News & Sports For June 24th

News & Sports For Friday June 24th 2005

Heat Relief Still Available For Wilkes Seniors
Yesterday the temperature reached 90 degrees in Wilkesboro and with more hot weather on the way, many people can find themselves in a life threatening situation. For any seniors who don’t have an air conditioner or anything else to keep cool, the Wilkes Senior Citizens Council is handing out fans to anyone who meets their requirements. In order to get one, you must be at least 60 years old, live in Wilkes and be served by Duke Power. In addition, your home situation must present a threat to your life without the fans. Applications are being taken from 8:30am til 5pm at the Wilkes Senior Citizens Council office, located at 910 C Street in Wilkesboro. For more information you can contact them at 651-7811.

Two Totaled In Wreck On 421
Two cars were totaled after a wreck on 421 Wednesday morning. The incident happened as a Millers Creek man was trying to turn off 421 onto a side road before his light turned red. A driver coming from the other direction couldn’t slow down in time and slammed into the man’s car. As he tried to avoid the crash, that second driver swerved to the right, hitting a third vehicle that had been stopped waiting for his light to turn. All total an estimated $14,500 worth of damage was done, as the first two vehicles were totaled in the accident. Thankfully however no one was injured.

Drink Machines Damaged At Local Store
Sheriff’s deputies were called out to the Run-in on Elkin Highway in North Wilkesboro recently, after vandals caused over $500 worth of damage. There was no sign of an attempted break-in and also no damage done to the building itself. However some type of substance was poured into the money slots of the drink machines outside. Nothing was taken from the machines and it doesn’t appear that the vandals tried to gain access to the money inside. Deputies are continuing the investigation.

Blood Drive Later Today
Later today a blood drive will be going on at the Lowes Foods up from Wal-Mart in Wilkesboro. While there have been several drives going on in recent weeks, the need is still critical for donors to come out and give. Once again that drive will go on later today at the Lowes Foods in Wilkesboro, up from Wal-Mart at the Winkler Mill location from 10am til 2:30pm. To schedule an appointment, you can call the Red Cross at 838-4563.

Gas Thieves Hit Another Wilkes Business
Yet another Wilkes business fell victim to gas thieves this week. This time it was Neighbors Store on Hwy 268, as a vehicle pulled in, pumped $20 worth of gas and took off. A description of the vehicle and its’ driver was turned over to sheriff’s deputies, although there was some confusion as to if it was an actual case of theft, with employees not sure if the person paid or not. Deputies are continuing the investigation.

Be Careful Where You Leave Your Keys
Never leave your keys inside your car. A North Wilkesboro man found that out the hard way this week, after thieves got in and took the vehicle for a joyride. This happened Tuesday night, but then hours later the vehicle was returned without any damage done to it in the process. The only catch was now the man’s mountain bike was missing. A local teen was caught later on Wednesday riding the bike and admitted to sheriff’s deputies that he had stolen it. The teen said he was looking for money to steal, but after seeing the key decided to take the car for a drive. The teen, whose name was withheld due to his age, was arrested and charged with breaking & entering, along with larceny of a motor vehicle.

Local Store Falls Prey To Vandals
Deputies were called out to the Artic Grill Wednesday morning, after vandals had apparently stopped by for a late night visit. The electrical wire around the building’s sign had been pulled down by a vehicle described to deputies as a tractor that had driven by hauling cars. All total an estimated $300 worth of damage was done in the incident and deputies are continuing the investigation.

Craving For Pizza Gets Out Of Hand
Two cars wrecked at Papa Johns Pizza Wednesday night, as Wilkesboro police were called out to the scene. The first driver had been trying to circle the building and accidentally entered into a one way area going the wrong direction. She slammed into the second car, just pulling out of the drive-through. The first vehicle was totaled, with damages in the crash estimated at just over $2000. No one was injured in the accident.

State News

Prisoner Tries To Escape Off Balcony
A simple traffic citation led to a Mecklenburg County man throwing himself off the courthouse balcony on Wednesday. The man, 29-yr-old Samuel Vance, had a court hearing to deal with a traffic ticket he had received for driving without a license. While in the courtroom, Mecklenburg deputies attempted to arrest Vance on an outstanding warrant in his name from Lee County, stemming from assault charges. When Vance saw the deputies coming he took off, running out of the room and onto a walking bridge nearby. When he saw someone step onto the bridge from the other side, Vance jumped off and dived over 15 feet to the ground. He wasn’t seriously injured but was taken to Carolinas Medical Center for treatment, after which he’ll begin a jail sentence on the assault charges. Vance said he jumped because he simply didn’t want to go back to prison.

More Jobs On The Way Across The State
Some more good news today on the job market, as Blue Cross and Blue Shield announced they’ll be expanding operations in the next few months. With the expansion comes 100 new jobs across North Carolina, many of which should be added by the end of this year. Most of the jobs will be in the company’s new 29,000 sq. foot complex in Durham that’s currently under construction. Hiring is expected to begin in the next few months.

