Regional Briefs: Parkway trail volunteers needed

Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail are looking for volunteers to help complete a 5-mile segment of a 300-mile uninterrupted stretch of the trail.

The "Big Dig" workdays will be July 16 and 17, starting at 8:30 a.m. at milepost 290.3 on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Blowing Rock.

Upon completion of this section, hikers will be able to walk from Soco Gap near Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the visitor center at Stone Mountain State Park without getting off the trail.

The 1,000-mile Mountains-to-Sea Trail stretches from Clingman's Dome to Jockey's Ridge State Park. About 500 miles have been completed.

Trail builders interested in participating in the Big Dig should contact John Lanman, jelanman@charter.net, or Allen de Hart, adh4771@aol.com. Tools will be provided.

Lisa O'Donnell

Hagan to talk jobs, tour program at DCCC

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., on Monday will discuss her jobs bill, the AMERICA Works Act, and tour the job-training program at Davidson County Community College, including the new Welding and Advanced Manufacturing Machining Labs that are set to open this fall.

Davidson County Community College is one of eight community colleges in North Carolina that implements the Manufacturing Skills Credential System, which is the model for Hagan's AMERICA Works Act.

Hagan's bill encourages national industries, including construction, automotive and aerospace, to come together and agree upon the skill sets necessary for employees. When the industries have agreed upon standards, curriculums will be developed for training programs at community colleges that will offer industry-recognized credentials. When workers have earned an industry-recognized credential, they will be qualified for employment in any state.

From staff reports

20 counties approved for disaster relief

Twenty North Carolina counties have been approved for federal disaster assistance for the April 16 storms and tornadoes.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved $18.6 million in funding. Loans represent 60 percent of the total assistance, while the rest is grants.

FEMA also approved $10 million as public assistance to local governments, state agencies and nonprofits. The assistance allows FEMA to fund 75 percent of tornado-related projects, with the state covering the rest.

The original June 20 deadline was extended to July 5. Residents of Alamance, Bertie, Bladen, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Greene, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hoke, Johnston, Lee, Onslow, Pitt, Robeson, Sampson, Tyrrell, Wake and Wilson were eligible.

The Associated Press

Wild dogs roaming around Fayetteville

Local officials say 10 packs of wild dogs are prowling about Fayetteville neighborhoods, menacing people and pets.

Cumberland County officials estimate that as many as 150 animals are on the loose in the city's streets.

Fayetteville City Councilman Jim Arp says residents have told him the dogs are killing their pet cats.

John Lauby of the Animal Services Department says his animal-control officers have shot and killed nine feral dogs in the past two weeks. Lauby says there may be more packs than usual this year because more owners are abandoning their animals.

Lauby says he's working on a plan to step up efforts collecting county pet licensing fees to increase spending for animal control.

The Associated Press

Drifter to go on trial in 2007 N.C. slayings

A drifter already sentenced to death for killing a hiker in Florida and serving a life sentence for killing another woman in Georgia is expected to appear in a North Carolina courtroom this month.

Court records show Gary Hilton, 65, is being transferred from Florida to the federal courthouse in Asheville on July 25 for a first appearance hearing.

Hilton has been indicted on two counts of first-degree murder in the October 2007 slayings of a North Carolina couple. Investigators say 84-year-old Irene Bryant was beaten to death and her 80-year-old husband shot after Hilton camped on the Pisgah National Forest trail waiting for victims.

It was a month before Irene Bryant's body was found and four months before a hunter discovered her husband's skeletal remains.

The Associated Press

Improvements OK'd at nuclear plant

Federal regulators have signed off on improvements at a Hartsville nuclear-power plant where a fire and other troubles brought national attention and increased federal oversight this year.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission told Raleigh, N.C.-based Progress Energy in a letter that it has taken appropriate steps to fix problems at the H.B. Robinson nuclear plant.

The 40-year-old plant has had increased federal scrutiny and inspections in the past two years because of two March 2010 fires and operating problems. NRC and Progress officials said at a March public meeting that they were disappointed with last year's performance at the reactor.

Progress officials have acknowledged problems but said their difficulties never threatened the public. Company officials say they have new management, written procedures and staff training.

The Associated Press

Wreck prompts probe of Tenn. trucking firm

Regulators are investigating a Tennessee trucking company whose driver is facing charges in a North Carolina highway wreck that killed three people.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is reviewing Greeneville, Tenn.-based Hawley Transport Services. Federal reports mention no drug or alcohol violations for Hawley trucks and drivers in the past two years. But Hawley truckers have been charged multiple times with speeding and violating driver-fatigue rules.

Ronald Eugene Graybeal is charged with felony death by vehicle, driving while impaired and possessing marijuana and methadone. Police say the 50-year-old Newport, Tenn., resident crashed into vehicles slowing in front of him June 30, killing three drivers.

The Associated Press