Local search for North Carolina

59+ min ago (394+ words) RoboCop has finally found a permanent home in Detroit. A statue looming 11 feet tall (3.3 meters) and weighing 3,500 pounds (1,587 kilograms) began standing guard over the Motor City on Wednesday afternoon. "It was snowstorm, dark and below 30 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-1.1 degree Celsius) and there was a steady stream of people driving by," after it was erected, said Jim Toscano, co-owner of the FREE AGE film production company where the bronze-cast statue now stands bolted into a concrete patio. "You can walk right up to and walk all the way around it." It took about 15 years before the idea finally found a home, and almost four decades since the popular science fiction film "RoboCop" hit theaters in 1987. Set in what was supposed to be the near-future, it portrayed Detroit as crime-ridden and poorly protected by a beleaguered and outgunned police force, until actor…...

1+ hour, 12+ min ago (190+ words) WASHINGTON " Check your tickets: Could you be a winner in Saturday's $820 million Powerball drawing?" The prize, an estimated $378.2 million in cash, has grown to become the second-largest Powerball jackpot this year, though the prize pales in comparison to September's historic drawing, when two tickets sold in Missouri and Texas split a $1.8 billion jackpot " the second-largest U.S. lottery prize ever won. The jackpot was last won Sept. 6, when those two winners overcame odds of 1 in 292.2 million. The largest Powerball jackpot remains $2.04 billion, won in California in November 2022. This year has seen three major Powerball wins: the record $1.787 billion September prize, a $526.5 million jackpot claimed in California in March and a $328.5 million prize won in Oregon in January. The winning numbers for Saturday are 13-14-26-28-44 and Powerball 7 with Power Play 2x." The Powerball drawing takes place live at 10:59 p.m. ET every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Tickets…...

2+ hour, 18+ min ago (147+ words) A man is in custody after a reported stabbing on the Charlotte light rail early Friday evening, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said. Medic confirmed it responded around 5 p.m. near the stop along North Brevard Street and East 25th Street. One person was being treated for serious injuries, according to the agency. On Saturday morning, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department confirmed detectives identified 33-year-old Oscar Solarzano as a suspect. CMPD said Solarzano was charged with attempted first degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, breaking and entering of a motor vehicle, carrying a concealed weapon, and intoxicated and disruptive. Court records indicate Solarzano was intoxicated and challenged the victim to a fight. Court documents noted that no bond was set, saying he is in the country illegally and "has been deported previously." For more on this story, visit our news partner WCNC....

2+ hour, 45+ min ago (232+ words) TOKYO, Japan " Popstar Katy Perry and former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made their monthslong rumored romance Instagram official Saturday." "tokyo times on tour and more ( " ) "," the caption read." The two also had lunch with the former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his wife, where Kishida called Perry Trudeau's "partner."" The appearance together comes after the duo was spotted having"dinner in Montreal"in July and celebrating the pop star's birthday"in October while in Paris, France. Perry split from longtime partner Orlando Bloom in July. Trudeau and his ex-wife Sophie Gr'goire separated in 2023. Trudeau announced his resignation as Canada's prime minister earlier this year after nearly a decade in power. His father, late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, was a bachelor when he became prime minister. He dated actresses Barbra Streisand and Kim Cattrall and married a 22-year-old woman…...

3+ hour, 41+ min ago (347+ words) A North Carolina man will serve between 30 and 37.5 years in prison after pleading guilty Friday to beating his 5-year-old son to death nearly two years ago. Amir Hines, 26, was arrested on New Year's Eve 2023 after Raleigh police responded to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Hospital for reports of a violent incident involving a 5-year-old boy. Medical personnel told investigators the boy's injuries were consistent with a "serious assault," and investigators determined his father was responsible. Hines, who was 24 at the time, was was reportedly "frustrated" with his son, Karter, who had autism and was nonverbal, according to The News & Observer. He was initially charged with felony child abuse causing serious injury, but the charges were upgraded to first-degree murder following the boy's death on Jan. 1. He ultimately pleaded guilty to second-degree murder to avoid the possibility of…...

