Three people from the Cary Area EMS travelled with a Pennsylvania organization.

They spent a day giving medical treatment at a Dominican Republic orphanage before going into Haiti, where they were still giving triage care more than three weeks after the quake hit.

"We were about 45 minutes outside of Port-au-Prince," Chief Steve Cohen said. "It was in another orphanage that was turned into a field hospital. I mean a true field hospital. OR's were made out of tents. Just like the TV show M*A*S*H."

The group got back Monday; Chief Cohen said if given the opportunity, he'd go back again.

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Keep up with the stories Chris Cowperthwaite is working on every day: http://twitter.com/ChrisC_NBC17.

Contact him at ccowperthwaite@wncn.com.

Sandra and Luis Volcan have lived in the U.S. for 10 years, and say they believed they had moved here legally.

They say they were duped by a Miami-based scam artist, who never filed proper paperwork on their behalf -- even though he told the Volcans everything was fine.

They say that man has since been tried and convicted of duping hundreds of people.

The Volcans' lawyer says the couple is the opposite of the negative stereotypes of illegal immigrants.

"Since they got their work permits in 2001, they've filed their taxes and paid their taxes every single year," said Gerard Chapman. "They've never taken any government assistance. They are no burden on our educational system."

Luis Volcan is an associate pastor at Grace Bible Fellowship Church in Cary.  Sandra Volcan is the church administrator there.

The couple admits to having been here illegally once before -- in the early 1990s -- but says they believed they did everything by the book this time.

The Volcans have a hearing before Immigration Court on March 3; they're asking immigration officials for deferred action, a rarely-used tactic which would allow the couple to stay in the United States.

If they're deported or offer to voluntarily leave, the Volcans could be looking at a decade or more before having another opportunity to re-enter the United States.

Immigration officials said they could not comment at the moment.

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Keep up with the stories Chris Cowperthwaite is working on every day: http://twitter.com/ChrisC_NBC17.

Contact him at ccowperthwaite@wncn.com.

The North Carolina Court of Appeals issued a stay on Tuesday without giving a reason. Former Edwards loyalist Andrew Young had appealed a judge's order that required a security official accompany Young to collect the video from a safety deposit box in Atlanta.

Superior Court Judge Abraham Penn Jones has ordered that Young's copies of the tape be turned over so they can be placed under seal. Jones has threatened Young with penalties if he doesn't.

Young's attorneys have argued that requiring an escort was tantamount to an unreasonable search and seizure.

The Summit County coroner says 46-year-old Christopher Harrison of Durham, N.C., was riding a chairlift alone Monday at Copper Mountain Resort when his head fell forward in the chair. The lift operator stopped the lift, and ski patrol cared for Harrison until an ambulance arrived.

He was declared dead about an hour later after being transported to St. Anthony's Copper Mountain Medical Clinic.

Congressman Bob Etheridge (D - 2nd district) was among the first in line with grandson in tow.

Among his top priorities is getting his Hiring Act Bill of 2010 passed in Congress.

"Congress is going to be working on jobs, creating opportunities for people and working hard to fix the financial situation.  We've still got a lot of work to do," said Etheridge.

Etheridge serves on the House Ways and Means Committee which oversees health care, Social Security and unemployment benefits to name a few.

He is also a member of the House Budget Committee.

Republican leadership in the state is eyeing Etheridge's seat.

The economy's slow rebound, high unemployment in the state, health care reform mandates and the federal bailout programs have upset some voters making for a challenging political climate.

"Anytime you run an election, youo better be prepared,  We always prepare to run a full campaign and we'll do it this year during the appropriate campaign season," said Etheridge.

So far, one Libertarian candidate, Tom Rose, has filed to run against Etheridge. According to the North Carolina Libertarian Party Web site, Rose, of Hope Mills, previously ran for a seat in the General Assembly.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee heavily courted Ethteridge to run against Senator Richard Burr.

Political analysts were not surprised Etheridge declined choosing a safer, more familiar route to re-election.

The candidate filing period ends Feb. 26.

Cisco, announcing plans to hire as many as 3000 new workers.

And Oracle, saying it will grow by two thousand people.

The growth of tech companies was also the theme of this Nvidia event. The Silicon Valley chipmaker putting on rose colored glasses, investing in new products to help customers bring 3D to your home.

"It's super important that we invest now, when a lot of people don't think it's a good idea. It's the right thing to do, because our customers will be more efficient and that creates jobs and a better economy," says Nvidia's Dan Vivoli.

While the rest of the country talks about jobs, the tech industry is hiring. Big companies like Nvidia, developing new chips to help smaller companies save money, and grow.

