Richard Burr and Gov. Bev Perdue. Almost 60 percent of those polled said they think things in the country are on the wrong track; 38.9 percent felt strongly that the county is headed in the wrong direction. Their reasons seemed to be...

RALEIGH -- After having spent much of his life as the hunter, former Gov. Mike Easley is the prey. Easley rose in politics as corruption-busting district attorney and a consumer-oriented attorney general, then as an outsider governor who didn't like good ol' boy politics. That image is a distant memory. On Monday, Easley's reputation suffered deep damage as the State Board of Elections opened several days of hearings into allegations of election-law violations that occurred during his eight years as governor. Gone were the stories of Easley as the young drug-busting prosecutor who kept a shotgun next to his bed...

State board of election members today decided that a closely watched runoff in a Wake County school board race should proceed. On a 4-1 vote, board members ruled that candidate Cathy Truitt's name should remain on the ballot even though she sought to withdraw her request for a runoff. If her name gains the most votes, the school board would fill her seat. John Tedesco, a critic of current school board policies, including forced busing for diversity and mandatory year-round schools, placed first in the Oct. 6 primary. Because he failed to gain a majority of votes, second-place finisher Truitt...

The Young Republicans of Union County are hosting a “Tea Party” rally at Marshall Park in uptown Charlotte on Saturday October 31, 2009 from 10 AM until noon. Press Release ………………………………. We're all invited to the TEA Party in Charlotte on Halloween Day (10/31/09). Hope to see you there! We come from diverse backgrounds, but we believe in these basic principals: 1. The Constitution was written to limit the powers of the government, not the freedoms of the people. 2. Personal responsibility, Free Markets, and a Laissez-faire (hands off) government is what creates jobs, wealth, and greatness in America 3....

RALEIGH Internal documents from former Gov. Mike Easley's campaign committee suggest a concerted effort to run donations illegally through the N.C. Democratic Party to circumvent contribution limits. The evidence, released Tuesday by the State Board of Elections, included internal campaign memos that outlined ways to extract more money from donors than they could get with straightforward contributions to Easley's two campaigns for governor. The board's questions about the memos were greeted with denials and fuzzy memories from two Easley campaign officials and a top donor. And attorneys for the state Democratic Party contended that Easley's campaign gave to the party...

Says he was 13 when Soles lured him to his homeRALEIGH — A 47-year-old North Carolina man says that when he was 13 years old State Sen. R. C. Soles Jr. of Tabor City lured him to his secluded lakeside home, plied him with alcohol, and sexually assaulted him. The man said Soles, 74, a 40-year veteran of the North Carolina General Assembly and chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus, threatened him and his family to gain his silence. “He told me if I ever told anyone he would make life hell for me and my parents,” he told Carolina...

Last spring, some of our staff members noticed that large stacks of our April 2009 issue had gone missing overnight from newsstands in the Undergraduate Library and Hamilton Hall. Considering that this was during exams week, we at the Review doubted that they had all been taken legitimately. We had a long list of possible suspects with a motive to make our April 2009 issue disappear, as the issue had been highly critical of a number of individuals and campus groups. However, we had no evidence of anything. Until now. One of the groups criticized in the issue was Students...

AP article, no text. A huge rock slide has closed I-40 in both directions at the NC/TN line. The clean up is going to take months. Traffic is being re-routed via I-81 to I-26, Johnson City, TN to Asheville,NC.

Hearing on Easley and Democratic Party under way Raleigh | A hearing to investigate the campaign of former Gov. Mike Easley and the state Democratic Party is under way. The State Board of Elections immediately went into closed session Monday to discuss how it will investigate whether Easley’s campaign committee or the state Democratic Party broke campaign finance laws.

Breazeale pledges to stay in Congress three terms or pay $250,000 to private charityRALEIGH – Iraq war veteran and congressional hopeful Will Breazeale on Thursday became the first candidate in the nation to take a bonded term limits pledge, agreeing to donate $250,000 of his own assets to a private charity if, after being elected, he doesn’t limit himself to three terms in office. Breazeale, a Republican hoping to unseat 7th District Democratic Rep. Mike McIntyre next year, made the announcement at a noon press conference outside the New Hanover County Government Center in Wilmington. “I see [bonded term limits]...

