Save Water, Don't Burn, Governor Urges

Gov. Mike Easley today called on the state’s municipal leaders to take the lead in directing citizens to stop using water for any purpose that is not essential to public health and safety so communities can save their dwindling water supplies and avoid more stringent restrictions. The drought across much of the state is the worst in recorded history. With a winter forecast of drier than normal conditions, the governor said every citizen must save water in every way possible to avoid a water crisis that could lead to rationing.

“Several communities have as little as three month’s water supply remaining. If we do not get significant rain, some areas face the once unthinkable possibility of water rationing and potentially running out of water entirely,” Easley said. “A bit of mud on the car or patches of brown on the lawn must be a badge of honor. It means you are doing the right thing for your community and our state.”

Easley spoke to the about 1,000 mayors, council members and city managers attending the N.C. League of Municipalities Annual Conference in Fayetteville. He asked the top officials of the state’s cities and towns to lead their communities in taking the following actions:

• Stop watering lawns and shrubbery at homes and businesses. Period.
• Do not wash down houses, driveways or sidewalks.
• Do not wash your car.
• Restaurants should ONLY serve water when patrons ask.

The governor also announced that, effective immediately, there is a statewide ban on all public burning. The N.C. Division of Forest Resources says more than 5,940 fires have already burned more than 33,085 acres in North Carolina this year. Because the state is in the fall fire season, with especially dry conditions throughout the state, the threat of wildfires has substantially increased.

Thieves Steal 160 Packs of Smokes

A man tells sheriff deputies he was awakened by the sound of the front window of a neighboring store being broken, and was able to get enough of a look at the burglars that he might be able to identify ate least one of them from a photo. James Pennell called 9-1-1 when he heard the crash early Thursday morning. Three men had broken out the front door glass at Moody's Grocery and were helping themselves to a bunch of loose packs of cigarettes. 160 packs were taken, and the thieves left everything else of value alone. Pennell described two of the three for deputies, saying one was between 5-10 and 6-feet tall, had long dark hair down to his ears, and had a mustache. The other burglar had shoulder-length blond hair. The did not get a good look at the third man, except to say that, like the others, he was white. THe case remains under investigation.

Break-In, First in Series, Reported

A Mount Olive man checking on his cabin in Wilkes discovered it and several adjacent buildings had been broken into. Deputies say other property owners in the area of 485 Acorn Drive are being contacted about the damage noted to their properties in what appear to be related break-ins. Jerry Boone was the first one to file a report, late last week. He says he came to check on the house and found a side door kicked in, causing about 200-dollars damage. All that was missing from the sumer house was a case of soft drinks worth about 7-dollars. The deputy investigating the case says he believes, based on the nature of the break-ins and the items taken in each, that the crimes were committed by some kids.

Wilkes Man Dies in Brunswick County Wreck

State police say two men, on e from Wilkes, died on their way back from a trip to a Myrtle Beach, S.C., fishing charter when their pickup flipped over in Brunswick County Saturday night, ejecting a passenger. The men were driving to their hotel in Oak Island when suddenly, the driver swerved to the right, over-corrected, swerved to the right again and over-corrected before rolling upside-down. It happened about 10:20 Saturday night. on N.C. 211 about three-quarters of a mile off N.C. 133.

The driver, 53-year old Robert Stephen Brewer, and front-seat passenger Michael Eller, who was 45, died. Eller , who was from Wilkes county, was thrown about 10 feet from a gray 2001 Toyota Tacoma and Brewer became trapped in the truck. Two backseat passengers survived. 35-year old William Cleary and 30-year old Michael Sheets were dozing off or had fallen asleep before the vehicle flipped over. They were taken to Dosher Memorial Hospital in Southport. Brewer was the only one of the three wearing a seatbelt.

Neither alcohol or drugs were suspected in the rollover, and police were investigating whether Brewer swerved to avoid an animal. Brewer also appeared to be driving the speed limit.

WCC to Start New Grant-Funded Programs

Wilkes Community College will be developing two new programs with the help of a 28-thousand dollar Bio-Network grant. Trustees learned this week about the grant, one of two the school is receiving. The first is a course for regular students to learn the proper way to test seeds for purity and germination, learn to conduct lab experiments in which they excise embryos and utilizing tetrazolium testing and the study of seed anatomy and metabolism. The second course will be offered through continuing education and will be designed for extension agents, forestry personnel, and nursery growers. Grant funds will also be used to develop some distance education components.

The program committee announced that WCC received two Bio-Network Grants totaling $64,050. The second grant is for micro propagation collaborative database research and development grant, and is worth about 36-thousand dollars. It will be used to further develop a database that was started last year in collaboration with Haywood, Mayland, and Southeastern community colleges.

