Carson case goes to grand jury Monday

CHAPEL HILL -- A local expert in criminal law expects District Attorney Jim Woodall to charge Eve Carson's accused killers with "just about everything you could imagine" when the Orange County grand jury meets Monday.

Also Monday, Woodall is scheduled to announce whether or not he intends to seek the death penalty for accused murderer Demario Atwater, though he said that hearing will probably be continued to a later date.

Additional charges and new information released to the public in recent days could add up to some aggravating factors that would support a death sentence.

Irving Joyner, a law professor at N.C. Central University, said based on information in search warrants and an autopsy report, he anticipates Woodall will charge Demario Atwater and Laurence Lovette each with kidnapping, burglary, robbery and two separate counts of murder.

Joyner expects additional felony murder charges on top of the existing first-degree murder charges because the death resulted from the commission of an inherently dangerous felony such as robbery. He also said the killing appears premeditated and deliberate, which would validate the first-degree murder charges.

"The fact that you had two guns used to shoot her would be sufficient for jurors to conclude that they wanted to shoot her to kill her," Joyner said. "I'm not trying to draw any conclusion as to their guilt.

-- Jesse James DeConto, 932-8760; jesse.deconto@nando.com

Orange County has second-highest tax rate

CHAPEL HILL -- Orange County now has the second-highest property tax rate in the state. It's nearly double Wake's.

Orange tops the Triangle at 99.8 cents per $100 assessed property value. After revaluation, Durham's rate is 70.81 cents, and Wake's is 53.4 cents. Johnston County's rate is unchanged from last year at 78 cents.

Those figures don't include municipal taxes, fire district taxes or special school district taxes.

Last year Orange had the third-highest rate, but this year it jumped past Gates County for the dubious distinction of being No. 2.

Six counties lowered taxes, including Scotland County, which has the state's highest rate at $1.02. Scotland's rate last year was $1.06.

Statewide, 25 counties raised tax rates in their new budgets, according to a report this week by the the N.C. Association of County Commissioners. That's the fewest increases since 1998-1999, the association said.

Counties tightened belts because taxpayers face rising gas prices and other economic woes, said Todd McGee, the association's communications director. The state's taking over Medicaid payments from counties probably took some pressure off, he said. Under the Medicaid swap, the state is assuming the counties' share of payments in exchange for some sales tax revenues.

-- Samuel Spies, 932-2014; samuel.spies@nando.com

Parents upset over ouster of principal

CARRBORO -- Some Carrboro High School parents are outraged by the ouster of the school's principal and removal of nearly a dozen advanced courses from the curriculum.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Superintendent Neil Pedersen said the courses were cut because of low demand, but he has asked administrators to look into possibly adding some back next year. Personnel privacy laws prevent Pedersen from disclosing why Principal Jeff Thomas was reassigned a week after the school year ended, he said. The move was "in the best interest of the school," Pedersen said.

In response to concerns that the school system acted without asking parents, Pedersen said surveys this past year sufficed.

In one, a majority of faculty members disagreed that there is "an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect," that school leaders "shield teachers from disruptions" and that "teachers are protected from duties that interfere with their essential role of educating students."

In another, one in four students described school morale as negative.

Several parents interviewed praised Thomas for being hands-on, learning students' names and attending after-hours events.

"My child wants to know why the principal was fired when my child saw how hard he worked," said Mary Hamilton, a member of the School Improvement Team.

matt.dees@nando.com