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A bipartisan six-member delegation from the U.S. House of Representatives met with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana on August 25, two days after Kazakhstan elected the first members of its new unicameral Kurultai. Tokayev called the timing symbolic and proposed closer dialogue between Congress and the new legislature. The delegation was led by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith and included Greg Murphy, Carol Miller, Ronny Jackson, Wesley Bell, and Ed Case. Smith said President Donald Trump had called him at 2 a.m., several hours before the meeting. Trump sent his regards, expressed appreciation for his relationship with...

CMS students head back to the classroom on Tuesday, but Channel 9 learned the man accused of threatening to kill students at five different schools is now out of jail. Investigators say Drew Owens laid out mass shooting plans for a few elementary, middle and high schools. At 11:30 Saturday morning, Owens walked out of the Mecklenburg County Jail. Now a lot of parents tell us they're looking over their shoulders. "Is he going to show up at one of the schools? It's not good," said one parent. She was so afraid that she didn't want her face shown. "I'm...

The FBI interviewed Salvatore Gravano, the former underboss of the Gambino crime family known as "Sammy the Bull," to ask if ex-FBI Director James Comey likely knew what the term "86" means, according to court documents.

Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) is maintaining his lead over former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Whatley in the state’s Senate race, according to a new poll released Friday. A High Point University Poll found the Democratic candidate had a 5-point advantage over his GOP opponent among likely North Carolina voters. Fifty percent of respondents backed Cooper, while 45 percent supported Whatley in the contest. The candidates will face off in the November race to replace retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis. The North Carolina seat is one of the six GOP-controlled seats Democrats are hoping to flip...

(The Center Square) – A southern state that banned medical gender transition for children is funding a network of doctors and therapists who promote some of those same controversial treatments, an investigation by The Center Square found. A nonprofit called Charlotte Transgender Healthcare Group openly touts puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones as treatment options for minors. And through 2027, it's receiving $1.28 million from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, records and interviews show. North Carolina state law strictly forbids body-altering gender treatments on children younger than 18, including puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries. Health and Human...

Convicted Killer Allegedly Shot Two Men Hours After Getting Out Of Jail By iHeartRadio August 3, 2026 Mugshot of David Simpson, 29 Photo: Mecklenburg County Jail A Charlotte man with a history of violent offenses is accused of shooting two men—killing one—less than two hours after being released from jail on bond last week. David Simpson, 29, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, and possession of a firearm by a felon in the early morning shooting on Wednesday (July 29) at the Country Club apartments in...

A man accused of killing one person and injuring another in an east Charlotte apartment complex shooting appeared before a Mecklenburg County judge Friday after initially refusing to leave his jail cell. David Simpson, 29, is facing charges for the Dunlavin Way shooting Wednesday. Simpson is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious harm, and possession of a firearm by a felon. A woman identified as Simpson's girlfriend, Shakema Scott, was also charged with accessory after the fact. The shooting happened outside an apartment complex around 1:45 a.m., according...

CALDWELL COUNTY, N.C. — Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said it worked with the U.S. Forest Service on Sunday in Caldwell County to arrest 13 people who were in the country illegally. Many had criminal histories, including DUI convictions and illegal entry, agency officials said. Wilson Creek attracts families from as far away as Charlotte looking for a place to swim and gather during the summer. A woman who visited the creek on Tuesday believes the Department of Homeland Security went too far in targeting an area where Hispanics gather on the weekend. “I feel like it’s becoming more of...

Residents at two swanky North Carolina communities have sounded the alarm over alleged trespassers taking over their pools, claiming that their homeowners associations (HOA) are not doing enough to stop the rowdiness. The complaints have emerged at Edge of Auburn in Garner and Trace at Olde Towne in nearby Raleigh, with residents saying they have become afraid to use their amenities funded through hefty HOA dues. Dramatic footage from one of the pool areas showed a spat between residents and nonresidents, WRAL reported. It was not clear how or why the confrontation started, but homeowners described how it embodied the...

