National Rural Health Day on Thursday, Nov. 20

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Rural Health will join others to celebrate National Rural Health Day on Thursday, Nov. 20. National Rural Health Day celebrates the "Power of Rural" by recognizing individuals, organizations and communities addressing health care needs of rural residents. North Carolina's rural population is the second largest in America, with one in three people living in rural areas in our state. Some 3.5 million people live in one of the 71 rural counties across North Carolina. 

FEMA and NC

FEMA announced an additional $155 million for 130 North Carolina Tropical Storm Helene and past disaster recovery projects, including: $54 million to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, $3.3 million to the village of Sugar Mountain, and $1.6 million to the town of Boone for repairs to roads. To date, $957 million has been provided to North Carolina for road repair, debris removal, and infrastructure repair for the 2024 Hurricane Season. Since January 2025, $632 million in Public Assistance reimbursements has been approved for recovery efforts in North Carolina. 

A Year at North Wilkesboro Fire Department

The North Wilkesboro Fire Department used social media to pass along their stats and number of responses for the past year. For Fiscal Year 2025, the North Wilkesboro Fire Department ended with a total of 1,008 calls. Of those 1,008 calls, 307 were responses to reports of fire, and 701 were first responder calls. Overall, the number of calls for 2025 was a decrease of 74 total calls from Fiscal Year 2024.  

Local Tax Fraud

Unfortunately, tax fraud and tax refund fraud is a common occurrence that the IRS addresses in detail on their website. A Wilkes County resident recently contacted the sheriff’s office about an ongoing issue with tax refunds. According to the report, an unknown individual has been attempting to fraudulently claim the victim’s tax returns since 2021. The same problem has happened again this year. There is no word on suspects.

Stolen Tools and Gun

The Wilkes Sheriff’s Office is investigating a theft from the Purlear Community. The property owner reported that assorted tools, a camper generator, and a 410 shotgun were stolen. The stolen property is valued at $700. No suspects were listed with that report.

Local Police Collecting Can Food

North Wilkesboro Police and Wilkesboro Police say: No neighbor left hungry.  Every year for many years, local citizens have provided a cooked meal for officers at Thanksgiving. This year, local police are requesting that you donate and bring canned food items to the police department instead of cooked items. They are teaming up with Wilkes Youth Life Development and the Change Wagon with a canned food collection drive called "No neighbor left hungry."  This is a friendly competition with North Wilkesboro Police and Wilkesboro Police Departments to see who can collect the most. Please deliver your canned food items to: North Wilkesboro Police Dept or the Wilkesboro Police Dept from now until November 24th. All food items will help local citizens in need for Thanksgiving.

NC and AI

Last week marked a milestone for North Carolina as the state’s AI Leadership Council met for the first time. With 30 public and private sector experts, the meeting laid the groundwork for North Carolina's goal to become the most AI-literate state in the nation. The council will advise and support the Governor and state agencies on developing AI strategies, policies, protections, and training initiatives aimed at advancing AI-driven industries.

NC and SNAP

As the federal government shutdown continues, the North Carolina Department of Health received guidance from the USDA to issue partial benefits for November to the nearly 1.4 million people who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. NC Health is updating its payment system to issue benefits. If federal funding is provided this week as expected, all partial benefits should be loaded onto EBT cards by next week, so beneficiaries should check the balances on their cards often. This follows USDA’s statement it would use $4.65 billion in emergency funds to cover about half of the federal SNAP program for the month of November in response to a lawsuit filed by North Carolina and 24 other states. 

Victim's of ID Theft Locally

Two different North Wilkesboro residents are reporting to the Wilkes Sheriff’s Office that someone stole their identity to attempt to open a Capital One credit card. The first victim reported that he had received an email from Credit Carma regarding someone using his information and his wife’s information to inquire for Capital One. The second victim also learned that someone used her name and information without her knowledge to try and open a Capital One account. There is no word on suspects.

Samaritan’s Purse Feeding Federal Employees

While the federal government shutdown continues to affect thousands of workers and their families, Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association are serving lunch at no charge to federal employees during the shutdown. Lunch will be available seven days a week from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to federal workers with a valid government ID. Meals will be served at Samaritan’s Purse locations including Boone, Greensboro, Charlotte, Asheville, and here in Wilkes at the North Wilkesboro location. To learn more, visit samaritanspurse.org.