North Carolina

UNC’s Walker hospitalized, ‘aware’ following hit

Published

9 months ago

October 29, 2023

UNC’s Walker hospitalized, ‘aware’ following hit

Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior WriterOct 29, 2023, 01:20 AM ET
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- ACC reporter.
- Joined ESPN.com in 2010.
- Graduate of the University of Florida.

North Carolina wide receiver Tez Walker was taken to an Atlanta-area hospital for further evaluation after a blindside hit late in the fourth quarter of a 46-42 loss at Georgia Tech on Saturday night.

Walker made a first-down reception as the Tar Heels were attempting a comeback but was hit without seeing the defender coming and fumbled. He was on the ground for several minutes and eventually was able to walk off with the help of trainers. But as he made his way to the sideline, he appeared unsteady on his feet.

North Carolina coach Mack Brown said during his postgame news conference that Walker was “aware and talking” but deferred further questions to the medical staff. UNC later said Walker had been taken to the hospital.

The loss was the second in a row for North Carolina, which opened the season 6-0 with hopes to make it back to the ACC championship game. But the Tar Heels have now blown double-digit leads in both defeats, to teams that came into their matchup with losing records.

Against Georgia Tech, the Tar Heels’ defense appeared to revert to the lacking form from last season, particularly early on. Georgia Tech had 635 yards of total offense. In the fourth quarter alone, the Yellow Jackets scored 22 points and had 246 rushing yards. Brown called the defense “awful” in the fourth.

“I’ve never seen anybody just take it and run for 10 yards a crack,” Brown said. “I told the guys I can’t answer what happened right now. I’ll watch it on the plane going home; we’ll adjust. We’ve got to grow up, man up and get ready to play next week.”

What made that fourth-quarter performance even more problematic was the fact that UNC had held Georgia Tech scoreless in the first and third quarters.

“I’ve been doing this 35 years,” Brown said. “I’ve never seen two quarters that bad and two quarters that good. I thought we were beyond that on defense.”

Getting off to hot starts then losing has been a knock against North Carolina. Last season, the Tar Heels started out 9-1 before losing four straight to end the season.

“They’re crushed, and I’ve got to pick them up,” Brown said. “Everybody will be down on them. I thought they tried tonight. Started the game 21-7; they checked all the boxes until we didn’t. We’ve got to go back, don’t start pointing fingers, don’t start second-guessing, stay off the Internet, don’t be watching the news and go back to work and get better next week.”

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North Carolina

North Carolina Zoo celebrates its 50 anniversary

Published

5 hours ago

August 4, 2024

Press Room

North Carolina Zoo celebrates its 50 anniversary

ASHEBORO, N.C. (WTVD) — The North Carolina Zoo is celebrating 50 years.

Located in Asheboro, the zoo houses about 1,700 animals and over 250 species primarily from Africa and North America.

On social media, NC Zoo wrote Friday:

“Throughout our history, we’ve been home to a diverse array of remarkable animals, dedicated keepers, and passionate employees who work tirelessly behind the scenes. Join us in honoring this milestone by visiting the Zoo in 2024!”

The Zoo also mentioned the Zoo’s first animals, which were two Galapagos tortoises named Tort and Retort.

The post said in part: “These two tortoises symbolize the early days of the North Carolina Zoo and are cherished deeply in our hearts.”

The North Carolina Zoo is one of two state-supported zoos in the country. The other is the Minnesota Zoo.

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North Carolina

NC has some of the most dangerous roads in the US: See how Wilmington-area counties rank

Published

12 hours ago

August 4, 2024

Press Room

NC has some of the most dangerous roads in the US: See how Wilmington-area counties rank

With a recent study revealing North Carolina as one of the states with the riskiest roads to travel, some may wonder how safe the roads are here in the Cape Fear region.

MarketWatch Guides, a site that provides “reviews of consumer products and services to help readers make educated purchasing decisions,” focuses in part on car insurance comparisons, vehicle safety and more.

A recent study by the site analyzed factors including annual miles driven per 100,000 system miles, percentage of rough roads and fatal injuries per 100,000 licensed drivers. States were given a rating out of 10 points, with 10 being the most dangerous.

More: Distracted driving in Wilmington: How big of a problem is it?

North Carolina’s ranking among the most dangerous

According to the study, the states with the most dangerous drivers based on the factors studied are:

Louisiana – 7.55/10

California – 7.21/10

New Mexico – 6.74/10

Hawaii – 6.73/10

Delaware – 6.67/10

New Jersey – 6.53/10

Mississippi – 6.47/10

North Carolina – 6.39/10

Massachusetts – 6.33/10

Maryland and Texas – 6.26/10

According to the study, North Carolina had 32.5 fatal injuries per 100,000 licensed drivers, but only 2.1% of rough roads, which was the lowest percentage out of the other ranked states.

For a more localized perspective, the North Carolina Department of Transportation releases annual traffic crash facts data. The most recent 2022 report includes a ranking of counties based on several factors, including reported crashes, crash severity, crash rates based on population, registered vehicles and estimated vehicle miles traveled.

The most dangerous county for drivers, ranked at No. 1 for the past five years, was Robeson County. The county had 60 fatal crashes in 2022 with 1,136 non-fatal injury crashes. The rest of the total 4,056 crashes were property-damage-only. The county with the best ranking was Hyde County, coming in at No. 100. The county had one fatal crash in 2022 and 10 non-fatal injury crashes. The county had a total of 45 crashes, the rest of which were property damage only.

More: MyReporter: Which intersections see the most red-light camera violations in Wilmington?

Here’s where the Cape Fear region counties ranked.

Brunswick County

Ranked No. 76 in 2022, Brunswick County had 25 fatal crashes and 715 non-fatal injury crashes. The total crashes for that year were 3,146. The remainder of the crashes were property damage only.

New Hanover County

Ranked No. 58, New Hanover had 19 fatal crashes and 1,313 non-fatal injury crashes, both of which went down from 2021. The total crashes in New Hanover were 5,617. The remainder of the crashes were property damage only.

Pender County

Ranked No. 47, Pender County had the worst ranking despite having the lowest number of crashes. The county had 12 fatal crashes and 374 non-fatal injury crashes, and a total of 1,156 crashes. The rest of the crashes were property damage only.

Iris Seaton, USA Today Network, contributed to this report.

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North Carolina

Tropical Storm Debby expected to bring rainfall to Virginia & North Carolina

Published

20 hours ago

August 3, 2024

Press Room

Tropical Storm Debby expected to bring rainfall to Virginia & North Carolina

Tropical Storm Debby already has parts of Florida under tropical storm warnings. The Florida Big Bend is currently under a Hurricane Warning. Debby is forecast to briefly strengthen into a category 1 hurricane as it moves over the Gulf of Mexico where water temperatures are near 90 degrees.

As it continues its path over land it is expected to dial back to tropical storm strength as it reaches the Carolinas mid to late next week. Moderate rainfall is possible for northeast North Carolina and southern Virginia by the end of the week.

Higher amounts of rain are possible for southernmost portions of the Outer Banks but generally models show 2-4 inches for northeast North Carolina and 1-2 inches for southern Virginia through Thursday.

Stay with News 3’s First Warning Weather Team for the latest updates as the storm develops.

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