A North Carolina lottery player started the new year off a winner after claiming a big jackpot prize, lottery officials said. Gary Thomas won $496,217 when he matched all five numbers in the Dec. 1 drawing of the Carolina Cash 5 game, the North Carolina Education Lottery said in a Jan. 3 news release.

A truck driver stopped for a lottery ticket — and scored a life-changing prize in North Carolina. Melchor Aguilar, of South Carolina, was traveling for work when he bought a scratch-off ticket that was worth $5 million, the N.C. Education Lottery wrote in a Jan. 2 news release.

One lucky lottery player is starting the new year off with a bang after their ticket landed them a massive win. When someone wins the lottery, especially if it's a life-changing sum like $1 million or more,

An updated report from the NWS Blacksburg VA on Friday at 3:48 p.m. warns of heavy snow until 4:15 p.m. The alert is for Ashe, Alleghany, Surry and Wilkes counties.

The NWS Greenville-Spartanburg SC issued a weather alert at 4:27 p.m. on Friday, warning residents of snow showers until 5:45 p.m. The alert is for Madison, Haywood and Buncombe counties.

The family that trained Ripken The Bat Dog — best known for fetching bats and football kicking tees during sporting events in North Carolina — says the black Labrador has died. In a Facebook post Friday,