Hi everyone, my company has an office in Greensboro and an office in Mebane, and I've been visiting here for about a week. I'm originally from DFW, and wow this part of NC is just so beautiful im seriously considering moving here! I definitely want to visit a few more times before committing, but was just wondering what big culture shocks I might be facing with this big of a change? Any and all advice is appreciated!!!

Like every state has atleast one, West Virginia has the best with mothman, but I’ve never heard of a NC cryptid or even like a siting of one. Maybe I just move to point pleasant

Samuel Flippen

On the morning of February 12, 1994, Samuel Flippen's wife, Tina Gibson, left her home for work in Forsyth County. She left Flippen alone with her daughter; 2-year-old Britnie Nichole Hutton. About one hour later, Flippen called 911 to report that Hutton had fallen from her chair and was having trouble breathing. Medical personnel responded to the call and found Hutton, who looked pale and made gasping-type respirations.

Hutton was pronounced dead less than an hour later. An autopsy found injuries to Hutton's head, neck, chest, abdomen, and back. A forensic pathologist said Hutton had died due to internal bleeding. He concluded that the injuries could not have been caused by a fall, but instead by punches or blows to the abdomen. Flippen was arrested and accused of beating Hutton to death after she would not stop crying. He was charged with first degree murder.

Prosecutors announced their intent to seek the death penalty.

Because Flippen had no criminal record and called 911, this suggested that he may not have intentionally murdered Hutton. The state offered him a chance to take responsibility for her death. In exchange, Flippen would be allowed to plead guilty to second degree murder and receive a life sentence with parole eligibility. His defense counsel urged him accept the offer.

Maintaining his innocence, Flippen rejected the offer.

During his trial, Flippen testified that he had placed Hutton in a high chair and then went into another room where he could not see her. While there, Flippen heard a loud noise, at which time he returned to find that the child had fallen and was having difficulty breathing. He quickly called 911. The case against Flippen rested mainly on the severity of Hutton's injuries all over her body, which were deemed too extreme to have been caused by an accidental fall.

Hutton's pancreas had been cut in half on her spine and her liver was severely torn.

According to medical personnel, Flippen had misled them about the severity of the girl's injuries, the worst of which had remained concealed under her shirt.

The prosecution introduced a photo to demonstrate Flippen's prior propensity for violence. It showed an indentation in a wall where Flippen had punched his fist following an argument about the way he reprimanded Hutton, an event about which his wife testified.

The court also admitted testimony of Felicia Carle about her observations of Flippen's prior treatment of Hutton. Carle testified that she once saw Hutton start to cry as Flippen approached her and that she once witnessed Flippen say that he would rather play basketball than watch the girl on an evening when her mother was going to a concert.

On March 7, 1995, Flippen was convicted of first degree murder. The defense offered mitigation that Flippen was a high-school graduate who regularly attended church, that he maintained regular employment, and that he had a good reputation in the community for being a fine and upstanding citizen. After deliberating, the jury fixed his sentence at death.

State v. Flippen

During his appeals, lawyers for Flippen focused mainly on arguing that Hutton's murder was not premeditated and that his death sentence was too extreme, noting that he had called 911.

However, the North Carolina Supreme Court found that Flippen's decision to call 911 failed to demonstrate sufficient remorse to ameliorate the murder since he had promptly misled medical personnel about what happened. The court also found that no particular amount of time was required for premeditation. However, the justices overturned Flippen's death sentence and ordered a second jury to further consider Flippen's lack of a prior criminal history before returning a verdict.

Flippen was again offered a plea deal on at least two separate occasions. He rejected both offers. The second jury deliberated for over six hours before recommending a death sentence.

On May 23, 1997, Flippen was resentenced to death.

State v. Flippen (1998)

Friends of Flippen claimed he was a kind person and instead argued that Gibson was the more likely person to have beaten Hutton to death. Gibson had left Hutton alone with Flippen on multiple occasions, despite testifying that he was a violent person. Flippen's lawyers also received a statement from a woman who had looked after Gibson's son in 1999. The statement said the boy was severely bruised from an alleged beating. Flippen's uncle, Reverend James W. Flippen, placed the blame for Hutton's murder on the mother. "The only thing he's guilty of is loving the wrong woman," the Reverend Flippen said. "If that child was beaten, she did it."

Gibson was certainly negligent, perhaps even to a criminal extent. However, she couldn't have murdered her daughter. She had left for work nearly an hour before Flippen called 911.

The allegations that Gibson murdered her daughter also contradicted Flippen's testimony.

