News

State lawmakers have wrapped up their short legislative session this week.

President Barack Obama spoke to thousands of people on the North Carolina State Campus this afternoon. The president is promoting his 450-billion dollar jobs bill. He told the crowd the bill would provide money for important infrastructure projects.

President Obama:  "In North Carolina alone there are 153 structurally deficient bridges that need to be prepared. Four of them are near here, on the belt-line. Why would we wait to act until another bridge falls?"

Last year's earthquake turned the eyes of the world to Haiti. In the aftermath, thousands of aid workers rushed to help Haitians whose homes and lives had been devastated, but some types of help are more effective than others. How does understanding the culture and history of a place make it easier for outsiders to aid the people in need? Host Frank Stasio poses the question to Reina Galjour, a Saxapahaw native recently returned from working as a midwife in Haiti; Bonnie Elam, president of the Raleigh-based group The Haiti Connection; Deborah Jenson, professor of French and Romance Studies at Duke University and co-Director of Duke's Haiti Lab; and writer Madison Smartt Bell, author of a trilogy of novels on Haiti's 1791 slave revolution.

This summer saw a big jump in the number of people who were stung by stingrays off the coast of Corolla on the Outer Banks. Ocean Rescue officials say the usual number of stings is between one and five. But this year, there were 70 to 100. Olivia Burrus is the curator at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island. She's says the stingrays may have found a lot of food in the area.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit the Triangle tomorrow.   He’s drumming up support for his “American Jobs Act” plan.

President Obama will talk jobs and the economy at N-C State tomorrow afternoon.  He’ll also speak with the owners of a small business in nearby Apex.  The business is West-Star Precision.  It is a manufacturer of specialized machined components for the aerospace and medical industries.  Brenda Steen is executive director of the Apex Chamber of Commerce. She says the company is not a chamber member – but President Obama’s visit will benefit all.

James Augustus McLean was a powerful force in North Carolina's art world for most of the 20th century. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and turned down an offer to teach at the prestigious school to return to his home state. His fledgling art school in Raleigh fell victim to the Great Depression, but McLean continued to create and inspire other artists throughout North Carolina until his death in 1989.

Voters in North Carolina will decide next May whether to add an amendment to the state constitution that would ban gay marriage. Earlier today, the state Senate voted with a three-fifths majority in favor of a proposed amendment that recognizes marriage as being between one man and one woman. The House passed the measure yesterday. Republican Senator Buck Newton says adding such an amendment to the state constitution would make it more difficult for judges to overturn bans on same-sex marriage.

North Carolina voters will be asked to consider same-sex marriage in the next primary election. A bill that allows people to decide at the polls whether to ban gay marriage in the state constitution passed the Senate today and was approved in the House yesterday. WRAL Capitol Bureau Chief Laura Leslie joins host Frank Stasio to talk about the language of this legislation and how it was debated in the General Assembly.

Ten years ago, Enron became the ultimate symbol of corporate malfeasance. The company robbed Americans of billions of dollars, helped destroy accounting giant Arthur Andersen and caused rolling blackouts across California. Burning Coal Theatre Company in Raleigh is revisiting this dark chapter in American corporate history with the play, “Enron,” on stage now through September 25th.

Candidates for Raleigh mayor and city council meet tonight for a candidate forum.

For the first time in 10 years, there is no incumbent running for mayor in Raleigh. In April, Charles Meeker decided not to seek a sixth term.

Three candidates are seeking to replace him and none of them are democrats. Nancy MacFarlane is running as an unaffiliated candidate, although she has been endorsed by the Wake County Democratic Party. Randall Williams and Billie Jean Redmond are running as Republicans.