The past year will be remembered for its tumultuous election season, catastrophic weather and several tragic line-of-duty deaths among law enforcement. North Carolina had its share of both big stories as well as other headlines across the state.
Here is a look back at some of the topics that made big headlines in 2024.
Weather
Hurricane Helene pounded western North Carolina, causing devastating floods and killing 103, according to state officials. The region lost power, water and cellphone service. Bridges and roads were washed out, and a major highway remains closed, but residents are rebuilding. Reopening of a key part of Interstate 40 near the Tennessee border was delayed this month by a fresh collapse.
But that was not the only catastrophic weather to hit the state. Among several deadly tornadoes this year, an EF1 killed a man in Claremont in Catawba County in early January as a strong storm system moved through the state. It knocked out power to thousands, downed trees and flooded roads.
In May, another EF1 killed a person in Gaston County when a tree fell on a vehicle.
Then in August, Tropical Storm Debby spawned deadly storms as it pushed through the state, killing two. Ten tornadoes were confirmed and 86 Tornado Warnings issued over a three-day period in North Carolina. The storm prompted then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Vice President-elect JD Vance to cancel campaign stops in Raleigh.
Politics
In the runup to Election Day, candidates including Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump made repeated visits to the state. Although Trump took North Carolina, Democrats won several key statewide races, including the governor’s office when N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, beat out his Republican rival, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.
Robinson’s campaign foundered after CNN reported that he made disturbing postings on a pornographic website’s forum over a decade ago. Robinson has denied the accusations.
In other political news, sports betting, which was legalized after the General Assembly passed a law last year, began for North Carolina in March. After a busy start that came in time for the ACC basketball tournament, sports wagers dropped off over the summer.
Although a bill to legalize medical marijuana stalled this year in the legislature, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians began selling it on tribal land in April. Then in September, the tribe expanded sales of marijuana to all adults. Possession or use of marijuana otherwise remains illegal in the state.
Charlotte leaders in September took a big step toward creating a regional commuter rail line linking uptown to northern suburbs near Lake Norman. The city council approved the $74 million purchase from Norfolk Southern to build the Red Line project.
Public safety
The past year has been deadly for law enforcement officers.
A week ago, Police Officer Michael Horan was fatally shot when he responded to a call at a Greensboro grocery store. A suspect in the killing was arrested over 100 miles away after a high-speed chase.
In April, four officers working with a U.S. Marshals Service task force were fatally shot as they tried to arrest a fugitive, who died in the firefight. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Joshua Eyer, U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks, and Adult Corrections Officers Sam Poloche and Alden Elliott were killed in what the Associated Press said was the deadliest attack on law enforcement in the United States since 2016.
The February death of a 12-year-old boy at a wilderness camp for troubled teens drew scrutiny from state officials and local law enforcement. After Clark Harman died at Trails Carolina Wilderness Camp near Lake Toxaway, other teens were removed and the camp’s license later was suspended. Although an investigation found Harman died of suffocation, authorities declined to press criminal charges.
In April, authorities announced they had found remains connected to siblings Blake and London Deven, who had been missing for years. Warrants filed by investigators alleged torture and starvation of children at the Fayetteville household where the siblings lived. Their adoptive mother, Avantae Deven, 63, was charged in June with two counts of first-degree murder and child abuse.
And in August, a convicted killer who escaped a prison van in Hillsborough prompted a days-long search. Ramone Alston, 30, who fatally shot a 1-year-old in Chapel Hill on Christmas Day 2015, was arrested at a Kannapolis hotel and transferred to a high-security prison to resume his life sentence.
