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The Charlotte Observer

Kin Yiu Cheung, left, and his lawyer Murray Janus arrive at Caroline County court in Bowling Green, Va., for Cheung's arraignment Friday, June 3, 2011. The 37-year-old bus driver from Flushing, N.Y., is charged with reckless driving in the May 31 crash on Interstate 95 that killed four women from New York, Philadelphia and New Jersey. (AP Photo/Michael Felberbaum)

Driver in deadly bus crash faces arraignment

Franco Ordonez, Maria David, The Charlotte Observer

Last updated Friday, June 3, 2011 - 10:42am

The driver of the Sky Express bus in Tuesday's deadly crash will be arraigned in a Virginia court Friday morning on reckless driving charges.

Investigators say Kin Yiu Cheung, 37, was sleepy when his bus swerved off northbound Interstate 95, hit an embankment and flipped, killing four women and injuring 53 other passengers.

Crime, Courts, Tour bus crash, National Read more Comments

Emergency workers are on scene of a train accident in Mineral Springs, N.C. where a crew member was killed and three others injured Tuesday morning, May 24, 2011. One train crashed into the rear of another train touching off a fire and forcing an evacuation. The crash sent a plume of smoke into the air, but Union County officials say the trains were not carrying any kind of hazardous material. (AP Photo/The Charlotte Observer, Davie Hinshaw)

2 killed in North Carolina train crash

Steve Lyttle, The Charlotte Observer

Last updated Tuesday, May 24, 2011 - 12:54pm

MINERAL SPRINGS, N.C. -- Two crew members were killed and two others were injured Tuesday morning when a train crashed into the rear of another train in the North Carolina town of Mineral Springs, touching off a fire and forcing an evacuation of several families.

Fatal, Trains, Accident, National Read more Comments

Bus driver hailed as hero after getting student to hand over loaded gun

Charlotte Sutton, The Charlotte Observer

Last updated Tuesday, May 10, 2011 - 4:16pm

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A Charlotte-Mecklenburg school bus driver is being hailed as a hero after talking a student into handing over a loaded gun and ending a hijacking attempt by the seventh-grader Monday afternoon in northeast Charlotte.

Schools, Buses, Guns, National Read more Comments

5 charged in attack on gay man

Steve Little, The Charlotte Observer

Last updated Friday, April 29, 2011 - 1:57pm

ROCK HILL, S.C. -- York County authorities have charged five men with assaulting a gay 19-year-old man earlier this month in Rock Hill.

The sheriff's office said Friday the five have been charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. It carries a prison term of up to 20 years, authorities say.

Assault, Crime, Gay, National Read more Comments

83-year-old Walmart greeter charged in robbery

Steve Lyttle, The Charlotte Observer

Last updated Monday, March 7, 2011 - 2:53pm

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Police in Statesville, N.C., say an 83-year-old man who worked at a Walmart store as a greeter is in jail, charged with donning a disguise and robbing the store at gunpoint Sunday night.

Crime, Robbery, Walmart, National Read more Comments

JetBlue agent at Charlotte airport fired in TSA sting

Ames Alexander, Steve Harrison, The Charlotte Observer

Last updated Friday, January 14, 2011 - 1:17pm

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A second security breach at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport -- this one reportedly involving an undercover sting -- has cost a JetBlue ticket agent his job.

In a Nov. 19 test of aviation security, an undercover inspector for the Transportation Security Administration told the ticket agent that he needed to get a package to Boston that day -- and handed the employee a $100 bill, according to a TSA report obtained by a Boston television station.

The JetBlue employee pocketed the money and put the package in the name of an unwitting passenger on a flight to Boston, the report by WBZ-TV says.

The package went through the customary baggage screening and was grabbed by a TSA team before it was loaded onto the jet, according to the report.

Airlines, JetBlue, TSA Read more Comments

Fannie, Freddie win $3.3 billion in mortgage settlements

Rick Rothacker, The Charlotte Observer

Last updated Monday, January 3, 2011 - 3:17pm

HARLOTTE, N.C. -- Looking to resolve one of its major mortgage headaches, Bank of America Corp. on Monday said it has paid $2.8 billion to settle claims related to soured Countrywide Financial Corp. mortgage loans.

Ally Financial Inc., formerly known as GMAC, also settled for almost $500 million.

The agreements with mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae reduce uncertainty over the banks' mortgage liability. But Bank of America, the nation's largest bank, still faces claims from other investors who bought questionable home loans from Countrywide and the Charlotte bank during the housing boom.

Business, Home foreclosures, Mortgage Read more Comments

Search for missing Zahra Baker continues

Ely Portillo, Franco Ordonez, Steve Lyttle, The Charlotte Observer

Last updated Wednesday, October 13, 2010 - 11:54am

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Searchers worked under the glare of floodlights late into the night Tuesday, scouring property in Burke County, N.C., for answers to the puzzling disappearance of 10-year-old Zahra Clare Baker.

Missing Person, Search Read more Comments