NORTH CAROLINA

Coast Guard crews rescued five people Saturday night after their sailboat started sinking about 32 miles south of Cape Lookout. Those on board called the Coast Guard at around 7:35 p.m. to report their boat was taking on water. Emergency workers sent a helicopter and a rescue boat crew to the 47-foot sailboat.

RALEIGH, N.C. A North Carolina state trooper who said he was fired because his bosses thought he lied about the fate of his $45 hat is fighting his dismissal. Thomas C. Wetherington, 22, told The News & Observer of Raleigh that losing his job in a misunderstanding about his hat is especially galling considering the kind of misconduct other troopers have committed without getting fired.

RODANTHE, N.C. The state is set to rebuild storm-damaged N.C. 12 at Mirlo Beach, but Zenovah Hooper is not impressed. In her 91 years, she has seen the ocean have its way too many times in that vulnerable spot.

By Connie Sage, Correspondent EDENTON, N.C. Visitors - or even prospective students - looking for the College of The Albemarle here can easily miss it. Passers-by along Edenton's main thoroughfare, North Oakum Street, have to look hard to see the one small sign for the community college.

For the sake of wild horses, Currituck County plans to ban riding or owning domestic horses in the four-wheel-drive area north of Corolla. The herd of about 110 wild horses has no immunity to diseases and parasites carried by domestic horses, said Karen McCalpin, director of the Corolla Wild Horse Fund.

Dunes on the Currituck Outer Banks damaged by the recent nor'easter are expected to recover naturally and are not likely to qualify for federal disaster assistance. Federal and state disaster officials plan to assess the damage in Currituck, Dare and Hyde counties on Monday and Tuesday, said Mary Beth Newns, interim director of Currituck County Emergency Management.

RALEIGH, N.C.  A North Carolina doctor could lose his medical license after a patient complained he made cutting criticisms, including telling her she was fat.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported the North Carolina Medical Board will decide if Dr. Earl Sunderhaus of Asheville overstepped the bounds of professional decency.

RALEIGH, N.C.  North Carolina's unemployment figures for October could show whether a predicted late-year jobs crunch is hitting the state economy.

The state's Employment Security Commission today will release the latest data, which will show whether the jobless rate that has hovered around 11 percent for eight months has gotten better or worse.

By Mike Baker

RALEIGH, N.C. The U.S. Army will allow the media limited coverage of Sarah Palin's appearance at Fort Bragg, but will bar reporters from interviewing her or her supporters on the post, officials said Thursday.

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. Officials in Currituck County have declared a state of emergency after a nor'easter eroded oceanfront dunes and flooded several homes and cropland. Currituck County Board of Commissioners Chairman Owen Etheridge made the formal declaration Wednesday.