Judge refuses to recognize Revels as Miss North Carolina
A federal judge ruled Thursday that Rebekah Revels will not be allowed to keep her Miss North Carolina title.
Revels claimed she was unfairly forced to resign her title in July because her former boyfriend bragged to pageant officials that he possessed nude pictures of her.
U.S. District Court Judge James Fox denied her motion to force the Miss America Organization to recognize her as a contestant.
Fox said he arrived at his decision because he did not want to tarnish the Miss America Pageant's reputation. He also said the organization could make its own decision about whether to allow Revels to participate.
However, interim president of the Miss America Organization George Bauer said Mysty Clymer, who assumed the Miss North Carolina title after Revels' resignation, will be the only Miss North Carolina recognized as a contestant in the pageant. Revels, he said, will be a "VIP guest" up to and including the Sept. 21 event.
Both Revels and Clymer had been rehearsing for the pageant in Atlantic City this week.
N.C. voter turnout higher than expected
Originally worried that bad weather on the coast and the delayed primary would keep voters away from the polls, state election officials were relieved during Tuesday's voter turnout. About 21 percent--1,047,832 out of 4,999,633 registered voters--showed up to vote in the primaries. That figure is similar to numbers from previous primary years, which ranged from 17 to 21 percent.
Political predictors had worried that turnout would be closer to only 10 percent this September due to the tropical storm that flooded coastal counties earlier this week as well as the four-month delay in the primary.
Some experts believe the excitement of this year's races, particularly the U.S. Senate, attributed to the surprising turnout and outweighed the other factors. Strong competition in the Democratic Senate primary race and Elizabeth Dole's candidacy for the Republicans might have heightened voter interest, they said.
Man convicted of mailing anthrax letters
A man who sent letters he claimed were laced with anthrax to an Asheville federal courthouse was convicted Wednesday.
The U.S. Attorney's office said Kenneth Spring of Waynesville, N.C., was found guilty of 17 charges relating to the mailing of threatening letters.
Spring sent six letters from prison last spring to six people connected with the Asheville federal court. Two of these letters were marked with the word "anthrax" and contained a white, powdery substance inside that was later discovered to be the pain reliever acetaminophen.
Spring, who has been previously convicted of mailing threatening letters and communicating murder threats, may face life imprisonment.
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