North Carolina
Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis shutters North Carolina store amid giant flag dispute
Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis breaks down North Carolinas lawsuit against his love letter to America on The Bottom Line.
Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis has said he’s been forced to shutter one of his stores in North Carolina amid a heated legal battle about his massive American flags flying at his stores.
Lemonis told WITN this week that he closed the smaller of his two RV dealerships in Greenville on April 18 accusing council members of actively trying to disparage his business for refusing to take down the giant flags.
City leaders in Greenville, North Carolina, voted to take legal action against the flags in March since they violate city ordinances and Lemonis has been hit with $15,000 in fines.
Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis has said he’s been forced to shutter one of his stores in North Carolina amid a heated legal battle about his massive American flags flying at his stores. (Getty Images / Fox News)
RV RETAILER CAMPING WORLD DEFIES CALIFORNIA COUNTY ORDER TO TAKE DOWN GIANT AMERICAN FLAG
The flags are almost the size of a basketball court, spanning 3200 square feet while the pole it flies from is around 130 feet tall, almost double the current allowance.
“We think the ordinance is wrong,” Lemonis told local radio station WTIB, according to WITN. “They (the council) should probably do a little research on the statutes in the state of North Carolina.”
“I think it’s also wrong council members have been working very actively to disparage my business and on [April 18] I had to consolidate modification of two dealerships in town… Our business which has been unfortunately impacted uniquely in Greenville North Carolina.”
The national RV dealer has more than 200 locations across the country and is known for proudly flying large “Old Glory” flags at its stores. Camping World has also been sued by other municipalities across the country over the size of the American flags it flies at the stores. Officials from Sevierville, Tennessee, for instance, take issue with the height of the pole, not the size of the flag.
Lemonis for weeks has defiantly said the flags will not come down and argues that the city’s ordinance violates state law.
In this undated handout photo provided by Camping World, an American flag blows in the wind at Gander RV, in Statesville, N.C. (Jennifer Munday/Camping World, AP)
CAMPING WORLD CEO DEFIANT AMID LAWSUIT OVER HUGE AMERICAN FLAG: ‘THE FLAG WILL NOT COME DOWN’
Greenville Communications Manager Brock Letchworth said after the city took legal action that the issue was never been about removing an American flag or the type of flag.
“It is about bringing the flag into compliance with city code,” Letchworth said in a statement.
“We look forward to finding a resolution that will result in the continued display of the flag, but in a way that does not violate local laws.”
The closure of the store comes just weeks after Lemonis defiantly declared the giant flags.
Lemonis told Fox & Friends earlier this month that he wouldn’t’ budge on the issue, and that the flags are his love letter to the United States, which allowed him to thrive there after he had to leave Beirut, Lebanon.
WATCH: Cities file lawsuits against Camping World over company’s American flags
Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss the companys legal battle over their massive American flags. Greenville, North Carolina claims the issue is not about removing the flag but complying with city code.
“I wasn’t born in this country. I emigrated from Beirut, Lebanon. Came here to Miami, Florida, and had an opportunity to live the American dream in this country,” he said.
“I’ve put a lot of sweat and tears into building this business for my people, for the country. And it’s my love letter to tell everybody how grateful I am this country provided me an opportunity where it didn’t have to. To make money, to be a capitalist, to provide jobs in America.”
“From my perspective, the flag’s not a problem … It has FAA clearance, and for me, this feels like an opportunity for the city to say we want to control what’s happening there.
An American flag against an idylllic sky. (iStock / iStock)
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Meanwhile, Hinton told WTIB that he proposed making $50,000 donation to Maynard Children’s Hospital in Greenville in lieu of fines and with the agreement that the council would change the ordinance to allow his flags.
Lemonis then said he would make the donation but did not want it to be a quid pro quo in exchange for the ordinance change.
“The merits of the Children’s Hospital stand on their own and anytime an organization like that’s trying to do good things and actually doing good things, they’re deserving of a contribution.
“So I’d be happy to make a donation but… I would prefer not to have it ……be a quid pro quo.”
Fox News’ Madison Colombo contributed to this report.
