Today...Partly cloudy. A chance of showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. Hot with highs in the lower 90s. Chance of rain 30 percent.

Scam Underway
The Wilkes County Sheriffs Department is investigating a scam going on in the county involving a man who is calling people at home and presenting himself as being associated with the Sheriffs Department. He then asks for a donation and a credit card number. Officer Greg Minton with the Sheriffs Department explained to 3WC News that you should not give the man ANY personal information and if you are contacted please call 911.

WRMC Scores High
Soon to be parents need to know that they do not have to go out of town to get the services of a highly rated OBGYN Department. Wilkes Regional Medical Center's OBGYN Department recently recieved a five-star rating from Professional Research Consultants, a nationally recognized analysis group. In addition the hospital recieved an overall 4 star rating. That puts Wilkes Regional Medical Center in the top 25 percent of hospitals in the country. According to officials at the hosptial, they say the awards are the result of efforts to increase customer satisfaction. Medical information is just a click away now for people here in Wilkes County. Wilkes Regional Medical Center has launched their own website, keeping people informed about improvements at the hospital, different doctors coming in and also providing a medical library, where you can go online and look up answers to certain medical questions. The site, which is available in both Spanish and English, can be found at www.wilkesregional.com.
BOOZE IT & LOSE IT
Law enforcement officers cracked down on 1,742 North Carolina motorists for driving while impaired during the “Booze It & Lose It: Operation
Firecracker” campaign June 29- July 9. Checkpoints and stepped-up patrols throughout the state marked the high-visibility enforcement effort. In addition to issuing DWI violations, officers arrested 284 fugitives and recovered 94 stolen vehicles. Law enforcement officers conducted more than 5,200 checkpoints and stepped-up patrols during the campaign. Counties with the highest number of DWI citations include Mecklenburg (154), Carteret (70) and Durham (69). In Wilkes County there were 26 checkpoints during the campaign that resulted in 10 DWI charges, 105 occupant restraint charges, and 30 total crimpnal violations. All total in Wilkes there were 504 criminal and traffic violations during the Booze It & Lose It campaign.
Health Department Offering Car Seat Help
As you just heard, there were over 100 occupant restraint charges during the recent Booze It & Lose It campaign, with many of those being child seats not installed correctly. In fact, 85% of child safety seats across Wilkes County are not installed correctly, according to the local SafeKids organization. While this is slightly lower than the national average, it’s still high enough for concern. However if you’re still trying to figure out what the right way to install one is, you don’t have to wait until the next safety check. The Wilkes Health Department is partnering with SafeKids to help show parents the right way to install the seats. To set up an appointment, you can call Jean Edwards at the Health Department. Her number is 651-7478.

Stuff The Bus Continuing
The annual Stuff the Bus program is continuing around Wilkes County. Several locations have been set up around the area to take donations. Each year, Communities in Schools attempts to help needy kids around Wilkes, by providing them with the supplies they lack for class. If you want to donate supplies, there are buses at several locations including Wal-Mart, CVS, Eckerd, Staples and also between the First Baptist and First United Methodist Churches in North Wilkesboro. You can also drop off items at the Communities in Schools office. All different types of school supplies are needed, everything from paper to pens to calculators. For more information you can call Communities in Schools at651-7830.

Regional News
Yadkin County is looking for a replacement for County Manager Cecil Wood who resigned July 3rd. Yadkin County Commissioners will meet tonight with Willie Best, the former Guilford County manager, who was fired by a 7-4 vote of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners last month. Critics said that Best wasn't aggressive enough as a manager and had mishandled the budget. As Guilford's county manager, Best was paid $168,384 a year.
State News
State lawmakers approved a bill yesterday that would require public schools to set aside daily classroom time for students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. The bill now goes to Govenor Easley for his signature. The current law only "encourages" students to recite the pledge. The Senate and Hose both had their own version of bills concerning the pledge but in the end it was the House version that passed.

In other news from Raleigh. State lawmakers now want to make you buckle up even if you are riding in the back seat. Under a proposal passed yesterday, all North Carolina passengers would have to buckle up. Under current law, anyone under the age of 16 must use a seat belt no matter where they sit in a car, but older passengers only have to use a seat belt in the front seat. The new bill makes the back seat law a secondary violation, meaning law enforcement can't stop a vehicle solely for a seat belt infraction. The bill now goes to Gov. Mike Easley for his signature.

United States Rep. Virginia Foxx took action today to protect Americans from the dangers of Internet gambling by voting to pass H.R. 4411, the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act. This bill cuts off funding for online gambling sites, increases criminal penalties for those who break the law and supports international anti-money laundering efforts. Americans spend approximately $5.9 billion dollars each year on unregulated, offshore, online casinos. Because online gambling sites are easily accessible, many people do not realize that they are illegal. H.R. 4411 was supported by a large number of organizations including the Family Research Council, the North Carolina Family Policy Council, Focus on the Family, the NCAA, the NFL, the NBA, Major League Baseball and 48 of 50 state Attorney Generals.