Austin Man Arrested For Murder
A man from the Austin Little Mountain area has been arrested for a murder that happened over the weekend. On Friday two men got into an argument on the Austin Little Mountain Road. As the argument got heated, one of the men pulled out a small caliber weapon and shot the other several times in the body. 46-yr-old Richard Dale “Ricky” Johnson was found dead at the scene by sheriff’s deputies, who arrested his assailant just down the road. 22-yr-old Timothy Laurence Phelps has been charged with first degree murder.

Thieves Break Into C.C. Wright School
A 19-yr-old teenager is in custody today after breaking into C.C. Wright school. Sunday night sheriff’s deputies got a call about a break-in in progress over at the school and arrived to find the teen walking away from campus. Additional stolen items were found at the teen’s home and in the Ford pickup truck he had been driving. $30 in cash and change had been taken from the school’s safe, which the boy had cracked open. Also batteries, tools, markers, calculators and other items totaling over $4000 was taken. 19-yr-old Zachary Linville Huffman is facing charges of safecracking, breaking & entering, felony larceny and possession of burglary tools.

More Counterfeit Money Coming Into Wilkes
Counterfeit money continues to enter Wilkes County, this time at the Dollar General in Wilkesboro. Over the weekend, employees at the Wilkesboro store were going through the day’s receipts when they discovered some of the money handed out had been counterfeit. A fake $20 bill had been slipped in. The money was given over to Wilkesboro police and the investigation continues.

3WC Eye On Politics Part II: County Commissioners
Over the next two weeks, 3WC News will be taking a look at candidates in the political races in Wilkes County. That series continues today with Robert Crews, 21-yr-old Republican candidate for county commissioner. We'll be airing a different part of the conversation with Mr. Crews throughout the day.
6am-why he's running for office
7am-what qualifications set him apart
8am-what he sees as the responsibility of a county commissioner
12 noon-how he sees the current tax rate
5pm-how a tax decrease would affect local services
7pm-what he promises to focus on if elected

Highway Patrol Out & About
The Highway Patrol has started a new program as we head into the Easter Break. 174 teenagers were killed last year in highway collisions, a number the Highway Patrol wants to see drop through their Operation Drive To Live. Over the next two weeks, Highway Patrol officers will be speaking at high schools here in Wilkes and around the area as well as patrolling near campus.

Blood Drive Later Today
Every day 1500 pints of blood are needed throughout North Carolina. With that in mind, a blood drive is going on today at the East Wilkes Middle School, partially organized by the students. The drive will last from 2-7:30pm and if you want to come out and give the gift of life, the number is 838-4563 to make an appointment.

Break-In At Roaring River Home
Thieves hit a home in Roaring River earlier this week, but apparently just came by to have a look around. One of the windows at the home had been shattered and as the owner arrived, they found the radio on along with several of the lights inside. There is a suspect in the case and that investigation continues.

State News

Questions Being Raised About NC Executions
Executions scheduled for later this month in North Carolina may not go on as planned, as a federal judge has stepped in. Judge Malcolm Howard spoke in U.S. District Court over the weekend, questioning if the current way of administering executions is humane. State officials have until Wednesday to provide the judge with material proving the inmates will be unconscious when put to death and therefore feel no pain. Otherwise executions here in the state will be put on hold while a humane way of performing the task is found.

Four Month Old Murder Solved In Greensboro
Officials in Greensboro have solved a four month old murder. Back on December 2nd of 2005, an elderly couple was assaulted at their home with the man later dying at the hospital. Now two suspects have been arrested in connection with 79-yr-old James Shoffner’s murder. 17-yr-old William Alexander Brown and another 15 year old boy are facing charges of first degree murder, robbery with a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. No motive has been given for either the robbery or the killing.

The Great North Carolina Cheese Robbery
Two employees of MBM Food Service in Statesville stand accused of stealing over $200,000 worth of meat and cheese. Local police say that the thefts occurred over a six month period that began last October and just recently ended, with the thieves taking 5948 cases of various items. 34-yr-old Wilbert Thomas Johnson and 36-yr-old Harvey Rayfield Archie Jr. would steal the food, then turn it over to 46-yr-old Anthony Eugene Burton, a truck driver from Atlanta. Burton would sell the stolen food in Georgia as damaged goods and all three would share in the profits.

Greensboro DA Asks For Investigation Into PD
The Greensboro police department is under investigation again, this time by the state. Douglas Henderson, Guilford County’s District Attorney, requested that the state Attorney General’s office step in to take over parts of the investigation of the Greensboro PD, to avoid a conflict of interest. The State Attorney General’s office will be going over actions of the department, to determine if any laws were violated. If any violations are found, the case will be turned over to the SBI for a full criminal investigation.

Sports Headlines

Free Baseball Clinic Coming Up
Baseball players ages 5-10 years old will have an opportunity next month to work on their skills with the Wilkes Wildfire team. On May 20th, a free clinic will be held over at the VFW Field from 2-4pm. The focus of the clinic will be on helping the kids develop their hitting skills. However space will be limited to just 30 kids for the clinic, so if you want to sign your child up, you can call 667-3867 or 927-3348.

Wolfpack Going After Memphis Coach
NC State has set their sight on a new candidate for the head coaching job in men’s basketball, one that’s no stranger to the Final Four. Memphis coach John Calipari is in negotiations with the Wolfpack administration, discussing a possible deal although one has not yet been reached. State will face some strong competition with Calipari’s current school, as Memphis officials are working to present a new contract worth almost $1.5 million a year.

Redick Given Wooden Award
The top award in all of college basketball was handed out over the weekend, with Duke’s J.J. Redick taking home the Johon R. Wooden Award as Male Player Of The Year. The 6’4ft Redick won in the voting by just 72 points over Adam Morrison of Gonzaga. Redick’s teammate from Duke Shelton Williams came in third, more than 2000 points behind the top two finalists.

The Race Is On
We’re still several months away from the start of college football season, but the games have already begun for the UNC Tarheels. For the first time since he took over the team, coach John Bunting is holding a competition for the starting quarterback’s job between junior transfer Joe Dailey and redshirt freshman Cam Sexton. Dailey appears to have the early edge, going into the fall practice. During last Saturday’s spring game, Dailey tossed for 65 yards on 8-of-15 passing while Sexton only threw for 13 yards, going 2-of-3.

Minor League Scoreboard
Taking a look at the minor league scoreboard last night, it was the Hickory Crawdads losing to the Lexington Legends 4-3. Hickory starter Derek Antelo gave up 3 runs in 5 innings of work and the Crawdad offense only generated 6 hits as Hickory drops to 1-4 on the year. Up the road in Greensboro, the Grasshoppers saw their unbeaten streak come to an end as they lost to the West Virginia Power 2-0. And finally it was Winston Salem beating Myrtle Beach 5-1 Monday night. Winston starter Adam Russell only gave up three hits in 5 innings as the Warthogs pick up only their second win of the year.