Easley Announces Operation Slow Down Details

Gov. Mike Easley announced today that the N.C. State Highway Patrol and the Governor’s Highway Safety Program are kicking off Operation Slow Down/No Need 2 Speed to catch speeders on North Carolina’s highways. Local law enforcement agencies will join troopers from now through Nov. 25 to encourage drivers to slow down and follow the speed limit.

“North Carolina law enforcement will be going after speeders who recklessly endanger our citizens,” said Easley. “We lost 554 of our citizens last year due to speed-related crashes. I urge motorists to slow down and obey the speed limit. ”

Stepped-up enforcement and patrols will be conducted across the state, focusing on motorists speeding on interstates and major four-lane highways. During the combined Operation Slow Down/No Need 2 Speed campaign in April, state and local law enforcement agencies cited 17,512 motorists for speeding.

Dangerous driving can be reported to the Highway Patrol by dialing *HP on cellular phones from anywhere in the state.

Summons Service Turns into Felony Arrest

Deputies serving a routine court document to a man who lives on Rock Quarry Road Sunday night were met with threats to another man's life, and eventually arrested the man they'd come to see for a number of crimes. Two deputies went to 51-year old Kevin Hubbard's home about 8:45 Sunday night to serve a court summons. He opened the door, deputies say, and during the conversation repeatedly threatened a neighbor, saying he'd shoot the man in the face and kill him. The deputies reminded Hubbard that making such threats is against the law, but were called away to a disturbance before they could talk over things with him further.

About half an hour later, they returned and arrested Hubbard for the misdemeanor crime of communicating threats. During the arrest, they say they smelled marijuana on Hubbard, and he admitted to having a tin of it sitting next to a chair in his living room. As they retrieved that, they saw a 9-millimeter handgun laying in the open, on top of the dryer. Hubbard's earlier felony convictions showed up when the deputies called for a criminal record check, and they confiscated a number of additional guns for the house before arresting him on multiple charges of weapon possession by a convicted felon, which is itself a felony. THey also notified the man who was threatened of what Hubbard had said.

3-year old Abducted, Returned Unharmed

Two people have been arrested and a warrant has been issued for a third, after a 3-year old child was abducted from his Elkin home Saturday. Deputies were called to the home of Deborah Blackburn, the child's legal guardian, about 3:30 Saturday morning. She said her brothers Terry and Michael had assaulted her, while a woman, Tressa Wandling, crabbed 3-year old Devon Blackburn and left with him. She refused medical care, deputies say, although she appeared to have had her nose broken and multiple bruises following the assault. She gave deputies the address of Michael's home on Elkin Highway, where she said her brother and Wandling were holding the boy.

When deputies went to the house, they say Michael Blackburn initially would not answer the door. But he eventually did, and they found Devon inside, unharmed. He was returned to Deborah, while deputies arrested Michael, along with Tressa Wandling. They have issued a warrant for the arrest of Terry Blackburn. All three face charges of abducting Devon, assaulting Deborah, and of property damage at the home on Austin Traphill Road.

Armed Robbery Reported

A Ronda man says he was the victim of a home invasion robbery last weekend, but he waited five days to report the crime. Ricardo Belton reported that three black males broke into his house the morning of Sunday, November 4th. All three were armed with handguns, he says, and they stole several items form inside the house, but did not hurt him. The items reported stolen include 800-dollars in cash, a digital camera, a 12-gauge shotgun, a vacuum cleaner, and several other times, with a total value of a bit over 15-hundred dollars. He was unable to give deputies a more detailed description of the men, who he says held him at gunpoint during the robbery. The crime report does not explain why he waited four days to report the crime to authorities, but it does say the stolen card had allegedly been used four times between when it was taken and when it was reported stolen.

Holiday Slow-Down Effort Starts Today

The Highway Patrol is will be cracking down on speeders for two weeks beginning today with Operation Slow Down. The Highway Patrol will be cracking down on speeders on the interstates and major four lane highways across the state. The Governor's Highway Safety Program and local law enforcement agencies across the state will be conducting No Need 2 Speed in conjunction with Operation Slow Down.
Speed is the leading cause of traffic fatalities and collisions in the state and the Highway Patrol receives numerous citizen complaints concerning motorists traveling at dangerous speeds on the highways. Troopers will be using motorcycles, helicopters, Chargers, and unmarked patrol vehicles for this campaign.

