Share
SHELBY 2nd bomblike device found
A bomblike device was discovered Tuesday near U.S. 74 in Shelby, less than three miles from where a similar object was found Monday.
Authorities in Cleveland County told WCNC, the Observer's news partner, that the device was too similar to Monday's to be a coincidence.
Tuesday morning, a motorist spotted the device about 9:20 a.m. along U.S. 74 near N.C. 180. Cleveland County's bomb squad responded and detonated the object about 11:30 a.m. It was described as about 6 inches long, wrapped in silver tape, with a fuse sticking out.
The same type of object was found about midday Monday by a motorist on U.S. 74 near Long Branch Road, not far from Kings Mountain. The Gaston County Bomb Squad was called in and blew up the device. Cleveland County authorities said at least one motorist apparently drove over the object before it was discovered.
Steve Lyttle
Regional briefs
North Carolina Raleigh
State and local law enforcement will conduct increased patrols and checkpoints to remove impaired drivers from N.C. highways through Sunday.
The latest campaign, called “Booze It & Lose It: Operation Firecracker,” began Monday and runs through Sunday.
Gov. Bev Perdue said the state's law enforcement agencies will crack down on impaired drivers.
There were 377 alcohol-related crashes during the July Fourth holiday last summer, including 12 with fatalities, and officers charged more than 1,900 motorists with impaired driving. Associated Press
A legislative committee has narrowly advanced a bill that supporters say could counteract racial bias that might put a murder defendant on North Carolina's death row.
Democrats on a House judiciary committee voted 7-6 Tuesday to recommend a bill called the Racial Justice Act. It would allow a judge to rule out capital punishment before or after a murder trial on the basis of race.
The defendant could use data or other evidence to try to prove race was a significant factor in a prosecutor's decision to seek the death penalty or for jurors to impose it.
The Senate earlier approved a version that would remove legal obstacles that have blocked executions since 2006. The House stripped out those changes. Associated Press
Officials are considering plans to close schools at North Carolina's three psychiatric hospitals and shift the responsibility of educating young patients through local school districts.
The (Raleigh) News & Observer reported Tuesday that the state Department of Health and Human Services submitted the plan to legislators as part of budget cutting efforts.
The change would affect children hospitalized for long periods. Patients would remain enrolled in their local school districts, using the Internet to complete class work, instead of attending on-site hospital schools.
A spokeswoman for the agency sent an e-mail advising teachers working in psychiatric hospitals to look for new positions. Associated Press
Manteo
The National Park Service has expanded two closed areas on N.C. beaches because of vandalism to signs and fences that protect nesting areas for endangered birds.
Both incidents are under investigation. They were discovered Saturday on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore at beach access Ramps 23 and 27.
At Ramp 23, a barricade was broken and fencing and signs were torn down. At Ramp 27, a vehicle drove through the fencing and entered two protected areas.
The park said neither incident resulted in damage to nests or chicks.
Beach closures are required by a settlement between the park service and environmental groups that sued over protection of endangered species. The agreement requires that closed areas be enlarged in the case of vandalism. Associated Press
South Carolina Easley
An 8-year-old boy and his aunt and uncle drowned in a swimming pool in western South Carolina. Media outlets reported the adults jumped into the pool at a horse farm near Easley to try to rescue the boy Monday afternoon.
Pickens County Coroner Kandy Kelley said the victims were 37-year-old Arnulfo Tomas Francisco, 27-year-old Maria Nicholus Juan and 8-year-old Eric Sebastian, all of Greenville.
Assistant Sheriff Tim Morgan said the couple's 7-year-old son saw his parents go under the water. He's been placed with a relative.
Kelley said Francisco was an employee of the horse boarding business at the farm and had permission to use the pool. Morgan said the property owner discovered the bodies about 5 p.m. Associated Press
Lexington
A young black bear was spotted near Lexington about 9 a.m. Tuesday but disappeared by the time State Department of Natural Resources Department biologists went to check on it within an hour.
“Our calls said it was a cub but it was probably a young bear that had been turned loose by its mother. The mothers do that about this time of year,” said DNR spokesperson Lt. Robert McCullough.
The bear alarmed occupants of Lake Murray Pediatrics on Old Cherokee Road, but no harm was done, McCullough said.
“If the bear is not tearing up anything or bothering people, our policy is to leave them alone,” McCullough said.
Since 2004, people have encountered bears in 36 of South Carolina's 46 counties, according to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. In contrast, people in only a handful of counties reported seeing bears in 2004. The (Columbia) State
Fort Mill
The Fort Mill school board on Monday approved a $69 million spending plan with cuts to academic support programs and nine employee layoffs.
The board rejected fellow member Patrick White's motions to send employees on unpaid leave to save Reading Recovery, a one-on-one literacy program targeting first-graders who struggle with reading, at four elementary schools.
Fort Mill schools Superintendent Keith Callicutt has said his decision to not include furloughs is part of an effort to protect teacher. Shawn Cetrone, (Rock Hill) Herald
Police digest
York County, S.C. Rock Hill
A man who police say started a fight between dogs was arrested Tuesday after they found him with blood on his clothing from two wounded pit bulls.
James Herbert Morgan, 42, of Rock Hill was charged with animal fighting and baiting, according to a report from the York County Sheriff's Office.
Morgan told police his dog got loose in a yard on Turkey Lane in Rock Hill, but a neighbor said she saw the man walk up the house's driveway and instigate a fight between his leashed dog and a pit bull that was leashed on the property.
The neighbor said Morgan later tried to break up the fight by punching the other pit bull in the face.
Both pit bulls were wounded when police arrived, and Morgan was “grossly intoxicated,” the report said. Christy Mullins, (Rock Hill) Herald
North Carolina Tarboro
The father and stepmother of a 13-year-old boy who died last year after spending the night tied to a tree have been sentenced to prison after entering pleas that acknowledge prosecutors have enough evidence to convict them.
Multiple media outlets reported that 37-year-old Sandra McMillan of Macclesfield was sentenced to a term of 13 years to 16 years behind bars after she entered an Alford plea to a charge of second-degree murder.
Her husband, 42-year-old Brice McMillan, had entered an Alford plea earlier. He was sentenced to between 10 and 13 years in prison. Their sentences reflect the time they've served.
The McMillans were arrested in June 2008 on charges of murder and felony child abuse after their son, Tyler, died of dehydration and heat stroke. Authorities said he was tied to a tree overnight as punishment. Associated Press
