North Carolina
Petey Pablo leads North Carolina Music Hall of Fame 2024 class
The lyrics “North Carolina, come on and raise up,” might as well be the unofficial anthem of the Tar Heel State. And the rapper who wrote and spoke them will soon obtain a bit of immortality.
Petey Pablo, it was announced this week, leads the 2024 class of inductees into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame, located in Kannapolis. The Greenville native and four other artists — and the Durham-based Merge Records — will join the already existing 132 other honorees. Qualifications for induction into the hall, located on Dale Earnhardt Boulevard, is to have roots in the state of North Carolina and achieve at least 10 years of national prominence.
Born Moses Barrett III, Petey Pablo more than fits the bill.
After spending time in prison for armed robbery, he turned to hip-hop and hooked up with Jive Records. His debut album “Diary of a Sinner: 1st Entry” was produced by Timbaland and debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard Top 200 music chart in November 2001. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and was then nominated for Best Rap Album at the Grammys. It contained the hit single, “Raise Up,” which peaked at No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The iconic song can easily be heard at sporting events across North Carolina these days, particularly at UNC-Chapel Hill football games and after the Carolina Hurricanes score a goal. The video for the song was filmed in Raleigh, and it’s likely the only hip-hop song that namechecks North Carolina towns like Tarboro, Goldsboro, Halifax and Statesville.
Petey Pablo’s second album, 2004’s “Still Writing in My Diary: 2nd Entry,” was also certified gold and featured the hit single “Freek-a-Leek,” which peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard charts. The rapper spent time in prison again after pleading guilty in 2011 to possession of a stolen firearm.
In 2016, he released a single called “Carolina Colors” that has been used as a hype-up anthem for the Carolina Panthers. Petey Pablo has also acted a bit, appearing in shows such as “The Shield” and “Empire.”
Petey Pablo is widely regarded as a pioneer in North Carolina hip-hop, an icon in the southern rap scene, and one of the original voices of crunk music. On Instagram, he wrote of his induction into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame, “Words can’t really express the true feeling and gratitude for such an honorable recognition.”
Lissa Gotwals
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Other inductees include the late music executive Clarence Avant, the late musician and teacher Mary Cardwell Dawson, the late country singer and songwriter Tommy Faile, and Grammy-award-winning bluegrass artist and fiddler Bobby Hicks.
Also being honored is Merge Records, which was founded in 1989 in Durham by Mac McCaughan and Laura Balance — who are also members of the band Superchunk. The influential independent record label has produced and released years of music, including from Arcade Fire, Caribou, She & Him, and Hiss Golden Messenger.
A ceremony to honor the inductees will be held on Oct. 17.
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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