Local Health Food Recall
The Wilkes Health Department announced yesterday that over 63,000 pounds of beef have been recalled after traces of bacteria were discovered. Packages of Murry’s frozen ground beef and Murry’s meatballs have been called back after portions of the meat tested positive for Esherichia (eh-shur-ree-she-uh) coil. The bacteria is potentially lethal, as it can cause bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramps and sometimes can lead to kidney failure. The specific products involved are all 20-ounce packages of Murry’s Gourmet Meatballs with the item code 63101. In addition, all 10-lb boxes of Murry’s Steaks 4B Wide All Beef Patties with the codes 01357 and 01340 were included as well. North Carolina was one of several states that the infected beef was shipped to and for more information, you can call the Food & Safety Inspection Service at 1-888-674-6854.

Armed Robbery Turns Out To Be A Hoax
A North Wilkesboro man called sheriff’s deputies on Sunday, informing him that he had just been robbed at gunpoint. But that was before he changed his story and said he had been dropped off and his ride never came back. Then he told deputies it had all been a lie, confessing that he and a friend had been out to buy drugs, when the friend let him out of the vehicle and drove off with $140 of his money. The man, 32-yr-old Thomas Allen Greene was charged with filing a false report and deputies are still searching for his missing friend.

Boomer Woman Victim Of Break-In
A Boomer woman was the victim of a break-in earlier this week. After returning home, she noticed that the back door to her house had been pried open and several items had been stolen including a handgun and her prescription of painkiller pills. There is a suspect in the case and deputies are continuing the investigation.

Concession Stands Vandalized At Cub Creek
Wilkesboro police were called out to Cub Creek Park on Sunday, after officials discovered someone had been to the concession stand after hours. Over a hundred dollars worth of damage had been done to the stands, as it appeared someone had tried to get in. They failed however, only managing to partially pry open one of the doors. Nothing was taken from inside and no other damage was done to the area. The investigation is still ongoing.

Search Warrant Yields Drug Bust
Acting on a tip, sheriff’s deputies got a search warrant and went through an apartment at Bell Court earlier this week. Inside they found cocaine residue, some marijuana, several boxes of baggies and other items of drug paraphernalia. The apartment’s occupant, 43-yr-old Fred Douglas Ferguson was arrested and charged with drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Realtors Get Involved To Help Wilkes County
Every weekend, several yard sales go on across the county in hopes of raising money for different events. This week is no different, although one of the causes involved deals with the future of Wilkes. The Wilkes County Board of Realtors is sponsoring a yard sale to help the community, as all proceeds will go toward building a billboard promoting Wilkes to local travelers. That fundraiser will take place this coming Saturday, June 18th at the warehouse behind Dwight Phillips Auto Sales in Wilkesboro. All the proceeds from this will go to the construction of the billboard itself, but there’s just one problem. A design is needed to get people’s attention and that’s where the Board is asking local people to step in. Now to suggest a creative design for the billboard you can call the Wilkes County Board of Realtors at 667-9331. If your proposal is chosen, it will be put up as the county’s billboard to any travelers passing by on their way to or from Boone. Once the money is collected from the sale and a design is accepted, the plan is to have the billboard put up possibly by the end of next month.

Return Of The Mailbox Vandals
Mailbox vandals struck again here in Wilkes, this time hitting two homes in the Millers Creek area. The homeowners returned to find while no damage had been done to their house or any other part of the property, both of the mailboxes had been smashed. Over $40 worth of damage was caused in the process. This time however there are suspects in the case and deputies are continuing the investigation.

Drug House Discovered By Deputies
Sheriff’s deputies responded to a tip on Speedway Road over the weekend and uncovered a drug operation in the process. Members of the Special Enforcement Team accompanied the deputies as they went to the home, hoping to interrupt a drug deal in progress. The dealer was caught and the deputies searched his home, finding 61 grams of marijuana along with various items of drug paraphernalia. 17-yr-old Christopher Allen Steele was arrested and charged with drug possession, intent to sell & deliver drugs, maintaining a house for the sale of drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia.

State News

Lawmakers Call For Iraq Timetable
As lawmakers throughout the country call for a decision on when the troops will be coming home, several from here in North Carolina have added their voice to the mix. Republican Congressman Walter Jones has signed on as a sponsor of a new bill that would call for a timetable, detailing a plan to get our soldiers out of Iraq. Jones said that once the Iraqis are trained to fight, we should turn over control of the country to them. Jones serves the district that covers both Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point.

North Carolina Out Of The Forecasting Business
As the hurricane season picks up and other storms head our way, North Carolina finds itself partially blind, at least for the next few days. One of the buoys stationed in the Outer Banks to help predict the weather had to be taken out of service on Monday, after boats constantly failed to pay attention and ran it over. The buoy, which covered the southeastern part of the state, will have to be thrown away, due to the severe damage it sustained and the earliest a new one can be brought out by the government is mid August. That means for at least the next two months, portions of the state will be totally blind when it comes to weather detection.

Over 3000 Patients Treated With Hydraulic Fluid
Over 3000 patients of the Duke Health System were treated with hydraulic fluid over the past year, according to a recently finished investigation. The report found that medical staff at Duke Health Raleigh and Durham Regional accidentally washed their instruments in hydraulic fluid, confusing it for detergent. The mixup occurred after hydraulic fluid was drained after work on the elevators and poured into empty detergent barrels last year. Those barrels were then picked up and redistributed for use as a cleaner. Despite concerns from the medical staff about unusually slick instruments, the problem wasn’t investigated for several weeks. As a result, several dozen of the over 3000 patients that were exposed to the fluid have faced additional medical problems including fatigue, pain in their joints and some have had to go back into the hospital for treatment.