North Carolina
2026 primary turnout report released for eastern NC counties; see your county’s numbers
Here are the voter turnout numbers for the 2026 primary election, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
Hyde County had the highest voter turnout, while Onslow County had the lowest turnout. Check out what the voter turnout in your county was below:
BERTIE COUNTY
Ballots Cast:
31.85% (3,911 out of 12,280)
CARTERET COUNTY
Ballots Cast:
29.06% (16,543 out of 56,931)
CRAVEN COUNTY
Ballots Cast:
18.63% (14,119 out of 75,778)
DUPLIN COUNTY
Ballots Cast:
21.93% (6,981 out of 31,832)
EDGECOMBE COUNTY
Ballots Cast:
18.16% (6,428 out of 35,396)
GREENE COUNTY
Ballots Cast:
19.70% (2,147 out of 10,900)
HYDE COUNTY
Ballots Cast:
37.27% (1,123 out of 3,013)
JONES COUNTY
Ballots Cast:
25.91% (1,805 out of 6,966)
LENOIR COUNTY
Ballots Cast:
16.73% (6,251 out of 37,371)
MARTIN COUNTY
Ballots Cast:
17.61% (2,858 out of 16,228)
ONSLOW COUNTY
Ballots Cast:
11.44% (14,816 out of 129,537)
PAMLICO COUNTY
Ballots Cast:
24.03% (2,446 out of 10,180)
PITT COUNTY
Ballots Cast:
15.71% (19,429 out of 123,705)
TYRRELL COUNTY
Ballots Cast:
30.49% (723 out of 2,371)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Ballots Cast:
28.66% (2,312 out of 8,067)
WAYNE COUNTY
Ballots Cast:
21.49% (16,408 out of 76,358)
North Carolina
Statewide tornado drill has NC schools and workplaces practicing safety
Wednesday, March 4, 2026 6:41PM
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — North Carolina schools and businesses took part in a statewide tornado drill Wednesday morning as part of Severe Weather Awareness Week.
The National Weather Service led the drill at 9:30 a.m., broadcasting it on NOAA Weather Radio and the Emergency Alert System. Schools, workplaces and households across the state were encouraged to join in.
The National Weather Service didn’t issue a follow up alert to mark the end of the drill. Instead, each school or business wrapped up once they felt they had practiced the procedures thoroughly.
Wednesday’s drill also replaced the regular weekly NOAA Weather Radio test.
SEE | New warning for parents amid new ‘fire-breathing’ social media trend
Make sure to download the ABC 11 Mobile App ABC11 North Carolina Apps for Connected TV, Mobile News, Echo
Copyright © 2026 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved.
North Carolina
North Carolina Rep. Valerie Foushee holds narrow lead over challenger Nida Allam
Nida Allam in 2022; Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC) in 2025.
Jonathan Drake/Reuters; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
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Jonathan Drake/Reuters; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Incumbent Rep. Valerie Foushee holds a narrow lead over challenger Nida Allam in the Democratic primary for North Carolina’s 4th Congressional district as ballots continue to be counted.
In a race seen as an early test of whether Democratic voters desire generational change within the party, Foushee holds a lead of just over 1,000 votes with 99% of results in so far, according to the Associated Press.
Under state law, provisional votes will be counted in the coming days in a district that includes Durham and Chapel Hill. If the election results end up within a 1% margin, Allam could request a recount.
Successfully ousting an incumbent lawmaker is often extremely difficult and rare. However, there have been recent upsets in races as some voters are calling for new leaders and several sitting members of Congress face primary challengers this cycle.
Allam, a 32-year-old Durham County Commissioner, is running to the left of Foushee, 69, framing her candidacy as part of a broader rejection of longtime Democratic norms.
On the campaign trail, Allam ran on an anti-establishment message, pledging to be a stronger fighter than Foushee in Congress, both in standing up against President Trump’s agenda and when pushing for more ambitious policy.
“North Carolina is a purple state that often gets labeled red, but we’re not a red state,” she told NPR in an interview last month, emphasizing the need to address affordability concerns. “We are a state of working-class folks who just want their elected officials to champion the issues that are impacting them.”
She drew a contrast with the congresswoman on immigration, voicing support for abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Foushee has declined to go that far, advocating instead for ICE to be defunded and for broader reforms to the federal immigration system.
Allam also clashed with Foushee over U.S. policy towards Israel. As a vocal opponent of Israel’s war in Gaza, Allam swore off campaign donations from pro-Israel lobbying groups, such as AIPAC, and repeatedly criticized Foushee for previously accepting such funds.
Though Foushee announced last year that she would not accept AIPAC donations this cycle, she and Allam continued to spar over the broader role of outside spending in the race.
Their matchup comes four years after the candidates first squared off in 2022, when Allam lost to Foushee in what became the most expensive primary in the state’s history, with outside groups spending more than $3.8 million.
However, this year is poised to break that record. Outside groups have reported spending more than $4.4 million on the primary matchup, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
WUNC’s Colin Campbell contributed to this report.
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