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First Baby of 2017

First baby of 2017 is Charlee Marie Kraft, shown at Carolinas Medical Center with parents Jason and Lisa Kraft, sister Paiten and brother Austin.
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This CNN anchor did tequila shots on live TV. Then things got really interesting...

Don Lemon had himself an unusual New Year’s Eve, to say the least. After downing a few drinks on the air, he got surprisingly candid, saying that, among other things, “2016 was awful” and he was “open to a relationship” this year.

Local

WSOC vanishes from AT&T/DirecTV as viewers land in contract negotiation crossfire

Failed negotiations between WSOC-TV and AT&T and DirecTV led to the station being dropped at 3 a.m. Sunday from its spot at Channel 9 on the lineup. WAXN-TV, Channel 64, is also affected.

Local

Happy new year, Charlee Marie! She’s Charlotte’s first baby of 2017

Carolinas Medical Center claims Charlotte’s first New Year baby. Charlee Marie Kraft was born at 12:23 a.m.

Education

Bonus time: Some NC teachers will get January rewards based on 2016 exam scores

North Carolina is set to pay new teacher merit bonuses in January, based on last year’s scores on third-grade reading tests and high-school Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams.

Local

New Year's Eve in uptown Charlotte

Officials say Charlotte rang in 2017 without incident.

Local

Seven to Watch | Young Myers Park Baptist minister tests boundaries on race, social issues

Charlotte, NC | Myers Park Baptist Church hired Rev. Benjamin Boswell for his bold positions on social justice. A controversial speech by Rev. William Barber, founder of ‘Moral Mondays,’ reflects how Boswell is willing to test traditional boundaries.

Local

Crowds in uptown Charlotte ring in 2017 without incident or arrests, officials say

Officials report no arrests or incidents after thousands gathered in uptown Charlotte for New Year’s Eve music, fireworks and festivities.

Politics & Government

Roy Cooper sworn in as NC governor minutes after midnight

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper took his oath of office minutes after midnight Sunday morning in Raleigh, getting an early start on his duties amid bitter partisan politics in the state but saying he believes there is a way forward.

Politics & Government

North Carolina has a new governor: Roy Cooper sworn in just after midnight

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper took his oath of office minutes after midnight Sunday morning, getting an early start on his duties amid bitter partisan politics in the state but saying he believed there is a way forward.

National

Beneficiary of electroshock therapy emerges as its leading evangelist

Like most people, Kitty Dukakis, wife of former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, had no idea that the procedure was still used. But she was desperate. Rehabilitation, talk therapy and antidepressants had failed to ease her crippling depression, so in 2001, at 64, she turned to shock therapy. To her amazement, it helped.

Local

Dale Earnhardt Jr. weds fiancee Amy Reimann on Saturday

NASCAR’s most popular driver told his Twitter followers that he married fiancee Amy Reimann on Saturday.

Local

Alcohol and drugs factored into wrong-way fatal crash, police said

Kenny Chu, 22, was northbound in the southbound lanes near Brookshire Freeway when he hit two other cars. Chu died at the scene.

Local

Gallery: Charlotte New Year's Eve events

New Year's Eve events Saturday in Charlotte

National

NBCUniversal extends deadline, averting a Charter-Spectrum blackout, for now

The two are negotiating a carriage deal for more than a dozen NBC channels. The contract was set to expire at midnight Eastern.

National

Afghan refugees coming to California struggle with PTSD

California's capital has emerged as a leading destination for Afghan refugees who were awarded Special Immigrant Visas because of their service to coalition forces in the war.

World

3 men decapitated, 2 more slain in Acapulco over New Year's

At least five people were killed over the New Year's weekend in the Mexican resort city of Acapulco, including three men found decapitated in a central neighborhood.

National Business

Obama boosted White House technology; Trump sees risks

As Barack Obama began preparing to leave office, the first smartphone-toting U.S. president ordered his team to upgrade the White House's aging technology for his successor. New computers were purchased and faster internet was installed.

National

1 of Chicago's bloodiest years ends with 762 homicides

One of the most violent years in Chicago history ended Sunday with a sobering tally: 762 homicides, the most in two decades in the city and more than New York and Los Angeles combined.

News

Mississippi hospital limits pain prescriptions

A hospital emergency room in Columbus is limiting pain medication doctors and nurses give to patients with chronic pain complaints.

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Videos

First Baby of 2017

First baby of 2017 is Charlee Marie Kraft, shown at Carolinas Medical Center with parents Jason and Lisa Kraft, sister Paiten and brother Austin.
Diedra Laird The Charlotte Observer
1:33

First Baby of 2017

0:45

New Year's Eve in uptown Charlotte

4:15

Roy Cooper sworn in as NC governor minutes after midnight

2:08

Feeding the Children

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