Hydraulic Fluid Turns Up At Another Hospital
It turns out that the Duke Health System wasn’t the only place hydraulic fluid was swapped for surgical cleaners. Baptist Medical Center announced this week that barrels were delivered supposedly containing a cleaning fluid for surgical instruments. Instead, it turned out to be hydraulic fluid. Workers checked the contents of the barrels however and discovered the mistake before anyone was exposed. It’s still unclear exactly how this batch of hydraulic fluid got exchanged with the cleaners.

Search Continues For Raleigh Suspect
And the search continues today for a man in the Raleigh area, after he led police on a high speed chase through two different towns. 25-yr-old Jermaine Holloway had been pulled over by law enforcement just before 1:30 Thursday morning on a routine traffic stop. After running his information it was discovered that there was an outstanding warrant against Holloway, but before authorities could arrest him, he drove off. After more than 30 minutes of chasing Holloway through Cary and nearby Raleigh, officials finally lost him near a local apartment building, where the man jumped out of the car and took off running. After two hours, officials called off the search but plan to continue later today.

End Possibly In Sight To Superintendent Race
Nearly seven months after voters went to the polls, a winner could soon be declared in the state race for superintendent of public schools. Back in November, Democrat June Atkinson beat Republican Bill Fletcher for the post, but constant challenges by Fletcher have kept her from assuming the position. Atkinson beat Fletcher by over eight thousand votes, a total the Republican says is inaccurate because he believes eleven thousand ballots should be thrown out. Following North Carolina law, a special committee of 10 lawmakers from here in the state have been appointed to begin deciding a winner. They’ll review written arguments from both candidates and take a look at the evidence to determine who has the most legal votes. All of this is expected to take place within the next month, after which a recommendation will be made to the General Assembly, who will then vote for the winner. All of this falls under the guidelines dictated by the state constitution.

Union Warship Found In Roanoke River
Researchers at East Carolina University recently confirmed that a wreckage at the bottom of the Roanoke River is in fact that of the USS Otsego, a Union warship sunk over a 140 years ago. Members of ECU’s Maritime Studies Program have been able to map the wreckage and pinpoint its’ location, 110 miles east of Raleigh near Jamesville. The 220 ft. vessel was one of 22 warships built to sever Conference supply lines, but it sank in December of 1864 when it hit 20 southern mines that had been laid out in the river. It’s unknown what if anything can be salvaged from the wreck, which has broken apart into rotten timber and twisted steel.

Sports Headlines

Confusion Ties Up Post 31 Future
The scores have come in and now the Wilkes Patriots get to pack up and wait. South Rowan did lose their game against Rowan County, falling 13-1 in a game called after seven innings. And while that does give Wilkes the edge by half a game in the overall standings, their records are dead even in the conference. What that means is tiebreaker rules go into effect, but in this case, most of them can’t be used either. The first rule has a winning team judged on head to head competition, but since Wilkes and South Rowan split their games this year, that’s thrown out. The second decider is how they did against higher seeded teams, also thrown out. Wilkes got swept by Mocksville, but then came back to split their series with Stanley County, while South did the opposite. Basically now it all depends on how Kannapolis did in their game late last night. The runs allowed rule is what officials are going by now, meaning that if Kannapolis wins but ends up with more runs given up than second place Rowan, Wilkes is in. However that’s the only scenario that works for the Patriots. Even if Kannapolis loses, Wilkes is out, due to the seeding. The only way for the Patriots to get into the playoffs now is to hope Kannapolis not only wins, but gives up a ton of runs doing so. We hope to have a score and a final decision to tell you about tonight on the 7pm News Update.

Volleyball League Reminder
The deadline’s coming up for anyone who wants to join a summer volleyball league this July. Anyone can take part, from middle school even up to adults in separate 3 on 3 leagues. There is a fee to register, as it costs $30 to sign up your team to play. The last day to sign up for July’s tournament is next Thursday June 30th and for more information you can call 957-7363 or send an email to holloways@wilkes.k12.nc.us

UNC Coach Gives His Take On NBA Age Rules
Around the college scene, UNC Tarheels coach Roy Williams gave his opinions to the media on Thursday when asked how the new age limit in the NBA would affect his recruiting. Williams called the limit, which prevents all players younger than 19 from entering the league, “just window dressing” and said it would be better to have nothing at all than what’s in place now. He said however the rule wouldn’t change the way he recruited, because he’s going out for the best players, regardless of how long they plan to stay in school. Williams also said that he hopes the Bobcats pick a few of his players in the upcoming draft so he can take a day off and come to their games next season.

Wake Forest Lands Football Recruit
In college football, Wake Forest landed a recruit this week, as Dennis Godfrey, a 6-3 250 lb. tight end from Lee County committed to the Deacons. Godfrey, a rising senior at Lee County High, is known both for his blocking ability as well as being able to catch the ball. Godfrey refused other offers from UNC, East Carolina and NC State to commit to Wake Forest.

Minor League Scoreboard
Taking a look at the minor leagues last night, the Hickory Crawdads beat Greensboro 8-1. The Crawdads got six strong innings from starter Julio Guerrero, as he only gave up one run on six hits to get his first win of the season. Hickory goes on the road tonight to start a three game series with the Asheville Tourists.