News & Sports For July 21st

Walker’s Bill Makes It To Easley’s Desk
Several months after Wilkes Representative Tracey Walker introduced a similar idea to the House, a bill was passed Wednesday making it a felony to break into a house of worship. Under the new law, someone caught breaking in can receive up to three years jail time. Currently that person if caught would most likely walk away with a misdemeanor. Now after being approved by the entire General Assembly, it goes to Gov. Easley’s desk to be signed into law.

Break-in On East Brocktown Road
Sheriff’s deputies were called out to the East Brocktown Road on Tuesday, after a local man saw someone breaking into a camper in the area. The man had been staying with his aunt when he heard noises outside. When going out to check, he saw a black man running out of the camper after dropping something. The camper’s screen door had been knocked out, also the main door had been pried open. Aside from the DVD player that the thief had left on the ground when leaving, all that was taken was $13 in change. Nothing else was missing and no other damage was done. Deputies are continuing the investigation.

Wilkes County Schools Fall Short
The No Child Left Behind program has attracted a ton of criticism during its’ existence, especially in the last election. Now as this year’s results come in from North Carolina schools, a new question has to be asked. Is the program too demanding or are public schools facing some problems? Over the next few days we’ll be taking a look at the results from Wilkes and the surrounding areas, going over them and explaining what they mean. These federal regulations are based on several different factors, targeting separate groups of kids, each based on different racial and economic factors, among other things. If just one of these groups fails to meet the percentage federal officials declared adequate in math or reading, then the entire school fails in that part of the program. Taking a look at the data, only six of the county’s elementary schools made adequate progress. Among them were Mulberry, Traphill and Mulberry. East Wilkes Middle School was the only one out of the four county middle schools to make adequate progress. Tomorrow we’ll run down each of the local high schools and if they passed the federal standard.

Black Out Leads To Wreck
Wilkesboro police responded to a wreck in the Tyson Foods parking lot this week. A Wilkesboro woman had blacked out at the wheel while driving, causing her car to continue forward into a fence. No one was hurt in the incident and the vehicle stopped once it hit the fence with an estimated $3500 worth of damage done. It’s not exactly clear what caused the woman to black out.

Focus On Abortion
Dealing with abortion can be a painful process not just for the person involved, but also for their family and friends. The Wilkes Pregnancy Care Center will be holding a conference coming up in August focusing on abortion and to hear more about it, you can tune in later today for Focus on the Foothills. We’ll be airing part two of our discussion as we touch on the conference itself, what exactly will be involved in it and why it’s important for the whole community to come out. That’s today at 1:05pm after the midday stock report.

Drug Dealer Arrested On Hwy 16
Sheriff’s deputies noticed a man in the Dollar General parking lot this week who had open warrants out for his arrest. After stopping the car, deputies searched the vehicle and found 20 grams of marijuana inside, along with some methamphetamines and painkillers. Also found in the car was a set of scales, some rolling papers and other drug paraphernalia. The driver then told deputies it was alright to search her home, in which they found additional bags of drugs, a rolling machine, a grinder and other materials that had to be sent off for analysis. 30-yr-old Lucindy Ann Carpenter and 38-yr-old Jeffrey Gwyn Trivette were arrested and charged with drug possession with intent to sell. Carpenter was additionally charged with maintaining a home for the sale of drugs.

Worship Center Helps Train Next Generation
Ministry can come in many forms, from tent revival meetings to providing food for the needy. One church here in Wilkes is expanding on that, helping to serve as a training ground for the next generation. Pastor Keith Nix of Restoration Worship Center has developed what he calls the Extreme Discipleship Program for youth. As part of the Extreme Discipleship program, older youth age 16-20 come and help with events such as VBS or tent revivals, getting involved in several key positions. They lead worship, help get things organized and also work behind the scenes. And if you or your church group want to get involved with the Extreme Discipleship program, you can contact Pastor Nix at 667-1885. In addition, the tent revival meetings and VBS programs are going on until Friday. VBS is at the Restoration Worship Center from 3-5pm and the Tent Meetings go on at the Rotary Fairgrounds until Saturday starting at 7:30pm.

Always Keep Your Car Locked
A Wilkesboro woman learned why it’s a good idea to keep your car locked this week, after her wallet was stolen. The woman had left the wallet inside her vehicle while she was in the store. When she returned however the wallet was missing, along with some personal papers that had been inside as well. There are no suspects but deputies are continuing the investigation.

Flood Preparation
As storms continue to pass through the county, the rising water can occasionally lead to flooding in your house. Dr. Elsa Murano, Under Secretary for the US Department of Agriculture warns that if your house suffered any damage from flood waters, any carpets, mattresses or furniture that was soaked needs to be thrown away if possible. The reason being that the longer water sits in one place, you run the risk of mold or bacteria growing, which can lead to health problems. Finally be careful when walking around your house after a flood. Snakes and other creatures tend to look for dry spots to take refuge during a storm and that could include your basement or outbuilding.

