TheSunNews.com: News

N.C. prosecutors decry erosion of the state's mental health services

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:07 EST

North Carolina's prosecutors say they are increasingly concerned about the erosion of state services for people with mental illness who are accused of crimes.

In a letter sent last month to Gov. Bev Perdue and her secretary of Health and Human Services, Lanier Cansler, the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys said its members are worried by a lack of available beds in the forensic unit at Central Regional Hospital in Butner. Evaluations are performed there to determine whether defendants are competent to stand trial.

The pre-trial evaluations have long been done at Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh, but the unit is set to move to Butner early next year.

3 little numbers equal 1 big win for the N.C. lottery

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:40 EDT

Three numbers are providing a hobby for the superstitious and a big win for the state lottery.

The lottery's Pick 3 game, in which players buy chances at matching a three-digit number, offers the lowest payouts of any of the lottery's drawing games. The maximum win is $500. But the game has been a popular draw for players, who spent more than $200 million on those 50-cent and $1 tickets last year.

Lotteries in most states recently reported a downturn in revenue, though North Carolina has bucked the trend partly because of the surprise performance of the Pick 3 game. Sales have been strong despite the recession.

Muslims in U.S. chafe under stigma

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:03 EDT

As the FBI pursues one alleged terrorist plot after another, Muslim Americans are grappling with a widespread sense that the government thinks they all could be terrorists.

In dozens of interviews across the country, McClatchy has found that the government's search for the enemy within is threatening to divide and destroy America's Muslim communities.

"It's not a guilty complex; it's the stigma of being a Muslim and constantly having to defend religion," said Edina Lekovic, the communications director for the Muslim Public Affairs Council. "It causes people to give up and say, 'Why should I bother? No one likes me. Why should I keep trying?'"