60 When people in China want to share news or commentary that government censors would likely squelch, many turn to a U.S.-based Web site run by Watson Meng of Durham. www.newsobserver.com/1074658 The response to the state's growing prison population over the past decade has been consistent -- build more prisons. And when a legislator suggests that lawmakers put more money into prevention instead of incarceration, his colleagues laugh. www.newsobserver.com/1074651 From 2006 to 2007, the number of people over 60 charged with trafficking drugs in North Carolina state courts nearly doubled. In 2007, at least 44 elderly people were arrested for trafficking everything from marijuana to powder cocaine. www.newsobserver.com/1074649 Supporters say that mapping North Carolina's good birding areas and organizing them into marketable clusters will help attract visitors, promote eco-tourism in North Carolina and encourage people to get outdoors. www.newsobserver.com/1074643 Some of Durham's many neighborhood activists are worried that speeding up the development review process means cutting them out of it. www.newsobserver.com/1074639 A jogger is killed by a bus in an area where pedestrians have been concerned for safety. www.newsobserver.com/1074638 The panel's suggestions, if implemented, will do nothing to prevent employees from knowingly circumventing the law -- the very accusation that triggered the group's creation. www.newsobserver.com/1074636 NCSU professor Scott Fitzpatrick links Magellan's fortunes to El Nino, a freak weather pattern that still baffles scientists 500 years later. www.newsobserver.com/1074635 To Taylor Sparks the gray-blue back deck, the bright blue decorative pots lining her walkway and the blue artificial mulch surrounding a tree in her front yard make her otherwise-traditional home really "pop." www.newsobserver.com/1074633 Bus ridership in April rose by double-digit percentages, for all but one of the area's local and regional transit services, according to GoTriangle, which coordinates Triangle transit services. www.newsobserver.com/1074558 The governor's office is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of suspects in the March 26 shooting death of Sean Kali Buwe, 18. www.newsobserver.com/1074557 Happy endings do happen, and sometimes they defy even the most optimistic doctors' expectations. www.newsobserver.com/1074556 Beware of e-mail messages, supposedly from the IRS, that promise to speed your economic stimulus tax rebate. www.newsobserver.com/1074553 A Durham man who federal prosecutors say led a major drug ring has been sentenced to more than 21 years in prison. www.newsobserver.com/1074552 Wake County Manager David Cooke will present the recommended budget for the next fiscal year to the Wake County Board of Commissioners at 2 p.m. Monday during the board's regular meeting. www.newsobserver.com/1074551 A police officer was hospitalized after trying to stop a rolling police car Thursday. www.newsobserver.com/1074550 For the first time in 22 years, state officials will add an extra day to the State Fair. Gates will open for a preview at 3 p.m. Oct. 16. Opening early will give fairgoers an extra day to "Take Time for a Great Time," the 2008 State Fair theme. www.newsobserver.com/1074549 District 41 Rep. Ty Harrell will moderate a "District Dialogue on School Reassignment" from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Herb Young Community Center at 101 Wilkinson Ave. www.newsobserver.com/1074548 Now, it's a Siler City chicken plant; in '80, it was an aluminum plant that was never built. www.newsobserver.com/1074547 Safety concerns for maintenance workers will be among the subjects Duke University officials will review as part of an investigation into the death of an employee. www.newsobserver.com/1074545 A fourth-grade teacher at Powell Elementary School was named Wake County's Teacher of the Year at a ceremony Thursday evening. www.newsobserver.com/1074543 Smithfield police have begun identifying women seen on some of the hundreds of videotapes taken from the home of a semiretired pharmacist who was charged last month with peeping into a woman's window. www.newsobserver.com/1074541 A man was charged with murder Thursday in connection with the death of a 2-year-old boy, police said. www.newsobserver.com/1074539 The federal government's decision to withhold payment of $175 million for a state mental health program because of concerns that the state had been paying improper claims is a good deal more serious than the governor's senior adviser described i www.newsobserver.com/1074509 When the Army's famed 82nd Airborne Division dedicated its own memorial to paratroopers killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, three sides of the wide granite column were blank. Three years later, there is no more room. www.newsobserver.com/1074508 When a busload of fourth-graders arrives in downtown Raleigh to tour state government institutions, their first stop is probably not the Capital Area Visitors Center, a title that promises more than it delivers. www.newsobserver.com/1074507 A federal jury convicted the former Buncombe County sheriff and a former volunteer aide Thursday of taking payments to protect illegal gambling operations in Western North Carolina. www.newsobserver.com/1074506 In the two hours before her body was found May 5, Irina Yarmolenko made a stop at a Goodwill store. www.newsobserver.com/1074505 Vivian Austin Edmonds spent a lifetime channeling her father's ambitious desire for equality and a robust public debate. www.newsobserver.com/1074487 Former Pfeiffer University President Cameron West was remembered Monday as a tireless advocate for higher education in North Carolina, including his push for a legislative grant to help students pay for tuition at the state's private colleges and uni www.newsobserver.com/1074485 The SMARTT Challenge Final Event today and Saturday is the end of a yearlong program designed to teach students in grades six through 12 the importance of alternative fuel as they develop and build custom electric trucks and cars. www.newsobserver.com/1074584 Know area people being honored or recognized for their achievements? Has someone won a special award? Share your milestones by going online to share.triangle.com and clicking on "news." www.newsobserver.com/1074583 The Children's Organ Transplant Association, a national nonprofit that raises money to cover the costs of children's transplant operations, is raising money to help a Creedmoor youth with bone marrow failure. www.newsobserver.com/1074581 When people in China want to share news or commentary that government censors would likely squelch, many turn to a U.S.