Some 26 years after a bombing in Beirut killed 241 American Marines, sailors and soldiers, one community here in the east is still picked up the pieces. Many of the men killed when a suicide bomber attacked the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines headquarters building in Lebanon on October 23, 1983, were stationed at Camp Lejeune and lived in Jacksonville. And as Philip Jones reports, the wound is still fresh there almost three decades later: Prayers of praise echoed through Jacksonville’s Beirut Memorial Friday morning before giving way to salutes to our country and the men who laid down their lives...

On October 20, the North Carolina State Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the petition requirement, 2% of the last gubernatorial vote, does not violate the State Constitution. The plaintiffs are the Libertarian and Green Parties. This is the case that was filed in 2005. The 2% requirement for 2010 and 2012 is 85,379 signatures. North Carolina’s requirement is the second most severe in the nation, both on a percentage basis and a raw number basis, when one compares each state’s easier method for getting on the ballot for president. Here is the decision. The Court also upheld the 2%...

Just called Burr's office; Sen. Burr intends to vote YES cloture re S. 1776. The bill's passage will help hide the total cost for Obamacare. Yesterday his office stated that would be voting against cloture. This is a big turnaround. Call Sen. Richard Burr (NC) at 202-224-3154 and tell him to vote NO on cloture.

Gun store posters take flak By Geoffrey Cooper - Rocky Mount Telegram Tuesday, October 20, 2009 NASHVILLE — For more than a week, a local gun shop owner has been under scrutiny regarding certain advertisements outside his front door. Nashville Guns owner Dennis Nielsen has been met with the watchful eyes of a few county officials and town residents for the storefront posters of women holding guns. Facing two documented complaints, Nielsen maintains that he has done nothing wrong and runs a clean business. Facing the Washington Street sidewalks are two posters inside of Nielsen’s gun shop windows. The first...

Asheville Federal Building 151 Patton Avenue, Suite 204 Asheville, NC 28801Phone: (828) 350-2437 Fax: (828) 350-2439   Rocky Mount 100 Coast Line Street, Room 210 Rocky Mount, NC 27804Phone: (252) 977-9522 Fax: (252) 977-7902   Washington, DC 217 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510Phone: (202) 224-3154 Fax: (202) 228-2981   Winston-Salem 2000 West First Street Suite 508 Winston-Salem, NC 27104Phone: (800) 685-8916Phone: (336) 631-5125 Fax: (336) 725-4493   Gastonia City Hall 181 South Street, Room 222 Gastonia, NC 28052Phone: (704) 833-0854 Fax: (704) 833-1467   Wilmington 201 North Front Street Suite 809 Wilmington, NC 28401Phone: (888) 848-1833Phone: (910) 251-1058...

The man who shot Pam Hurley's mother to death during a convenience store robbery nearly 25 years ago was supposed to spend the rest of his life in prison. Instead, because of a quirk in North Carolina law, he and 19 other violent criminals will be released next week, most without supervision from even a parole officer. "It's a nightmare; an absolute nightmare," Hurley said Tuesday. "These people are going to be released. They'll be free to move and go wherever they want to go. And that's a scary thing." Her mother's killer, Bobby Bowden, set in motion the court...

10/19/2009 - CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. (AFNS) -- A Charleston Air Force Base technical sergeant was honored Oct. 15 for his heroism and bravery while suffering from injuries sustained during a patrol on his seventh deployment to the Middle East. Tech. Sgt. Michael Williams, an explosives ordnance disposal technician with the 437th Civil Engineer Squadron, was on patrol Aug. 2 near the Mushan Village in Afghanistan after one of the locals said they knew where an improvised explosive device was located. With one step, his foot landed on a different land mine with an IED on it. "(Following the...

