Click here for pictures from the fair RALEIGH -- Despite four days of rainfall and low attendance after a fatal accident Thursday morning, officials predict that more North Carolinians attended this year's annual N.C. State Fair than last year.
The N.C. Senate voted 29-15 Wednesday to approve a bill giving counties the option to enact a half-cent sales tax hike. The House passed the bill 58-54 Tuesday. Now that the bill has won approval in the N.C. General Assembly, it will head to Gov. Mike Easley for his consideration. Easley likely will sign the bill into law. The move will raise sales tax from 6.5 percent to 7 percent in districts that choose to impose the tax.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students have made headway at UNC-Wilmington with the introduction of a new scholarship targeting financially disadvantaged members of their community and supporters. The Boseman-TenHuisen scholarship, which is awarded by the university but funded entirely by private donors, will be given each year to a member of the UNC-W Bisexuals, Gays, Lesbians and Allies for Diversity.
A recent scare involving a vacationing man in Raleigh who tested positive for West Nile virus has raised concerns about the possibility of infection among North Carolina's citizens. A man visiting from New York was hospitalized Aug. 9 after Wake County doctors found traces of the virus in his blood.
Administrators at UNC-system schools say they are confident that their research procedures are sound and that UNC-Chapel Hill officials are properly dealing with charges of impropriety at the university's research labs. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals accused UNC-CH of misconduct in laboratories after releasing a video last week that was shot by an undercover investigator and showed alleged abuse and neglect of laboratory animals.
A study released Tuesday shows college students who are forced to work more than 25 hours a week to pay for their education likely will have lower grades than their peers. The State Public Interest Research Groups Higher Education Project is using the report's findings to build a case for increased federal financial aid. The report, which is based on data from the U.S. Department of Education's survey on aid for college students, evaluated the different effects of working hours on students.
Recent financial reports indicate that U.S. Senate candidates Elizabeth Dole and Erskine Bowles continue to distance themselves from their competitors.Monday was the deadline for Senate candidates to report their quarterly financial filing detailing how much money they have raised and their campaign expenditures to the Federal Election Commission.
A federal agency focused on fighting alcoholism released a report Tuesday stating that alcohol is a factor in the deaths of 1,400 college students per year and calling for preventative measures. The report on college drinking, prepared by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, states that alcohol use yearly results in 500,000 injuries and 70,000 cases of sexual assault and date rape among college students between the ages of 18 and 24.
Republican candidate Jim Snyder, who is running for his party's nomination for a U.S. Senate seat, spoke at the UNC School of Law on Monday about his platform and about running a primary campaign. Snyder is trying to capture the seat held by Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., who is retiring after this session.
Many N.C. health officials are concerned about a possible 6 percent cut to the state's Medicaid program that might drastically limit some health services. Health officials said the 6 percent cut would take $20 million in state funding away from the Medicaid program and $11 million from hospital outpatient funding. But the cuts would have an even greater effect because the federal government matches every $1 of state funding with an extra $2, effectively translating a $20 million cut to $60 million. Gov.
