The display will take place Friday night at Morrisville Community Park around 9:15 p.m.

"Hopefully the weather will be good to us," said Jerry Allen, Morrisville's Director of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources. "We'll have a 20-25 minute fireworks display there at the park."

Usually, Morrisville would have already had its annual "Day at the Park" in mid-June, but that event was cancelled because of the recession.

"When budgets got tight we had to make some additional reductions and that event had to be taken out," said Allen. "So Day at the Park went away, but unfortunately by the point we cancelled it we already had contracts in place, one of those being a fireworks contract."

Since the town was contractually obligated to have fireworks, officials just moved it back a few weeks.

The display costs about $5,000; if Day at the Park had gone on as planned the town would have spent ten times that amount.

Following Friday's fireworks there will be a couple different events on Saturday.

Firefighters will be hosting a pancake breakfast at Morrisville Community Park from 8 to 10 a.m.

Then at 2 p.m., the Fire Department will have a "wet down" ceremony to welcome its newest truck; kids are invited to bring their water guns and join the fire hoses in dousing the truck at Fire Station Number Two.

The Fire Department will have hot dogs and refreshments available.

Thursday, NCDOT workers installed several signs near Green Level to Durham Road and Cary Glen Boulevard.

The orange and black signs caution drivers that there's an intersection coming up, and have a suggested 35 mile per hour speed limit.

All the new signs are on Green Level to Durham Road as cars approach the intersection from both directions.

The Town of Cary has also made some changes, installing a "traffic sentry," a stationary machine that measures speed with radar.

The device is on the north-bound side of Green Level to Durham Road, and for the moment it is not displaying speeds to drivers because it's collecting data instead.

The intersection is the site of a deadly hit-and-run accident last week.

16 year old Kailee Birdsong died after the car she was riding in was clipped, and rolled over several times.

Police are still looking for a tan or beige van or SUV they believe took off after the wreck.

Anyone with information should call Cary Police at (919) 469-4012.

George Johnson, 50, turned himself in to authorities Wednesday afternoon, on two charges each of Taking Indecent Liberties with a Child, and Indecent Liberties with a Student by a Teacher.

Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 59 months.

A criminal investigation began after a parent made accusations against Johnson, who was then a first grade teacher at Wakelon Elementary in Zebulon.

School officials suspended Johnson from work, and he subsequently resigned June 12.

Wake County Public School System leaders said that when Johnson was hired, his background check did not raise any red flags.

When hiring employees, WCPSS policy is to collect written and verbal recommendations from previous employers, conduct criminal background checks for every place the applicant has lived in the past ten years, and check the nationwide sexual offender registry.

The hiring process is halted if anything suspicious arises in someone's background, said WCPSS spokesperson Michael Evans.

Johnson's bond was set at $70,000. He is scheduled to appear in court again on July 23.

Drivers should be prepared for changing transportation patterns caused by the opening of new schools and the return of school buses to the roadways transporting students to 52 year-round elementary and middle schools with the new school year beginning July 7.

There will be three new schools - Banks Road Elementary, Herbert Akins Road Elementary and Lake Myra Elementary - open July 7. The arrival of school staff, hundreds of parents transporting children and school buses running new routes to school will have an impact on traffic near the schools.

Banks Road Elementary is located at 10225 Chambers Road in Raleigh, not far from the main campus of Wake Technical Community College. Herbert Akins Road Elementary is located at 2255 Herbert Akins Road, Fuquay-Varina. Lake Myra Elementary is located at 1300 Elk Falls Drive, Wendell.

Parents are encouraged to visit our Transportation website at www.wcpss.net/transportation to find answers to questions regarding services due to the high volume of calls the departments receives the first couple weeks of school. Should you still have questions, we can be reached at (919) 856-8050. We will have additional operators during this time period to take and return calls. Should you need to leave a message, the department will return your call within 24 hours.

Bus routes for the 52 year-round schools are online at www.wcpss.net/school-directory/bus-routes/. Bus routes for traditional calendar schools will be updated online in early August. Other information regarding transportation services can be found on the Transportation website, such as how to request services, forms and board policies related to transportation services.

Helping youngest riders

Kindergartners and first graders who ride the bus will be given name tags for the first 20 days of school. Schools will place name tags on students before boarding the afternoon bus. Tags will include student name, school name and phone number, bus route number and bus stop location. Parents are encouraged to teach children to know their home address, phone number and bus route name. Help prepare children for the new experience of riding the bus to school.

The Wake County Public School System provides bus transportation to all base students in the system who live one-and-a-half miles or more from school and to students with identified special needs. The system's transportation department is committed to providing these students with safe, efficient and reliable transportation service that contributes to their overall academic success.

The start of the school year is a challenging time for the WCPSS Transportation Department. Transportation planners created routes for the new year by looking at the students who were transported the prior year and obtaining new information from WCPSS Growth Management of students enrolled for this school year. The Transportation Department creates new routes based on their expectation of student ridership.

The first week of school, parents and students are making decisions about the best use of buses to get to and from school. As families make decisions about their use of buses, the Transportation Department adapts routes to meet the riders' needs. As families finalize decisions about their use of bus service, bus routes are finalized. This process generally takes about two weeks.

By the end of August when all schools are in session, Wake County Public School System drivers will be behind the wheels of 900 buses transporting approximately 75,000 students safely each day.

