Former North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms dies at 86, on Fourth of July (Mohave Valley Daily News)
RALEIGH, N.C. - From his early days as television commentator and on through a three-decade career in Congress, former North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms never left any doubt about his beliefs.

North Carolina's 'Lost Colony' survives (Louisville Courier-Journal)
Two days before opening night of "The Lost Colony" in late May, Tony Award-winning designer William Ivey Long was still working on costumes. They were all brand-new but had to look very, very old. "The Lost Colony" tells the true story of an English settlement founded in 1587 on North Carolina's Outer Banks whose colonists mysteriously disappeared.

Helms, North Carolina's Former `Senator No,' Dies (Update3) (Bloomberg.com)
July 4 (Bloomberg) -- Jesse Helms , the former five-term U.S. senator from North Carolina whose relish for thwarting initiatives he opposed as too liberal earned him the nickname ``Senator No,'' died at age 86.

Jesse Helms, North Carolina's Former `Senator No,' Dies at 86 (Bloomberg.com)
July 4 (Bloomberg) -- Jesse Helms , the former five-term U.S. senator from North Carolina whose steadfast stance against government spending and relish for thwarting initiatives he opposed earned him the nickname ``Senator No,'' died at age 86.

North Carolina (New York Times)
Home to many wrecks, "The Graveyard of the Atlantic," off the coast of North Carolina, is a divers' paradise. Charming yet surprisingly cosmopolitan for a town of about 73,000, Asheville has a Southern appeal all its own.