RALEIGH, N.C. — Some of North Carolina’s youngest voters are getting a chance to pick candidates for November’s general election, but they won’t be able to vote on the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

State elections director Gary Bartlett said Tuesday that officials have received less than a dozen complaints across the state from 17-year-old voters angry they did not get to vote on the marriage ban.

State law allows 17-year-olds to vote in primaries as long as they will be 18 by the general election in November. But Bartlett said those voters cannot cast a ballot on the amendment because that issue is being decided Tuesday.

GERMANTON, N.C. — This time of year, Eddy McGee inevitably receives a flood of calls from people in Stokes County.

“Eddy,” they say, “there’s some artists out here painting in my field. Is that OK?”

McGee, the director of the Stokes County Arts Council, reassures them that all is well. The arrival of the artists signals the start of Painting North Carolina Plein Air Show, a six-day event that draws plein air artists from around the country, even some outside the United States.

To paint en plein air is to paint in the open air. It’s a style often associated with French impressionists Claude Monet and Pierre Auguste Renoir.

David and Judy Simpson, owners of the Germanton Gallery, started the plein air show about nine years ago as a way to promote plein air painting, bring together artists from around the country and expose Stokes County residents to art.

STOKES COUNTY, N.C. — A grease fire Thursday evening destroyed a popular cafe north of King, Stokes County fire officials said.

The fire started sometime after 6:30 p.m. at “Country Cafaye” at 5687 Highway 66. A woman in the kitchen was able to escape without injury. No one else was inside.

The fire started in the kitchen’s grease fryer and caused $150,000 in damage, said Stokes County Fire Marshal Frankie Burcham.

The Country Cafaye has been open since 1971. Burcham said the building is a total loss.

Owner Rodney Booth said he has an insurance policy on the restaurant and he plans to rebuild. He said he’s not sure yet how long it will take him to rebuild.