House and Senate negotiators said Thursday they will go home rather than keep working on differences in taxes and spending for the final two-year spending plan.

Rep. Jim Crawford of Granville County says leaders determined they aren't far enough along to finish by the end of the holiday weekend.
The House and Senate are still far apart on how to raise $1 billion in new revenues.

Perdue urged lawmakers Wednesday to act quickly and protect core services like education.

The Legislature approved a stopgap spending plan Tuesday that lets state government operate without a final budget through July 15.

The City of Durham received a $200,000 grant from the U.S. EPA in 2008 to train about 60 residents from Northeast Central Durham and the surrounding area to gain the skills and training needed to competitively seek employment in the assessment and cleanup activities associated with the redevelopment and reuse of local and regional brownfield sites, as well as other related "green" markets.

The EPA says the term "brownfield site" means real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.

The city says 17 students graduated from the first class; 12 found jobs in related fields.

Students have received training and certifications that include: CPR/First Aid (Emergency Response) certifications; a 40-Hour Hazardous Waste Operations (HAZWOPER) certificate; field testing and equipment; lead worker awareness; and soil and water management. Employment opportunities for these students will offer starting salaries of $11 to $13 per hour.

For more information, contact Nicholas McCoy, interim senior workforce development manager for City of Durham's Office of Economic and Workforce Development and Durham JobLink Career Center, at (919) 560-4965, extension 15220 or via e-mail at Nicholas.McCoy@durhamnc.gov.

For general information regarding the Durham JobLink Career Center, visit the City's Web site at www.durhamnc.gov/departments/eed/dwdb_joblink.cfm.

Ann Britt and Linwood Maurice Stancil are both charged with child abuse.  They were also accused of tying up the boy’s feet.

Both Britt and Stancil were released from jail on a $1,000 bond.  Social Services say the two children that were living the with suspects are now in the custody of other relatives.

According to police, three suspects in a black car with South Carolina tags were stopped and then fled the scene. NBC 17 Reporter Kim Genardo reports that there are at least 15 Raleigh Police cruisers are on the scene with support by the Highway Patrol.

Two suspects were taken into custody shortly after the chase ended. The third and final suspect was caught just after 1 p.m.

The Highway Patrol helicopter flew over the scene to help with the search.. The search had been centered east to west over a creek area at the intersection. Officers are also out on the scene with rifles drawn.

Earlier on Thursday, Raleigh police officers responded to a bank robbery call at a Sun Trust location. An officer spotted the car in the chase and began a pursuit. Shots were fired, hitting the patrol car and that is when the chase began.

There are no reported injuries at the moment.

Stay with NBC17 and NBC17.com as the story develops.

“This office will help to increase convenience and access to postal services for customers unable to travel to the Cary Post Office,” said John C. Thompson, Postmaster, Cary, who will oversee the CPU at Dolphin’s Mart. “A full line of postal products and services are available at the new CPU including postage stamps, Express Mail® service, Priority Mail® service, special services, packaging products, and much more. We are very excited for the residents of Cary.”

       
The Postal Service has re-engineered the entire Contract Unit Postal program to better answer the needs of postal customers nationwide. “The Postal Service is continuously tasked with finding smarter and more efficient ways to reach our customers,” said Thompson. “Our CPUs, our online services at www.usps.com, and our Automated Postal Centers at Post Offices throughout the city and state are allowing us to change the way we do business, to make us available to more people 24 hours a day.”

This afternoon, Durham Police arrested Thomas Rashawn Monroe, 23, of 3300 Shannon Road, Apt. 5A, in connection with the shooting. He's charged with assault on a law enforcement officer with a firearm and is in the Durham County Jail under a $250,000 bond.

Officer D.J. Youmans was with his training officer on a "shots fired" call at an apartment complex at 3300 Shannon Road shortly before 4 a.m. Other witnesses reported a possible break-in in progress to police.

"When they responded and came to the location here, they wound up confronting someone shooting at them," said Chief Jose Lopez, Sr. "There were multiple shots apparently fired."

It woke up some in the neighborhood.

"We were all asleep and we heard pops - about four or five," said Ashley Goodyear, who lives across the street. "It is quiet [here] so it's surprising and it's scary"

Earlier, investigators questioned four people apartment 5-A. Lopez said shots came from inside an apartment but the officers did not shoot back.

"I have to point to the officer's professionalism that in light of the situation they had encountered, they did not fire into the door ... into the apartment," Lopez said. "You have to know who you're shooting at. You can't just shoot randomly into the dark or an inanimate space if you don't know what's behind it."

Emergency teams transported Youmans to Duke University Hospital, where he was in stable condition Thursday afternoon. He was wearing a bullet proof vest, but the shot struck him right below the edge of that protection.

"It's like having someone in your family, which quite frankly ... they are my family ... be subjected to such a violent act," Lopez said.

Youmans joined the Durham force in May after spending two years with the New York City Police Department.

School officials said Wednesday they have signed a 10-year contract for Nike to supply athletic footwear, apparel and accessory products to the Tar Heels.

The contract was signed in late May and was made retroactive to July 1, 2008.

The Beaverton, Ore.-based footwear maker will provide shoes, uniforms, balls, coaching gear and other equipment for the school. The athletic department also will receive $1 million from the deal, with those funds being used for lighting and sound improvements at the Dean Smith Center.

School officials also said Nike has entered individual contracts with each of the Tar Heels' head coaches.