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A daily look at some of The News & Observer headlines on this date in past years.
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On this day in 2019, police in Orange and Chatham counties warned the public to steer clear of a dangerous escapee on the run, standing 5 feet tall, weighing roughly 100 pounds and wearing feathers head-to-toe.
A runaway emu popped up in multiple spots along the Orange-Chatham border for more than a month, eluding capture for so long that law enforcement issued an all-points bulletin, cautioning the public that flightless birds possess sharp talons and a propensity to kick.
Eventually, the beast would earn a nickname: Eno
“It’s a wild animal and it’s pretty big,” said Orange County spokesman Todd McGee, adding that officials had no clue about the emu’s origins. “So it’s going to be hard to corral it.”
Other notable July 18 happenings across the pages of time:
Campaign finance reports showed that U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms spent $4.5 million on his reelection bid by mid-summer, only a fraction of what would become a record-breaking tab for a non-presidential race. Helms beat Gov. Jim Hunt in the first of two brawls. Final tab: $26 million.
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Jurors in Vance County heard explosive testimony in the trial of eight union members on trial for conspiracy to blow up the cotton mill in Henderson, site of a longstanding strike over poor working conditions, bad-faith negotiating and the hiring of scabs.
In 1926, two Wake County farmers argued over a parking spot at City Market and opted for “settling their differences by the fist route,” The N&O reported. Raleigh police officer J.M. Kelley “stated that fists were flying fast when he got to the impromptu ring.”
“Neither was hurt very much by the blows,” Kelly said, but both farmers were jailed.
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No word on who got the parking space.