North Carolina
Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh back in North Carolina, his omega and alpha
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh returns Sunday to where it all ended for him, and also where it began.
He was a 38-year-old quarterback, hoping for a few more years in the NFL, when he joined the Carolina Panthers for the 2001 season. He didn’t believe his career was at an end. After all, he was throwing passes to standout rookie Steve Smith, but the football gods had other ideas, as he recalled.
Although he never played in a game for the Panthers, the franchise left an indelible mark on Harbaugh and, in the end, it led him to a different career path. It was then and there that he began to realize he could turn to coaching, following in the shoes of his successful father, Jack.
So, Harbaugh began hanging out in the film room long after practice ended and his teammates headed for home. He sat on the floor and watched and listened as the coaches broke down film and discussed schemes and ways in which they could exploit their opponents while covering for their own shortcomings.
Harbaugh also met Greg Roman, a Panthers assistant coach who would join him at a number of stops over the years, including this season with the Chargers. Earlier this week, Roman remembered Harbaugh as an attentive student, a man who might become an excellent coach one day.
“I met Greg in Carolina, yeah, that’s as profound as anything,” Harbaugh said recently. “Nothing more profound than meeting Greg Roman in Carolina. He was an offensive line assistant. I was at the point where I was coming in new. I was in the office late, just watching the coaches.”
Said Roman, recalling his first impressions of Harbaugh: “He was always in the film room, always. He’d be sitting in our special teams coach’s office on the floor watching film with the special teams coach at night. What does that tell you? A quarterback doing that? He was grooming himself to become a coach.”
It wouldn’t be long before Harbaugh turned in his helmet and pads.
“I didn’t get into a game, it was time to coach,” Harbaugh said, chuckling at the memory. “It was time to go into coaching. This was the football gods explaining to me that we’re not going to play anymore. We’re going to need you in coaching. In my mind, I could still do this. I’ve got at least two more years.”
Nope.
Jack Harbaugh’s notion that when you think you’re done, when you can’t fathom the idea of going onto the field for practice or for games or for the routine preparation of a football game, then you go for another two years. Jim Harbaugh recalled his dad’s words, but he was done. There would not be an additional two years.
Jim Harbaugh spent his final days throwing passes to Smith, a superstar in the making, and running the Panthers’ scout team. When the end came, he was prepared for it. The then-Oakland Raiders offered him a job as a quarterbacks coach and he jumped at it for the 2002 season.
After two seasons, he became the head coach at the University of San Diego, a homecoming of sorts after he had played in 1999-2000 with the Chargers. After stops at Stanford and the San Francisco 49ers, he landed at the University of Michigan.
The Chargers hired him in January. Roman joined him in Los Angeles, accepting the job as defensive coordinator.
“That’s a go-to guy,” Harbaugh said of Roman. “He’s excited to teach. Football tips. It was enchanting just being around him and listening to him talk and explain and teach. He could take a complex football play, scheme, and explain it in 15 or 20 or 30 minutes, max, and I felt like I knew it inside and out. He’s just got that ability to teach. This guy was a chess player, he would probably be thinking seven, eight moves ahead. That’s how he is as a football coach.”
ROSTER MOVES
The Chargers elevated safety Tony Jefferson and linebacker Shaquille Quarterman from the practice squad. Jefferson could fill in if Alohi Gilman can’t play because of a knee injury. Gilman was listed as doubtful to play Sunday against Carolina.
CHARGERS (1-0) at PANTHERS (0-1)
When: 10 a.m. Sunday
Where: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte
TV/radio: Ch. 2; Paramount+/98.7 FM; 105.5 FM/94.3 FM (Spanish)
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — The Party for Socialism and Liberation has organized a petition calling on legislators to pass a statewide ban on new data center construction.
“We see that they pollute these communities, they use a lot of water, and ultimately the cost of these data centers are passed on to working-class consumers,” said Cody Cogdell with the Party for Socialism and Liberation Western North Carolina.
According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, a large data center can use up to 5 million gallons of water per day. That’s equivalent to the use of a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
ASHEVILLE CITY COUNCIL APPROVES 1-YEAR PAUSE ON NEW DATA CENTER DEVELOPMENT
“I don’t support them at all. I think it’s terrible for the environment,” said Asheville resident Madeline Boltinghouse.
She says a statewide ban would be nice.
But Ken Brame, with the environmental organization Sierra Club, says the ban is unlikely to happen.
JULY 1, 2026 – A flyer protesting data centers in Asheville, N.C. (Photo credit: WLOS Staff)
“Banning them all is probably a stretch and I’m just not sure I see our North Carolina legislature going that far,” said Brame.
