It was 12th-grade math class. As the teacher droned, I had my textbook open - to the latest copy of Mad magazine. So engrossed was I in the spoof rag tucked inside my textbook that I didn't notice that the teacher had materialized beside me.

Icagen will make a new move this month to avoid having its shares delisted from the Nasdaq.

DURHAM - Police have revised the number of people wounded during a Sunday morning shooting.

WENDELL - A raft of rule changes proposed by Town Commissioner Sid Baynes could require the town to seek changes to its charter - and possibly state law - before they take effect.

Jancey MacDonald, a rising sixth-grader at West Cary Middle School and daughter of Jay and Teresa MacDonald of Cary, has earned her Girl Scout Bronze Award, the highest award a Junior Girl Scout can attain.

Corinne Jurney, a Broughton High School student, recently served as a page in the N.C. House of Representatives.

Panther Creek High School student Kristen Johnson recently completed a week as a page in the N.C. House of Representatives.

Welcome to The News & Observer's Thumbs Up page, your place for news about the achievements and adventures of young people from across the Triangle. Each Tuesday, we'll bring you stories and photos of the kids who make this a great place to live.

Carolyn Marie Caggia of Cary has been awarded the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest achievement in Girl Scouting.

When most high schoolers work over the summer, it's to make a little extra money for themselves.

Andrew Turner of Raleigh has earned the highest achievement in Boy Scouting, his Eagle Scout rank.

Meghan Stuchel of Wake Forest has earned the highest award possible for a Junior Girl Scout, her Bronze Award.

David Scott Sailer of Chapel Hill has earned his Eagle Scout rank, the highest achievement for a Boy Scout.

Elizabeth Reeves, an 11th-grader at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, served as a Senate page in Washington for four weeks this summer.

A member of the governing board for the 17-campus UNC system wants to explore whether international students should pay more for a public college education in North Carolina than American students from other states do.

ASHEBORO - North Carolina Zoo officials say a female lion has been euthanized after veterinarians determined she would not recover from cancer.

HIGH POINT - New furniture orders rose 9 percent in June compared with the same time last year, according to the latest Furniture Insights monthly report.

"Politics are bad for women and women are bad for politics." So read the banner that hung in the Hotel Raleigh headquarters of the forces opposed in 1920 to ratification of a constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote.

DURHAM - Kathy Rudy is tired of hearing colleagues tell her they can't afford to buy hamburger meat at the farmers market.

The North Carolina Senate candidates have agreed to three televised debates this fall, the most of any recent election.