Triangle/Local
Bragg to Liberty and back again: Ceremony to rechristen Army post once named for a Confederate
By ALLEN BREED and MAKIYA SEMINERA Associated Press FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — The short-lived existence of Fort Liberty came to an end Friday when the nation’s largest Army installation officially returned to its former name: Fort Bragg. Christened a century ago in honor of…
World’s oldest llama enjoys comforting chronically ill children in North Carolina
By HALLIE GOLDEN Associated Press A bucktoothed llama that spends his days comforting chronically ill children at a North Carolina camp founded by NASCAR royalty has been crowned the world’s oldest llama in captivity. At 27 years and more than 250 days, the selfie- and snuggle-loving llama…
Lighter winds help crews fighting wildfires in South and North Carolina
By ERIK VERDUZCO Associated Press MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — Lighter winds Monday helped crews in South Carolina and North Carolina battle wildfires that caused evacuations and threatened hundreds of homes over the weekend. Hundreds of firefighters from across South Carolina managed to keep a large blaze…
Winter-weary East Coast hit with another storm as temperatures plunge elsewhere
By BEN FINLEY and JOHN RABY Associated Press NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Officials urged people to stay off the roads Wednesday in portions of Virginia and North Carolina where a storm dropped heavy snow and caused hundreds of accidents in places unaccustomed to significant accumulations.…
State/Regional
A South Carolina man executed by firing squad is the first US prisoner killed this way in 15 years
By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man who killed his ex-girlfriend’s parents with a baseball bat was executed by firing squad Friday, the first U.S. prisoner in 15 years to die by that method, which he saw as preferable…
North Carolina lawmakers close in on another injection of Helene relief funds
By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina state Senate Republicans advanced a disaster recovery measure Tuesday to direct $533 million in additional spending to meet still-pressing needs from Hurricane Helene’s historic flooding and destruction last fall, but it also locates more relief…
To her, Hurricane Helene debris isn’t trash. It is full of memories — and she’s returning them
By MAKIYA SEMINERA Associated Press SWANNANOA, N.C. (AP) — The tops of dried, bent cornstalks crunch underfoot. Jill Holtz’s gaze is fixed on the ground ahead. She wanders into the nearby woods and weaves between twisted branches. Then, Holtz spots something and starts to riffle…
A stretch of a North Carolina highway that collapsed during Helene is about to reopen
WAYNESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A stretch of Interstate 40 through the western North Carolina mountains is reopening to traffic this weekend, months after Hurricane Helene’s historic flooding collapsed portions of the road, partially restoring the major travel connection with eastern Tennessee. The state Department of Transportation said…
North Carolina’s insurance commissioner is out of the hospital after heart surgery
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey was released from the hospital Thursday, a spokesperson said, 10 days after undergoing heart surgery that wasn’t revealed publicly until well after it occurred. Department spokesperson Jason Tyson said the Republican commissioner, who won a third four-year…
World/National
Judge orders Trump administration to pay nearly $2 billion in USAID and State Dept. debts
By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday gave the Trump administration until Monday to pay nearly $2 billion owed to partners of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department, thawing the administration’s six-week funding freeze…
Trump reaches 36.6 million television viewers for first address to Congress in second term
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump reached an estimated 36.6 million television viewers for his address to Congress on Tuesday night, the Nielsen company said. That beat the 32.2 million people who watched former President Joe Biden’s final State of the Union address last…
Trump takes credit for ‘swift and unrelenting’ action in speech to Congress
By ZEKE MILLER and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump took credit for “swift and unrelenting action” in reorienting the nation’s economy, immigration and foreign policy Tuesday in an address to Congress and the American people about his turbulent first weeks in…
James Harrison, Australian blood donor whose ‘golden arm’ helped save 2.4 million babies, dies at 88
By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian man credited with saving 2.4 million babies through his record-breaking blood plasma donations over six decades, has died, his family said Tuesday. He was 88. James Harrison, a retired state railway department clerk, died in a…
Zelenskyy calls Oval Office spat with Trump ‘regrettable,’ says he’s ready to work for Ukraine peace
By SAMYA KULLAB and HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that the Oval Office blowup with U.S. counterpart Donald Trump last week was “regrettable,” adding that he stands ready to work under Trump’s “strong leadership” to get a lasting…
Entertainment
Why are clocks set forward in the spring? Thank wars, confusion and a hunger for sunlight
By JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press DALLAS (AP) — Once again, most Americans will set their clocks forward by one hour this weekend, losing perhaps a bit of sleep but gaining more glorious sunlight in the evenings as the days warm into summer. Where did this all come…
Angry Birds, Frogger and others are finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — This year’s finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame include trailblazers in esports, electronic pets and portable gaming, as well as the arcade favorite brought to life in a 1998 episode of “Seinfeld.” The Hall of Fame revealed the…
The Florida attorney general’s office is investigating Andrew and Tristan Tate
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s attorney general announced Tuesday that his office has opened a criminal investigation into Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are charged with human trafficking in Romania, days after they returned to the U.S. Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on social media that he directed his…
Carl Dean, Dolly Parton’s husband of nearly 60 years who inspired ‘Jolene,’ dies at 82
By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer Carl Dean, Dolly Parton’s devoted husband of nearly 60 years who avoided the spotlight and inspired her timeless hit “Jolene,” died Monday. He was 82. According to a statement provided to The Associated Press by Parton’s publicist, Dean died in Nashville,…
Oscar winners — and losers — laugh, drink and dance together at after-parties
By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Were it not for the absence of an Oscar in his hands, you wouldn’t have known Timothée Chalamet lost best actor to Adrien Brody as he sauntered with a smile into the Vanity Fair party. Once he got inside, Chalamet’s…
Sports
Knueppel, Flagg help No. 2 Duke pull away late to beat rival UNC 82-69
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Freshman Kon Knueppel scored 17 points to help No. 2 Duke beat rival North Carolina 82-69 on Saturday night and clinch the outright Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title. Cooper Flagg added 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists despite first-half…
NFL legend Bill Belichick is coaching practices again. Only now he’s a college rookie at UNC
By AARON BEARD AP Sports Writer CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Bill Belichick is back on the practice sidelines again, a familiar home for the man who won six Super Bowls as an NFL head coach. Only now the setting is a small college town.…
North Carolina rolls to season-high 6th straight win, beats Virginia Tech behind season-high 15 3s
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Ven-Allen Lubin collected his first double-double as a Tar Heel and Ian Jackson hit five of North Carolina’s season-high 15 3-pointers while scoring 19 points in a 91-59 victory over Virginia Tech on Tuesday night. The Tar Heels (20-11, 13-6 ACC)…
ACC, FSU, Clemson reach proposed settlement to end legal fight, change money distribution: AP source
By AARON BEARD AP Sports Writer The legal fights between the Atlantic Coast Conference and high-profile member schools Clemson and Florida State appear close to resolution, which could provide the league with a measure of stability for the coming years. The league and the two schools have…
Lubin leads UNC’s balanced scoring in 92-73 win over Miami for Tar Heels’ 5th straight victory
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Ven-Allen Lubin scored 19 points, Jae’Lyn Withers had 11 points and 10 rebounds and North Carolina beat Miami 92-73 on Saturday for its fifth straight victory, the Tar Heels’ longest win streak this season. Lubin was 9-of-10 from the floor…