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A corridor of Carolinas Medical Center – Main’s Emergency Room is roped off on the first floor near the entrance. A security guard is posted outside to prevent anyone from crossing the line. CMC officials said a patient is being tested, but a spokesman would not specify what they are testing the patient for. Wednesday morning, the issue at CMC was not impacting Medic services, according to officials. The hospital is taking “all normal precautions,” according to officials. The Centers for Disease Control said it has not been contacted.

A federal appeals court panel on Monday struck down Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage, and that decision could have major political and legal implications for North Carolina. The three-judge panel on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes North Carolina, declared that Virginia’s laws placed an unconstitutional limit on the right to marry. N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper thinks Monday’s decision will undo North Carolina’s ban on same-sex marriages, and he has no plans to intervene. Cooper said that it now would be “futile” to continue defending North Carolina’s ban against challenges from within the state. Four cases...

During this year’s second quarter, Democrat Kay Hagan raised more than twice the money for her re-election campaign for one of North Carolina’s two seats in the U.S. Senate than her Republican challenger Thom Tillis, the speaker of the N.C. House. Hagan’s campaign has reported that she raised $3.6 million from April to June, and she has $8.5 million cash on hand. Tillis’ campaign reported that he raised $1.6 million during the same period and has $1.5 million in the bank. The candidates were required to submit their campaign finance data to the Federal Election Commission by July 15, but...

A missionary from Charlotte and a Texas doctor working for Boone-based Samaritan’s Purse are among the first Americans who have been infected with the deadly Ebola virus while working to combat the outbreak in Liberia.

Bill Cowan is starting to savor the country life in rural Surry County, but he’s not out to pasture. Cowan, soon to be 71, is a retired Marine Corps officer with immense experience in combat (Vietnam) and military intelligence (the Middle East). Since 2001 Cowan has been a no-holds-barred, willing-to-step-on-toes commentator on Fox News. He’s been on as recently as Friday, discussing the circumstances surrounding the downing of Malaysia Flight 17 in the Ukraine. He’s been married for two years to Velvet Shelton, who is active in conservative political circles and who comes from Surry County. They have bounced back...

A professor at the University of North Carolina died Thursday morning after being mugged on a Chapel Hill street during a lunchtime walk Wednesday, police said. Feng Liu, 59, of Durham, a research professor in UNC's Eshelman School of Pharmacy, was assaulted and robbed at about 1 p.m. Wednesday in a residential area near the intersection of West University Drive and Ransom Street, police said.

PPP's newest North Carolina poll finds Kay Hagan continuing to grow her lead over Thom Tillis as the legislative session drags on. Hagan now has 41% to 34% for Tillis and 8% for Libertarian Sean Haugh. Her lead is up from 2 points in May and 5 points in June. The protracted legislative session with Tillis at the helm of it can't be doing him any favors. Only 19% of voters approve of the job the General Assembly is doing to 57% who disapprove, and legislative Republicans specifically have a 31/52 favorability rating. Those things are working together to help...

By Matthew Burns Raleigh, N.C. — Gov. Pat McCrory on Tuesday signed legislation designed to replace the controversial Common Core academic standards in North Carolina public schools with standards drawn up by a new state commission. The standards were adopted by the state several years ago. But their implementation in the 2012-13 school year angered some parents, who said they were inappropriate in several areas. For the past year, those critics have been pushing lawmakers to repeal the standards. McCrory has supported Common Core in the past. Just last month, he said the push to repeal the standards "is not...

A North Carolina man is hot about children dying in hot cars, and has taken to the internet to try to make a difference. Multiple news outlets, including USA Today, identified the man as Terry Williams. Williams, of Raleigh, recently videotaped himself inside his vehicle on a day when it was about 90 degrees outside the car. Temperatures inside a closed car can quickly rise as much as 20 degrees. "I'm sitting in the car with the windows rolled up cause I want to know how it feels to be left in the car, strapped in a car seat with...

The Obama administration on Friday gave the oil industry the green light to use air guns and sonic sensors to search for possible oil and gas under Atlantic waters, overriding environmentalists concerned that the seismic research can harm whales and other marine life. Although geophysical research companies will still have to apply for individual permits to conduct seismic studies along the south- and mid-Atlantic coast — and undergo more rigorous environmental scrutiny of their specific plans — the Interior Department’s formal decision opens the door for the activity. Friday’s move also helps pave the way for possible drilling off the...

