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Two men were arrested early Tuesday and charged in the death of a man whose body was found in a burning vehicle Saturday in Charlotte, police say.
Lavandus Markiest Houston, 28, and Jacorean James Small, 24, are charged with first-degree murder, according to police.
They were arrested in the death of Luis Miguel Catalan, 24. Police say his body was found inside a burning Dodge Durango shortly after 4:15 p.m. Saturday in the 900 block of Cunningham Drive.
Witnesses told police they saw two men set the vehicle on fire before driving off in a tan or beige sedan.
Police have not said what might have been the motive. -- Steve Lyttle
Meck briefs
Charlotte
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced Tuesday that North Carolina is one of 14 states it will help apply for federal stimulus money for better broadband connections - and match any money received.
The assistance will help the state apply for a $1 million stimulus grant to set up public computing centers in counties hit hardest by unemployment, said Mary Boone, North Carolina's state librarian. -- Jim Morrill
An exhibit of Billy and Ruth Graham's personal Christmas cards is among the new features at the "Christmas at the Library" program at the Billy Graham Library.
The exhibit, which opened Tuesday, includes the Grahams' Christmas cards dating back to the 1940s. The program includes more live music than last year, along with a live Nativity.
The library will be open Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Admission is free. The Christmas activities will begin at 5 p.m. -- Associated Press
Regional briefs
North Carolina
The Nature Conservancy said Tuesday it has acquired the summit of one of the highest peaks in the Southern Appalachians, 5,504-foot Little Yellow Mountain in Avery and Mitchell counties.
The 466-acre acquisition adds to the protected land in the Greater Roan Highlands, a nationally significant area. The peak is a prominent part of the view from the Appalachian Trail and the Conservancy's Big Yellow Mountain Preserve.
The New York-based Open Space Institute, attracted by the area's value as a corridor for wildlife, provided a $1.2 million low-interest loan for the project. Little Yellow's hardwood forests are also valuable habitat for breeding birds and are part of the Audubon Society's Roan Mountain Important Bird Area. -- Bruce Henderson
Morganton
A third-grader from a Morganton elementary school has a $1,000 start toward her college education after winning a cabbage-growing contest for N.C. students.
Makayla Conner, of Oak Hill Elementary School in Burke County, was named winner of the Colossal Cabbage Contest, sponsored by Bonnie Plants, an Alabama-based farm products company.
Hundreds of students from North Carolina competed in the event, which took place in several dozen states. South Carolina's winner was Chadee Theo, of Boiling Springs Elementary, in the Spartanburg area.
Makayla's cabbage, which weighed more than 50 pounds, was selected the winner by the state Department of Agriculture's office. The winning student received a $1,000 savings bond toward a college education. -- Steve Lyttle
Raleigh
Gov. Bev Perdue says North Carolina's Medicaid program is breaking the budget the Legislature gave state officials this summer.
Perdue told reporters Tuesday the government health insurance program for low-income children, older adults and the disabled is about $175 million over budget through the first quarter of the fiscal year. Perdue says more people are enrolling in Medicaid as the unemployment rate stays high. The governor also says the state has had to respond to the swine flu pandemic. -- Steve Lyttle
South Carolina
Sullivans Island
A swing bridge linking Sullivans Island to the South Carolina mainland closes this weekend to allow replacement of the span dating to World War II.
Transportation Department officials say the bridge between the island and Mount Pleasant will close for about 10 days beginning Sunday. That target date could change depending on wind and tides.
A barge will bring in a new 640-ton main swing span to replace the old one as part of the $31 million project. -- Associated Press
Police digest
Mecklenburg County
Charlotte
A temporary employee driving a city trash truck has been charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle after his truck flipped and killed a motorist in west Charlotte.
Police say Malaki Ysrayl, 43, was driving a Freightliner yard waste truck Friday afternoon on Billy Graham Parkway when he tried to turn right onto West Boulevard.
Investigators say he was going at least 31 mph when he started the turn. The truck overturned and landed on Robert Stark's Toyota Highlander, in the left-turn lane on West Boulevard.
Stark, a 70-year-old from West End, N.C., was declared dead at the scene. Two relatives in the SUV, 69-year-old Francis Stark and his son Erik Stark, sustained minor injuries. Florence Dubois, 35, was trapped for over an hour in the Highlander's wreckage. She is in fair condition at Carolinas Medical Center. -- Ely Portillo
Iredell County
Mooresville
A Mooresville man has been charged with murder in connection with the shooting death of a Statesville man Monday night, the Iredell County Sheriff's Office says.
Sheriff Phil Redmond says Michael Eugene Marley, 48, was charged with murder and discharging a weapon into occupied property. He is being held without bond in the Iredell County Jail.
The victim has been identified by deputies as Samuel Bronson Foote, 37, of Statesville. -- Steve Lyttle
Lancaster County
Indian Land
It took a police pursuit and a Taser to bring a man into custody overnight in Lancaster County, the sheriff's office says.
About 12:30 a.m., deputies attempted to stop a man driving a Mitsubishi Montero on U.S. 521 in northern Lancaster County. But the driver took off, deputies say, so officers pursued him.
Deputies say the driver lost control of the vehicle near Charles Pettus Road, hit a culvert and overturned.
When deputies arrived, they say the driver resisted them, and they used a Taser. The man did not suffer serious injuries, deputies say, and he was arrested. -- Steve Lyttle
