RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A group says more than 20 North Carolina river sites failed testing for fecal bacteria this week after several days of torrential rains and nearly a foot of rainfall in some spots.

Leading up to Friday, there were several days of flood warnings and nearly a foot of rain fell in some North Carolina areas — such as Sampson County with 11 inches. Other spots — such as Durham County — received more than 9 inches of rain.

Sound Rivers, a group that monitors more than 50 recreational sites along North Carolina rivers, says that heavy rain can lead to more pollution in rivers.

“Swim Guide results are in, and they definitely reflect the impact all this rain is having on our waterways,” the Sound Rivers group said on Friday.

Full rainfall totals for Central NC for a week ending Friday

Some flood warnings continued this weekend with one still active Saturday along the Tar River at Tarboro in Edgecombe County.

“Remember, more stormwater runoff means more nasty stuff gets washed into the water,” Sound Rivers wrote Friday after 21 North Carolina river sites failed their weekly testing.

In the previous Swim Guide report, just six sites failed.

In the Raleigh area, three sites along the Neuse River failed the week ending July 26, according to Sound Rivers.

Just east of Raleigh in Wake County, these canoe launch sites met water quality standards less than 60 percent of the time: Buffaloe Road, Milburnie Park and Poole Road.

Elevated levels of fecal bacteria in the water can bring an increased risk of gastrointestinal illness and skin infections for pets and humans, Sound Rivers says.

East of the Wake County area along the Neuse River, these seven sites also failed water quality testing:

• Maple Cypress boat ramp in Grifton

• Glenburnie Park

• Town of Bridgton Park

• Upper Broad Creek at Black Beard Sailing Club

• Lawson Creek Park in the New Bern area

• Slocum Creek boating access in Havelock

• Pierce Creek at the Sea Harbor Yacht Club in Oriental

Closer to the North Carolina coast, 11 sites failed the testing along the Tar and Pamlico rivers:

• Sunset Park on the Tar River in Rocky Mount

• Tar River Reservoir in Rocky Mount

• River Road boat ramp on the Tar River in Tarboro

• Town Common on the Tar River in Greenville

• Wildwood Park on the Tar River in Greenville

• Port Terminal on the Tar River in Greenville

• Yankee Hall Road boat ramp on the Tar River at Pactolus

• Mason’s Landing on the Pamlico River in Washington

• Havens Gardens on the Pamlico River in Washington

• Dinah’s Landing just off the Pamlico River at Goose Creek State Park

• Cotton Patch Landing on Blounts Creek just off the Pamlico River

Sound Rivers issues a report on various recreational areas of rivers in North Carolina after testing dozens of recreational sites each week throughout the summer.

The testing by the group includes enterococci bacteria in salt water.

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FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A man from Chicago is dead and another person was injured after a head-on crash Saturday in North Carolina.

According to police in Fayetteville, North Carolina, a 2005 Dodge Durango driven by 35-year-old man from Fayetteville was making a left turn at a green light when it was hit head-on by a 2022 Honda Accord driven by 24-year-old Zayshawn L. Robinson of Chicago, Illinois.

A preliminary investigation found that Robinson was speeding and failed to stop at a red light, which resulted in the crash.

Robinson was pronounced dead at the scene.

The 35-year-old man was taken to a local hospital for what police described as non-life-threatening injuries.

Anyone with information on this crash is asked to contact the Fayetteville Police Department in North Carolina.

No further information was immediately available.

RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge ruled Friday that a provision in North Carolina’s abortion laws requiring doctors to document the location of a pregnancy before prescribing abortion pills should be blocked permanently, affirming that it was too vague to be enforced reasonably.

The implementation of that requirement was already halted last year by U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles until a lawsuit challenging portions of the abortion law enacted by the Republican-dominated General Assembly in 2023 was litigated further. Eagles now says a permanent injunction would be issued at some point.

But Eagles on Friday restored enforcement of another provision that she had previously blocked that required abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy to be performed in hospitals. In light of the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, she wrote, the lawmakers “need only offer rational speculation for its legislative decisions regulating abortion.”

In this case, legislators contended the hospital requirement would protect maternal health by reducing risks to some women who could experience major complications after 12 weeks, Eagles said. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and a physician who initially sued offered “credible and largely uncontroverted medical and scientific evidence” that the hospital requirement “will unnecessarily make such abortions more dangerous for many women and more expensive,” Eagles added.

SEE ALSO | Some North Carolina abortion pill restrictions are unlawful, federal judge rules

But “the plaintiffs have not negated every conceivable basis the General Assembly may have had for enacting the hospitalization requirement,” Eagles, who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, wrote in vacating a preliminary injunction on the hospital requirement.

Unlike challenges in other states like South Carolina and Florida that sought to fully strike down abortion laws, Eagles’ decisions still mean most of North Carolina’s abortion laws updated since the end of Roe v. Wade are in place. GOP state lawmakers overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto and enacted the law in May 2023. It narrowed abortion access significantly from the previous state ban on most abortions from after 20 weeks to now after 12 weeks. The hospital requirement would apply to exceptions to the ban after 12 weeks, such as in cases of rape or incest or “life-limiting” fetal anomalies.

Eagles on Friday affirmed blocking the clause in the abortion law requiring physicians to document the “intrauterine location of a pregnancy” before distributing medication for abortion.

SEE ALSO | Supreme Court unanimously strikes down legal challenge to abortion pill mifepristone

Lawyers representing House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger defending the law argued the documentation protected the health of women with ectopic pregnancies, which can be dangerous and when ruptured may be similar to the expected symptoms of a medication abortion, according to the opinion.

But Eagles wrote the medication in a medication abortion doesn’t exacerbate the risks of complications from an ectopic pregnancy. And she remained convinced that the law is unconstitutionally vague and subjects abortion providers to claims that they broke the law – and possible penalties – if they can’t locate an embryo through an ultrasound because the pregnancy is so new.

The provision “violates the plaintiffs’ constitutional due process rights,” she wrote.

Spokespeople for Planned Parenthood, Berger and Moore didn’t respond to emails late Friday seeking comment. Eagles’ upcoming final judgment can be appealed.

SEE ALSO | Abortion in North Carolina could be impacted after rulings in Arizona, Florida

State Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, abortion-rights supporter and 2024 candidate for governor, was officially a lawsuit defendant. But lawyers from his office had asked Eagles to block the two provisions, largely agreeing with Planned Parenthood’s arguments.

The lawsuit was initially filed in June 2023 and contained other challenges to the abortion law that the legislature quickly addressed with new legislation. Eagles issued a preliminary injunction last September blocking the two provisions still at issue on Friday. Eagles said last month she would make a final decision in the case without going through a full trial.

North Carolina remains a destination for many out-of-state women seeking abortions, as most states in the U.S. South have implemented laws banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy — before many women know they are pregnant — or near-total bans.

SEE ALSO | Abortion advocates, opponents rally in downtown Raleigh as election year heats up