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Josh Shaffer

Buckeye Chuck looks out during Groundhog Day, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012 in Marion, Ohio. Chuck predicts an early spring this year. (AP Photo/The Marion Star, Bill Sinden)

Some groundhogs are more accurate than others

Josh Shaffer News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)

Last updated Thursday, February 2, 2012 - 11:36am

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Every Feb. 2, a slew of weather-predicting rodents lift their noses in the air to test winter's strength, offering groundhog-hole predictions from Punxsutawney, Pa., down to Lilburn, Ga.

But among all fur-covered meteorologists, the best-guesser's crown belongs to a 5-year-old critter who lives indoors and doesn't even hibernate: Mortimer, the pride of Garner, N.C.

Features, Groundhog, Groundhog Day, Weather Read more Comments

Dalton Windley, serving a life sentence for killing a man, wants to donate a kidney and an eye "to do some good." (SHNS photo by Josh Shaffer / Raleigh News & Observer)

Inmate wants to donate kidney, eye 'to do some good'

Josh Shaffer News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)

Last updated Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - 5:17pm

TILLERY, N.C. -- When he was 20, Dalton Windley fetched a .22-caliber rifle from his car, aimed it from the hip and fired a single shot at Glenn Brame from about 150 yards, catching the young man in the neck.

They'd been arguing over a girl. Windley knows it doesn't matter, but he insists he didn't mean to kill. Those few seconds of wildness got him a life sentence in prison and, after nearly 20 years, he doesn't expect to get out.

Inmate, Organ Donation, Prison, National Read more Comments

Doggie snatching rising sharply

Josh Shaffer News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)

Last updated Friday, August 12, 2011 - 1:26pm

Just past dawn, a gray SUV pulled into Hailey Shelton's driveway and made off with Chloe and Dixie.

Nobody heard a bark on that June morning. Nobody found an open gate. The only explanation came from a neighbor, who witnessed the early morning dognappers from across the street.

"They just straight-up took two puppies," said Shelton, 19, who lives in Durham, N.C.

Animal advocates are reporting a sharp rise in dog theft -- a murky and hard-to-track crime that often goes unreported.

Crime, Dogs, Theft, National Read more Comments

SHNS photo courtesy NC Museum of Natural Science
The adult vampire flying frog, discovered in Vietnam, has fangs as a tadpole.

Vampire flying frog has fangs as tadpole

Josh Shaffer, Raleigh News and Observer

Last updated Friday, February 4, 2011 - 4:09pm

RALEIGH, N.C. -- No ordinary pond-hopper, the vampire flying frog has wowed herpetologists with its webbed feet, gliding ability and habit of laying eggs in tree holes 30 feet high.

But one thing sets the Vietnamese croaker apart from any known species on Earth: As a baby, it boasts a pair of black fangs.

Features, Frogs, Vampires Read more Comments