Jessica Jones

Lawmakers in Raleigh have voted to repeal a historic law that allows death row inmates to appeal their sentences.

The state senate voted 27 to 17 last night to repeal the Racial Justice Act. The law was passed two years ago amid great fanfare. It allows inmates to appeal their sentences by using statistical evidence to show the influence of racial bias. Republican Senator Thom Goolsby introduced the measure to repeal the Racial Justice Act on the Senate floor.

State lawmakers are back in Raleigh today. They'll discuss repealing the Racial Justice Act.

Many North Carolinians will be traveling this year for the Thanksgiving holiday. About 200 thousand people are expected to fly through Raleigh-Durham airport over the long weekend. And nearly a million and a quarter residents say they'll travel 50 miles or more from home, according to Triple-A Carolinas. Greer Beatty is a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation. She says with all that traffic people should make sure they turn off their cell phones and avoid other distractions when they're behind the wheel.

Officials say a livestock building at the State Fair is the likely source of an E-coli outbreak that made 27 fairgoers sick.

State officials say their investigation doesn't point to any specific animal or breed of animal. But they're confident the bacteria came from the Kelley building at the fairgrounds, where cows, goats and sheep were housed. Megan Davies is the state epidemiologist.

Megan Davies: "It is shed intermittently by these animals naturally, so it's likely to be on an animal or in their environment at any given moment. "

State lawmakers have voted to restore omissions in redistricting maps that left out about half a million voters.

Lawmakers voted mostly along party lines yesterday to pass bills that restored the missing census blocks. A software problem in the program used to draw the maps caused the issues. Republican representative David Lewis said debating these bills is completely unlike the heated discussions over drawing the maps earlier this year.

In Raleigh today, a group of civil rights and election watchdog organizations filed a legal challenge to newly drawn maps for North Carolina’s legislative and congressional seats. The suit is the second filed this week in Wake County Superior Court alleging the Republican-drawn maps segregate minority voters in order to dilute their statewide influence.

On Tuesday, Durham County voters will decide whether to approve a sales tax increase that would help fund big improvements to public transit. Public transportation advocates across the Triangle have been working for years to plan a comprehensive network of buses and trains to make the area more commuter-friendly.

State officials investigating an outbreak of E-Coli say there are now nine confirmed cases of the bacterial infection. Fifteen more possible cases are being investigated. All 24 of those people attended the state fair. The venue is believed to be the source of the outbreak, but a direct cause has not been confirmed yet. Dr. Megan Davies is North Carolina's state epidemiologist.

A state senator who led the fight against gay marriage has died. Republican Jim Forrester of Gaston County suffered health problems before checking in to a hospital this weekend.

The North Carolina N-double-A-C-P has submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, asking it not to pre-clear the proposed redistricting maps drawn earlier this year in the General Assembly. Reverend William Barber heads the state's N-double-A-C-P. He says the maps pack black voters into a small number of districts to dilute their statewide influence.