-based Web site run by Watson Meng of Durham. www.newsobserver.com/1074658 The response to the state's growing prison population over the past decade has been consistent -- build more prisons. And when a legislator suggests that lawmakers put more money into prevention instead of incarceration, his colleagues laugh. www.newsobserver.com/1074651 From 2006 to 2007, the number of people over 60 charged with trafficking drugs in North Carolina state courts nearly doubled. In 2007, at least 44 elderly people were arrested for trafficking everything from marijuana to powder cocaine. www.newsobserver.com/1074649 Supporters say that mapping North Carolina's good birding areas and organizing them into marketable clusters will help attract visitors, promote eco-tourism in North Carolina and encourage people to get outdoors. www.newsobserver.com/1074643 Some of Durham's many neighborhood activists are worried that speeding up the development review process means cutting them out of it. www.newsobserver.com/1074639 A jogger is killed by a bus in an area where pedestrians have been concerned for safety. www.newsobserver.com/1074638 The panel's suggestions, if implemented, will do nothing to prevent employees from knowingly circumventing the law -- the very accusation that triggered the group's creation. www.newsobserver.com/1074636 NCSU professor Scott Fitzpatrick links Magellan's fortunes to El Nino, a freak weather pattern that still baffles scientists 500 years later. www.newsobserver.com/1074635 To Taylor Sparks the gray-blue back deck, the bright blue decorative pots lining her walkway and the blue artificial mulch surrounding a tree in her front yard make her otherwise-traditional home really "pop." www.newsobserver.com/1074633 Bus ridership in April rose by double-digit percentages, for all but one of the area's local and regional transit services, according to GoTriangle, which coordinates Triangle transit services. www.newsobserver.com/1074558 The governor's office is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of suspects in the March 26 shooting death of Sean Kali Buwe, 18. www.newsobserver.com/1074557 Happy endings do happen, and sometimes they defy even the most optimistic doctors' expectations. www.newsobserver.com/1074556 Beware of e-mail messages, supposedly from the IRS, that promise to speed your economic stimulus tax rebate. www.newsobserver.com/1074553 A Durham man who federal prosecutors say led a major drug ring has been sentenced to more than 21 years in prison. www.newsobserver.com/1074552 Wake County Manager David Cooke will present the recommended budget for the next fiscal year to the Wake County Board of Commissioners at 2 p.m. Monday during the board's regular meeting. www.newsobserver.com/1074551 A police officer was hospitalized after trying to stop a rolling police car Thursday. www.newsobserver.com/1074550 For the first time in 22 years, state officials will add an extra day to the State Fair. Gates will open for a preview at 3 p.m. Oct. 16. Opening early will give fairgoers an extra day to "Take Time for a Great Time," the 2008 State Fair theme. www.newsobserver.com/1074549 District 41 Rep. Ty Harrell will moderate a "District Dialogue on School Reassignment" from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Herb Young Community Center at 101 Wilkinson Ave. www.newsobserver.com/1074548 Now, it's a Siler City chicken plant; in '80, it was an aluminum plant that was never built. www.newsobserver.com/1074547 Safety concerns for maintenance workers will be among the subjects Duke University officials will review as part of an investigation into the death of an employee. www.newsobserver.com/1074545 A fourth-grade teacher at Powell Elementary School was named Wake County's Teacher of the Year at a ceremony Thursday evening. www.newsobserver.com/1074543 Smithfield police have begun identifying women seen on some of the hundreds of videotapes taken from the home of a semiretired pharmacist who was charged last month with peeping into a woman's window. www.newsobserver.com/1074541 A man was charged with murder Thursday in connection with the death of a 2-year-old boy, police said. www.newsobserver.com/1074539 The federal government's decision to withhold payment of $175 million for a state mental health program because of concerns that the state had been paying improper claims is a good deal more serious than the governor's senior adviser described i www.newsobserver.com/1074509 When the Army's famed 82nd Airborne Division dedicated its own memorial to paratroopers killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, three sides of the wide granite column were blank. Three years later, there is no more room. www.newsobserver.com/1074508 When a busload of fourth-graders arrives in downtown Raleigh to tour state government institutions, their first stop is probably not the Capital Area Visitors Center, a title that promises more than it delivers. www.newsobserver.com/1074507 A federal jury convicted the former Buncombe County sheriff and a former volunteer aide Thursday of taking payments to protect illegal gambling operations in Western North Carolina. www.newsobserver.com/1074506 In the two hours before her body was found May 5, Irina Yarmolenko made a stop at a Goodwill store. www.newsobserver.com/1074505 Vivian Austin Edmonds spent a lifetime channeling her father's ambitious desire for equality and a robust public debate. www.newsobserver.com/1074487 Former Pfeiffer University President Cameron West was remembered Monday as a tireless advocate for higher education in North Carolina, including his push for a legislative grant to help students pay for tuition at the state's private colleges and uni www.newsobserver.com/1074485