With less than seven weeks until the November election, candidates running for the North Carolina 11th Congressional District seat were in Franklin last Thursday as guests of the League of Women Voters Forum at Tartan Hall.

Mark Meadows, Republican candidate from Cashiers and Hayden Rogers, Democratic candidate from Brasstown rallied support for their campaigns by tackling topics such as their view on the health of the economy to the government's role in women's health care issues.

Defendant ‘rented out’ provider number; used proceeds to purchase $500,000 in jewelry and vehicles

A Shelby woman pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Sept. 13 for her involvement in a health care fraud scheme that defrauded Medicaid of at least $6.1 million for sham mental and behavioral health services, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Linda Smoot Radeker, 61, of Shelby, N.C. pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David S. Cayer to one count of health care fraud conspiracy and two counts of money laundering. At today’s plea hearing, Radeker admitted that from 2008 to 2011 she obtained at least $6.1 million in fraudulent reimbursement payments from false claims submitted to Medicaid.

Lab aims to become only one in the U.S. with dual accreditation

The North Carolina State Crime Laboratory began operating under stringent new standards Monday as it completes the next stage of achieving international accreditation and seeks to become the only crime lab in the country accredited by two outside organizations.

Forensic laboratories across the country are moving to the ISO 17025, international standards that provide a global basis for laboratory accreditation in management and technical requirements.

Statewide campaign runs through September 29

The N.C. Department of Transportation is teaming up with local volunteers to clean up roadsides statewide in the 2012 fall Litter Sweep, now through Sept. 29.

During the 2012 spring Litter Sweep, volunteers removed more than 1.5 million pounds of roadside litter.