North Carolina

Attack on North Carolina Power Substations Leaves 45,000 Without Electricity

Published

2 years ago

December 4, 2022

Attack on North Carolina Power Substations Leaves 45,000 Without Electricity

About 45,000 persons are with out energy Sunday in Moore County, N.C., after what authorities stated was an intentional act of vandalism on native substations.

A spokesman for Duke Power, which supplies energy to the realm, stated its gear was critically broken and the outages may final for days.

Two substations have been disabled by gunfire starting at 7:00 p.m. Saturday night time, County Sheriff Ronnie Fields stated at a Sunday information convention. The sheriff stated that somebody opened fireplace on the substations in a focused assault, and authorities have been looking for whoever is accountable.

“We confronted one thing final night time in Moore County that we’ve by no means confronted earlier than,” Sheriff Fields stated. “I promise you that the perpetrators on the market…we’ll discover them.”

Authorities don’t have any suspects and haven’t decided a motive for the assault.

Sheriff Fields stated they have been trying into quite a few potentialities, together with that the vandalism was supposed to disrupt an area drag present. Mr. Fields stated the Federal Bureau of Investigation and different legislation enforcement companies have been aiding within the investigation into the vandalism.

“Duke Power is pursuing a number of restore paths to revive as many purchasers as attainable, as rapidly and safely as attainable,”

Jason Hollifield,

the corporate’s normal supervisor for Emergency Preparedness, stated in an announcement. “It is a important native outage that affects almost all prospects in Moore County. Whereas some prospects will likely be restored sooner, most prospects ought to be ready for an prolonged outage that might final till Thursday.”

Duke stated it has a number of layers of safety at its services.

Due to the facility outage, Moore County, which is about 50 miles from Fayetteville, N.C., declared a state of emergency and a curfew was imposed from 9 p.m. to five a.m. College courses have been canceled for Monday, and a shelter was opened for residents who misplaced energy, county officers stated.

“This was a horrible act. And it seems to be an intentional, willful and malicious act,” stated Tom McInnis, a state senator who represents the realm.

Energy grids within the U.S. have lengthy been weak to assault.

In 2013, a sniper assault knocked out {an electrical} substation close to San Jose, Calif., and raised fears that the nation’s energy grid was weak to terrorism. The coordinated assault took out 17 large transformers that funneled energy to Silicon Valley, authorities stated. The assault was “probably the most important incident of home terrorism involving the grid that has ever occurred” within the U.S.,

Jon Wellinghoff,

who was chairman of the Federal Power Regulatory Fee, stated on the time.

The next 12 months, the Federal Power Regulatory Fee, which regulates the nation’s interstate energy system, started requiring utilities to raised shield any substation that might knockout elements of the U.S. grid if attacked.

FERC’s new rule didn’t instantly embody tens of hundreds of smaller substations.

Appeared within the December 5, 2022, print version as ‘Assault Cuts Energy for Hundreds.’

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North Carolina

Registered sex offender facing new charges after escaping in North Carolina, officials say

Published

7 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

Registered sex offender facing new charges after escaping in North Carolina, officials say

NEWPORT, N.C. (WBTV) – A registered sex offender is facing more charges after he allegedly escaped while on a work release assignment in North Carolina on Thursday.

State prison officials said 44-year-old Kevin Leonard Worsham Jr. was on work release when he left his assignment in the small town of Teachey in Duplin County.

He returned on his own to the work release location early Friday morning and was arrested, according to officials.

Worsham has a criminal history dating back to 2004, including a past conviction that required him to register as a sex offender.

His current sentence came after he – being a registered sex offender – failed to properly report an address change. Prison records show he was convicted of the offense in Gaston County, and was expected to be released in December 2025.

Now that he is back in custody, Worsham is facing new felony escape charges.

He was being held in the minimum-security Carteret Correctional Center in Newport, but after his escape, he will be housed at Central Prison in Raleigh.

Kevin Leonard Worsham Jr.(North Carolina Department of Adult Correction)

Charlotte man accused of killing teen given bond after it was initially denied, records show

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North Carolina

Lexi Donarski, Alyssa Ustby lead No. 14 North Carolina women to 64-33 romp over SMU

Published

15 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

Lexi Donarski, Alyssa Ustby lead No. 14 North Carolina women to 64-33 romp over SMU

DALLAS — Lexi Donarski had 15 points, Alyssa Ustby scored 12 and matched her career-high with 18 rebounds and No. 14 North Carolina rolled to a 64-33 victory over SMU on Thursday night.

