Triangle/Local Archives - Page 19 of 34

Amazon workers in Garner vote against joining union

GARNER, N.C. (AP) – Workers at an Amazon warehouse in North Carolina have rejected a proposal to unionize. They are the latest group of the company’s employees to side against union representation. The National Labor Relations Board said Saturday said about three-quarters of employees at an Amazon fulfillment center in Garner, a town located near Raleigh, voted against joining a grassroots labor organization called Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment. The federal labor agency said 2,447 workers cast ballots against union representation while 829 voted in favor of joining the independent union, which is made up of former and current Amazon workers.… Continue Reading

A Vermont border agent’s death was the latest violence linked to the cultlike Zizian group

A traffic stop in Vermont has cracked open a cultlike group called Zizians linked to six deaths in three states. Officials have offered few details about their cross-country investigation, but police and court records, interviews and online postings point to a small group of young computer scientists portrayed as highly intelligent and increasingly violent. Their goals aren’t clear, but online writings span topics from radical veganism and gender identity to artificial intelligence. The dead include Border Patrol Agent David Maland, two members of the group, the parents of another member and a California landlord who tried to evict some of them.… Continue Reading

North Carolina sheriff to seek state Senate seat now held by powerful Phil Berger

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The longtime sheriff in North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger’s home county says he plans to run for Berger’s seat next year regardless of whether the powerful politician seeks another term. Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page told The News & Observer of Raleigh of his plans on Thursday. Page was first elected sheriff in 1998. Conflict with Berger surfaced in 2023 over efforts to authorize a casino in Rockingham County. Page ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 2024. Berger told reporters this week he still enjoys the legislative work and that any decision wasn’t required until later in the year.… Continue Reading

Volunteers deliver gifts to widows on Valentine’s Day. The project began in a florist’s driveway

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A growing number of volunteers has been delivering gifts to widows and widowers on Valentine’s Day. The movement is called the Valentine’s Day Widow Outreach Project. It was started by a flower shop owner in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2021. The project expects to reach 1,500 widows and widowers this year. Similar efforts are underway in cities that include Houston, Nashville and Pittsburgh. Gifts range from anything from wine and candy to flowers and jewelry. Many of the volunteers are widows themselves. And some were the unfortunate recipients of the project’s gifts in previous years.… Continue Reading

Fort Bragg has its old name back, this time with a Yankee twist

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Fort Bragg is back, but with a Yankee twist. The North Carolina Army installation originally named for Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg was rechristened Fort Liberty in 2023 amid a push to strip symbols of the Confederacy from public spaces. But on Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed an order changing it back, in honor of Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, a World War II hero from Maine. Roland Bragg received a Silver Star and a Purple Heart for his actions during the Battle of the Bulge. His daughter wasn’t aware of the honor until reporters contacted her Tuesday morning.… Continue Reading

Hegseth renames North Carolina military base Fort Roland L. Bragg and declares, ‘Bragg is back!’

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has signed an order restoring the name of a storied special operations forces base back to Fort Bragg. The North Carolina base was renamed Fort Liberty in 2023 as part of a national effort under the Biden administration to remove names that honored Confederate leaders. The base’s original namesake, Gen. Braxton Bragg, was a Confederate general. But a Pentagon spokesman said Monday that Hegseth was renaming the base to honor World War II hero Pfc. Roland L. Bragg. Hegseth says in a video he posted on X announcing the renaming, “Bragg is back!”… Continue Reading

Flu season in the US is the most intense it’s been in at least 15 years

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. winter virus season is in full force, and by one measure is the most intense in about 15 years. One indicator of flu activity is the percentage of doctor’s office visits driven by flu-like symptoms. According to data posted Friday, that level last week was higher than the peak of any winter flu season since 2009-2010. So far this season, the CDC estimates, there have been 13,000 flu deaths — including at least 57 children. The flu has forced schools to shut down in some states. One Texas district closed for three days because 650 students and 60 staff were out one day last week.… Continue Reading

A North Carolina wildlife crossing will save people. Can it save the last wild red wolves too?

ALLIGATOR RIVER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, N.C. (AP) — Red wolves once ranged far and wide across the U.S., helping them earn the nickname “America’s wolf.” But there are now thought to be fewer than 20 left in the wild. And in North Carolina, the only place where the animals roam free, motorists are the biggest threat to their survival. For decades, conservationists have pushed for changes to U.S. 64, a busy two-lane highway that runs straight through the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. They may finally be getting their wish with federal funding that backs small underpasses to steer wolves and other animals below the highway. Wildlife crossings have surged around the world in the past two decades, but the one in North Carolina is a little different because it seeks to save a critically endangered species.… Continue Reading

Friends say Army captain killed in midair collision was a ‘brilliant and fearless’ patriot

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. Army captain who died in Wednesday’s midair collision of a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet was “brilliant and fearless” and “meticulous in everything she did,” friends and fellow soldiers said. Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach was identified by the Army Saturday as one of three soldiers killed in the crash near Reagan National Airport just outside Washington, D.C. In all, 67 people died, including the jet’s 60 passengers and 4 crew members. Lobach, of Durham, North Carolina, had served as an Army aviation officer since July 2019, earning an Army commendation medal and an achievement medal after graduating from the University of North Carolina as a distinguished military graduate in the top 20% of ROTC cadets nationwide, her family said.… Continue Reading

UNC and Duke Health will build North Carolina’s first standalone children’s hospital

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Two North Carolina-based university health systems have announced an agreement to construct the state’s first standalone children’s hospital. UNC Health and Duke Health have revealed plans to build the proposed 500-bed pediatric hospital in the state’s Research Triangle region as part of a new organization they’ve created. A specific location hasn’t been announced, and construction on the hospital likely won’t be completed until the early 2030s. Speakers at Tuesday’s announcement event said the hospital will save children’s lives for generations to come and become another economic engine for the region. Gov. Josh Stein and Senate leader Phil Berger praised the effort.… Continue Reading