Walktober

The Wilkes Family YMCA, Smart Start, Yadkin River Greenway Council, and the Wilkes County Health Department are sponsoring group walks throughout “Walktober. Each weekday, group walks are being held at one of several locaitons:

* Move More Mondays – meet at the CVS Trailhead near the hospital at 12 noon each Monday in October for a 30-minute walk along the Yadkin River Greenway.
* Tuesdays Evenings in Ronda – meet at the Ronda Memorial Park in Ronda at 5:30pm each Tuesday in October for a 30-minute walk around the park.
* Walking Wednesdays – meet at Melody Square parking lot in North Wilkesboro at 12 noon each Wednesday in October for a 30-minute walk through downtown.
* Cub Creek Thursdays – meet at Cub Creek Park at 8:00am each Thursday in October for a 30-minute walk.
* Get Fit Fridays - Meet in the back parking lot of the Wilkes Family YMCA at 9am every Friday in October for a 30-minute walk along the Yadkin River Greenway.

Each walk lasts only 30 minutes and is open to all ages and abilities. “Walking is a great way to get your 30 minutes of physical activity. You don’t need special equipment, just a comfortable pair of shoes.

IRS Warns of Scam

The Internal Revenue Service is warning taxpayers in eastern North Carolina of a telephone scam. They are aslo concerned it will be tried in our area.

The scam artist, claiming to be an employee of a company that represents the IRS, states that the taxpayer is entitled to “additional money” since the taxpayer paid his or her taxes “on time.” The scam artist then proceeds to tell the taxpayer there is a “handling fee” and tries to obtain the taxpayer’s personal financial information.

"Scammers are using tax refunds as a tool to entice taxpayers into providing personal financial information that could be used to steal the taxpayer’s identity and money," said Mark Hanson, IRS spokesperson for the Carolinas.

The IRS urges people who get these questionable calls not to provide personal and financial information.

Any time taxpayers are contacted by an entity claiming to be from the IRS, they may call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to verify whether or not they should have been contacted.

Rep Foxx on SCHIP Veto

A local politician takes issue with some of the media coverage of President's Bush's veto of a program that provides health coverage to some children. Speaking yesteray on 3WC's Focus on the Foothills, 5th District Congresswoman Virginia Foxx says that's about where the coverage stopped -- it's a program for kids. But she says what was really vetoed was an incredible expansion of the program, way beyond what the President originally proposed:

Foxx calls the expansion vetoed by the President the frist step in Democrats' quest for socialized health care. We'll have more comments from Foxx on upcoming 3WC Newscasts.

Strawberry Quick -- Not What You THink

Police and sheriff deputies say it sounds like an urban myth, but meth-laced candy is here in our area. An arrest last month yielded a scary drug- crystal methamphetamine that looks like candy and smells like strawberries. According to the DEA, this type of meth is engineered specifically to entice teenagers. The drugs came out of a three-month-long investigation by the Watauga county Sheriff’s Office and the SBI that resulted in three arrests. The investigation is ongoing, and more arrests may be made. In the meantime, DEA officials warn to be on the lookout for the drug, nicknamed Strawberry Quick. While it may look and smell like candy, it’s a very serious drug, officials warn.

EWHS Concession Stand Broken Into

Someone must have a big tummy ache, because deputies found the trash from their exploits stealing food near where the crime happened. A custodian working at East Wilkes High School found the concession stand at the football stadium broken into Tuesday. It appeared someone had forgotten to lock one corner of the window gate, and the thief or thieves had pried the gate loose on the other side. Once inside, they apparently loaded up about 350 candy bars, six cases of soda, six two-liters, and about a case and a half of Slim Jims, put all of it in a couple of large plastic trash cans, and hauled it across the parking lot. Deputies found the trash cans and several of the candy bar boxes in a driveway across the road. Total loss is about 250-dollars, and there are no identified suspects so far.

Boys Arrested after Cutting Donuts in Schoolyard

Kids arriving for school this morning at Millers Creek Elementary school found a nice, freshly-plowed front yard. The only problem is, the school district didn't really intend for it to get plowed up last night. The work was done by a car, allegedly driven by 19-year old Daniel Seagraves. Someone called 9-1-1 early this morning to report the car out spinning donuts in the school yard. Arriving deputies stopped Seagraves just as he was leaving. They found another teen, Andrew Goetz, riding in the back seat, and the boys had a 12-pack of beer in the car with them. Since Seagraves has had his drivers license revoked, the deputies seized the car and hauled the two off to jail. Seagraves faces charges of causing 400-dollars damage to school property and driving on the revoked license, WHile Goetz is charged with aiding and abetting the revoked license charge and with underage possession. Deputies give no indication of testing either boy for having been drinking.

