AP-NC Newswatch

Latest North Carolina News:

NEW LAWS
NC police reforms, Sunday distillery sales start in October
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – All or parts of more than 30 new laws in North Carolina take effect Friday. They include new police accountability reporting requirements, rules for sheriff’s candidates, mandated clergy hospital visitation and Sunday bottled liquor sales. One law directs police and deputy standards commissions to create a public database of law enforcement officers who have had their certifications revoked or suspended. Hospitals also must let a clergy member visit a patient even when there’s a declared emergency like the one under COVID-19, provided the minister complies with health protocols. North Carolina distilleries also can now sell their own liquor products in bottles on Sundays.

ALCOHOL BOARD CHAIRMAN
Liquor shortages on NC shelves gets legislature’s attention
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Persistent liquor shortages on local Alcoholic Beverage Control store shelves prompted North Carolina lawmakers to question the current top state ABC official and the distribution contractor. The House ABC committee met for two hours Wednesday with the deputy ABC commissioner and a lawyer representing the company called LB&B Associates. The committee chairman says he had a lot more questions than answers at the close of the hearing. The implementation of a new inventory and ordering software program hasn’t been smooth. Officials also say liquor consumption increases, the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain disruptions also are to blame.

DEPUTY ASSAULTED
North Carolina man arrested for holding deputy at gunpoint
SALISBURY, N.C. (AP) – Authorities have apprehended a man who they say pulled a gun on a North Carolina sheriff’s deputy, then head-butted her before running off from a fast-food restaurant. News outlets report a Rowan County sheriff’s deputy was heading to a drive-thru on Wednesday when workers asked her to check on two men who appeared to be passed out in a car. The man pulled a gun on the deputy and shoved it into her vest before he hit her in the chin with his head and ran off before he was captured in the afternoon. Multiple charges were filed against 18-year-old Dayshun Lamont Davis.

HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING-NORTH CAROLINA
Teen indicted in fatal shooting at North Carolina school
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) – A North Carolina grand jury has indicted a teenager in the fatal shooting of a high school student, and a prosecutor will transfer his case to adult court. News outlets report 15-year-old Maurice T. Evans Jr. appeared in juvenile court Thursday for a custody hearing. An attorney for Evans asked the judge to release Evans to his parents, but the judge ruled that Evans will remain in custody without bond at a juvenile detention center. Evans is charged in the Sept. 1 shooting death of William Chavis Raynard Miller Jr. at Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem.

GUNS CONFISCATED-SCHOOLS
Fifth gun confiscated from school in North Carolina system
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) – A North Carolina police officer has confiscated a handgun from a student’s backpack at a magnet school, the fifth such incident in the same school system this month. The Winston-Salem Journal reports the officer took the gun from a student on Wednesday at Paisley IB Magnet School. The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office says the student will be charged with possessing a weapon on campus. Since a fatal shooting at Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem on Sept. 1, authorities say handguns have been found on students at Reynolds High School, Parkland High School and again at Mount Tabor last week.

CENTENARIAN CROSSING GUARD
North Carolina crossing guard celebrates 100th birthday
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) – A North Carolina man who reached his 100th birthday has been celebrated by the elementary school students he helps get through morning traffic and safely to class. The News & Record of Greensboro report students at Peck Elementary School marked the milestone birthday for Thomas Faucette on Wednesday with hand-decorated birthday hats. Also, 100 of the children held two-dimensional construction paper candles. Faucette also accepted a plaque from Greensboro Police Chief Brian James in appreciation for his service with the department. Faucette is a veteran of World War II who also worked with the U.S. Postal Service before becoming a crossing guard in 1988.

JUVENILE SHOT-COUNTY FAIR
Virginia sheriff’s office seeks public’s help in shooting
DANVILLE, Va. (AP) – A Virginia sheriff’s office is looking for the public’s help in a shooting at a local fair in which a North Carolina high school student was killed. The Danville Register & Bee reports the Pittsylvania County Sheriff’s Office is trying to identify three people of interest following the shooting on Sept. 18 at the Danville-Pittsylvania County Fair. According to authorities, a shooting in the fair’s parking lot left Bartlett Yancey High School student Joshua Rone dead. Authorities have provided very few details, but fair operators have said on social media that a fight broke out in the parking lot that ended with the fatal shooting.

AWOL WEAPONS-RISKY SOLUTION
AP: Military units track guns using tech that could aid foes
The Associated Press has found that a technology some units in the U.S. military are using to keep track of guns could let enemies detect troops on the battlefield. The rollout continues – even though the Pentagon itself called use of the tech in firearms a “significant” security risk. Radio frequency identification technology – RFID, as it is known – is everywhere in daily civilian life. When embedded in military guns, RFID tags can trim hours off time-intensive tasks, such as weapon counts and distribution. But outside armories, the same silent, invisible signals that help automate inventory checks could become an unwanted tracking beacon.