Checks Stolen And Used
A Wilkesboro woman got a surprise when she checked her bank statement this week. $50 had been withdrawn, despite the fact she had never written out a check for that amount. After checking with the bank, she found that someone else had used her identity to get a check cashed. The name of the person and their description were both turned over to sheriff’s deputies, who are continuing the investigation.

State News

Easley Orders Education Funding In Place
Governor Mike Easley took steps on Wednesday to make sure the state’s school system would continue on, even if lawmakers don’t come to an agreement on a new budget. Easley put forth an education budget of his own, ordering school officials to spend $75 million on poor school systems and at risk students while the legislature continues to negotiate. With the school semester approaching in less than a month, districts need the funds to pay teachers and buy materials.

Winn-Dixie Sells Stores
As 3WC reported last month, Winn-Dixie is planning to close down or sell all 326 stores it owns within the Carolinas and Tennessee. The company came one step closer to doing that on Wednesday, as plans were announced to sell 102 of the stores, including ones in Greensboro, High Point and Charlotte. This is all part of Winn-Dixie’s plan to increase profits by remaining in only the strongest markets where it has a store. As of Wednesday, no official bid has been put in for the Wilkesboro store here in the county.

Uninsured Get Help With Hospital Bills
Some good news today for people without health insurance. As the UNC Healthcare System will be dropping costs by 25% beginning in the next few weeks. The Board of Directors approved the decision, which takes effect in all the UNC system facilities August 1st. That covers all hospitals in the state-wide system, along with some regular doctors. Under the new plan, a family making up to $48,375 would qualify for free care after making a small co-pay. That’s just under $10,000 more than the current limit of $38,700.

Mistakes May Lead To New Trials
Lawyers across the state are calling for an investigation into North Carolina’s Crime Lab today, after errors were found in three cases that had gone to trial based on evidence from the lab. It’s believed that the lab gave the wrong results from a DNA test in one case and several other errors were committed in two separate ones. Now the State Bureau of Investigation has taken up the case, saying that it could take several months to determine if the complaints are legitimate.

New Law Makes It Easier To Hire Teachers
Governor Easley has helped shorten the time it takes college students to step into their chosen profession of teaching. Now in North Carolina community colleges can offer the courses needed for teaching certification. It will take teachers three years to get a provisional certificate under the new law, shaving two years off the old five year plan. Easley helped to speed up the process because according to statistics from his office, the state needs at least 11,000 new teachers each year and isn’t keeping up with the demand. The bill requires the State Board of Community Colleges to make available a teaching program by May 1st of next year.

North Carolina Pastor Under Arrest
A Baptist pastor in North Carolina was arrested and charged this week after police caught him on the beach with a metal detector, except he was using it for something other than finding coins. 54-yr-old Leon E. Harris, the pastor of Rose Hill Free Will Baptist Church in Winterville, was arrested after police broke up an argument between him and a woman on the beach where he had been walking. It turns out that on his metal detector was a video camera that allegedly the pastor was using to film people as they walked by. The pastor refused to comment on the charges, only saying that he appreciated everyone who had offered him their support.

Sports Headlines

Tarheels Football Program Receives Bad News
The UNC Tarheel football program received some bad news this week, as yet another running back may have been lost for the season. Coach Bunting announced that it would be at least the middle of the upcoming season before team doctors will know for sure if Ronnie McGill can recover from his injuries. McGill had tore muscles in his chest while lifting weights last month, an injury that might force him to redshirt and miss the entire 2005 football season. In his place, redshirt freshman Barrington Edwards will be the starter, according to Coach Bunting.

Appalachian’s Loss Is Carolina’s Gain
Appalachian State lost one of its’ basketball commitments this week, as he switched to join the UNC Tarheels. 6-6 Vince Jacobs had originally committed in May to Appalachian, but after receiving offers from several schools, including UNC to play football, Jacobs changed his mind. Now the rising senior from Providence Day will be suiting up as a tight end when his college career starts in 2006 and he’ll be doing it in a Carolina uniform.

May Receives Award
While Sean May’s professional career is just starting, he received yet another award from the college ranks this week. May was named the ACC male athlete of the year, taking home the Anthony J. McKevlin Award. He finished with 41 votes, 11 ahead of second place Matt Danowski from Duke’s lacrosse program. On the girl’s side of things it was Wake Forest’s Keey Dostal who took home the female athlete of the year award. Dostal, who led the field hockey team to a national championship, finished with 18 votes, just barely edging out second place Chaunte Howard, who finished with 17.

Minor League Scoreboard
In the minor leagues last night, it was the Hickory Crawdads beating Greenville 6-5. Crawdads starter Romulo Sanchez got his first win of the season, giving up one run in five innings of work. Hickory catcher Neil Walker also had a good day at the plate, going 4-5 on the night. The win marks the fifth straight time Hickory has won a series, bringing their record since the break to 16-9. Up the road in Winston, the Warthogs snapped a three game losing streak by beating Lynchburg 9-3. Winston players had 15 hits as starter Gio Gonzalez only surrendered three runs in six innings. Tom Collaro also hit his league leading 21st home run of the season as one of his two hits on the day.