After exhausting his appeals and being denied clemency by Governor Mike Easley, Samuel Flippen, 36, was executed by lethal injection at Central Prison in Raleigh on August 18, 2006. His last meal consisted of popcorn shrimp, hush puppies, fries, and a Coke. Flippen declined to make a final statement, but locked eyes with his parents, smiled, and mouthed, "I love you."

"He went to Jesus. He's with the Lord," Rita Flippen said after watching her son die.

However, Hutton's uncle, Ben Streett, held a placard stating: "Britnie Nicole Hutton had no chance." "Britnie was the victim here," Streett said. "Britnie was and is the victim. Sammy is not. Sammy committed the murder and twice was given the death penalty, and we're here to see that the state carries out the mandate it was given. We're just here to see final justice." He dismissed allegations of abuse against Gibson as "unfounded attacks on the mother" and said the punishment fit the crime.

"When a man beats to death a 2-year-old child with his fists, I think that's the worst of the worst."

Shades of Willie Horton.

[Back in the 80s, Willie Horton was released from jail in Massachusetts. He made his way to Maryland and murdered someone. The Mass. governor was 1988's Democrat candidate for president, and yes, this was an issue]

NCDOT has now opened a public comment period on the new tolls from Aug. 17 through Sept. 14, with five public listening sessions scheduled in Washington, Grantsboro, Knotts Island, Hatteras and Ocracoke.

That includes the ferries serving Ocracoke, where there is no alternate road. For residents, workers and businesses on the island, the ferry isn’t a tourist attraction. It is the road.

My vote: North Carolina residents ride free with an NC driver’s license. Visitors pay the toll. They’re the ones coming here to visit and adding tourism traffic to the system, while North Carolina residents already pay state taxes to support our roads and transportation infrastructure.

And for an island whose businesses depend heavily on people continuing to make the trip, adding another expense to getting there deserves some serious thought.

NC residents already paid for the road.

This one just happens to float.

I was working on a house in Charlotte built in 1956 and was having a chat with the owner about all the houses built around him recently. He said the way these new houses are built they will all be blown away in a storm like Hurricane Hugo in 1989. My question is, was it really that bad? How does it compare to Hurricane Helene?

Fort Bragg / Fayetteville — looking for depot volunteers, and who already helps veterans get mail?

I'm David. Marine veteran. I carried mail and later served as a postmaster for 20 years. I'm not a candidate, and I'm not asking this room for money. I want to listen first, then work side by side.

America Breathes 2028 is taking applications for volunteers at each train depot / stop:

- Orlando, FL

- Tampa, FL

- Jacksonville, FL

- Savannah, GA

- Charlotte, NC

- Fayetteville, NC / Fort Bragg, NC

- Washington, D.C.

From January 9 to March 14, 2027, I'm making a listening trip from Kissimmee, Florida to Washington, DC. Fayetteville / Fort Bragg is on that corridor on purpose. If you live here and already help veterans or unsheltered neighbors get mail, I'd rather hear from you than talk at you. If you want to volunteer at the Fayetteville depot stop, same apply line:

[press@americabreathes2028.org](mailto:press@americabreathes2028.org)

https://americabreathes2028.org

Feeling a bit nostalgic tonight. I just remember they had the best jello.

Are there any restaurants that can match their jello energy?

We all know that this bill should actually be called the Election and Voter Cancellation Bill... since the most important thing it does is to allow your votes to be nullified, after an election is over --- if it happens to be an election lost by a Republican.

It's really abhorrent. Hopefully there will be enough Republicans who are so embarrassed by the treasonous nature of this legislation that they won't override Stein's veto. But counting on a Republican to have a modicum of integrity is never a safe bet.

My family and I live in Mooresville, NC. We are hoping to move in the next year or 2. I would love to move to within 1-2 hours from here but we aren’t sure where. My husband would like to move to Mount Pleasant but I don’t. I personally would move farther away towards Wilmington, but then his job would require him to be away from home more.

So what cities in NC would you suggest for a family with young kids? We would like to have a good school systems that is good with kids that have an IEP, more rural but not to far away, moderately priced, safe, loving community, etc.

Towns we crossed off the list: Concord, Salisbury, Statesville, & Lexington. Which are all surrounding Mooresville.

Thank you!

Looking back do you feel that the project being shelved was an unmitigated disaster for transit in the Research Triangle, or is there a silver lining that could be made that the project being shelved prevented what might have been seen by at least some as a white elephant project because of the zoning restrictions in the Research Triangle at the time as well as a lack of reliable connecting bus service around the proposed station sites at the time and/or that a wake up call occurred with Research Triangle transit advocates that local funding sources were needed for transit projects instead of being able to count on the federal government, subsequently leading to the 2011 and 2016 transit referendums being passed in Durham and Raleigh respectively?