"So the quicker the company has more products to sell, we can have more people to do functions that come with the new product." says Agilent's Amolak Badesha.

"It's that kind of thing tech brings to the market, the idea that you can do more with less, and when you're hurting for money, that plays well, regardless of where the economy is," says Rob Enderle, Principal Analyst for the Enderle Group.

Silicon Valley is famous for developing the next big thing.

These days it's known as the place where jobs are.

The garden, called the Coaches' Corner, will eventually honor several coaches who have built championship teams at NC State. But Yow, who died last January after a long and public battle with cancer, was the students' choice to be the first honoree.

The garden, just outside the doors of storied Reynolds Coliseum (on the Talley Student Center side), will include a bust of Yow, created by Greensboro sculptor James Barnhill. The student-led initiative includes plans for a neatly landscaped entrance and enough room to honor multiple individuals.

Jeffrey Johnson, the chair of the Kay Yow Memorial Committee, said Yow was chosen because of the deep personal connection the students had with the beloved coach, who won more than 700 games during her 34-year career with the Wolfpack.

"She is still very much on everyone's minds here, as far as the students," Johnson said. "We were out on the Brickyard [Wednesday] selling T-shirts and we raised about $500. Just about everybody stopped by and said how glad they were to see this happen."

Johnson and other students have been raising money by selling pink Nike Kay Yow T-shirts at women's basketball games and on campus. But the bulk of the funds raised so far came from private donations, through the Kay Yow Memorial Fund set up through NC State's University Development.

"We're students - we're broke," Johnson said. "So we are looking to alumni to help us fund the project."

To view detailed drawings about the project or to make an on-line donation, go to http://coachescorner.ncsu.edu. All funds raised above the $85,000 goal will be split between the WBCA/Kay Yow Cancer Fund through the V Foundation for Cancer Research and the Wolfpack Club's Kay Yow Memorial Fund.

Landscaping and construction on the project have begun, Johnson said, and should be completed by April. The garden will include two flowering trees in the entranceway, a sitting area surrounded by shrubbery and the bust of Yow.

Johnson said future classes will begin raising money to continue the project.

"It is intended to be the Coaches Corner, to honor all the coaches who lived up to her standards of performance on and off the court for the university and the community as a whole," Johnson said. "We all know we have several coaches who have lived up to that. The next step is to decide which one goes next.

"They will set up the fund for that and get the ball rolling."

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received about 80 complaints from drivers of 2009 and 2010 Corollas. Many say their cars can wander when they drive on the highway, making it hard to stay in lanes.

NHTSA says it will determine if a formal safety investigation is warranted. But agency officials also stress that it is standard procedure to review the tens of thousands of driver complaints they get every year on a wide range of vehicles.

Toyota's safety issues are under intense scrutiny due to recalls over gas pedal problems. The company also recalled some of its Prius hybrids Monday.

In the event of future severe weather before the end of the school year, there are three remaining options which the Board of Education has approved in priority order:

1) Converting a Saturday to a Student Day. The district would make every effort to avoid overtime costs while using a Saturday as a half-day for instruction with regular operations for bussing, food service, etc.

2) Converting a Vacation Day in Spring Break. This requires shuffling designations of days. For example, if schools are forced to close on February 15, it would become a Planning Day, April 9 would become a Student Day, and June 14 would become a Vacation Day.

3) Request a waiver to calendar requirements. Beyond Options 1 and 2, the district would have to appeal to the State Board of Education for a waiver to the calendar restrictions imposed by NC HB-1464.

The Edgecombe Early College High School is housed on the community college campus and operates on a different calendar. However, that school has time to make up, as well. Three planning days for that school have been canceled to accommodate the missed days. Early College students will attend classes on February 15, April 2, and May 25, which will become the last day of the school year for that school.

"We encourage everyone to take a moment to review this video and photo and share with us anything they may know, no matter how small or insignificant the detail may seem," said Captain Mike Williams, Criminal Investigations with the Town of Cary. "To help prevent these types of crimes, remember to be alert and report any suspicious activity."

Crime Stoppers pays up to $2,500 for the arrest or indictment of those responsible for committing certain types of crimes. If you have information, contact Crime Stoppers at 226-CRIM(E) or contact Sgt. Randy Byrd at (919) 380-2133; you may also visit www.carycrimestoppers.net. All calls will be kept CONFIDENTIAL at caller's request.

Leonard will be officially sworn in during the Board meeting on Monday, Feb. 15, at SAGE Academy. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the library media center.

• Understand how the alternative scenarios were developed;
• Recognize how performance measures guided scenario development;
• Confirm priority measures; and
• Reach consensus on key elements of a preferred scenario.
• There will also be a large group presentation as well as hands-on review exercises of scenario maps.