4+ hour, 58+ min ago (855+ words) For the past two Christmases, John Juka's family restaurant looked about the same as any business in Bethlehem: shuttered and eerily empty. But on Saturday evening, it bustled with families and was lit by strings of red lights, a hopeful change in the Palestinian city that's been reeling since war broke out in Gaza. Christmas celebrations are slowly returning to the traditional birthplace of Jesus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. While a shaky ceasefire holds in Gaza, Palestinians hope the festivities are a step toward a more peaceful future in a region shaken by tragedy. "It's not like it was before the war," 30-year-old Juka said. "But it's like life is coming back again." Tourism and religious pilgrims have long been a prime economic engine for Bethlehem. Around 80% of the Muslim-majority city's residents live off it, according to the local…...

5+ hour, 2+ min ago (242+ words) MILWAUKEE " Actor and singer Hugh Jackman surprised a group of high school choir students Tuesday to promote his upcoming movie "Song Sung Blue."" The Milwaukee High School of the Arts students anticipated watching a preview of the film, but Jackman walked into their classroom to a sea of shocked screams." "I couldn't even believe that it was real," one student said in a video posted by the school. "It was so cool. And I mean, we go to a public school so we don't really have stuff like that happen to us a lot." The entire thing was caught on camera, showing the choir class watching a video filmed by Jackman promising to make their "music dreams come true" before saying he had a better idea. Students began to talk among themselves with "no way" being echoed across the stands…...

7+ hour, 43+ min ago (176+ words) CHARLOTTE, N.C. " Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police arrested a man on drug trafficking charges after an anonymous tip led investigators to an apartment in southwest Charlotte. The Southwest Crime Reduction Unit launched an investigation along Yancey Road near South Tryon Street following a CrimeStoppers tip that alleged a person was selling narcotics from their apartment, according to a statement from CMPD. Officers executed a search warrant at the location and seized two firearms, over $6,100 in U.S. currency, approximately 1,776 grams of suspected marijuana, more than 120 grams of suspected cocaine, 30 suspected oxycodone pills, several suspected THC vape cartridges and various drug paraphernalia, police said. Pierce Cerda, 25, was charged with trafficking in cocaine, possession with intent to manufacture, sell or distribute a Schedule II controlled substance, possession with intent to sell or distribute marijuana, felony possession of marijuana, maintaining a dwelling for the use or sale of controlled…...

8+ hour, 25+ min ago (419+ words) Supernatural fans tend to debate which of the two Winchester brothers is more powerful. A lot of viewers target Dean Winchester and his fierce fighting abilities, whereas some others focus on Sam and his peculiar psychic abilities. The show gives both brothers moments of huge strength and dark weakness. Yet many sources and storylines suggest that Dean Winchester edges ahead overall in real combat power, noting his experience, deadly weapons, and the Mark of Cain. At the same time, Sam's demon blood abilities and intelligence cannot be ignored. Looking at both brothers together shows how their different strengths shape Supernatural. Read more to know the details. In the early seasons of Supernatural, both brothers fight as mostly human hunters. Dean Winchester shows greater skill in straight fights. The episode titled 'Sex and Violence' has the clearest example. A siren turns…...

9+ hour, 7+ min ago (181+ words) National parks visitors will receive free admission on President Donald Trump's birthday next year, but will have to pay a regular fee on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth, after the National Park Service overhauled its free admission calendar. Admission fees have been waived on Martin Luther King Jr. Day for years, including throughout Trump's first administration. Juneteenth was added as an entrance fee-free day in 2024. The changes come as Trump has made eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts a centerpiece of his administration. Earlier this year, on Juneteenth " the oldest regular U.S. celebration of the end of slavery " the president criticized the number of "non-working holidays" in the United States, which he claimed "is costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS." The calendar also removes the first day of National Park Week, the Bureau of Land Management's birthday, Great…...