Members of the Lincolnton Fire Department examine propane leaking from the tank after a power pole collapsed on it.

By Ron McCann

Lincolnton- Crews from the Lincolnton, North 321 and Pumpkin Center fire departments responded to a call on Industrial Park Rd, Viking Technology shortly before 5:00pm on Friday. A power pole had fallen on a propane tank and propane was leaking from the top fitting on the tank. A small grass fire was also reported. The fire was quickly put down when the crews arrived. The reason for the pole's collapse was not known at the time of the fire department's initial response.

The government says letting young adults stay on their parents' health insurance until they turn 26 will nudge premiums higher for employer plans.

LINCOLN COUNTY - The Lincoln County Schools will be closed on Monday for both students and teachers.

LINCOLNTON - You may have noticed that the Lincoln Tribune website was unavailable for a period of time on Thursday.

This was process one in a three step process to migrate to a new server.

There may be a few more delays in the coming days as we upgrade our website as well as our hosting.

WASHINGTON – Congressman Patrick McHenry released the following statement on the results of Tuesday night's Massachusetts special election:

“If you’d told me a month ago that a Republican running against
President Obama’s health care plan would win Ted Kennedy’s former
Senate seat, I’d have said you were crazy.

“If the Obama health care bill has sparked such a massive backlash in
Massachusetts, I can’t imagine what Democrats in red and purple
districts are hearing back home. Democrats should take the hint and stoppushing their unpopular plan on the American people.”

STAFF REPORTS

Cat Square, NC - The 2009 Cat Square Christmas Parade will take place on December 12th at 2:00 p.m.

The route will begin at Zur Leonard Road in Vale, NC.

"She supposedly got him out and laid him on the ground. He was in and out of consciousness when my guys got there." — Windermere, Fla., police chief Daniel Saylor describing how officers found Tiger Woods and his wife Elin after Woods hit a fire hydrant and a tree in his SUV. Saylor said Woods' wife told officers she "broke the back window with a golf club" to get him out of the vehicle.

Diplomats: Majority of IAEA board censures Iran's nuclear defiance in a vote

VIENNA (AP) — The majority of the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency has voted to censure Iran for its nuclear defiance.

Diplomats inside the meeting said Friday that 25 of the 34 IAEA board nations present voted for a resolution backed by the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.

STAFF REPORTS

WASHINGTON, DC - C-SPAN is carrying live the debate on socialized health care in the United States House of Representatives live.

Members of Congress have had their phone lines flooded all week as opposition by the American people has mounted.

Most of the Democrat members from North Carolina phone lines have either been busy or, once a caller gets the voice mail message, the caller gets a message that their voice mailbox is full and cannot receive any messages.

The nation's retailers are reporting mixed sales results for October. Shoppers, enticed by cooler weather and holiday discounts, opened their wallets a bit more but were still restrained from splurging on apparel amid tight credit and a weak job market.

Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows:

ABC's "This Week" — Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

By Jason Saine

Mt. Mitchell - If you don't like the weather in Lincolnton, sometimes all you have to do is take a short drive, either to the coast or to the mountains.

On Sunday, Lincoln Tribune photographer, Melany Dawn Crouse, made the short trek to Mt. Mitchell where it had snowed and snapped this photo.

Some of Crouse's photos were featured on a local news channel this week.

We apologize for the delay in news coverage today. There has been a connection issue that is finally resolved from the ISP.

Thank you for your understanding. We will resume news postings shortly.

World track and field's governing body will start determining the definition of a woman in an athletics context next week as it prepares to reveal the results of South African runner Caster Semenya's gender tests.

IAAF general secretary Pierre Weiss added Saturday that the organization's medical commission could take a year to deliver that definition.

The Supreme Court is beginning its new term with a new look. When court convenes Monday, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic justice, will join the eight others.

She replaces Justice David Souter who retired. But this won't be her first time behind the high court bench. Sotomayor joined the court in time to hear a special oral argument last month over campaign finance regulations.

Stock futures are little changed as investors await the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates.

Markets overseas are mixed. Asian markets fell slightly overnight, while major European indexes are inching higher.

WASHINGTON - Congressman Patrick McHenry will appear on Fox & Friends this morning at 7:50 a.m on Friday morning.

Congressman McHenry will discuss his call for Congressional hearings on the controversial "czars" of the Obama Administration.

Oil prices clung near $68 a barrel for a fourth day Monday in Asia as investors looked to this week's OPEC meeting for a possible change in the cartel's production.

Benchmark crude for October delivery was up 12 cents at $68.14 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract Friday rose 6 cents to settle at $68.02.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says President Barack Obama is considering his own health care legislation to cut through the stalemate on Capitol Hill.

Gibbs says Americans will know exactly where the president stands after his speech to Congress on Wednesday night. He says Obama is ready to "draw some lines in the sand."

Afghan election officials say they have thrown out votes at 447 voting sites across the country because of fraud allegations.

The head of the Independent Election Commission Daoud Ali Najafi couldn't say how many votes are affected.

Battling an intensely hot fire after a semitrailer crashed on Interstate 80, emergency crews were surprised to find themselves suddenly fired upon — by corks from exploding wine bottles inside.

"The corks were popping out of the bottles like the old Jiffy Pop we grew up with," Wyoming Highway Patrol Lt. Scott Keane said. "My trooper got hit in the arm with one."

The Naked Cowboy of Times Square says he's dropping out of the race for mayor of New York City.

Robert Burck is a tourist attraction known for strumming his guitar in the square while wearing only white briefs, boots and a cowboy hat.

Traffic noise could be ruining the sex lives of urban frogs by drowning out the seductive croaks of amorous males, an Australian researcher said Friday.

A well-projected and energetic croak is the male frog's most important asset in the quest to attract mates to his pond, Melbourne University ecologist Kirsten Parris said.

But competition from traffic noise in Melbourne could be a reason why frog numbers have declined in Australia's second-largest city since her survey of more than 100 ponds began in 2000, she said.

STAFF REPORTS

RALEIGH - Dr. Bill Harrison today announced that he is retiring from his position as CEO of the Department of Public Instruction and continuing his service as Chairman of the State Board of Education. The retirement is effective Aug. 31.

“As Chairman of the State Board of Education, I want my focus to be on the 1.4 million students in this state, not on a court case. Six months ago, Governor Perdue asked me to help her transform North Carolina’s public school system and I will continue to work with her and Superintendent Atkinson to do so. I look forward to providing the leadership as Board Chair to ensure every child has access to the constitutionally-mandated sound, basic education,” Harrison said.