N.C. Potato Festival draws 33K to city's waterfront over 3 days

A federal appeals court says a North Carolina regulatory board didn’t violate a drone pilot’s constitutional rights when it told him to stop advertising and offering aerial map services because he lacked a surveyor's license. The panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a trial court's decision. It found the free-speech protections of Michael Jones and his business weren’t violated by the license requirement. Circuit Judge Jim Wynn wrote that states have a substantial interest in ensuring surveyors provide accurate maps to the public. Jones' attorney says he wants to further appeal the case.

An American Airlines flight attendant who authorities say tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom in September has pleaded not guilty to attempted exploitation of a child. Police have also alleged that Estes Carter Thompson III of Charlotte, North Carolina, had recordings of four other girls using aircraft lavatories. The 36-year-old flight attendant was charged with one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of images of child sexual abuse depicting a prepubescent minor. He pleaded not guilty to both counts in federal court in Boston on Monday.

After one North Carolina city's only hospital closed, residents there say they're not only worried about their health but they've lost trust in politicians. Williamston, North Carolina's struggle to reopen its only emergency room could signal trouble for President Joe Biden's reelection campaign, which highlights his health care accomplishments. Biden and former President Donald Trump are fiercely competing for votes in the state, where residents of this town say they've lost confidence that politicians care about getting the hospital reopened. Meanwhile, county and state officials say they're working to get the hospital reopened as a standalone emergency room.

The final surviving member of a trio of African American youths who were the first to desegregate the undergraduate student body at North Carolina’s flagship public university has died. Ralph Frasier died last week in Florida at age 85. Frasier, his older brother LeRoy, and John Lewis Brandon fought successfully against Jim Crow laws when they were able to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1955. They were high school classmates in Durham. Fraser previously recalled the challenges of attending UNC-Chapel in the face of racial hostility. All three ultimately got degrees somewhere else. A memorial service will be held Saturday for Fraser.

A major North Carolina political donor and his associate have been convicted a second time of attempting to bribe the state's insurance commissioner to secure preferential regulatory treatment for his insurance business. Insurance magnate Greg Lindberg and former consultant John Gray were convicted Wednesday of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud. Both were convicted of the same crimes in 2020, but an appeals court ordered new trials declaring that the trial judge erred in his jury instructions. Before the indictment, Lindberg had given millions of dollars to North Carolina candidate and party committees and independent expenditure groups.

U.S. Census Bureau estimates show America's Northeast and Midwest cities are rebounding slightly from years of population drops, highlighted by modest growth in Detroit after decades of declines. Government figures released Thursday show Detroit saw its population grow for the first time in decades, rising by 1,852 people to 633,218 inhabitants last year. That is a milestone for Detroit, which had 1.8 million residents in the 1950s only to see its population plummet afterward. Meanwhile, Census Bureau estimates show 13 of the 15 fastest-growing cities in the U.S. were in the South last year, eight of them in Texas alone.

The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money trial cleared the courtroom of reporters and then threatened to remove the defense’s witness from the trial because of his behavior on the stand, a court transcript shows. Judge Juan M. Merchan told Robert Costello, a former federal prosecutor, on Monday that his conduct was “contemptuous right now.” Costello aggravated Merchan repeatedly in his testimony by making comments under his breath and continuing to speak after objections were sustained — a signal to witnesses to stop talking. The exchange came toward the end of a heated day that included the prosecution’s star witness admitting to stealing tens of thousands of dollars from Trump’s company.

OpenAI says it plans to halt the use of one of its ChatGPT voices that “Her” actor Scarlett Johansson says sounds “eerily similar" to her own. OpenAI said Monday that it is “working to pause” Sky — the name of one of five voices that ChatGPT users can chose to speak with. The company added it had “heard questions” about how it selects the lifelike audio options available for its flagship artificial intelligence chatbot. Among those raising questions was Johansson, who famously voiced a fictional, and at the time futuristic, AI assistant in the 2013 film “Her.” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that the voice actor behind Sky was cast “before any outreach to Ms. Johansson," but apologized for not communicating better.