VOLUME 11 ISSUE 7 | THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2026
NSJONLINE.COM
NASA
Historic moonshot Astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch, an NC State graduate, peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft’s main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the moon last Thursday. The four Artemis II astronauts set a record for the farthest distance traveled from Earth by humans as their spacecraft circled the moon on Monday.
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Ruling ends long-running Leandro case
BRIEF this week
Everett, 2024 Miss N.C., dead at 22 after cancer battle Dunn Carrie Everett, the 2024 Miss North Carolina, died Sunday after a battle with stomach cancer, according to her family. She was 22. Everett, a student at North Carolina Central University, was Miss Johnston County when she won the statewide pageant and competed for 2024 Miss America. Everett was diagnosed with metastatic signet ring cell carcinoma last July and underwent treatment in her home city of Seattle following her diagnosis. “Her untimely passing silences a strong voice for social justice but her impact will continue to live on in the lives she touched,” the Miss North Carolina organization said in a statement.
American journalist kidnapped in Iraq released Baghdad An American journalist who was kidnapped from a Baghdad street corner last week has been released, an Iraqi official with direct knowledge of the situation said Tuesday. Shelly Kittleson, 49, was freed in the afternoon, said the official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. He did not share her current whereabouts but said that before her release, she had been held in Baghdad. The powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement earlier in the day it had decided to free Kittleson, who was abducted on March 31.
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The case, lasting 32 years, was dismissed with prejudice by the state Supreme Court
Legislators hear Helene recovery progress, struggles State lawmakers were given an update by state officials By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — North Carolina lawmakers received a detailed briefing last week on the state’s ongoing recovery from Hurricane Helene, with officials from two agencies outlining progress, funding gaps and
obstacles that continue to slow the effort. The Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations Subcommittee on Hurricane Response and Recovery, co-chaired by Sen. Brent Jackson (R-Sampson) and Rep. Brenden Jones (R-Columbus), heard presentations from Matt Calabria, director of the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western See HELENE, page A8
Halifax Resolves returning to NC The independence document will be in the state for the first time in 250 years By A.P. Dillon North State Journal
For the past 250 years, the Resolves have been a permanent resident of the National Archives because it’s the only copy known to exist, but the document is returning home in commemoration of America’s semiquincentennial anniversary. The Resolves will be on exhibit at the Halifax State Historic Site’s new visitor center from April 10 through Oct. 6. The initial viewing will coincide with the Halifax Resolves Days from April 10-12. “North Carolina played a significant role in winning America’s independence,” Gov. Josh Stein said in a statement announcing the exhibition. “The creation and adop-
RALEIGH — The Halifax Resolves, the first known formal call by state representatives for independence from Great Britain, is coming back to North Carolina as part of the America 250 celebrations. The Resolves, issued April 12, 1776, by the North Carolina Assembly, authorized delegates attending a meeting of the Fourth Provincial Congress to vote for independence. The document put their resolutions to paper in See RESOLVES, page A2 the minutes of that meeting.
By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — The North Carolina Supreme Court reached a 4-3 decision last Thursday in the long-running Leandro education lawsuit. The case was vacated and dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again. The new ruling, issued by Chief Justice Paul Newby, essentially boils down to two key issues: case jurisdiction and who controls appropriations in the state under the North Carolina Constitution. The ruling says the trial court lost its jurisdiction to hear the case when it stopped being about the original narrow claims involving Hoke County and four other low-wealth districts and became a sprawling statewide lawsuit.
“The opportunity to view this 250-year-old document in the place where it was created is a truly oncein-a-lifetime experience.” Pamela B. Cashwell, N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources secretary
The court also said the lawsuit was never properly amended to make that new claim and wasn’t filed for hearing by a special three-judge panel that the law requires for statewide constitutional challenges. The ruling says anything the trial court or the Supreme Court did after July 2017 is essentially void. That includes the court’s own 2022 pro-plaintiff ruling (Hoke III) in the Leandro case that tried to force major changes, including funding, when the high court had a Democratic majority. “By 24 July 2017, the remaining participants in the litigation and the trial court officially transformed this case into one addressing matters never pled,” wrote Newby. “Specifically, the trial court worked with the remaining parties in this case — while excluding the General Assembly — to enforce a statewide plan that overhauled the legislatively enacted educational system. See LEANDRO, page A3