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Odueso convicted of 2nd-degree murder in UNCC student's death
A jury has found Seyi Odueso guilty of second-degree murder in the death of UNC Charlotte volleyball player Christy Galvin.
Odueso was sentenced to 16 years in prison. He has already served four years.
The jury deliberated for three days before returning the verdict Monday afternoon.
Odueso was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Galvin, who was his girlfriend when she was killed in July 2005.
Prosecutors say Odueso strangled Galvin after she tried to break up with him. Odueso claimed that Galvin's death was an accident. He said he was just trying to restrain her after she lunged at him with a knife. WCNC-TV
Meck briefs
Charlotte
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' summer shift to a four-day work week saved $450,000 in utility bills, officials report.
While schools were closed for the summer, administrative and support staff worked 10-hour days, Monday through Thursday. That let CMS close buildings and turn off lights, air-conditioning and personal computers during a three-day weekend.
The district had hoped to save $281,000, but a review of utility bills showed it was closer to $450,000.
"We will consider doing this again in 2010," Chief Operating Officer Hugh Hattabaugh said in a recent report to board members. Ann Doss Helms
Journalist and politician Hodding Carter III will speak at Queens University of Charlotte Oct. 22.
The public is invited to the 7 p.m. speech. Admission is free but reservations are required; request them at www2.queens.edu/preyer.
Carter is best known for his role as a State Department spokesman during the Jimmy Carter administration. He is now University Professor of Leadership and Public Policy at UNC Chapel Hill. Jim Morrill
Mayoral candidate Anthony Foxx, a Democrat, has won the endorsement of the Central Piedmont Group of the Sierra Club.
The group also endorsed Democrats Susan Burgess and Patrick Cannon and Republican Edwin Peacock for the four at-large seats on the City Council. Jim Morrill
An expo offering free food samples, blood-pressure and diabetes screening, and information on smoking cessation and breast cancer will be held Friday at Berean Junior Academy, 3748 Beatties Ford Road.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 1p.m. Details: 704-391-7800. Staff
Charlotte's Democratic candidates for at-large City Council seats will speak to the Mecklenburg County Democratic Women at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Refreshments at 6:30 p.m. For details, call Pat Cotham 704-506-3056. Jim Morrill
Regional briefs
Catawba County Hickory
Catawba County Schools, which logged an 84 percent graduation rate last year, was honored Monday as one of North Carolina's top 10 districts for freshmen earning diplomas four years later.
Dare County was at the top of the district list, with 90 percent graduating. The state average was 72 percent.
Newton-Conover's Health/Science High, part of a separate city district within Catawba County, earned recognition as one of seven N.C. public high schools with a 100 percent four-year graduation rate. Anson County Early College High was also on that list.
In addition to the "100 percent club," state Superintendent June Atkinson recognized two high schools with the highest graduation rates in various size categories. Schools from the Charlotte region placed in four of the five groups. Iredell County's Lake Norman High was honored in the 400 to 499 student group; Union's Weddington High in the 300 to 399 group; Catawba's Fred T. Foard High in the 200 to 299 group; and Gaston's Highland School of Technology in the 100 to 199 group.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, which had a 66 percent graduation rate, was absent from the list. Ann Doss Helms
York County Lake Wylie
Catawba Nuclear Station sirens will be tested at 11:50 a.m. Wednesday to ensure they're working properly.
The 3-minute test is performed once each quarter, and no public action is required.
In case of an emergency, the siren is a signal that residents should tune to a radio or TV station that would carry an emergency alert message from county officials. (Rock Hill) Herald
North Carolina Jacksonville
A rule that allowed inmates in the Onslow County jail to read only the Bible or legal documents has been lifted.
Sheriff Ed Brown announced the rule change Monday. The new policy allows inmates to have two uncirculated publications.
Local attorneys had criticized Brown's policy because many of the inmates are awaiting trial, not serving sentences.
Brown said in a statement that in the past inmates used reading material to build fires and jam locks. Associated Press
Fayetteville
A Delta Force sniper - whose heroism during the "Black Hawk Down" street battle in Somalia earned him a posthumous Medal of Honor - has been honored by an N.C. military museum.
The Fayetteville Observer reported that the city's Airborne & Special Operations Museum dedicated a paver stone Saturday in honor of Army Sgt. 1st Class Randall Shughart.
Shughart and Master Sgt. Gary Gordon were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for saving the life of a Black Hawk pilot in Mogadishu, Somalia, in October 1993. Their feats were chronicled in the book and film "Black Hawk Down." Associated Press
South Carolina Myrtle Beach
A poker-playing Catholic priest beat one of the world's top poker players in a national TV poker contest, winning $100,000 that he says he'll donate to his church's new building fund.
The Rev. Andrew Trapp, assistant pastor of St. Michael Catholic Church, gathered Sunday at a viewing party with 300 boosters in a Garden City Beach gymnasium to watch a previously recorded episode from a poker tournament that began online with 10,000 contestants.
Trapp has a chance to win up to $1million in the show's December finale. Associated Press
Police digest
Mecklenburg County Charlotte
A 22-year-old man was shot and killed in northeast Charlotte Monday afternoon, police said.
Officers responded to a call of shots fired in the parking lot of an apartment complex at 4401 Rolling Hill Drive a little before 4 p.m.
When they got there, they found Benizer Graham Jr. lying on the floor of another resident's apartment in the Hidden Valley neighborhood. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said they believe Graham was shot after an argument he had with someone in the parking lot. Investigators were still interviewing witnesses and no one had been charged Monday night, police said. Ely Portillo
York County Rock Hill
Would-be thieves ransacked the Rock Hill Shoney's this weekend, police say, but they were unable to open the cash register and safe despite using a power saw.
Someone broke into the restaurant at 2254 Cherry Road after closing Saturday night and caused more than $8,000 in damage to the restaurant, according to police. But they don't appear to have taken anything except a couple gulps of chocolate milk.
The intruders entered the restaurant by prying open the back door, reports say. Kimberly Dick, (Rock Hill) Herald