Democratic Senate contenders are dramatically out-raising their Republican peers, according to Federal Election Commission data — with Georgia’s Jon Ossoff and James Talarico in Texas leading the pack. Eight of the top 10 Senate candidate fundraiser this year are Democrats, whose top contestants have raked in $574 million, compared to the Republicans’ $336 million, per the FEC. Incumbent Sen. Ossoff (D-Ga.) is the biggest fundraiser on both sides, having raked in a jaw-dropping $77 million as of June 30, and has a staggering $42.5 million in cash on hand. He’s raised nearly $98 million as a Senate candidate, including the...

Gov. Roy Cooper leads Michael Whatley by four percentage points in a new poll from Public Policy Polling, which shows a race that remains competitive as voters begin to tune into the campaign. While national attention has increasingly turned to high-profile Senate races in Maine and Texas, the newly released poll suggests that Whatley, the former RNC and NC GOP chairman, still has an opportunity to contest a race that forecasters say favors Cooper. The PPP poll, released on Monday, surveyed 759 North Carolina voters earlier this month and found Cooper leading the race by 48% to 44%, with a...

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said Thursday that he will not support Todd Blanche for attorney general unless President Donald Trump’s nominee first meets with women who say the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein abused them as minors. Tillis announced his position during the second day of the acting attorney general's confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying the meeting must occur before he is prepared to advance the nomination. “I have not made a final decision,” Tillis said of whether he will vote to advance Blanche to lead the Justice Department. “Todd Blanche said he’d meet with the...

Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.), a retiring Republican who has become one of the most vocal critics of the Trump administration in his party, delivered harsh words for President Trump’s top-priority voter ID legislation on the Senate floor Thursday morning, saying he would stall it if the legislation came again to the Senate. “If I see a reconciliation bill come from the House with another failed attempt to confuse this election, I will use every device I have available to slow down the wheels of government until people cop a clue and do the math,” Tillis said, nearly shouting, on the...

Cooper 48, Whatley 44

With Lindsey Graham's death, and John Cornyn's defeat, Mike Lee is second in seniority, next to 92 year old Chuck Grassley (elected in 1980). Grassley has been maintaining the old blue slip tradition, preventing the confirmation of US Attorneys that Democrats don't like. If Grassley dies, or chooses to be chair of another committee come January, Mike Lee will be chair (assuming the Republicans hold the Senate). Thom Tillis (who also blocked nominees) will also be gone, and Ken Paxton will likely be added. On the Democrat side, Dick Durbin is retiring (moving Whitehouse to ranking member) and Amy Klobuchar...

High Point Mayor Cyril Jefferson is speaking out after a man allegedly brought a flamethrower and other weapons to a church parking lot on Sunday. Jefferson thanked High Point police officers for their quick response to the scene, including the off-duty officer who was working at Wesley Memorial Church that day. The mayor also stated that the suspect, William S. Milliken III, 44, of Thomasville, appears to have mental health issues and that he had a notebook with the addresses for churches and schools in his truck, according to court documents. Jefferson expressed his gratitude that no one was hurt...

The list: Connecticut Illinois Maine Massachusetts North Carolina Oregon Rhode Island Vermont Washington Pennsylvania

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Sunday said ensuring the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE America) Act gets passed in the Senate is an “impossible task.” “You know, I have people telling me I need to implement the SAVE Act immediately in North Carolina, in a state that has voter ID,” Tillis told CNN’s Jake Tapper during an interview on “State of the Union.” He then asked why “do I, over the next four months, have to try to pursue the impossible task of implementing a bill that simply can’t be imlemented in that timeframe?” “Why are we doing more...

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) didn’t mince any words Tuesday in calling out what he characterized as the “bulls—” arguments of fellow Republican Sen. Mike Lee (Utah) on social media, revealing the tensions within the Senate Republican Conference over how to push forward on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act. Tillis said Lee’s push for Republicans to force Democrats to actively hold the floor in continuous debate to block the bill — in other words, to force Democrats to employ a talking filibuster — is “goofy.” “I think it’s silly. All of it’s just goofy stuff,” he said. “It’s...

The madman accused of slaughtering Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a train in North Carolina screamed at the judge on Tuesday as he was ruled not fit to stand trial for a second time. Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, ranted about having “material in his body” during the brief hearing at the federal courthouse in Charlotte, Queen City News reported. He also shouted about wanting to press charges against the FBI, and asked the judge whether he had reviewed his evaluation and a letter from his mother, the outlet reported. Brown is facing federal and state charges in the shocking August...