Foxx: Flag Certificates Can Include God Mention

Congresswoman Virginia Foxx today praised a decision allowing Members of Congress to use references to God on messages to constituents that accompany flags flown over the Capitol. The decision came after the Architect of the Capitol last week attempted to ban all references to God on the certificates sent by Representatives to constituents who requested flags to be flown over the Capitol.

“The attempt to remove any use of God from these certificates was an outrage and the move to reverse this terrible decision is the right one,” Rep. Foxx said. “Communication between Congress and constituents should never be party to government censorship, especially when the censorship targets references to God.”

The flag certificate controversy erupted when Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) submitted a certificate for a 17-year-old Eagle Scout who planned to give it to his grandfather. It read, “This flag was flown in honor of Marcel Larochelle, my grandfather, for his dedication and love of God, Country, and family.” The Architect of the Capitol refused to approve the certificate with the reference to God included.

“An Eagle Scout who wants to honor his grandfather for dedication to God, country and family should be celebrated, not given a gag order by a government employee,” Foxx said. “Average Americans are tired of attempts by politicians and bureaucrats to strike references to God from the public square. This decision is finally a sign that enough is enough.”

Rep. Foxx is a co-sponsor of the Andrew Larochelle God, Family, and Country Act of 2007 (H.R.3779). The aim of this bill is to reverse the Architect of the Capitol’s policy prohibiting the inclusion of religious references on the flag certificates for flags flown over the U.S. Capitol.

The new policy for certificates that accompany flags flown over the Capitol will allow for freedom of expression. The policy will now allow Representatives to include personal messages of up to 300 characters.

$3,000 Worth of Clothes and Shoes Stolen

Whoever picked a rural North Wilkesboro home to burglarize Wednesday evening appear to have chosen well. In the space of a little less than five hours, Jennifer Coble was relieved of about 12-hundred dollars worth of shirts and pants, and another 18-hundred dollars worth of name-brand shoes. The theft was discovered by her mother, Theresa, who came home at about 11 Wednesday night. The burglar had broken in both the front and back doors in the rush to clean out the valuable clothing, causing another nearly 200 dollars worth of damage in the process. No neighbors report seeing anything, and deputies say there are no suspects at this time.

Family--Love 'em, Leave 'em, or Just Let 'Em Steal from You

A Wilkes man is without some money, some car parts and some medicine, which he says some family members he was so kind as to let stay with him recently merrily removed the property without permission. William Boyd Cleary lives in Traphill. He says the thieves stole a catalytic converter, a radiator, a 351 engine, some cash and some medicines, together totaling about 400-dollars.He says these people have taken his stuff before. Although no one saw them take anything, they were the only ones other than him to have access to the house. Deputies are still looking for the culprits.

Why, Look Who's Accused of Stealing Something Again!

It seems as if one Wilkes man just can't keep his hands off other peoples' stuff, and a relative has a possible explanation. Gary Dean Wiles, who was out of jail awaiting trial for a series of car break-ins in early- and mid-August, was taken back to the pokey Wednesday night. This time he was accused of unplugging his step father Michael Bauguess' computer and making off with it. When confronted by his step-dad, Wiles denied stealing the computer, but said instead he had taken it in to have something fixed. Not that it had been having any problems before, mind you, it just seemed time. Bauguess called deputies and was told he would need to got to the magistrate's office to take out a warrant because of the low value of the computer. It turns out Wilkes had sold it to an uncle for 200-bucks...his step-dad believes to finance a drug habit. A couple of hours after the original report, Bauguess called deputies again, as he had learned what had happened to the computer and where his stepson was. Deputies went to that house and rounded Wiles up for another night in the klink. He faces a single charge of simple theft.

Update on Sabrina Ayers, A Month After Her Accident

The young woman who was at one time fighting for her life after a serious car wreck is continuing to make progress in healing. Sabrina Ayers was thrown from the back of a pickup driven by another teen about this time last month. She landed on gravel alongside Yellow Banks Road, and suffered head injuries that resulted in her being airlifted to Baptist Medical Center.
Even at the scene, rescuers had to do CPR on Sabrina. Now, her mother reports that after a month in ICU, much of it in a medically-induced coma, Sabrina was moved to a rehab facility yesterday. In a post on the GoWilkes.com web site, her mother says most of the equipment and tubes have been disconnected from Sabrina, she's breathing on her own, and is beginning to remember things. Given the nature of her injuries, Sabrina has a long road ahead of her, but her family credits the prayers of hundreds of people ever since the wreck, and thanks the community for the donations that have been made to various benefit efforts on their behalf.