News

All flags will be placed at half-staff for the remainder of the work week at state government and university buildings.

  Clean-up crews and emergency management teams are working over-time in a 20 county area of the state.  This is where most of the damage occurred after those deadly and destructive tornadoes over the weekend.

In Wake County – officials are already beginning to put a price tag on the cost of the damage. 

 State and federal officials are assessing the extent of the damage caused by tornadoes in North Carolina on Saturday. Jessica Jones reports from Raleigh.

Downed trees and power lines have turned downtown Raleigh into a ghost town. Cleanup crews could be seen this afternoon clearing away branches and other debris. Raleigh's mayor, Charles Meeker, says even though tornadoes cut a small swath through the city, they were very destructive. 

Wake County Emergency Management workers continue disaster relief efforts this morning. Saturday's tornadoes and severe thunderstorms left many homeless. Emergency Operations Center manager Steve Newton says his first priority is helping those residents start the recovery process.

Donald Davis was born and raised in Waynesville, North Carolina. His people go back in Haywood County to the 1700s on both sides. He left home to attend Davidson College and Duke Divinity School. He was a Methodist minister for years before retiring to become a full time storyteller. He now lives on Ocracoke Island and spends most of the year traveling the country visiting festivals and leading workshops in the fine art of oral communication. Davis has committed some of his stories to paper in the new book, "Tales From a Free-Range Childhood" (John F. Blair/2011).

Mental health reformers have repeated their intention to move people out of large institutions toward treatment options closer to home. But even as people have left hospitals, local resources have not kept pace.  That means in North Carolina, many people with mental health disabilities live in adult care homes designed for frail elderly people. Now the U S Justice Department is investigating this situation. 

Wake County is hosting a networking fair today for organizations that support military personnel and their families. County leaders say the event is designed to develop stronger ties between local military groups. Randy Marsh is chair of the Wake County Military and Veterans Resource Coalition.

Officials in Currituck County announced today they are building a Regional Aviation and Technical Training Center. The area is surrounded by several aviation-type businesses and the U-S Coast Guard in Elizabeth City.  Dan Scanlon is the Currituck County Manager.  He says this is a great opportunity for northeastern North Carolina.

Mount Moriah is a Southern folk music band based in Durham, North Carolina. Their self-titled debut CD has rich lyrics that tackle themes such as reconciliation, religious symbolism and gender identity.

Raleigh-based poet Gibbons Ruark grew up the son of a United Methodist minister, moving from town to town in eastern North Carolina. He graduated from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received his master's degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He taught at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro before settling into a position at the University of Delaware for 37 years, but he never stopped writing about his North Carolina home. His work immortalizes hybrid magnolias and sun lit porches. Ruark is the award-winning author of eight books of poetry, including the most recent, "Staying Blue" (Lost Hill Books/2008).