News & Sports For November 9th

Election Results
Wilkes County underwent some changes last night as election results came in. The town of North Wilkesboro has a new mayor, as 53% of voters turned out to support Democrat George Church. Incumbent Steve Foster finished with 47% of the ballots, ending his term. On the North Wilkesboro commissioners' race, the top two vote getters were Debbie Ferguson with 45% of the vote and Robert L. Johnson, who came out with 32% of the vote. Laura Welborn finished just short, with 23% of the ballots going her way. In Wilkesboro, James Hartley and Mike Inscore ran unoposed, but that didn't stop people from writing in their own preference for candidates. 2% of the vote in the Wilkesboro town commissioners' race went to write-in candidates. Finally in Ronda, Manuel Wood, Holly Duplisea and Wanda Blackburn were all elected. Wood finished with 22% of the vote, while Blackburn came in second with 18% and Dupliseas finished third with 15%. Less than two percent seperated most of the eight candidates.

Teen Pregnancy Rates Raise Questions In Wilkes
Good news for Wilkes, as a recent study shows that teen pregnancy has declined here in the county. The rate of teen pregnancy here in Wilkes fell by 8.9% over the last year, however there is some disturbing information to go along with the good news. According to the study, 82 abortions were performed here in Wilkes over the last year, with 20 of them done by girls between the ages of 15 and 19. And despite the overall decrease, 96 babies were born to teenage mothers age 15-19 here in 2004. Overall out of the 828 babies born in Wilkes over the past year, 228 of them were to unwed mothers and over half of them were under the age of 24. The study was done by North Carolina's Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Coalition

Wreck On Winkler Mill Road Totals One
One car was totaled and another seriously damaged after a wreck Monday afternoon on the Winkler Mill road. a Millers Creek man was turning onto the road from the Wal-Mart parking lot, but didn't notice the oncoming traffic. He slammed into a North Wilkesboro man that had been trying to turn into the parking lot himself. Estimated damage in the wreck was placed at just under $3000. Thankfully however there were no injuries in the crash.

Pills Stolen From North Wilkesboro Home
Sheriff's deputies were called out to a North Wilkesboro residence earlier this week after thieves broke in and took several bottles of medicine. It's unclear exactly how the thieves got inside however, as the homeowner returned to find that the doors were still locked and nothing had been damaged or disturbed on the property. There is a suspect in the case and that investigation continues.

Veterans' Celebration This Friday
America is still standing today thanks to the sacrifices of the brave soldiers in our armed forces. They gave up families and lives here at home to go wherever needed and fight for their country. Coming up this Friday, the people of Wilkes will have a way to say thank you as a Veterans' Day Memorial Service will be held in North Wilkesboro. The event will go on at the corner of 9th Street and D Street in North Wilkesboro, with special guest speaker Fred Norman, a local World War II vet who served under General Patton. There will be performances by the Wilkes Central Madrigal Singers and also the band from North High, while Dr. Nelson Granade, pastor of First Baptist Church in North Wilkesboro will be giving the invocation and benediction. The event will begin at 11am this Friday, November 11th.

Wreck On Hwy 268 Totals Two
It's always a good idea to keep your eyes on the road. A North Wilkesboro man found that out the hard way this week, after being involved in a wreck on Hwy 268 West. The incident happened late Monday night, as he turned away from the road to look at something. The man's car swerved to the right and hit another vehicle, causing an estimated $3500 in damage. No one was injured in the wreck.

Focus On The Darkness
A new campaign is starting across the nation, helping to raise support for all Pregnancy Care Centers in the Country. The campaign's national director, Rick Gathman will be Brian's guest this week for Focus on the Foothills, as they'll be discussing the campaign and how people can get involved if they want to do that. It's coming up tomorrow at 1:05pm, right after the midday stock report.

Thieves Take Speakers From Ferguson Man's Car
A Ferguson man got off work at Wal-Mart Monday night and got in his car to head home. However he noticed something was different about his ride. Someone had ripped out the car's stereo speakers, along with the amp. All total, over a thousand dollars worth of material was taken from the vehicle, Wilkesboro police are trying to get video camera footage of the area, to possibly identify some suspects. That investigation continues.

3WC Techwatch: New Way To Protect Against ID Theft
ID theft is one of the most frustrating side effects of logging on to the internet. If you're not careful, someone can take your personal information and go on a shopping spree. But as we explain in today's 3WC Techwatch, a new way of doing business could help to make ID theft a thing of the past. Businesses around the country are trying out a new form of biotechnology, where instead of swiping a debit card, all you need is your thumb. Using the same fingerprint technology as law enforcement, banks and businesses can verify someone's ID and allow them to purchase items with the swipe of a finger. Since every fingerprint is different, no one is able to steal your identity and even if they grab your credit card, they won't be able to use it. Called Quicktouch, it's already been adopted by several Lowe's Foods stores across the nation, with more to follow by the end of this year. There is one Lowes Foods in the area that's a part of this program and that's the store in Hickory

Broke In For A Laptop
Never leave your doors unlocked when you leave home. A Millers Creek man learned why that's a good idea recently after thieves let themselves in. After the man left for the store, thieves came in and took his laptop computer. Nothing else was missing or disturbed when he arrived home. There is however a suspect in the case and the investigation is ongoing.

