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Durham-based band Humble Tripe is the musical project of Shawn Luby. After years spent playing classical guitar in competitions, Luby retired from the world of music at the age of 20. He moved from Kansas to North Carolina, working first at a nonprofit, then as a clinical lab scientist. Once he entered his 30s, his desire to play music returned and he formed Humble Tripe with his friends.

  In the last 10 years, multiple studies have concluded that housing people with mental health disabilities in adult and family care homes is not the best plan for them. Each study has recommended phasing out use of the homes and improving the system. Despite that, the number of homes has increased along with the number of adults with mental illness who live in them.

Home and business owners who file insurance claims in the wake of last weekend's storm and have a dispute with their insurer could be eligible for a state mediation program. 

Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin activated the program earlier this week in anticipation of problems as many people put in claims for storm damage. 

Spokeswoman Kerry Hall from the state Department of Insurance says her office is starting to get calls from people with questions:

Students of Ben Martin Elementary School in Fayetteville are back in class after a tornado devastated the campus last weekend. Forecasters say one of Saturday's fiercest tornadoes touched down in Cumberland County with maximum winds of 140 miles per hour. Damages to Ben Martin Elementary could be more than $5 million. Principal Crystal Brown surveyed the school grounds on the day of the storm.

Andrea Reusing's Chapel Hill restaurant Lantern is loved and respected by sophisticated foodies from around the world. So it's a bit of a surprise that her first cookbook is not full of recipes from Lantern’s menu. Instead, the book is a seasonal guide to a year's worth of unintimidating, easy-to-shop for, easy-to-make, fresh, local meals.

Just about every bluegrass musician has been directly or indirectly influenced by Wade Mainer. Mainer, a master of the banjo, taught himself to play his instrument of choice as a child and developed an innovative two-finger picking style. That style, combined with Mainer’s strong vocals earned him popularity as a performer and recording artist in the 1930s and 1940s.

For people with mental health disabilities, housing’s an intensely personal issue. Many want to live independently, some want to live with others. But mostly, what folks with mental health problems say they want is some choice in the matter. But housing is a political and economic issue too. Many factors prevent people with mental health disabilities from getting the housing they want… and need.

It probably wouldn’t occur to him, but Alfred Brown is in the vanguard. He’s weathered a lifetime of schizophrenia and alcohol abuse…

State house lawmakers have tentatively passed a controversial tort reform bill.

Senate Bill 33's Republican sponsors say capping non-economic damages for patients who're suing their doctors for malpractice would help create a friendlier climate for doctors to come to the Tar Heel state. They say the measure would rein in skyrocketing insurance costs for doctors. But Democratic representative Bill Faison- who's a well-known plaintiff's attorney- disputes that. 

  "Snap. Spot. Kick away. High enough, long enough... It's good! It's good! Carolina has won the game on a 42-yard field goal by freshman Connor Barth. Good gosh girdy!"

 That's sportscaster Woody Durham calling the game-winning play in North Carolina's 2004 upset win over Miami. Durham announced yesterday he will retire after 40 years of broadcasting Tar Heel football and basketball games. 

Governor Bev Perdue says she's thankful the White House moved quickly to send federal assistance to North Carolina. 

Right now residents of ten counties qualify for low-interest federal loans or FEMA grants to repair their homes and businesses. Governor Perdue says she could have asked that more counties qualify, but it would have taken longer for federal assistance to come to the state.