Largest Hat Collection Sold
A dream came to an end this week in Hillsborough as over 3000 hats were sold at auction. The hats had been part of what people are calling the largest hat collection in the world, owned by a local man who died in 2001. He had planned to one day open the National Hat Museum but died before that could become a reality. Now as family members continue to struggle with the debts he left behind, the hat collection was put on sale to raise enough money to pay the bills. Most of the collection was bought by a Virginia man and his son, who have a 30 thousand square foot warehouse back home loaded with their collectibles. Ironically enough after spending almost a hundred thousand dollars on the auction, the man said he had no idea what he had just bought.

Three Men Arrested In Drive By Shooting
Police in the Fayetteville area arrested three men in connection with a shooting Sunday night. The three had drove by a local home, pulled out a shotgun and fired at the two people sitting outside. Both of the victims were found by a friend and taken to a local hospital, where they’re receiving treatment. It’s not believed that any of the wounds are life-threatening. Police arrested 19-yr-old William Burkett, 27-yr-old Brian Odom and 32-yr-old Howard Hargett, charging each with attempted murder, felony conspiracy, aggravated assault and discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling. It’s still unknown what caused the trio to open fire in the first place.

Sports Headlines

Wilkes Patriots In Action Tonight
Later on tonight if the weather stays away, we’ll have some American Legion baseball for you on the radio. The Wilkes Post 31 Patriots will be at home to take on Rowan County, in a rematch that was delayed several weeks ago by rain. Gametime is set for 7pm and we’ll go on the air with the pregame show at 6:45pm. That American Legion baseball on your home for local sports, 3WC.

Local Athletes Make Conference Team
Both the Mountain Valley and Northwest 1-A released their all conference teams this week and several Wilkes County players made the list. In baseball, Todd Ballard, Drew Ward and Brandon York from West Wilkes made the squad, along with Chris Pollock from North, Robby Monday from East and a pair of teammates from Wilkes Central, Nathan Handy and Jake Johnson. On the softball field, it was Erica Call from Wilkes Central, Brittany Parsons & Casey Sheeler from West, Megan Bell & Teresa Rutledge from East and Natasha Brown, Ashley Harding & Amy Vogel from North Wilkes making the list.

Turning toward the all-conference squad in soccer, it was loaded with Wilkes County players as Katie Andreski, Tiffany Ashley, Emily Gustafson, Jessica Norris and Leslie Warren , all from Wilkes Central made the squad. Also Sarah Dengler from North Wilkes and Kassie Oiler from West. In tennis, it was David Murphy from East Wilkes, Phillip Brame Zeb Gambill, Andrew Huggins and Jay Snipes from Wilkes Central and Graylyn Byrd, JT Campbell and Matt Dave from North Wilkes making the cut. Central’s Phillip Brame was also tagged as the player of the year.
Finally on the track, it was no surprise that Wilkes had over 30 players in the all conference team. On the boys side, it was Kevin Boehum, Trey Bryant, Jesse Hanlin, Matt Smith and Andrew Wagoner from North Wilkes, along with Steven Branch, Evan McNeil, Wesley Scearcy and Matt Triplett from West and Phillip Curley from Wilkes Central. For the girls, it was Bree Tharpe and Taylor Welborn from East Wilkes, along with Kayla Branciforte from North Wilkes, Lauren Amick, Mallory Beck, Morgan Beck, Marcia Brooks, Amanda Davis, Melanie Fyre, Krista Goforth, Jessica Hendrix, Tiffany Upchurch and Emily Wright from West. And from Wilkes Central, LeighAnn Dickinson, Lindsay Groce, Melinda Lackey, Cadina McCurdy, Deidre Morrison, Amy Will and Amanda Younger all were named to the conference team. Emily Wright from West Wilkes also was named the athlete of the year in Mountain Valley 2-A soccer and her coach Mary Wright received coach of the year honors.

Winston Salem Beats Fredrick
And turning to the minor league scene, Winston Salem took care of business against the Fredrick Keys last night as they took the 12-4 blowout victory. Warthogs’ starter Daniel Haigwood his seventh win of the season while Jose Ovalles pitched the ninth for his second save.

Williams Staying A Deacon
Wake Forest fans can breathe a sigh of relief today, as one of their underclassman changed his mind about entering the draft. 6-9 Eric Williams, the Deacons’ starting center, said that he had decided to withdraw and come back for his senior year. Williams had previously said he wouldn’t stay in unless guaranteed to be a first round pick. But as it stands now, he wasn’t even on many of the draft boards as a second rounder.

Nascar To Have Name Change
Now that people have gotten used to calling it the Nextel Cup, it’s time for another change on the NASCAR series. Nextel merged with Sprint and now company execs are deciding what to call the new company and in turn, the racing series it sponsors. Nextel took over as sponsor from RJ Reynolds in 2003, ending a 31 year partnership between the racing series and the cigarette maker. A new name is expected to be announced within the next month. It’s still not clear what if any affect the switch in names and brands will have on ticket prices.