State News

Black Flag Hung On Power Plant Leads To Concerns
Officials in Wake County are investigating today after someone placed a large black flag on a portion of the local nuclear power plant. At the Shearon Harris plant, a flag was stuck on top of one of the communications towers, although officials don't know why or who's responsible. The flag was originally discovered over the weekend and while no threats have been made against the plant, FBI agents were called in to help with the investigation.

PETA Goes After Elizabeth City Farmer
A farmer in Chowan County finds himself under attack by PETA today. He's been told to feed his cows more or face possible charges of animal cruelty, after PETA released photos taken of animals on the man's farm. 30 nearly emaciated cows were photographed by PETA members, who snuck onto the property. However no charges are set to be filed against the PETA members, who feel that enough isn't being done to solve the problem. They've requested that each animal be examined by a vet and have their weight loss or gain monitored. An investigation by local officials is ongoing.

Plans Going Forward To Transform Catawba River
The Catawba River will be undergoing a change over the next few months, as plans move forward to transform it into something different. Concrete trenches are being poured and other work is being done to turn it into an artificial recirculating river, which will be included as part of the new National Whitewater Center. Conveyor belts will take would be rafters to the top, after which they'll be released into the water, with 560000 gallons pouring in every minute. An idea for the design came from a similar course, which was built to use in the Austrailian Olympics back in 2000. Officials hope to have everything up and running by mid 2006.

Family Drives Off With Bulldozer
Raleigh officials have arrested a man and his stepson for driving off with a bulldozer. The two had stolen the dozer from a work site near I-540 on Monday. As they drove by, an off duty sheriff's deputy noticed the truck pulling a bulldozer stacked up on a trailer. It's unknown why 35-yr-old Wayne Maroon and 27-yr-old Christopher Rochelle stole the vehicle, but both are now in the Wake County jail awaiting their hearing.

Five NC Counties Declared Disaster Areas
Portions of the North Carolina coast were delcared disaster areas this week, allowing federal aid to be sent in to help with rebuilding. Five counties were included in the declaration: Carterer, Craven, Jones, Onslow and Pamlico. The U.S. Small Business Association is offering homeowners in the affected areas a chance to apply for loans, to repair what was damaged and replace what can't be fixed.

Western Carolina Professor Explains What Needs To Be Done
A professor from here in Western North Carolina is spoke before members of Congress yesterday, discussing what should be done to protect against another hurricane such as Rita or Katrina. Rob Young teaches as part of the geoscience division at Western Carolina University and talked about the need to expand our coastal barriers and the supports they require to withstand the weather.

13th Annual Gingerbread House Competition Held
On Monday night, bakers from across the country gathered together in Asheville for the 13th Annual National Gingerbread House Competition. The event, which is held each year in the Grove Park Inn, had over 200 entries, with everything from a pirate ship, to a giant acorn w/ gingerbreaad squirrels and a gold gingerbread castle with a dragon serving as a watchdog. The grand prize winner, Bobbie Jinright of Troy Alabama and several other winners will show off their talents on ABC's "Good Morning America" program Dec. 23rd.

Sports Headlines

High School Football Playoffs This Friday
While the regular season has come to a close, there's still some football left to be played in Wilkes County. Two of the local high schools have teams in the playoffs, which kick off this Friday. East Wilkes stays at home for a game against North Stokes on Friday, while the Blackhawks of West Wilkes head up the road to Mt. Airy for their first round game. Kickoff is set for 7:30pm in both games and we'll be over at East Wilkes with the McDonald's pregame show starting at 7:15.

Appalachian Setting Attendence Records
Appalachian State is on its' way to setting new attendence records as the football season winds down. With one home game left, the Mountaineers have been averaging 22,364 people. That's good enough for 5th in North Carolina, just behind East Carolina, NC State, the UNC Tarheels and Wake Forest. The previous record for attendence was set back in 1992, with an average of 18638.

Duke Ranked Number One
The preseason poll is out for college basketball and that's good news for Duke fans. The Blue Devils are the hands down favorite this year, coming in at number one in the AP poll. Last year's champion, the UNC Tarheels however, took a huge fall as they dropped completely out of the Top 25. Also surprising was the fact that Kansas and NC State were left out of the Top 25 as well. The only other North Carolina team in the poll was Wake Forest, who is in at number 18.

Good News For Tarheel & Blue Devil Fans
The news wasn't all bad for UNC basketball fans, as college scouts ranked their recruiting class as the best in the nation. Next year's Tarheel squad will have three of the top eight high school seniors in the nation coming in. 6-9 forward Brandon Wright is ranked 4th in the nation, while 6-5 shooting guard Wayne Ellington comes in 6th place and point guard Tywon Lawson is 8th in the nation. Meanwhile the Duke Blue Devils are right behind with the number 12 ranked recruiting class. Brian Zoubek, a 7-1 center is ranked 21st in the nation and Jon Scheyer could be a replacement for J.J. Reddick when the senior graduates this spring.

Changes Coming Up In NASCAR
Once the NASCAR season wraps up, there will be a lot of changes going on in some of the major teams. Jamie McMurray was released from his contract with Chip Ganassi Racing this week, allowing him to take over Kurt Busch's car at Rousch Racing. Meanwhile Busch will move over to the Penske team, to take the place of retiring Rusty Wallace. Ganassi won't be naming a new driver to replace McMurray because he's dropping the number of cars in his team from four to three for 2006.