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Martin Freeman stars as Bilbo Baggins in Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug."

Holiday movie preview

Get ready for "The Hobbit," "Anchorman 2" and more! A look at some of the movies...

FILE - In this Nov. 25, 2011, file photo, charity workers dressed as Santa Claus walk up Fifth Avenue in New York during the Volunteers of America annual Sidewalk Santa Parade to raise money for holiday food for needy residents. Volunteers of America-Greater New York says the parade and its Sidewalk Santa fundraising efforts have been retired, and the organization is using other more effective ways to raise money for its "Hope and Hearth" food voucher program. The parade traditionally took place the Friday after Thanksgiving to kick off the organization's program that would have Santas trying to get donations from people passing by their sidewalk locations.

Strange but true

News that's a little off the beaten path.

Sports

N.C. State running back Shadrach Thornton (10) tries to break free from Maryland defensive back Alvin Hill (27).

NCSU football's Shadrach Thornton named in sexual battery investigation

NC State coach Dave Doeren has suspended Shadrach Thornton after the running back was charged with one crime and was revealed as the subject of an investigation into another.

Local/State News

Photographers crowd a rock above the Linn Cove Viaduct to shoot the fall colors along the Blue Ridge Parkway at Grandfather Mountain.

Conservation group buys 523 acres along Blue Ridge Parkway

The Conservation Trust for North Carolina has bought 523 acres that stretch for 3.5 miles along Blue Ridge Parkway near the convergence of McDowell, Mitchell and Avery counties.

The Triangle's jobless rate was flat in October even as the region added 6,000 jobs in a range of sectors. The single biggest monthly jobs gain this year, it puts the Triangle on track to add a respectable 25,000 jobs this year. 3 minutes ago

Politics

Stacks of paperwork await members of the House Agriculture Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, as it meets to consider proposals to the 2013 Farm Bill, including small cuts to the $80 billion-a-year food stamp program in an effort to appease conservatives who say the food aid has become too expensive. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

U.S. farm bill has big impact in NC

North Carolina has a lot riding on the outcome of a closed-door drama now playing out in Washington as Congress works against a deadline this month to hammer out divisions in a new five-year farm bill. 48 minutes ago

Nation/World News

Dec. 7, 2005-former South African President Nelson Mandela, 87, is in a jovial mood at the Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg, where he met with the winner and runner-up of the local "Idols" competition.

Nelson Mandela, 20th century colossus, dies at 95

Nelson Mandela, who became one of the world's most beloved statesmen and a colossus of the 20th century when he emerged from 27 years in prison to negotiate an end to white minority rule in South Africa, has died. He was 95. 12 minutes ago