News & Sports For March 1st

Last Second Candidates Rush To File
The field is set for all political races in Wilkes County, as the filing deadline came and went yesterday at noon. Several newcomers put their name in the hat as only Sheriff Dane Mastin is running unopposed. Two seats are open for the Board of Education with Karen Reeves running for re-election. She’ll face competition from Fred McCall, Lyn Ashley and Frances Tharpe. For Clerk of Court it’s a five person field, with Joe Byrd, John Yates, Geoff Farmer, Brenda Barber and Janet Handy all vying for the job. In the 94th District of the North Carolina House, Tracey Walker is running for another term and he’s being opposed by Barry Brown and Judy Porter. In the 45th State Senate District, John Garwood is running for re-election, going up against David Blust. And in the race for county commissioner, two seats are open, with Luther Parks and Zach Henderson both running for another term. They’re joined in the race by a loaded field that includes David Day, Jason Carlton, Joanne Elledge, Robert Crews and Matt Ledford.

High Speed Chase Leads To Arrest In Boomer
Sheriff’s deputies were called out Monday night to a residence on the Hendrin Road, after reports of a disturbance came in. As deputies arrived on the scene, one of the people involved in the disturbance ran to his vehicle and drove off. To do so, he ran a stop sign and kept accelerating as deputies pursued. The chase went through portions of the Brushy Mountain Road, Lithia Springs Road and East Brocktown Road, hitting speeds of over 100 mph at times. The driver then turned onto Hwy 18 South toward the Caldwell County line, before pulling off onto High Rock Road and going down a 4-wheeler trail. Deputies couldn’t follow on the trail, but later found the vehicle abandoned, with less than a gram of marijuana inside. The Jeep Cherokee was seized and charges were filed against 30-yr-old Dwight Kelly Payne of failing to heed blue lights, fleeing to escape arrest, reckless driving, failure to yield the right of way, driving left of center and drug possession.

Money Stolen From Traphill Home
Thieves broke into a Traphill residence earlier this week, running off with two guns, a stagecoach box and over $400 in old money. It’s unclear exactly how the thieves gained access to the home, as there was nothing damaged and no sign of a break-in on the property. All total over a thousand dollars worth of material was taken from the home and that investigation continues.

Cheaper Way To File Taxes
With time running out before April 15th, it’s time to start thinking about filing your taxes if you haven’t already. Filing taxes this year could be a lot cheaper for people here in North Carolina, thanks to a new plan. The State Department of Revenue announced this week that two companies have agreed to offer free state tax returns through their website. The plan applies to anyone who makes $50,000 a year or less and can be accessed by going to www.dor.state.nc.us . That will let you link up with either TaxEngine or TaxSimple, the two companies providing the free services.

Red Cross Looking For Fundraising Help
We’ve talked a lot here on the news about the need for blood in Wilkes County. But thanks to last year’s hurricanes and the cost of relocating survivors, the local Red Cross needs help of a different kind as well. The local chapter continues to sell cookbooks, to help raise the money it needs to cover costs of daily operations. The cost of a cookbook is $10 and it contains recipes from chapter members along with their family and friends. For more information or to purchase one, you can call the Red Cross at 838-4563.

Focus On Grief
All of us have to face the death of friends and family at some point. How we deal with that grief can affect our lives for months, years or possibly the rest of our lives. Still there really isn’t a strict set of rules to go by when dealing with grief. And coming up this week on Focus on the Foothills, Brian will be talking about the subject with Margo Wheeler from Hospice. They’ll be discussing ways of dealing with grief and also the upcoming classes on the subject put on by Hospice. That’s coming up Thursday at 1:05pm right after the midday stock report.

Money Stolen From Paper Rack
Thieves broke into the paper rack at Mike’s Bait & Tackle Tuesday morning. It appears that someone had cut the padlock off the rack, then just took the money and left. However the joke was on the thieves, as only about $2 is estimated to have been in the rack. That investigation continues.

Breaking The Bank Part III: Local Scholarships & Tips
Well you’ve got accepted to college and have searched high and low for ways to pay for it. In the third part of our financial aid series, we take a look at some local and nationwide scholarships you or a college student you know could apply for. Here in Wilkes, the Veteran’s Service office wants to help the children of soldiers pay for college by offering a scholarship. To qualify you must either be a veteran or the child of a veteran and for more information or to apply, all someone needs to do is first call ahead to the Veteran's Service Office at 651-7327 and set up an appointment, then drop by the office, located at 110 North Street in Wilkesboro to fill out an application. In addition across the United States, USA Today and the Got Milk campaign are partnering together to offer the SAMMY Awards. 25 student athletes across the nation will each be given a $7500 scholarship to the college of their choice, while winning other prizes as well. The winning students will be inducted into the SAMMY Hall of Fame and be featured in a Got Milk ad in USA Today. SAMMY stands for Scholar Athlete Milk Mustache of the Year. To be considered, students have to write a short essay, describing how milk is part of both their lifestyle and training program. The deadline to apply is this Friday, March 3rd and you can download an entry form by logging on to www.whymilk.com. Coming up tomorrow in our financial aid series, we take a look at how to plan a few years down the road for those parents whose kids have yet to reach the teen years.

