Yesterday | The Virginian-Pilot
Currituck County, N.C., targets roadside eyesores
Loading... Click for full view Currituck County is cracking down on oversize signs, clutter, junk cars and decrepit buildings to make for a more scenic drive.
Lawsuit now accuses Xe contractors of murder, kidnapping
A just-amended lawsuit alleges six additional instances of unprovoked attacks on Iraqi civilians by Blackwater contractors.
Veteran starts group for disabled vets in N.C.
Loading... Chris Curdes, who served in the Army and Navy for 18 years, was hurt in Vietnam.
Severe thunderstorm warning issued for northeastern N.C.
A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for northeastern North Carolina until 7 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
No charges filed in dog-biting incident
A four-month-old pitbull dog is back in its owners' custody after being quarantined for more than a week for allegedly biting a Moyock woman on the arm.
Residents who dona t comply risk fines
Keep the corridor clean - or risk being fined. That's the message Currituck's Board of Commissioners is delivering to residents who live along either N.C. Highway 168 and U.S. Highway 158.
Pasquotank informational meeting generates new interest
Opponents of a possible Navy outlying landing field in Camden County sought new recruits for their fight in neighboring Pasquotank County Tuesday night, holding an informational meeting about the proposed airfield at Northside Elementary School.
Poem 'International Republican Party' - Dedicated to a true free world without private mercenaries
International Republican Party [United Nations General Assembly, in 1975 declared "Zionism is racism", watching helplessly Zionists destroy UN for allied supremacy.
US military: Afghan contractors violated gun policy
The U.S. military says today that four U.S. contractors for the company formerly known as Blackwater were not authorized to carry weapons when they were involved in a deadly shooting in Afghanistan.
Blackwater workers who shot Afghans not authorized to carry guns
Four U.S. contractors for the company formerly known as Blackwater were not authorized to carry weapons when they were involved in a deadly shooting in Afghanistan this month, the U.S. military said Tuesday.
Weapons recovered, Moyock man nabbed
A week after several guns were stolen from a Currituck County home, officials have recovered all three weapons and made an arrest.
Xe "Guards" Held in Afghan Death
May 18, 2009
Associated Press
Four U.S. private security guards are being held against their will in Afghanistan by the company formerly known as Blackwater after their involvement in a deadly shooting, their lawyer said Saturday.
A spokeswoman for the company denied the allegation.
The shooting and allegations of forced confinement by the contractors' lawyer highlights the murky legal world in which private security companies operate in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Blackwater was involved in a 2007 shooting in a busy square in Baghdad, Iraq, that left as many as 17 Iraqi civilians dead and led to the end of its Baghdad operations this month. It has since changed its name to Xe.
An Afghan died and two others were wounded in the May 5 incident in the capital Kabul, said Lt. Col. Chris Kubik, a U.S. military spokesman.
The family of the dead Afghan man said he and the two others were innocent civilians driving home after work. The lawyer for the suspects said they were insurgents trying to kill his clients.
Ex-Marine is NOT the Father of Murder Victim's Baby
May 18, 2009
Associated Press
A former Marine charged with killing a pregnant colleague in North Carolina was not the father of the woman's unborn baby, according to documents obtained Friday by The Associated Press.
In a report completed by the Department of Defense Armed Forces Institute of Pathology May 7, analysts concluded that DNA from former Cpl. Cesar Laurean did not match that of the unborn child of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach.
"Therefore, Cesar A. Laurean can be excluded as being the biological father of Baby Lauterbach," the report reads.
| Texian
May 18, 2009
by Texian
The private para-military group FORMERLY known as Blackwater and who announced it's "rebranding" back on Feb., FRIDAY the 13th to the simplistic new brand of 'Xe' (pronounced Zee) has become the focal point of yet another scandal. A different "brand name" for the same old practices is quickly revealing that the "rebranding" was just in name ONLY!
Four American contractors for Xe claim they are being held against their will by the company in Afghanistan, following yet another shooting incident on May 5th.
Xe says the US Department of Defense asked the men not to leave the country, but according to the contractors themselves, they were cleared to leave. That company chose to hold them on their OWN authority.
This follows an alleged gun battle incident, which took place following a traffic accident resulting in an Afghan man being killed and two others severly injured by an uncontrolled barrage of gunfire.
The US military says a car came at four contractors after a traffic accident in Kabul and they felt threatened.
Lawyers for the four men are accusing the company of keeping the men captive against their will and imposing its own form of justice. They also claimed Xe is trying to work a deal to let the company stay in Afghanistan in exchange for handing the men over to authorities.
Back in September 2007 armed guards employed by Blackwater were involved in a lethal gun battle in Baghdad's busy Nisoor Square, which left 17 civilians dead, and another 20 injured.
After the Nisoor Square incident, Iraqi officials forbade Blackwater operations in the country. This 'incident' led to the company to "rebrand" itself in an obvious attempt to distance itself from the grossly incompetant actions of it's "employees" as they face inevitable prison sentences or other legal actions.
The State Department chose to renew Blackwater's contract in April 2008, despite the ban, but from January this year, Iraqi authorities denied Xe an operating license. It has been FORCED to shift it's primary area of work to Afghanistan as a result of it's lack of adequate "command and control" of it's own employees.
Blackwater is now Xe. Just Xe.
Blackwater rebrands itself
Kristin Collins - Staff Writer
Sat, Feb. 14, 2009 06:35AM
The era of Blackwater is over.
The Eastern North Carolina-based private security company had exemplified the problems of using private soldiers in combat zones.
Company officials announced Friday the 13th that the group of businesses formerly called Blackwater Worldwide will now be known as "Xe," pronounced like the letter Z.
The company provided no information on how it chose the name.
The attempt to rebrand itself comes as six former employees face manslaughter charges for a shooting that killed 17 civilians in Baghdad. The company has also faced intense scrutiny since four of its employees were massacred and two of them hung from a bridge in Fallujah in 2004.
In January, the Iraqi government denied Blackwater a license to operate there, and its workers are expected to leave the country this spring.
Company spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said the new name reflects a new focus.
For the COMPLETE story click onto the "headline"
Four Americans 'held in Afghanistan'
Four US security guards are being held against their will in Afghanistan by Xe, the company formerly known as Blackwater after their involvement in a shooting, their lawyer says.
Blackwater-linked contractors tied to Afghanistan shooting
Four Blackwater-affiliated contractors fired on a civilian vehicle in Afghanistan earlier this month, injuring two Afghans, according to the company and the U.S. military.
Currituck eyes changes to bus schedules, school start times
Currituck County Schools hopes to reduce long bus rides for nearly 200 students by rearranging bus schedules and changing school start times next school year.
House bill expands sex-ed options
Kay Donovan believes school-aged children should get their sex education at home, not at school.
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