Charlotte Mecklenburg police say officers did nothing wrong when they arrested a man for putting flyers on cars during a Moral Monday protest on Labor Day. Tyjuan Turner was released before he was booked; CMPD gave him a citation instead. Turner says officers approached him as he was distributing the flyers and told him he was breaking a city ordinance. He also complains that he asked to see the ordinance and that officers should have taken him straight to jail instead of moving him to an empty parking lot. CMPD says police are not required to show laws or ordinances when making an arrest and that it’s routine to remove an arrestee from the scene of a possible crime to ease tension.
A Salisbury man who has said he wanted to join the Islamic State pleaded not guilty today on federal weapons charges. Donald Morgan was in court today in Greensboro on a charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a weapon. The FBI arrested Morgan in New York City on August 2nd after he arrived on a flight from Germany. Morgan reportedly said earlier this summer that he wanted to join the Islamic State, the group that says it beheaded two American journalists this month. He served two years in prison in 1997 for firing a gun into a Salisbury restaurant after a bartender cut him off.
Obesity among South Carolinians aged 10 to 17 ranks second in the nation. That’s according to a new report from the Trust For America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It found that more than 21 percent of young people in the state are considered obese. South Carolina's adult obesity rate has risen 20 percent since 1990. At just under 32 percent, it’s the 10th worst in the country. North Carolina’s obesity rate of just over 29 percent ranks it 25th overall.
More North Carolina students earned passing marks on reading and math tests after state officials lowered their requirements. The test results released today show about 56 percent of students in third through eighth grade scored high enough on end-of-grade tests to be considered proficient in reading. In math tests, about 51 percent of students were considered proficient. Under the old standards last year, less than half of those students were in the proficient range.
Activist investor Carl Icahn has reportedly sold the rest of his Family Dollar stock. Reuters reports it’s unclear exactly when Icahn sold his remaining 3.6 percent stake in the Matthews-based discount retailer. He became the company’s largest shareholder in June and immediately began pushing for a sale of the company. After Family Dollar announced a buyout deal from Dollar Tree in July, Icahn sold about two-thirds of his stake in the company. Dollar General this week upped its competing buyout bid to $80 a share. Family Dollar stock has gone up by more than 30 percent since Icahn invested in the company. Reuters says the billionaire made about 200 million on his investment.
