News & Sports For January 18th

Run-In Damaged By Thieves
Thieves hit the Moravian Falls Run-In over the holiday, causing over $1000 in damages. Employees came in on Sunday to find a window had been shattered and beer stolen from inside. Nothing else was taken or even touched inside the store, as it appears the thieves simply shattered the window, grabbed the beer sitting directly behind it and left. Deputies are continuing the investigation.

Car Stolen From Post Office
Be careful where you leave your vehicle. That’s the lesson a Ronda man learned this week. He had parked at the Ronda Post Office, leaving his vehicle behind while joining friends on a trip out of town. He locked the doors and had the keys in his pocket. Later that night when he returned, the vehicle was missing, with so signs of damage or any indication what happened. That investigation is ongoing.

Focus On Red Cross
With the new year, a lot of changes are taking place here in Wilkes. One of those changes involves the Red Cross, as the local chapter has a new executive director. Scott Glaze is taking over the position and he'll be talking about the job this week on Focus. Scott will be Brian’s guest as they talk about the Red Cross, some of the misconceptions about the organization and what the goals are heading into a new year. That’s tomorrow at 1:05pm right after the midday stock report.

Always Lock Up Before You Leave
Always lock up before you leave. A woman visiting friends on Statesville Road found that out the hard way this week. She left her cell phone in her car, but didn’t lock the doors. When she came back out, the phone was gone. That investigation continues.

Gun Stolen From North Wilkesboro Home
Thieves stole a handgun from a North Wilkesboro residence earlier this week. The homeowner told deputies he had left the gun on top of his washer & dryer before leaving the building. When he returned later that day, the gun was missing. There is a suspect in the case and deputies are continuing the investigation.

Recall Of Christmas Lights
If you went out over the last few weeks and did some shopping for next year’s Christmas decorations, it might be a good idea to wait before packing them up. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall this week of 861,000 sets of Christmas lights. All of the brands involved were sold at Target and include the “mini light” and the “chasing light” sets. Several of the packages have exposed wires and could lead to a fire next year when hung on the tree. The recall includes all 50-count multi-color, all 100 count blue and 140 count chasing light sets with “Mini Light Set” or “Chasing Light Set” written on the packaging. You can call Target for more information at 1-800-440-0680 between 7am and 6pm Monday through Friday for more information.

Wreck On 421 Totals Two
Two cars were totaled after a wreck on Hwy 421 Monday morning. The incident happened just before 11am when a Garner man was traveling through a green light. A Millers Creek woman pulled out in front of him from another direction and caused the crash. Despite serious damage to both vehicles, no one was hurt in the wreck. Estimated damages were placed at $9000.

Broke In To Steal A Washer
An Elkin man is trying to determine how someone managed to break into a building on his property without leaving any evidence behind. A pressure washer was stolen from the man’s shed, but there was no damage done to the area. There is however a suspect and deputies are continuing the investigation.

Scooter Stolen From Ronda Home
Sheriff’s deputies were called out to a Ronda home to investigate a theft, one that occurred somewhere else. The homeowner had allowed her son to borrow her scooter and he had driven it to a friend’s house. He left it there and went back to get it earlier this week, only to find it missing. Information was turned over to deputies and that investigation continues.

State News

Supreme Court Rejects Annexation Plea
The U.S. Supreme Court won’t get involved with Fayetteville’s annexation battle. The decision was announced on Tuesday as justices refused to examine a court decision here in North Carolina on the subject. At the center of the controversy is the question do cities have the ability to annex outlying areas without their consent? The city of Fayetteville plans to annex 27 square miles of land, bringing over 40,000 people into the tax base. Citizens opposed the move, saying they were concerned about the cost of city sewage services and also increased taxes. A North Carolina court had already ruled in Fayetteville’s favor and the plans will go forward now that the Supreme Court declined to intervene.

NC Troops Find Weapons Cache
A group of North Carolina Marines made a major discovery in Ramadi. In a press release on Monday, the Marine Corps said that troops from the 1st Marine Regiment of Camp Lejeune uncovered a weapons dump while patrolling the area this weekend. Inside were 11 separate caches of weapons including 137 artillery rounds, 56 mortar rounds, 47 rockets, some armor piercing bullets and 1900 pounds of explosives.

Duke & UNC Make Record Books
Students from Duke University and UNC Chapel Hill made history on Monday, getting their names into the Guinness Book of World Records. Starting at 8am Saturday, the students wrapped up a 2 ½ day basketball game at 6pm Monday night. That was enough to get them into the record book for the longest continuous basketball game in history. The final score from the 58-hr-marathon turned out in Duke’s favor, as the Blue Devil students won 3688-3444. Both schools also raised $60,000 during the game for the Hoop Dreams Academy, a charity that helps to improve the lives of kids with potentially life threatening illnesses.

More NC Troops Heading To Middle East
Some more North Carolina soldiers shipped out this week for the Middle East. Just over 200 troops from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro were deployed on Tuesday, with some heading to Iraq and others to Afghanistan. The group, which includes air crews, pilots and ground crews will be split up and assigned to units where they’re needed as replacements. The deployment is supposed to last four months.

Sports Headlines

NC State Loses Football Recruit
Some more bad news for the NC State football team as they’ve lost a player before he even arrived on campus. High school player Gavin Smith announced this week that he’s changed his mind and would no longer honor his commitment to the Wolfpack. Smith, a defensive end at Wakefield High School, said that he changed his mind after getting more information about the school itself. Before committing, he had just checked into the football program and nothing else. The 6’4 ft. 280 lb. Smith said that he’s considering Virginia, South Carolina or possibly UNC Chapel Hill and expects to make a decision by next week.

Peppers Expects To Play
Some good news for the Carolina Panthers, as defensive end Julius Peppers says that expects to play on Sunday. Peppers had to sit out part of the second half against Chicago with a shoulder injury but he said he should be ready to go when Sunday rolls around. Coach John Fox however was more restrained, saying that the team is just taking it one day at a time.

Charlotte Knights Land New Manager
In baseball, the minor league Charlotte Knights will have a new face in the dugout come spring training. The team introduced new manager Razor Shines this week. The 49-yr-old Shines was the Southern League’s Manager of the Year in 2005, working with the Double A Birmingham Barons. He’ll inherit a team that went 57-87 last year and has only one winning season in the past five years.