Donarski did her damage from 3-point range, sinking 5 of 6 attempts for the Tar Heels (16-3, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). Ustby collected her seventh double-double of the season with five of them coming in the last six games.

Indya Nivar had 11 points and Maria Gakdeng totaled 10 points and seven rebounds for North Carolina, which has won three in a row and 6 of 7.

Kaysia Woods scored 12 to lead the Mustangs (10-8, 2-4).

Nivar had nine points in the first half as North Carolina turned a 13-6 first-quarter lead into a 31-14 advantage at halftime. The Tar Heels shot just 39.4% from the floor before the break, but that looked red-hot compared to SMU, which shot 13.8% overall (4 for 29).

Donarski hit her only two shots of the third quarter — both from beyond the arc — and the Tar Heels led 44-22 heading to the fourth.

Woods had five points in the final period to help SMU top the 10-point mark in a quarter for the first time in the game.

North Carolina guard Alyssa Ustby dribbles during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against SMU, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in Dallas. Credit: AP/LM Otero

SMU allowed the biggest comeback in NCAA women’s basketball history its last time out when the Mustangs saw a 32-point lead with 1:37 left in the first half turn into a 72-59 loss to Pittsburgh. SMU was outscored 28-0 in the third quarter and 26-10 in the fourth.

North Carolina travels to play Pittsburgh on Sunday. SMU travels to play No. 3 Notre Dame on Sunday.

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North Carolina

Fact Check: California, North Carolina get same recovery cost coverage from federal gov’t

Published

23 hours ago

January 16, 2025

Press Room

Fact Check: California, North Carolina get same recovery cost coverage from federal gov’t

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – As wildfires ravage parts of Los Angeles and Southern California this month, federal, state, and local authorities have mobilized resources to combat the flames and assist affected communities.

Their response echoes the efforts made in North Carolina just months ago, when Hurricane Helene left widespread devastation in its wake.

A viewer named Dina asked the following question: “Why is the federal government covering 100% of the recovery costs for the California wildfires, but not doing the same for Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in North Carolina?”

Her question relates to a claim being spread around social media that the government is allegedly paying for 100% of the damage in California, but not in North Carolina.

WBTV’s Fact Check team investigated the claims and found them to be false.

Here’s what we found.

Federal funding for wildfire recovery

On Tuesday, Jan. 14, President Joe Biden announced that the federal government would cover 100% of certain wildfire recovery costs in California for the next 180 days.

“The federal government is going to cover 100% of the cost for the next 180 days for things like firefighter overtime pay, debris removal, temporary shelters … It’s going to cost tens of billions of dollars to get Los Angeles back to where it was,” Biden said during a press conference.

Typically, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, aka FEMA, covers 75% of disaster recovery costs, with the remaining 25% funded by state and local governments. However, under federal law, the U.S. president has the authority to increase the federal cost-share for recovery efforts.

Beach front homes are destroyed by the Palisades Fire Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)(Mark J. Terrill | AP)

What about North Carolina?

Turns out, less than a week after Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina in September 2024, President Biden and FEMA announced that the same adjustment was made for Helene recovery in North Carolina.

Put another way: North Carolina has also had 100% of public recovery funds covered by the federal government since Oct. 2, 2024.

A release from the North Carolina governor’s office and FEMA explained how the president raised the federal contribution from 75% to 100% for the first 180 days of recovery. (The same time period that was just established in California).

After the six-month period, the cost-share for public assistance projects was increased from 75% to 90%. Click here to read the official FEMA release about this.

—> North Carolina Red Cross volunteers deploy to support wildfire victims in California

The verdict

President Biden’s decision to increase the federal cost-share for California wildfires is consistent with the aid provided to North Carolina following Hurricane Helene.

Claims that the federal government is covering a higher percentage of recovery costs in California compared to in North Carolina are false. Both states received identical cost-share adjustments.

If you have further questions or claims you’d like us to investigate, feel free to reach out to us at factcheck@wbtv.com.

—> State releases names of 104 Helene victims in North Carolina for 1st time: See list here

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