Feds OK housing assistance
RALEIGH — Direct temporary housing assistance from the federal government has been approved for four North Carolina counties struck by Hurricane Matthew, including Robeson.
The approval means the state and federal government will begin working immediately to provide manufactured homes as a temporary housing solution for people displaced by Hurricane Matthew.
More than 500 Robeson County families are living in hotels or other temporary accommodations nearly a month after the storm.
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Police station will expand
CLINTON — The Clinton Police station is expanding, with a need for additional storage to house case evidence to be accommodated as part of a $300,000 project slated for the near future.
The project should begin “soon,” City manager Shawn Purvis said, floating a target completion date of May or June for the six-month project, allowing for any delays during the winter months.
Clinton Police Chief Jay Tilley said it is a much-needed project for a “critical function” of law enforcement operations.
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Freshman student dies after fall
BUIES CREEK – The staff, students and administration of Campbell University are mourning the death of a member of their family.
Ezra Goldbach, a first-year student in the Campbell Business School’s PGA golf management program from Pinnacle in Stokes County, died from injuries from a fall on campus, according to the school.
Goldbach died about 10:30 p.m. Thursday after falling from a third-floor window in Kitchin Hall, which is a first-year all-male residence dormitory.
Citing university officials, published accounts report that the Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death to determine if Goldbach fell, jumped or was pushed out of the window.
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Obama speaks to FSU crowd
FAYETTEVILLE — President Barack Obama spoke Friday before an enthusiastic crowd at Fayetteville State University, stumping for Hillary Clinton and a slew of fellow Democrats down ticket. He urged them to vote, saying “Democracy is at stake.”
“This election is going to say something about who we are as a country,” Obama said.
Speaking about 40 minutes, the president quoted the Declaration of Independence and said “patriots fight against tyranny.”
“It isn’t that often in your life when you have a chance to move history … to bend the arc the history in the direction of justice,” Obama said. “This is one of those moments. Right now, you can reject mean-spirited politics that would take us backwards.,”
From staff and wire reports.