Following the second workshop, a preferred scenario will be developed with strong consideration of the public feedback gathered during the second workshop. Once this preferred scenario is approved, short-term and long-range integrated land-use and multimodal transportation strategies and implementation steps will be recommended.

The last public workshop, scheduled for May 11, 2010, will again call on the public to provide input on the preferred scenario and refinements of the strategy recommendations to create a Master Plan "blueprint" for the corridor. The recommendations will then be presented to each of the local policy boards beginning in July 2010 for their review, comment, and approval action.

Once the study is finished, the final master plan will be presented to the local and regional policy boards and used to inform transportation/traffic analysis, land use decisions, project planning, and funding priorities.

The total cost for the study is $257,432 with 80 percent of the funding coming from federal transportation planning funds and the remaining 20 percent funded jointly by the City of Durham, Durham County, and the Town of Chapel Hill.

Residents interested in joining a group of citizen contacts for this study should contact Leta Huntsinger with the DCHC MPO at (919) 560-4366 ext. 30423 or via e-mail at leta.huntsinger@durhamnc.gov. For more information about this study, visit www.nc54-I40corridorstudy.com.

The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission meets Tuesday in Raleigh to hear the case of Greg Taylor, The Cary man has spent more than 16 years in prison for the stabbing and beating death of 26-year-old Jacquetta Thomas, whose body was found on a Raleigh street in September 1991.

Another man, Craig Taylor, has confessed to the crime.

The commission found enough evidence to warrant a review of the case. But Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby has said that he's skeptical of Craig Taylor's confession, partly because he's confessed to almost 70 other crimes.

North Carolina is the only state with a government agency dedicated to verifying claims of innocence.

On their way home from church, the Saultens had driven into what they thought was shallow water covering part of R. Jordan Road, which crosses the Deep River near the Chatham and Lee County line. Within seconds of driving into the high waters, their car was inundated.

But, with no phone and no way out of the flooded car, the couple decided to tough it out as the waters of the Deep River were surging over R. Jordan Road.

"It was something to have that water come up over beyond the windshield and radiator, and over the top of the car," said 77-year-old Maisie Saulten, who was diving her 90-year-old husband Harland.

Standing by the Camelback Truss Bridge at Deep River Park in Cumnock, N.C., area resident Scott Jackson pointed out just how much the river had crested.

"Out there is a picnic table, and normally you could walk to it," Jackson explained. "But, it's just flooded out right to the top of the table. This is the highest I've ever seen it."

And it was that high water that covered a portion of the road near the park that caused the problems for the Saultens.

"The water drowned out their car. The battery died, so they chose to ride it out and stayed in the car all night," T. Shane Seagroves, the director of emergency services for Lee County, explained.

For nearly 11 hours, the couple huddled in the water filled car.

"The circumstances dictated it," Harland said. "What are you going to do with water that's three and a half feet deep and you're in the middle of it?"

"I sat in that cold water in my seat all night long."

The Saultens fought sleep to ensure each other's safety while they awaited help.

"I felt in my heart it would be wise to stay awake to help each other in case something would happen," Maisie explained.

During the long, dark hours, they were comforted by a well-worn bible they had brought with them to church earlier that day.

"We talked to the Lord, and we prayed asking him to send in reinforcements," Maisie said.

At dawn, help arrived in the form of a pick-up truck that could negotiate the now-receding flood waters.

"I held the car door open and hung myself out as much as I could, waving for him to come on down," Harland said. "By then, the water was shallow enough to drive down there."

The truck's driver took Harland to a nearby house where the owner called for help.

"They seemed to be fine," Seagroves said. "They were cold, but Harland refused treatment; Maisie was taken to the hospital in Sanford to be checked."

Although there are signs and barriers in the middle of the road warning about the flooding conditions Monday afternoon, the couple insists there was nothing like that on the road when they drove down it Sunday evening.

Had the warnings been there, the Saultens said, there's no way they would have chanced going through flood conditions like that.

Laurie Paolicelli, Chapel Hill-Orange County Visitors Bureau Director, told the council at Monday's meeting they are looking for new ways to advertise and market the area to bring in more tourists. Paolicelli said the economy and neighboring counties competiting for tourists is having a negative impact on Chapel Hill's efforts.

Paolicelli said the most popular request she gets from visitors is asking for a guided tour of Chapel Hill. She showed council members a map of a 10 mile loop around town that could be a possible route.

The loop would include such stops as University Mall, the Carolina Basketball Museum, NC Botanical Garden, Weaver Street Market in Carrboro, and the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center.

Council members expressed interest in the idea and asked the town manager to look at how much it would cost and to consider putting into this spring's budget negotiations.