Free Republic

JetZero plans to accelerate development of its blended wing body (BWB) commercial aircraft after securing approximately $175 million in new financing, giving the US start-up the resources to push its unconventional airliner concept through full-scale testing and toward flight.The Series B funding round, led by global investment firm B Capital and backed by a mix of airline, aerospace and industrial investors, will be channelled into advancing the Z4 programme and its associated full-size demonstrator, which JetZero plans to fly in 2027.The California-based startup said the injection of capital will help it shift from validating the concept to execution for an...

A North Carolina woman played a prank on her convicted felon boyfriend that made him believe she cheated on him - but it backfired horribly after he took her seriously. Shyhied Ivey, 20, shot at a packed car with five people inside on April 5 in Charlotte after his girlfriend, Nevaeh Covington, decided to pretend that she was romantically involved with another man, according to an affidavit reviewed by the Daily Mail. Officers with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department responded to Columbus Circle after being dispatched over a report of assault with a deadly weapon just after midnight. Covington told police...

A man is now behind bars and being charged with a fatal stabbing in North Carolina that left a U.S. Marine from SoCal dead. The deadly incident occurred on April 5, according to authorities in Wilmington, North Carolina. Around 2 a.m., the Wilmington Police Department responded to reports of multiple fights in the 1300 block of Corbett Street, which is located in the city’s downtown area. The investigation revealed that two people were stabbed, including Daniel Montano of San Bernardino.

Under North Carolina state law, a defendant is only incapable to proceed to trial if they cannot understand the nature of their charges, cannot comprehend their role in court proceedings and cannot help their own defense. Brown's attorney Daniel Roberts said the murder suspect underwent a capacity evaluation in hospital in December which he failed leading a psychiatrist to determine he is unfit to face murder charges. Zarutska died after her throat was slashed as she sat alone on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina in August 2025.

The mayor of a North Carolina town says he’s not going anywhere despite town commissioners urging him to resign. Chris Carney, the mayor of Mooresville, is in the spotlight over an alleged incident caught on surveillance video inside the town hall in 2024. The incident, according to an IT employee who reported it, involved a man believed to be Carney entering the town hall with a woman described as a town communications consultant. The IT employee said the footage later showed Carney walking through the building without pants. The incident has since led to three lawsuits against the town, with...

The FBI arrested Courtney Williams, 40, of Wagram, North Carolina yesterday and a federal grand jury indicted her today in connection with her alleged transmission of classified national defense information to individuals not authorized to receive it, including a journalist (the Journalist). Williams allegedly violated 18 U.S.C. § 793(d). “Clearance holders accept a solemn obligation to protect the classified information entrusted to them,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “That they do so is critical to the security of our Nation. When clearance holders violate that trust, the National Security Division will act swiftly to hold...

A high-profile killing on a Charlotte light rail train has hit a legal pause after a court filing concluded the suspect is not currently fit to face trial. Decarlos Brown Jr., 35, has been deemed “incapable to proceed” on state murder charges tied to the death of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee, per the New York Post. The finding comes from a motion filed April 7 following a mental health evaluation conducted late last year. According to WBTV, Brown was evaluated on Dec. 29 at Central Regional Hospital. The resulting report determined he is not competent to stand trial...

Easter is bringing a wave of new members into the Roman Catholic Church in Charlotte, continuing a growing trend across the region. Over the past two years, the number of people joining the Catholic Church in Charlotte has increased by more than 40% each year. Church leaders expect that figure to rise again this Easter weekend. At St. Matthew Catholic Church in Ballantyne alone, about 100 people are expected to be baptized — among them, Seth Miller. “I had to be a good example, a good leader in the household,” Miller said. “That’s what was originally kind of the catalyst...

Democrats have a double-digit advantage over Republicans in the North Carolina Senate race between former Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper (D) and former Republican National Committee Chair (RNC) Michael Whatley, a survey commissioned by Nexus Strategies for Healthier United found. The survey asked respondents, “Looking forward to the November election for United States Senator. If the election were held today, would you vote for Roy Cooper, a Democrat, Michael Whatley, a Republican, or Shannon Bray, a Libertarian?” Across the board, 50 percent chose Democrat Cooper, leaving Whatley nearly 18 points behind with 32.3 percent support. Bray only sees single digit support...