As a four-year drought parched North Carolina into the middle of 2002, then-Gov. Mike Easley and his administration called it a major disaster. The governor urged people everywhere to save water, and he imposed stiff restrictions. Except at Easley's exclusive private golf club in northeastern Chatham County. New records and interviews show that Old Chatham Golf Club pumped millions of gallons from a creek leading to Jordan Lake, diverting water from one of the region's major sources to keep greens alive. The records show that a state water resources chief questioned the pumping but that higher-level officials -- including at...

Greensboro, NC -- Greensboro police say an 80-year-old man is not facing charges after he shot and killed a break-in suspect early Wednesday morning. Charles Haithcock called 911 immediately following the shooting of 19-year-old Michael L. Medley who he says broke into his home. Haithcock: "A man broke in on me and pulled a gun. i shot him and he's laying out in the yard." 911 Operator: "Is he breathing?" Haithcock: "I don't know. he broke in the window. He pulled the air conditioning out in the living room. And I heard something and he come back to the bedroom....

Greensboro, NC -- Greensboro police say an 80-year-old man is not facing charges after he shot and killed a break-in suspect early Wednesday morning. Charles Haithcock called 911 immediately following the shooting of 19-year-old Michael L. Medley who he says broke into his home. Haithcock: “A man broke in on me and pulled a gun. i shot him and he’s laying out in the yard.” 911 Operator: “Is he breathing?” Haithcock: “I don’t know. he broke in the window. He pulled the air conditioning out in the living room. And I heard something and he come back to the bedroom....

NEW YORK – A mortgage fraud crackdown announced Thursday resulted in the arrests of dozens of people, including six lawyers, seven loan officers and three mortgage brokers in four states. Thirty-one people were arrested in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and North Carolina. They were among 41 people charged with engaging in mortgage fraud scams that defrauded lenders out of more than $64 million in home mortgage loans. Of the 10 other defendants, one was expected to surrender later Thursday, four were previously charged and five remained at large. Authorities gathering for an afternoon news conference in Manhattan said the crackdown,...

Tougher Rules On Policing Illegal Immigrants Local agencies helping with deportations must keep their focus on major crimes. Luz Maria Diaz, 35, worries about what will happen to daughters Yolanda, 18, at left, and Diana, 16, right [Pic in URL]. The two were arrested after a fight on their school campus, then processed for possible deportation under a program known as 287(g). The program has drawn criticism after reported civil-rights violations, and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has called for an end to it. By Anna Gorman October 14, 2009 Reporting from Raleigh, N.C. - Luz Maria Diaz knew what happened...

October 12, 2009 — Every few years, Republicans get ambitious and mount a well-financed challenge to US Rep. John Spratt (D) in South Carolina’s 5th District (Rock Hill, etc.). They almost succeeded in 1994 amidst the tsunami that swept Democrats from office all over the country. But that close call -- Spratt won with a mere 52% -- was not repeated in ’96 nor in subsequent years when a combination of the GOP’s national money and its local muscle never got that close again. By 2008, Spratt had nominal Republican opposition and won with 62% at the same time John...

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Authorities say a 44-year-old North Carolina man spent a week in jail because he has the same name as a suspect 23 years younger. The News & Record of Greensboro reported Saturday that Jesse Ray Hardy Jr. of Greenville was arrested Monday, then taken to jail 160 miles away to face charges of resisting an officer, breaking and entering and failing to yield to a pedestrian.

Tea Party movement has fans, detractors and an uncertain impact October 10, 2009 10:25 PM Mike Wilder / Times-News The Tea Party movement, depending on who defines it, is a collection of American patriots working to preserve democracy, a movement made up of people who don’t understand public policy and want to score cheap political points, or something in-between.Protests have been held throughout North Carolina and the United States since this spring. Many who have participated describe themselves as fiscal conservatives, but political analysts say there’s a broader range of opinions represented in the Tea Party effort than in a...

