Earlier feasibility studies said it looks like a good idea to extend passenger train service to the western and southeastern North Carolina, so the state DOT Rail Division has requested $6.7 million in federal planning funds for further environmental study, engineering and design work.

One proposed line would run west from Salisbury to Asheville. The other would link Raleigh and Selma to Wilmington by one of two routes - passing through Goldsboro, or passing through Fayetteville and Pembroke. ... [MORE]

Paul Simson of Raleigh is three victories shy of tying the Carolinas
Golf Association's all-time title-holder, Dale Morey, after winning his
21st Carolinas Golf Association major championship in dramatic fashion.

The veteran golfer sank a birdie on the first playoff hole to win his
second Carolinas Senior Four-Ball Championship title in three years
this past Thursday at Porters Neck Country Club in Wilmington.

Simpson and playing partner Don Detweiler of Raleigh defeated 36-hole
leaders David Millis and Kim Mansfield of High Point in the playoff.

Lauren Herring of Greenville found success, but it was a tough day for Triangle tennis players on Monday in California.

Herring, seeded ninth in the girls 18s singles, advanced to the round
of 32 at the 43rd annual Easter Bowl Spring Nationals tournament in
Rancho Mirage, Calif., defeating Kelly Chui of Milpitas, Calif., 6-1,
6-4, at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort, according to an event news
release.

Raleigh's Will Baird didn't fare as well as Herring on Monday.

Raleigh's Devin Swann set the course record for the third year in a row
Saturday in the Kinston 8,000: Run for the River in Kinston, and
Heather Magil of Wilmington won the women's title for the third
straight year.

Breaking records was the order of the day. The 279 registered
participants produced a record field, and each of the top three
finishers ran under the 25-minute mark.

Swann covered the downtown course in 24 minutes flat for his third
consecutive victory. Raleigh's John Crews finished in 24:06, and Frank
Finney of Blowing Rock was third in 24:49.

Triathlon continues to increase in popularity in North Carolina, and now the triathlon world has taken notice of Wilmington's Beach2Battleship Triathon.

The swim-bike-run competition has been ranked the fifth-best
Ironman-distance race in the world by Triathlete magazine in its March
issue.

Under the heading "Best 140.6-Mile Races,"  the Editor's Choice Award went to the Ford Ironman World Championship, the only other U.S. race in the top 10.

One of the perks of living in North Carolina is rarely having to stop
playing golf. Tournament series continue over the winter, and hardy
golfers turn out to compete.

Among the winter golfers are the juniors who compete in the Eastern Junior Golf Association, which visited Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington on Feb. 6-7.

Andrew Fowler of Cary and Eric Bae of Raleigh were among the champions crowned on Sunday at the invitational event.

Risky coastal developments helped spell the end for Cooperative Bankshares.

The Wilmington bank, which failed in June, didn't closely scrutinize borrowers and didn't follow through when examiners suggested changes, the Charlotte Observer reports, citing a regulatory review released today.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which released the report, also took some of the blame for Cooperative's failure. Though its examiners began raising questions as early as 2004, asking whether the bank's internal audit team was understaffed, the FDIC acknowledged that firmer action on its part “may have been prudent.”

Cooperative was the second N.C.-based bank to fail in the current crisis. The other, Cape Fear Bank, was also based in Wilmington and also hurt by its concentration in coastal development.

Cooperative, founded in 1898, had about two dozen branches stretching from the Outer Banks to Myrtle Beach.

See photos from Michael Jordan's early years, including some of the people who helped him along the way.

See photos of the Temple of Israel built in Wilmington in 1875. It was the first synagogue in North Carolina.

You might have heard that Antwon Tanner, who plays Skills on the CW's "One Tree Hill" admitted in a Brooklyn federal court last Friday that he (inexplicably) sold more than a dozen Social Security numbers for $10,000.

Well, before he disappears to the big house for what's expected to be as much as a year, you'll get to see him on at least the first several new episodes of the show, which is shot in Wilmington, when it returns on September 14.

A CW network spokesperson told the Associated Press that it's unclear what will happen later in the season to Skills during the show's seventh season.

Skills is a former high school star basketball player turned coach. Maybe he could go to jail too!

Tanner, who is 34 (!), will be sentenced on November 20.