Meet the ‘Mohammeds’ running the Church’s migration agenda. The Catholic News Herald, “Connecting Catholics in North Carolina”, bragged that the refugee case coordinator for the Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte, had been recently honored. His name? Ashir Haji-Mohamed. The latter part of the name meant that he had made a pilgrimage to the Islamic holy city of Mecca. Haji-Mohamed, a former Somali refugee, had previously been in the news for helping resettle Syrian Muslims, as well as Jordanians and Turks, in North Carolina. After the Biden retreat, Catholic Charities of Charlotte had also worked to bring Afghans to North Carolina....

even years. That's how long Republicans in North Carolina waited for a federal court to do the right thing. On Thursday, they finally got their answer — and it came from the last place anyone expected. U.S. District Judge Loretta Biggs, an Obama appointee, upheld North Carolina's photo voter ID law in a sweeping 134-page ruling. She found that liberal voting rights groups, including the state NAACP, failed to prove the 2018 law violated the 14th Amendment, the 15th Amendment, or the Voting Rights Act. The ruling keeps the law firmly in place heading into the 2026 midterms — and...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (CN) — A federal judge shot down a seven-year case Thursday that claimed that North Carolina’s voter ID requirements target Black and Hispanic voters and are burdensome. The North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP and several of its chapters first claimed in 2018 that a law requiring photo ID to vote disproportionately impacts minority voters, arguing it violates section two of the Voting Rights Act and the 14th and 15th Amendments, imposing burdens on the right to vote that the state can’t justify. The defendants, including Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger and former state Speaker of...

Shortly before 2 p.m. on March 18, 2026, troopers responded to a New York Thruway Authority report of overpass strikes caused by a commercial truck hauling an over-height excavator on a flatbed trailer while driving west between Exits 30 and 36. Troopers located the suspect vehicle and performed a traffic stop on the 2019 Freightliner in the town of Salina. The truck driver was identified as Oleksander Tarakanovskyi, 38, of North Carolina. NYSP investigators determined that the over-height load had struck more than a dozen overpasses along a sixty mile stretch of the New York State Thruway. Troopers say that...

A woman was arrested after deputies said she used a board with nails to damage a man’s Tesla Cybertruck on Sunday in Caldwell County. Records show 67-year-old Karen Lewis was charged with misdemeanor damage to property. She was jailed on a $1,000 secured bond. Deputies said the investigation began after the owner reported damage to his car on Sunday, March 15, in Collettsville. No specific street or location was provided. Investigators said the Cybertruck’s onboard cameras captured video of Lewis allegedly using a board with nails to scratch the vehicle, and she was quickly identified as the suspect.

Newly counted votes widened the gap between Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page and state Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger in the race to earn the Republican nomination for state Senate District 26. Unofficial election results released Tuesday placed Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page two votes ahead of incumbent NC Senate President Pro Tempore Berger with a tally of 13,077 votes to 13,075. On Friday, Rockingham County and Guilford County election officials worked to tabulate cured absentee-by-mail ballots and provisional ballots, adding 59 votes for Page and 38 votes for Berger. The machine reading in Rockingham County listed 56 votes...

Sen. Tim Sheehy sprang into action Wednesday, helping law enforcement officers subdue an “unhinged protestor” who began “fighting” at a hearing at the US Capitol Building, the Montana Republican explained. Dramatic video of the incident shows the protester — later identified as Green Party Senate candidate Brian McGinnis — resisting multiple Capitol Police officers trying to remove him from a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL, is seen jumping into the scrum and trying to yank the 44-year-old McGinnis, who was wearing a US Marine Corps uniform, out of the room. The situation only calmed down...

By a margin of two votes, North Carolina's most powerful politician is losing a primary election to his home county's sheriff. With all precincts reporting Tuesday night, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page had recorded 13,077 votes. Senator Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, had recorded 13,075 votes. If the race is within 1% — and this one certainly is — the losing candidate can request a recount. There are also outstanding provisional ballots and military and overseas ballots that could still be added to the total. "Every vote counts," Berger told assembled media after the results came in. "We will continue through the...

A former exotic dancer who made headlines for falsely accusing three Duke lacrosse students of raping her has been freed from prison in the 2011 slaying of her boyfriend. Crystal Mangum, 47, was let out of the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh just before 10 a.m. Friday after serving a 14-to-18-year sentence for fatally stabbing beau Reginald Daye in April 2011, according to a report by NBC News. .....

A former exotic dancer who made headlines for falsely accusing three Duke lacrosse students of raping her has been freed from prison in the 2011 slaying of her boyfriend. Crystal Mangum, 47, was let out of the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh just before 10 a.m. Friday after serving a 14-to-18-year sentence for fatally stabbing beau Reginald Daye in April 2011, according to a report by NBC News. Mangum wore a gray sweatshirt and khaki pants on her way out of the facility. She was escorted in a corrections vehicle to Durham to live with a friend,...

A murder suspect was hospitalized and a man was arrested after a fight at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse on Thursday, officials said. The fight happened ahead of a court hearing for Marion McKnight, who is accused of killing 16-year-old Jamariyae Dixon in May 2025, according to the nonprofit Mothers Advocating for Real Change and Unwavering Support (M.A.R.C.U.S.). A spokesperson for the nonprofit said McKnight had repeatedly taunted Dixon's family after being released on bond for the charge. He was appearing in court for a bond revocation hearing after violating his pre-trial release conditions. They said Thursday's incident took place between...