Family Members of Local Pastor KIlled in Hendersonville

Hendersonville police and the State Bureau of Investigations are investigating the murder of two family members of a local pastor.

Police Chief John Nicholson said 81-year-old Constance Sparks, a long time cook and lunch room server at Hendersonville Middle School, and her 56-year-old son Robert Sparks were killed. Evidence at the house indicated that a home intrusion and that both victims died sometime Friday night or early Saturday morning. We have been told that they are the mother and brother of Pastor David Sparks of Liberty Grove Baptist Church.

Evidence at the scene indicated a home intrusion and homicide of both victims Friday night or early Saturday morning. Sparks' 1993 Cadillac Deville was also missing from the home. It was spotted Sunday at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C. East Carolina University Police said that they had to chase down the car after getting a report that it was repeatedly circling the school’s student center. Officers said that the car stopped and two people jumped out of the car and ran.

Charles Collins and Justin Graham, both 18, were arrested and have been charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and providing false information to law enforcement. At last check, Investigators had not charged either Collins or Graham in connection with the Sparks’ deaths. Collins is being held on a $75,000 bond and Graham is being held on a $50,000 bond.

Greenville Police didn't know the vehicle was wanted in connection with the homicides until after the chase and the two men were in custody.Hendersonville police were being called to the scene of the double homicide around the same time Graham and Collins were taken into custody Saturday.

Family members say Robert Sparks has been mentally handicapped since birth and there is only a slight connection between the two teens arrested and the family: the young men apparently attended Hendersonville High School with Robert Spark's niece, and Constance Sparks did work in the cafeteria at Hendersonville Middle School, but retired in 1988.

Dog Shot After Attacking Other Dogs

Authorities say there will be no charges filed in relation to a pit bulldog that got loose and mauled two other dogs, or in relation to those dogs' owner shooting and killing the pit bull. It happened last week along Walt Brewer Road in Hays. Because there are no charges being filed, we're not releasing the names of the people involved. The pit bull's owner says the dog somehow slipped the chain tying it to a tree in her yard. The owner of the other two dogs says the put bull came through the thicket and attacked his dogs, severely injuring them. As his dogs broke loose, the man fired a 20-gage shotgun, killing the pit bull instantly. He heard the owners calling for the dog, and in a momentary fit of guilt, took the dog off elsewhere. After deputies talked with all the people involved and verified the stories, they determined the man was not legally at fault for the death of the dog, and the woman was not legally at fault for the dog getting loose in the first place. Both people agreed they did not want the other prosecuted.

Car-Deer Crashes: Wilkes in State's Top 40%

Wilkes county ranks 40th out of North Carolina's 100 counties in the number of wrecks between autos and deer each year. Last year, there were 183 crashes reported in Wilkes involving an animal and a car or truck. More than 90-percent of them involve deer. More than half of the wrecks happen between October and December, the mating season for deer. In 2006, there were a few hundred shy of 18-thousand animal-related wrecks statewide. Wake County had the highest number, over 26-hundred.

Oct. 26 Wreck Claims Fourth Life

The wreck west of WIlkesboro last month that killed three people has taken the life of the fourth woman involved. Cheryl Cotter Simon was taken to Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital in critical condition follwoing the wreck on U-S 421 October 26th.
Her husband Tom, and their their friends, George Wiggins and his wife Johnnie were killed in the wreck. According to the highway patrol, the truck was going downhill 12 miles west of Wilkesboro when it overturned and slid across a grassy median at the base of the mountain, hitting the SUV driven by Tom Simon. Estimates of the semi's speed at the time were about 80 miles an hour.
The truck driver, Curtis Isaac Mondy, of St. Petersburg, Fla., was charged with three counts of misdemeanor death by vehicle and one count of reckless driving. Mondy was treated at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, and officials in Florida revoked his probation on a sex-offense charge after the wreck. He is now in jail in Pinellas County, Fla., after failing to report the wreck to his probation officer, according to a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections.

Veterans Day Service Schedule

The 25th annual Veteran's Day service will be held Sunday. Wilkes County vereran's Service Spokeman Walt Broyhill stopped by yesterday to talke with 3WC's Angela Henley about the service:

The service starts at 2pm at the Courthouse. The annual "11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th" month commemoration, which is much shorter, will occur on 9th Street in North WIlkesboro at 11 am Sunday.