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King Remembered With Parade, Interfaith Service, Other Events

Hundreds of marchers, from high school bands to dancers to community leaders, marched through uptown Charlotte in Saturday in the annual Martin Luther King Day Parade.  The parade was part of a weekend full of events for the King Day Holiday. Sunday afternoon at 5, there’s a community interfaith service at Central Piedmont Community College’s Halton Theater.  And on Monday, Davidson College plans a series of events, including speeches by regional NAACP leader Charles White, who’s also a leader in Al Sharpton’s National Action Network,   and by journalist and TV personality Marc Lamont Hill. And just a reminder: Monday is a federal holiday, with schools and government offices closed

NAACP LEADER VOWS TO PRESS ISSUES

The leader of the North Carolina NAACP says groups that have protested conservative policies by the GOP-led Legislature aren't discouraged by the November election, which sent Republicans back to both chambers with veto-proof majorities. The Reverend William Barber, president of the state NAACP chapter, says reversing restrictive policies on voting rights, expanding Medicaid and raising the minimum wage remain among the groups' key issues. Barber speaks at a Martin Luther King commemoration today at Duke University.

Civil rights groups will gather again at the General Assembly on Jan. 28. Then on Feb. 14, civil rights group plan a march known as the "Historic Thousands on Jones Street," which began in 2007.

REMEMBERING ENVIRONMENTALIST ROY ALEXANDER

Hundreds of friends and colleagues gathered in Charlotte Saturday morning to remember environmentalist and educator Roy Alexander. The executive director of the Davidson Lands Conservancy died a week ago, our news partner DavidsonNews.net reports.  Alexander was a native Charlottean and 1964 Davidson College graduate who had a hand in a wide range of environmental and conservation issues in the Charlotte  region, from helping to bring recycling to Charlotte to preserving open space.  He taught high school, worked as a 4H agent and was among the first employees at the Discovery Place science museum. He also had an encyclopedic knowledge of plants and animals. At Saturday’s service, longtime colleague and Davidson town commissioner Jim Fuller called Alexander "a Jiminy Cricket, who sat the shoulders of public officials, reminding them that while economic development is important, protecting the environment is equally important. Roy Alexander was 72."

BOMB THREAT TARGETS DELTA FLIGHT

Passengers on a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to Raleigh yesterday were forced to get off the plane on the tarmac at Raleigh-Durham International Airport after a bomb threat against the plane on social media.  Airport officials said they were told about the threat around 12:30 p.m. - about an hour after the plane took off. The plane was allowed to land in Raleigh, but passengers were unloaded and baggage removed well away from the terminal and authorities searched for a bomb.  The FBI in Charlotte is investigating.  The incident caused only minor delays at the airport.

MAN KILLED AFTER STEPPING OUT OF CAR ON I-77

A Cornelius man was killed early Saturday after he stepped out of his car on I-77 in Fort Mill, South Carolina, and was struck by another car.  The South Carolina Highway Patrol said 57-year-old Stephen Moshier had been in a separate wreck a short time before. As he stepped out of his Hyundai Genesis to check on the other driver, he was hit by a car driven by a Huntersville man.

The wreck happened at 12:45am at Mile 89 of I-77 northbound.  No charges have been filed.

Moshier was medical sales director for Allergan Medical and a former radio and TV sports reporter in Charlotte. He was the husband of Robin Kilgo Moshier and leaves behind three children, sons Kyle Moshier and Kameron Moshier of Charlotte, and daughter Karlee Moshier of Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  A memorial service is planned Tuesday at Davidson United Methodist Church. See his obituary on our news partner, DavidsonNews.net.

FRANKLIN FACTORY CLOSING

A factory that makes seals for heavy equipment in the western North Carolina town of Franklin will close by the end of next year, leaving 150 people without jobs.  Franklin Mayor Bob Scott said the town of 4,000 learned about the closing of the Caterpillar plant Thursday.  Caterpillar also is closing a foundry in Toccoa, Georgia, with 125 workers. The work will be consolidated to the company's Mapleton, Illinois, foundry.  The Franklin plant opened in the early 1990s.

SPORTS HEADLINES

In college basketball last night, Max Guercy hit a 3-pointer with 29 seconds left to take the lead in overtime and Rice went on to defeat UNC Charlotte 73-68.

And two weeks ago, Davidson beat Richmond in its first game in the Atlantic 10 conference. On Saturday, the Wildcats found out just how tough the new conference can be,losing a rematch at Richmond, 89-63.

In Charlotte last night, the NBA Hornets picked up a victory. Gerald Henderson scored 20 points as the Hornets beat the Indiana Pacers 80-71 in overtime. Charlotte won without its top two scorers, Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson, who were out with injuries.

David Boraks previously covered climate change and the environment for WFAE. See more at www.wfae.org/climate-news. He also has covered housing and homelessness, energy and the environment, transportation and business.