This spring, more than 62,000 people from North Carolina and
around the world watched as six barn owl eggs hatched live on the North Carolina Wild Life Resource Commission’s “Owl Cam.”

“We have folks who have watched from almost every
state, as well as Canada, Switzerland, Germany, the UK, France, the
Netherlands, Portugal, New Zealand, Italy, Estonia, Ireland, Argentina, Sweden,
Spain and more,” said Wildlife Conservation Engagement Coordinator Austin
Hill.

When asked what he thinks people connect with most while
watching the owls, Hill said the camera offers a rare look into the lives of
barn owls.

“We don’t see them too often at all, and it’s giving
people a glimpse into the life of a barn owl,” Hill said. “It’s very
rare that we’re able to see inside the nest of any creature that’s hidden in a
cavity.”

Hill said viewers enjoyed watching the owlets hatch, grow,
learn to fly and experience all the clumsy moments in between.

At this time all the owls have fledged, meaning they have all learned how to
fly.

“The oldest three owls fledged on the (June)
15th, they’re all females and then the male, the youngest, fledged on
the (June) 20th and you’ll start to see them popping around the
barn,” Hill said.

The webcam will continue to show the adult owls delivering
food to the nest as the owls prepare to leave the barn and learn to hunt.

The
young owls will learn by watching the behaviors of their parents. Depending on their development, the owls could
leave as early as July or as late as September or October.

NCWRC installed the owl nest box in 2011. 
It was installed in an undisclosed remote location in Western North Carolina
and used for agency monitoring.

The idea of having a live webcam was a recent idea
created during and Educational Division
meeting.

“It allows us to see what happens in the nest of an
elusive raptor and behaviors we wouldn’t be able to observe from outside the
box,” Hill said. “We’re building out some K-12 curriculum to go along
with the camera so it can extend into the classroom.”

Once the young owls leave, the camera will go offline sometime this fall.

Hill
said staff will perform maintenance on the barn, relocate one of the cameras
and then put the system back in place in hopes that the same owl pair returns
this winter to begin its courtship and mating season. If that happens, the
process can start all over again.

EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA — Law enforcement agencies across eastern North Carolina are warning residents to stay alert as several scams continue targeting seniors, bank customers, and other vulnerable individuals.

The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office recently issued a warning after a suspicious check was mailed to a person living with dementia. Deputies say scammers often target older adults by sending fraudulent checks in hopes the recipient will deposit the money and become entangled in a financial scam.

Officials are urging families to regularly check on elderly relatives and remind them never to cash or deposit unexpected checks. Residents are encouraged to contact their bank or law enforcement before taking any action if they receive suspicious financial documents.

Meanwhile, the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office says a jury duty scam is resurfacing throughout the county. In these cases, scammers pose as law enforcement officers or court officials and claim a person missed jury duty or failed to appear in court. Victims are told a warrant has been issued for their arrest and are pressured to send money to avoid being taken into custody.

Deputies warn that scammers often use official-looking documents, government seals, and even the names of real law enforcement officers to make the scheme appear legitimate. The sheriff’s office stresses that deputies will never call, email, or text someone demanding payment.

The Pitt County Sheriff’s Office is also warning residents about a call forwarding scam designed to steal banking verification calls and security codes. Investigators say scammers contact victims claiming there is suspicious activity on their bank account and instruct them to dial special star codes followed by a phone number.

By doing so, victims unknowingly activate call forwarding, allowing bank security calls and verification codes to be redirected to the scammer’s phone.

Authorities recommend never dialing star codes at the request of a stranger, never sharing passwords or security codes, and always contacting banks directly using trusted phone numbers.

Law enforcement agencies say a common theme in many scams is creating a sense of urgency and fear. Officials encourage residents to slow down, verify information independently, and report suspicious activity before sending money or sharing personal information.

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — More than $47 million in fraudulent unemployment payments went out the door in North Carolina over a five-year period, according to a new state audit that also flagged delays in getting benefits to claimants.

The State Auditor’s Office found the North Carolina Division of Employment Security distributed $47.2 million in fraudulent unemployment payments between 2021 and 2025.

“North Carolina had an abysmal rate of recovery and issuing payments that were not appropriate,” State Auditor Dave Boliek said. “Many of them were outright fraudulent.”

According to Boliek, NCDES has recovered about $12.2 million of those funds, but the rest is likely gone forever.

“Once you have a fraudulent transaction and [those funds] are out the door, timing is important to recovering those funds,” he said. “You need to get on it quick in order to get that money back. Otherwise, tracking those dollars down is virtually impossible at this point.”

NCDES Assistant Secretary Marc-Antoine Keith pushed back, saying they are working to recover the money, no matter how long it takes.

“We’re going to be recovering it this year, next year, five years from now,” he said. “We don’t have a timeline. This is not something that we just write off and say, ‘You’re good.’ We’re in the heart of it right now.”

NCDES officials also noted the fraud identified in the audit amounts to less than 1% of the more than $5 billion in unemployment benefits paid during the same period.

According to NCDES, roughly $40 million of the fraudulent payments happened during the COVID-19 pandemic when unemployment claims surged and the state was tasked with administering enhanced federal benefits of $600 per week.

Keith said the department received 1 million claims in just 10 weeks. By comparison, NCDES typically handles about 3,000 to 3,500 claims a week.

“The $600 put North Carolina at a higher profile for bad actors coming into the system,” he said. “We also were under tremendous pressure to get money out the door. Pay, pay, pay, pay, pay. That was the message from the federal government.”

Boliek questioned why it took the agency years to fully implement a federally funded fraud detection system. He said NCDES received a federal grant to strengthen fraud prevention efforts but did not fully deploy the system for three years.

“The pandemic is not an excuse for government’s failure to monitor the expenditure of taxpayer dollars,” he said.

Keith disputed that characterization, pointing to staffing shortages, competing priorities, and Hurricane Helene as reasons for the delay.

“The reality is that we only have so many hands,” he said. “As we got going with this process, then the hurricane came in.”

According to Keith, the fraud detection system was rolled out in phases between April and December 2024 rather than all at once.

The audit also identified problems with delayed payments. According to the report, 28% of initial unemployment payments went out after the federal 14-day benchmark.

“That’s just not acceptable,” Boliek said. “We’ve got to do better than that.

According to Boliek, delays can have serious consequences for families relying on unemployment benefits after losing a job.

“When you’re unemployed or you get laid off, that’s when your family is in a traumatic situation,” he said. “You need to be able to rely on the state to answer the call there and get your benefits to you.”

Keith acknowledged there is still room for improvement but said DES has made progress since the period covered by the audit.

“We’re not where we want to be, but we’re a heck of a lot closer than where we were,” Keith said.