China Grove, North Carolina school buses take illegals to shop at Walmart using EBT cards

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed into law a bill ending the Tarheel State’s moratorium on energy production via hydraulic fracturing. Fracking to Begin in 2015 The governor’s action ends a 2012 moratorium on hydraulic fracturing—also known as fracking—that was imposed to provide time for fracking-specific regulations to be drafted. It also terminates a decade-old fracking ban. The North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission continues to work on fracking regulations, which are scheduled to be finalized by January 1, 2015. They would go into effect in March 2015, with the first drilling permits becoming available on July 1, 2015....

WINSTON-SALEM --- The legal fight over some of the more controversial provisions of North Carolina's elections overhaul bill brought an array of arguments and a crowd of lawyers to a federal courtroom Monday. The U.S. Justice Department, the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union, the League of Women Voters and lawyers representing seven college students testing a novel legal argument all hope to persuade a U.S. district judge to block provisions of the 2013 law until their lawsuits have been heard. The lawyers said the new provisions could have a discriminatory effect on their clients in the statewide election in...

The Senate overwhelmingly advanced a bipartisan hunting and fishing bill on Monday – but not before facing objections from liberals who criticized the chamber for failing to act on gun-control measures. Senators voted 82-12 Monday evening to move forward on the sportsmen’s legislation, which would boost hunters and anglers through an array of provisions such as helping to build shooting ranges and loosening federal regulations on lead fishing tackle and bullets. The package is a political boon to the host of red-state Democrats up for reelection this year including the bill’s chief Democratic sponsor, North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan. Sen....

A girl is seen trying to touch the man's ice cream cart as another girl stands behind her. The first girl then appears to try to hit the man repeatedly as he attempts to defend himself. The second girl then lunges toward the ice cream man - not long before an unidentified male also tries to take a swing at him. As the teens back away from the man, yelling is heard. The first girl then moves back toward the ice cream man and seems to repeatedly hit him as he tries to dodge her blows. At different parts of...

The first hurricane of the Atlantic season has hit the North Carolina coast, a wet and windy spoiler of the July Fourth holiday for thousands of Americans as authorities ordered them to evacuate exposed areas. Hurricane Arthur crossed the coast near Cape Lookout at the southern end of North Carolina's Outer Banks at 11:15 p.m. EDT (0315 GMT) on Thursday, with maximum sustained winds of 100 miles per hour (160 kph). This earned it Category 2 status on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Moving northeast at 22 mph (35.6 kph), Arthur is...

Arthur becomes the first hurricane of the 2014 Atlantic season. Independence Day travelers and revelers up and down the U.S. Atlantic coast are eying the path of the storm. Forecast models are in good agreement that Hurricane Arthur will dampen July 4th festivities along the N.C. Outer Banks. Mandatory evacuation of the Outer Banks has begun. Warm waters from the Gulf Stream are adding fuel to the storm development. Sea Surface TempsPublic Advisories

The Dare County Control Group has issued a mandatory evacuation order for residents and visitors on Hatteras Island beginning at 5:00 a.m., Thursday, July 3, 2014. After 5:00 a.m. Thursday, no access will be allowed to Hatteras Island. All Hatteras Island residents and visitors are advised to evacuate as quickly as possible during daylight hours on Thursday before the effects of Tropical Storm Arthur begin to bring high winds, rough seas, dangerous rip currents, and the potential for water and sand overwash on NC Highway 12. A State of Emergency has been issued for all of Dare County with the...

H.R. 1308 (103rd): Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (On Passage of the Bill) Number: Senate Vote #331 [primary source: senate.gov] Date: Oct 27, 1993 (103rd Congress) Result: Bill Passed TRACK VOTES This was a vote to pass a bill. Bill: H.R. 1308 (103rd): Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 Introduced by Sen. Charles “Chuck” Schumer [D-NY] on March 11, 1993 TOTALS DEMOCRAT REPUBLICAN YEA 97 97% 52 45 NAY 3 3% 2 1 REQUIRED: Simple Majority

UNC law professor’s holdings include $1.5M in real estate, and meanwhile he chastises Republicans for their ‘unforgivable war on poor people’A controversial, outspoken law professor who frequently bashes Republicans and specializes in poverty issues as a self-proclaimed champion of the poor earns $205,400 per year – for teaching one class per semester.The University of North Carolina School of Law pays Professor Gene Nichol $205,400 annually for his one class per semester workload. On top of his teaching salary, he receives a $7,500 stipend as director of the law school’s Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity.The News & Observer maintains a...