Local politicians, candidates address TEA Party rally Traci White/Register & Bee Tom Harp raises the American flag on the liberty pole, a symbol from the Revolution, during the TEA Party on Saturday at the Danville City Courthouse Plaza. By Tara BozickPublished: October 11, 2009 The Danville TEA Party attracted the ears and attention of local representatives and political candidates on Saturday.The TEA Party Patriots, a group of residents who believe they are Taxed Enough Already and have protested current federal government policy, invited both former and current political candidates to introduce themselves and address Patriots’ concerns at a rally at...

ALE agents seize 929 gallons of moonshine Wilkesboro, N.C. — State Alcohol Law Enforcement agents seized 929 gallons of moonshine Wednesday and arrested a Wilkesboro man, authorities said Friday. Roger Lee Nance, of 1117 Shew Ridge Mission Road, was charged with possession of non-tax paid liquor, possession of non-tax-paid liquor for the purpose of selling, and possession of equipment and ingredients intended for the use in the manufacture of an alcoholic beverage. “This is one of the biggest seizures of white liquor I’ve seen come out of the mountains in my career,” ALE Director John Ledford said in statement. The...

Breaking News: Sen. R.C. Soles or his neighbors have placed dozens of calls to local law enforcement in recent years in response to arguments or altercations with young men at his law office or home. Okay, so maybe that’s not really news to local folks who’ve been following the Soles saga for months now, but the Raleigh News & Observer has a new story today that fills in some intriguing details. For example, through his attorney, Soles is playing the victim: “Those young men have, in essence, been terrorizing him for years,” said Joe Cheshire, Soles’ defense attorney. “He has...

On Tuesday a political tsunami struck local politics in Wake County. The tsunami was not brought about by the usual players in politics such as political parties, unions or chambers of commerce. It was brought about by a grassroots effort that has been building for years and reached maturity on October 6, 2009. More about the grassroots later but first what happened. The voters elected a slate of candidates opposed by local education power brokers. That list includes, among others, the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, Wake Education Partnership and The News & Observer. Candidates backed by those groups were...

Red Venture to bring 1,000 new jobs to South Carolina Source: Governor of South Carolina Posted on: 7th October 2009 Gov. Mark Sanford today joined with the Department of Commerce and Lancaster County community in welcoming Red Venture LLC as they expand operations and move their headquarters to South Carolina. The decision by Charlotte-based Red Venture LLC, an internet technology company named the 17th fastest growing private firm in the United States by Inc. magazine last year, will mean 1,000 new high-paying jobs and a $27 million investment for Lancaster County. “This announcement represents yet another dividend from our state’s...

For those who haven’t followed it, there’s a battle shaping up over religious liberty at Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C. At issue is the college’s ability to refuse to provide contraceptive coverage in its health insurance plan. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Charlotte, N.C., ruled that Belmont Abbey discriminated against female employees by refusing to cover prescription contraceptives. “As a Roman Catholic institution, Belmont Abbey College is not able to and will not offer nor subsidize medical services that contradict the clear teaching of the Catholic Church,” said the college’s president, William Thierfelder, at the time. In March,...

RALEIGH, N.C. — Convicted sex offender James Nichols said he was trying to better himself by going to church. But the police who arrested him explained: The church is off-limits because it has a daycare center. Now Nichols is challenging North Carolina's sex-offender laws in a case that pits the constitutional right to religious freedom against the state's goal of protecting the public from child molesters. "I just started asking the question, 'Why? Why am I being treated this way after trying to better myself?"' said Nichols, a 31-year-old who was twice convicted of indecent liberties with a teen girl...

Dell plans to close its computer manufacturing plant in Winston-Salem by January, and lay off 905 employees. Dell opened the assembly plant in 2005 and was offered a massive incentives package valued at $305 million if it met hiring and investment goals. The project was seen as a major economic development victory by supporters and a huge waste of taxpayer money by critics. About 600 workers at the plant will be let go next month, Dell announced this afternoon. The rest will be out of work by early next year. The closure of the Forsyth County plant is part of...

Dell plans to close its Winston-Salem, N.C. factory and lay off about 905 employees by January, the company has confirmed. The first 600 employees will be released next month, the Round Rock company said. The company said the closure is part of an effort directed at "simplifying operations and improving efficiency."