The petition also calls on the state to repeal the state’s tax incentives for data centers.
“There should be no debate about that. We should not be subsidizing something that hurts our environment,” said Brame.
WEAVERVILLE COUNCIL VOTES TO BLOCK DATA CENTERS IN TOWN, CITING LIMITED RESOURCES
It’s also calling on the legislature to stop Duke Energy from raising rates to pay for more data centers.
Duke Energy sent News 13 a statement saying in part:
Duke Energy does not develop or select data center projects, but we do have an obligation to serve customers in our territory while protecting reliability and keeping costs as low as possible. That’s why we require large-load customers to make significant financial commitments and pay the costs associated with serving them, while their additional revenue helps support grid investments and reduce pressure on future customer bills.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers are working to pass a bill that would require data centers to pay for their own expansion and regulate how much water data centers can use.
A man kidnapped and killed a U.S. Postal Service worker while she was delivering mail in North Carolina last week, police said, orphaning her two daughters, who lost their father just a few months before.
Brandi Reynolds, 35, was found dead following a call for help to authorities in Hays, North Carolina, Friday afternoon, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.
“I can confirm that Brandi Reynolds was delivering mail on her route when the incident occurred,” U.S. Postal Inspector Michael Martel said by email.
Prosecutors in Wilkes County charged William Craig Durham, 56, of the community of Roaring River, with first-degree kidnapping and murder, according to court records.
The defendant, arrested the day of the murder, remained in Wilkes County Jail on Tuesday, according to a third-party inmate information service used by the county. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
A warrant filed in district court alleged Durham committed kidnapping “by unlawfully restraining the victim, removing the victim from one place to another without the consent of the victim.”
It said Durham carried out the alleged kidnapping “for the purpose of terrorizing” Reynolds and “doing serious bodily injury” to her.
It’s unclear how Durham allegedly committed the killing. Any weapons that may have been used were not mentioned in the document, and any motive was unavailable.
On Monday, district court Judge Robert J. Crumpton ordered the defendant to remain in custody without bond, citing his “significant criminal record.”
State prison records show Durham has served time for second-degree kidnapping, assault on a female and possession of a gun by a felon, among other offenses.
An investigation into the killing was being conducted jointly by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the bureau said.
Reynolds was the mother of two girls, according to her obituary. She lost her husband, Brent Reynolds, on Dec. 23, 2025, when the pickup he was driving veered off a road in Rhonda, North Carolina, and struck a tree, according to NBC affiliate WXII of Winston-Salem.
His obituary stated at the time that he was the father of the couple’s two girls — “the light of his life.”
Reynolds’ obituary, likewise, stated that her daughters “were her whole world.”
She left behind her mother, two sisters and several nieces and nephews, it said.
“The U.S. Postal Service is deeply saddened about the death of our colleague, Brandi Byrd Reynolds,” Postal Service spokesperson Martha Johnson said by email. “We extend our heartfelt sympathies to her family, friends, and co-workers at the Hays Post Office.”
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — North Carolina lawmakers have released a long-delayed state budget proposal that includes higher pay for educators and state employees, along with new funding for community colleges.
The plan, still awaiting legislative approval, outlines several provisions that would directly affect Durham.
The proposal calls for an average 8% raise for teachers and a 3% raise for most state employees, plus one-time bonuses. It also fully funds “Propel NC,” a new community college funding model that rewards schools for training students in high-demand careers rather than focusing solely on enrollment.
Durham Technical Community College President JB Buxton said the model would strengthen programs tied to the region’s growing industries.
“It’s a very good budget for the community colleges,” Buxton said.
Full proposed budget
Durham Tech expects increased support for programs in life sciences, healthcare, and skilled trades — fields that continue to drive the Triangle’s economy. Buxton said those programs reflect the needs of employers across the region.
“If you think about things like electrical systems and technicians, in addition to HVAC, and plumbing and welding, if you think about biomedical engineering, those are areas that are in demand here,” he said.
Buxton said building a strong talent pipeline is essential as the region expands.
“We want to be the workforce development engine in this area, but we also want to be an economic development engine and kind of power our companies,” he said. “Not only bring people to opportunity, but give companies what they need to grow.”
The House and Senate are scheduled to vote on the budget on Wednesday and Thursday. If it passes both chambers, it will go to Gov. Josh Stein, who said he plans to review it closely before deciding whether to sign it.
“What we want is for the state to pass a budget that invests in our people,” Stein said, adding he wants to see more focus on education, public safety and mental health. “There are many things that the state needs to invest in, and we will be scrutinizing it, just as everyone else is, to see if it meets that test.”
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