The Carolinas

South Carolina

NORTH CHARLESTON

7-year-old boy dies after car wreck

A 7-year-old North Charleston boy has died after he was hit by a car.

North Charleston police spokesman Spencer Pryor said Devonte Bonaparte was hit after he apparently ran into the street Friday night. The boy had been playing in a yard before he was hit.

Charleston County deputy coroner Dottie Lindsay said Devonte died at Medical University Hospital. Pryor said the case is under investigation.

GREENVILLE

Students accused of drink tampering

Officials say six high school students have been suspended after being accused of tampering with a fellow student's beverage.

The four boys and two girls suspended are all 15 years old and are students at Blue Ridge High School. Greenville County deputy Matthew Armstrong said investigators have not determined what was put in the other student's drink when she temporarily left a classroom.

The Greenville County school district said in a statement that the students could be expelled.

Armstrong said if the accusations turn out to be true, the students also could face criminal charges.

North Carolina

CHAPEL HILL

Two found dead after duplex fire

Two people have been found dead after a fire at a Chapel Hill duplex.

Chapel Hill fire and police officers are investigating the cause of Friday night's blaze. Investigators did not immediately release the names of the victims and a cause of death has not been determined.

Property owner John McPhaul said he had rented both units of the duplex to a retired married couple in their 60s who moved to the area about 18 months ago. McPhaul said the wife told him they slept in separate units because of the husband's snoring.

JEFFERSON

Police: Man killed girlfriend, himself

Police say a Jefferson woman was killed by her boyfriend who then killed himself.

Ashe County Sheriff James Williams said the bodies of 48-year-old Sherry Ashley and 51-year-old Richard Creal Hailey were found beneath a tree Thursday afternoon outside a house in the town of Jefferson.

Williams said the couple had been together a few years and were planning to get married. Williams said Hailey had been treated for mental health problems was taking medication for bipolar disorder.

The couple had been living in the basement of the house owned by friends who were not there at the time of the shootings.

Autopsy results showed that Ashley was shot twice with the rifle Hailey used to shoot himself in the head.

RALEIGH

Basnight careful with firm's donations

North Carolina Senate leader Marc Basnight's campaign received donations from the same people that Gov. Beverly Perdue decided she couldn't take money from because of questions about the legality of the contributions.

Basnight has asked for guidance from election officials about $44,500 in donations from nine people linked to Atlantic Corp. of Wilmington.

The same nine people gave $48,000 to Perdue's campaign. Perdue forfeited the donations Friday after concerns the donors were unlawfully reimbursed by their employer. The State Board of Elections is investigating.

Basnight chief of staff Amy Fulk said the Dare County Democrat will forfeit the donations if they were found to have been given unlawfully.

CHARLOTTE

Residents donate to help local library

Residents in North Carolina's largest city are donating what they can to try to shore up a $2 million shortfall in their local library's budget.

Half the Mecklenburg County library branches will close and 148 staffers will be laid off next month if the money to keep them operating cannot be raised.

The library's board approved the cuts Thursday at noon. By Friday afternoon, $35,000 had been donated through the library Web site and hundreds more had been dropped off in donation boxes at all 24 branches.

Library director of development Dick Pahle says the support is great, but a big donor needs to step forward or the cuts will continue as planned on April 3.

Mecklenburg County is spending $31.8 million on the library this year.

LUMBERTON

Probation officer faces multiple charges

North Carolina officials say a probation officer has been fired after she was charged with several crimes, including unlawfully having sex with someone on probation.

Court documents and police reports show 45-year-old Katrina Milstein of Fairmont faces drug, weapons and conspiracy charges as well as a charge of filing a false police report.

Lumberton police say Milstein admitted having a relationship with a probationer after he was seen driving her car. Milstein was not his probation officer.

The investigation led police to arrest 17 other people, including three on probation. None were assigned to Milstein.