The Fayetteville Observer

Break out the rain gear because the next three days are going to be wet, the National Weather Service says. The rain will move into the Cape Fear region today, according to the forecast. Full Story »

A search is under way for a 5-year-old girl who wandered away from her home off Murchison Road this morning. The girl, last seen wearing a dark-colored shirt and pink panties, was discovered missing from her home on Sleepy Hollow Road about 5:30 a.m., according to police. Full Story »

1. The Southeastern Weight Loss Center, 403 W. 27th St. in Lumberton, is having an open house from 4 to 6 p.m. today. For more information, call (910) 608-0307. Full Story »

Q: How can I go about obtaining a certified copy of my birth certificate from Alameda, Calif.? Is there any help for an indigent individual? I am currently incarcerated. Full Story »

SPRING LAKE - A six-month cloud hanging over this town started to lift Monday night with the hiring of a new town manager and a recommitment ceremony attended by eight of the town's nine remaining police officers. Full Story »

The brave police officer who faced down heavy fire and took out the Fort Hood shooter is scheduled to move here, and she'll be looking for work. I hear there's an opening in Spring Lake - for police chief. Full Story »

Starting June 1, pet owners inside Fayetteville will no longer be allowed to tie or chain up their dogs unattended. The City Council voted 6-3 Monday to adopt a ban on the tethering of dogs without the owners' supervision. Full Story »

Renee LaHuffman Jackson, the Harley-Davidson riding principal of Lake Rim Elementary School, was named Monday the 2010 Wachovia Principal of the Year for Cumberland County schools. Full Story »

RIEGELWOOD - Investigators who initially thought Andrew Dunn died in an accidental fire at his home Sunday morning are now trying to find out who murdered him, Columbus County Fire Marshal Scott Merritt said Monday. Full Story »

Terry Sanford High School has been removed from the 2009 N.C. High School Athletic Association football playoffs for using an ineligible player. Que Tucker, deputy executive director of the association, said she was contacted by Terry Sanford officials Monday and told of the violation. Full Story »

A new resident or two may have taken up in downtown Fayetteville's Cross Creek Park. Several people have reported seeing a river otter swimming through the park in recent weeks. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - President Obama is nearing a decision to add tens of thousands more forces to Afghanistan, though likely not quite the 40,000 sought by his top general there. Full Story »

Mario Dion Robinson, 29, of the 1800 block of Overlook Drive in Fayetteville, was charged Monday with possession of a firearm by a felon, probation violation, second-degree trespassing, assault on a female and resisting a public officer. Bail was set at $58,000. Full Story »

Renee LaHuffman Jackson, the principal of Lake Rim Elementary School, was named the 2010 Wachovia Principal of the Year for Cumberland County schools on Monday. Full Story »

CLINTON - A hog farming company founded by former U.S. Sen. Lauch Faircloth in 1972 is in danger of going out of business amid the crisis in the pork industry. Full Story »

The rivalry between Charlotte and Fayetteville for highway funding intensified this week. Gov. Bev Perdue went to the Queen City on Monday to announce a new financing model that she said would speed up the completion of Charlotte's Interstate 485. Full Story »

A week after Billy Maxwell Jr. killed his family and then himself, Fayetteville police say they are still trying to determine why it took more than an hour for a dispatcher to send someone to the Maxwells' home. Full Story »

Police are at the scene of a shooting near the post office on Legion Road. One man may have been shot multiple times, according to emergency dispatches. Full Story »

Maj. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho, a 1978 graduate of E.E. Smith High School, will become the Army's deputy surgeon general at Falls Church, Va., the Army announced Monday. Full Story »

KURE BEACH - State officials say they have identified a Civil War shipwreck that burned at sea more than 145 years ago. Full Story »

Cumberland County sheriff's detectives have charged a man with stealing a refrigeration truck loaded with thousands of dollars worth of frozen food. Full Story »

The last two calls made by the victims in a 2006 double murder in Stedman were to 911 and to Anthony Tyrone McMillan, an investigator on the case said today. Full Story »

HOPE MILLS - A Hope Mills woman died Sunday after her all-terrain vehicle overturned and pinned her beneath it. Full Story »

Terry Sanford High School has been removed from the 2009 N.C. High School Athletic Association football playoffs for using an ineligible player. Full Story »

Nearly 90 soldiers will earn their Green Berets in a graduation Friday at the Crown Coliseum. The ceremony will include honors for a soldier who was part of the "Band of Brothers." Full Story »