Easely Calls for Water Conservation, Cooperation

Gov. Mike Easley today directed the state divisions of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance, Water Resources and Environmental Health to partner with the N.C. League of Municipalities to organize regional meetings in communities hardest hit by the drought to discuss water conservation and strategies for identifying supplemental water sources. The collaborative effort was announced as exceptional drought, the worst level in the four-category system, spread to more than half of North Carolina’s 100 counties.

“Many communities are suffering the effects of one of the worst droughts we have ever seen,” Easley said. “At least one community is already hauling water by truck from other sources and several other towns may need to seek supplemental water sources soon. With no end to this drought in sight, regional cooperation is needed to make sure all North Carolinians will have ample water for everyday needs such as drinking, public health and safety.”

Today’s federal drought map shows that exceptional drought has spread from the eight westernmost counties to 55 counties in the mountains and Piedmont and now stretches from the foothills and Charlotte to parts of the Triad, the Triangle and the Sandhills. North Carolina’s other 45 counties are experiencing the next three levels of drought – extreme, severe and moderate. An extreme lack of rainfall has left many stream flows faced with all-time record lows and reservoirs far below average for this time of year.

The governor has called on all North Carolina residents to conserve water and for operators of public water supplies to implement water use restrictions. Many communities are reporting significant declines in water usage, thanks to the governor’s directive. Currently, 83 public water systems have enacted mandatory water use restrictions and another 80 have enacted voluntary restrictions. That means that 4.76 million people, or about 70 percent of the state’s population in the systems tracked by the state, are under some form of water conservation.

Break-In, Tools Stolen

A note on the door is the first clue investigators are following up on, after a McGrady man reported someone kicked in his shed door and stole about 14-hundred dollars worth of tools. Andrew Pardue says he left for work Monday morning , and returned Tuesday afternoon to find the break-in. There was a note on his front door, one he said was there when he left Monday, from a local resident whose name is not currently being released. The thief had kicked in the door, breaking the hinges to gain access to the outbuilding. Once inside the person made off with a pair of motorcycle boots, a helmet, two chain saws, a leaf blower, a number of wrenches and sockets, and about 250-feet of rolled-up copper wire. Deputies tried to contact the person who left the note, but were told she was not at home. The investigation continues.

Local Man Arrested for Stealing Virginia Motrocycle

It's unclear yet if the arrest of a man in Wilkes county this week has cleared up any theft cases here, but when deputies checked over Shawn Swaim's home place, they found a number of motorcycles and ATV's. THey were there Tuesday evening in the first place because authorities in Henry County, Virginia, had issued a warrant for his arrest on a motorcycle theft there. When deputies arrived at the house a little before 9 pm, Mrs. Swaim told them her husband wasn't there. That's fine, they said, knowing he was. They'd just have a deputy wait by the house while the other one went back into town and got a search warrant. As they walked to their patrol cars, Mr. Swaim approached the deputies and turned himself in. He told deputies where to find the motorcycle he'd allegedly stolen from a dealer in Virgina, and when they opened his garage, there were five more late model four-wheelers sitting there. A number of newer and older four-wheelers have been stolen in the area in the past several months, and at this point it isn't clear whether Swaim is involved in those thefts. For now he's being held on a fugitive warrant out of Virginia, and the investigation here continues.

Repairs Underway on Highway 16/18 Birdge Over 421

The work to repair a damaged bridge along Highway 421 has begun, and North Carolina DOT officials say it could take a week. The Highway 16/18 bridge over 421 was damaged over the weekend when a tow truck driver smacked the underside of the bridge with the boom on his truck. The impact was enough to knock the whole boom assembly off the truck, and it had to be towed out of the lane of traffic. Officials closed the bridge for a few hours while it was inspected to make sure it was safe to hold traffic until crews could start on a permanent fix. That started yesterday, according to DOT, and will continue through next Wednesday. One southbound lane is closed, and trucks going in and out may cause short delays for traffic in either direction. The damage estimate at the time of the wreck was more than 60-thousand dollars.