Traffic Stop Leads To Drug Bust
A traffic stop by sheriff’s deputies led to a drug bust in North Wilkesboro. Deputies pulled over a car on Peace Street, after recognizing the driver, who had an outstanding warrant for her arrest. As they arrested 21-yr-old Christina Renee Stotler, deputies smelled marijuana in the car and did a search. Within a few minutes they found 4 grams of marijuana and 3.5 grams of crack cocaine. 24-yr-old Byron Anthony Parsons and 21-yr-old Kevin Dunnery were both arrested and charged with drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

State News

Investigation Halted Into Morganton Plant
An investigation into what caused the explosion at a Morganton chemical plant has been called off due to structural damage. The January 31st explosion at Synthron Inc. severely damaged the building, to the point it’s not safe to go inside. Employees reported hearing a loud hiss in the building before the explosion, which investigators later traced back to a leaking chemical reactor.

Dead Body Found At Charlotte Douglas
Officials are investigating a strange delivery at Charlotte Douglas Airport. Tuesday morning around 3am a woman’s body was found in the Wilson Air Center, lying under a motorized car. Few details have been released, except that the police are treating the case as a homicide. The Wilson Center handles all food, fuel and repairs for corporate and private planes that pass through the airport. All flights went on as scheduled yesterday with no interruptions.

Robeson County Teacher Arrested For Drugs
A high school teacher in Robeson County was arrested on Monday for dealing drugs. 36-yr-old Kristy Leah West is now facing charges of conspiracy to obtain a controlled substance by fraud and conspiracy to traffic in heroin after being busted in Cumberland County for the offense. West has been working in the Robeson County school system since 1993, currently working as an English teacher at South Robeson High.

Street Named After Dr. King
The Charlotte City Council paid tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this week, renaming a street in his honor. The move has been at the center of controversy over the past month as a street has been selected. The original choice, Stonewall Street, was vetoed by members of the community who wanted it to remain as a tribute to another famous American, Stonewall Jackson. After going through a list of choices, it was determined that Second Street will now become Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Jobs Leaving Alamance For Mexico
Bad news today for people in Alamance County, as their jobs are heading south of the border. 133 jobs will be lost as Kidde Residential moves its’ plant to Matamoros Mexico. The company, which produces fire extinguishers, said that the move was necessary to help them stay competitive in the global market. Layoffs are expected to begin in September.

Sports Headlines

NCAA Scoreboard
Taking a look at the college scoreboard, it was Winthrop over Liberty 93-52, High Point beat Radford 87-84, Coastal Carolina knocked off UNC Asheville 78-62 and it was Boston College over Wake Forest 80-65. The Demon Deacons were led by Trent Strickland’s 15 points as they drop to 14-15 on the season.

New Top 25 Revealed
Speaking of college basketball, the new Top 25 poll has been released and Duke stays atop the list. The Blue Devils, coming in at 27-1 play host to Florida State tonight. Connecticut is back at #2, with Memphis #3 and Villanova rounding out the top four. Other North Carolina teams on the list are the UNC Tarheels, who move up to #13 and NC State at #22. Also making the Top 50 for the second straight week was UNC Wilmington, hanging around at #40.

Girls All ACC Teams Announced
On the girls side of the court, the All ACC team was announced this week, with three players from North Carolina on the list. Duke’s Monique Curry made the team, followed by Ivory Latta and Erlana Larkins from North Carolina.

NC College Player Auditioning For NFL
With the NFL’s draft combine wrapping up this week, one player from a North Carolina school is looking to get noticed. Chris Cook is a 6’1 ft 307 lb offensive lineman, able to play both guard and center. The Wingate native played four years at Chattanooga, then switching out for his 5th and final at Georgetown College in Kentucky. Cook is more athletic than most linemen, as he can run a 40-yd-dash in 4.9 seconds and do over 30 reps at a weight of 225 lbs. He’s at the combine trying to impress scouts and land an invitation to training camp.

Charlotte The Favorite For Hall Of Fame
In NASCAR, a major decision could be coming within the next month and it looks like good news for the Queen City. Charlotte is the frontrunner for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, according to several officials from the organization. The city has proposed a $137 million building near to the convention center and team owner Rick Hendrick is serving as frontman for the project. Another thing in Charlotte’s favor is the fact that most teams are based in the area and virtually all of the drivers live in the general vicinity. Despite all of that, NASCAR says a final decision won’t be made until the middle of March.