News sports and weather for Raleigh, NC | The News & Observer & NewsObserver.com

Top Stories

Once again, Hatteras and Ocracoke islanders cope without their highway

NCDOT officials say it could be weeks before Bonner Bridge is repaired and traffic is restored on the Outer Banks highway, N.C. 12, which links Hatteras and Ocracoke islands to the mainland. Residents adjust their lives to the emergency ferry schedule...
Related
- Environmental group decries “irresponsible public attacks” over Bonner Bridge
- Gallery: Bonner Bridge closed for repairs | 12.06.13
Coach salaries drive bigger athletic budgets

Coach pay has risen dramatically in recent years, driving up overall spending on college athletics, according to new data from the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. 3 hours ago
Weekend winter storm could bring ice to the Triangle

This weekend's winter storm that is sweeping across the nation may include some freezing rain Sunday morning north and west of the Triangle if temperatures drop slightly below their forecast low of 34 degrees.
World grieves loss of Mandela

The mood was more festive than funereal. Outside Nelson Mandela’s former home in Soweto on Friday, crowds sang, chanted and danced. People carried posters emblazoned with his famous quotations. Children ran through the streets, holding up pictures... 2 hours ago

Featured

Quinn O'Brien, 3, found the snowfall to be as much as a meal as something to sled on at a Festus Elementary School hill in Jefferson County, Mo., Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. The southern part of the St. Louis area saw the most snowfall overnight with more expected in the afternoon. (Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/MCT)

The Day's Best | 12.06.13

See some of the best photographs from around the world

Photos from the 20th Annual Jingle Ball hosted by the Capital City Clauses at Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh.

Photos: Jingle Ball in Raleigh

See photos from the Jingle Ball at Marbles Kids Museum.

Sports

Always the underdog, Duke readies for No. 1 Florida State

Florida State is favored by 29 points in the ACC championship game against Duke. The Blue Devils’ response? ‘We’re not scared,’ coach David Cutcliffe said.

Hurricanes get four goals in 3rd period to beat Sharks 5-3 3 hours ago
Wake Forest squeaks by Middle Creek, 24-23 1 hour ago
DeCock: ‘I don’t know’ is the best – and only – way to sum up Tar Heels
Coach salaries drive bigger athletic budgets 3 hours ago

Local/State News

A sign cautions visitors outside a "pump and treat" facility on the Marine base at Camp Lejeune, N.C., on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. The sprawling installation is the site of one of the worst drinking water contaminations in U.S. history.

CDC: Water at Marine base linked to birth defects

A long-awaited study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a link between tainted tap water at a U.S. Marine Corps base in North Carolina and increased risk of serious birth defects and childhood cancers.

Business

FILE - This April 18, 2013 file photo shows a golden eagle flying over a wind turbine on Duke energy's top of the world wind farm in Converse County Wyo. The Obama administration will allow companies to seek authorization to kill and harm bald and golden eagles for up to 30 years without penalty in an effort to balance some of the environmental trade-offs of green energy. The change, requested by the wind energy industry and officially revealed Friday, will provide legal protection for the lifespan of wind farms and other projects that obtain a permit and do everything possible to avoid killing the birds. Companies will also have to commit to take additional measures if they exceed their permit limits or if new information suggests eagle populations

US to allow eagle deaths _ to aid wind power

Under pressure from the wind-power industry, the Obama administration said Friday it will allow companies to kill or injure eagles without the fear of prosecution for up to three decades. 18 minutes ago

Politics

Roy Cooper

Lawsuit against Roy Cooper set for trial in April

As Democrats and Republicans seeking office in 2014 kick their primary campaigns into high gear, the North Carolina attorney general could be on trial in a 13-year-old defamation case.

Nation/World News

Mourners sing and dance to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela, in the street outside his old house in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. Flags were lowered to half-staff and people in black townships, in upscale mostly white suburbs and in South Africa's vast rural grasslands commemorated Nelson Mandela with song, tears and prayers on Friday while pledging to adhere to the values of unity and democracy that he embodied.

World grieves loss of Mandela

The mood was more festive than funereal. Outside Nelson Mandela’s former home in Soweto on Friday, crowds sang, chanted and danced. People carried posters emblazoned with his famous quotations. Children ran through the streets, holding up ... 2 hours ago

CDC: Water at Marine base linked to birth defects
U.S. farm bill has big impact in NC
US to allow eagle deaths _ to aid wind power 18 minutes ago
Cargo bikes the new minivan for cycling families 2 hours ago

Living

<span class="ng_subhead">Stanley 2x4 clamp </span>

Gifts for the toolbox

The basic building blocks for any home toolbox just keep getting better. Not sure what your DIY-er would like? They’ll find something here. Correspondent Allen Norwood

Entertainment

In this undated photo provided by Christie's Auction House, the Fender Stratocaster a young Bob Dylan played at the historic 1965 Newport Folk Festival is shown. The festival was a defining moment that marked Dylan's move from acoustic folk to electric rock 'n' roll. The guitar can bring as much as $500 thousand when it goes up on the block at Christie’s on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013.

Dylan's electric guitar sells for nearly $1M

Like Elvis' no-hips-allowed appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show," or the Beatles' arrival in America, or Woodstock, it is considered one of the milestone moments in rock history: Bob Dylan going electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. 2 hours ago

Opinion

Nelson Mandela lived a glorious, accomplished life

It’s hard to believe the South Africa of old, with its racial separatism and inequality, survived in that state as long as it did. But Nelson Mandela changed it.