NASCAR Hall of Fame Ground Breaking

With dozens of famous drivers, car owners and crew chiefs on hand, NASCAR broke ground on its long-awaited Hall of Fame on Thursday, promising to properly honor its rich history.



Seven-time Cup series champion Richard Petty joined NASCAR president Mike Helton and others in moving the first clumps of red clay for the $107.5 million facility that is to open by the spring of 2010. They used shovels designed to look like pit crew gas cans amid the roar of engines from replica cars of Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

West Wilkes Bomb Threat Leasd to Arrest

A bomb threat Wednesday at West Wilkes High School means all but one of the county's high schools has been threatened this year. And it looks like all the threats are the work of one misguided teen. Sheriff's deputies are not releasing the name of the 13-year old boy. Wednesday's threat was phoned in to West Wilkes about 10:35 a-m. A male caller told the secretary who answered the phone there was a bomb in the school, set to go off soon. The school reacted according to district protocol and evacuated students, staff and visitors until the building could be searched. A deputy walked thorough the school with two administrators and found nothing. After about an hour outside, everyone was let back in the building.



Later in the day, the unidentified teen confessed to making the threat, and to similar threats late last year on East Wilkes High School and Wilkes Central Middle School. The boy bragged to several friends about Wednesday's threat, and they ratted him out to the principal. The boy was taken into custody and will be handled by the juvenile court system. According ot the crime report, he is being detained in Taylorsville for the rest of this week.

Car Stolen

Sheriff deputies say a 1993 Olds Delta 88 was stolen this week from a home on Poplar Springs Road. Joe Allan Davis reported the theft Wednesday evening. He says a woman who intended to buy the car "borrowed" it Wednesday afternoon and hasn't been seen since. He was able to give deputies the woman's nae and phone number -- at least what came up on caller ID when she phoned him about buying the car. It's described as a Metallic Blue, 4-dour Delta 88, 1993 model. Deputies are still trying to contact the woman.

Free Concert to Commemorate Black History Month

A concert celebrating Black History month will be held tomorrow at First United Methodist Church in North Wilkesboro at 7 pm. The concert is free to the public. The three choirs participating are: New Damascus Baptist Church choir, Pleasant Hill Baptist Church choir and Rickard Chapel Choir.



The Pleasant Hill Baptist Church choir was organized in 1992 under the leadership of Reverend Coot Gilreath, Jr.



The New Damascus Baptist Church choir sings at area revivals with pastor, Reverend James Little and other special services.



Rickard Chapel is one of the three African Methodist Episcopal Zion churches located in Wilkes County. The congregation currently has 100 active members.



The concert is sponsored in part by the Cultural Arts Council of Wilkes and the North Carolina Arts Council, a state agency, through Grassroots Funding. The Cultural Arts Council’s mission is to foster, promote and increase public knowledge and appreciation of the arts and cultural activities in Wilkes County.

Men Arrested on Drug Charges

The arrests of two Wilkes men last weekend started normally enough. Two deputies on their way to look for a couple of people wanted for a crime happened across the men driving on a rural road. The deputies stopped 27-year old Michael Yourgevidge and 29-year old John McCrimmon. When one of the deputies ran Yourgevidge's driver's license, he found it had been revoked. Then things started down hill. A search of Yourgevidge turned up three pills of Percocet in his pocket, without an associated prescription bottle. And he was wanted for questioning in connection with a recent burglary.



The deputy cuffed Yourgevidge and searched McCrimmon, who also was found to be carrying drugs. He had a baggie of marijuana, a packet of rolling papers, and seven Percocet pills. He was arrested and charged with multiple drug crimes, while Yourgevidge faces a drug charge along with one of driving on a revoked license.

Woman Assaulted, Husband Charged

A Boomer woman suffered minor injuries during a fight with her husband early yesterday morning. Adrienne Hall tells sheriff deputies her husband George came home about 1 a-m, apparently drunk, and started in on her. First he threw a soda across the room and screamed at her to clean up the mess. Then he started pushing her around, yelling that she wasn't doing the job right. She says she ran into her mother-in-law's room, with him following. He then balled up his fist and hit her twice, according to both her and his mother, who saw the attack. A deputy served the 25-year old Hall with a warrant for assault on a woman.

Car and Bus Crash, 8 Hurt

A car and a small school bus collided this morning at Rock Creek Road and Mountain View Road, critically injuring one person in the car and causing minor injuries for the children on the bus.



I spoke with Wilkes EMS a few minutes ago. They tell me the driver of the car, a man, was airlifted to Baptist in Winston-Salem, and his passenger was taken to Wilkes Regional by ambulance with minor injuries. Six children were also transported to WRMC to be checked out, but all their injuries are reported to be minor.



It did take some time to free the driver of the car, and with the number of injured people, the scene was pretty chaotic for about forty-five minutes. The Highway Patrol is investigating the wreck, and we expect to talk with them later in the day to find out how it happened.



The bus has been reported to be one from the Blue Ridge Opportunity Commission. The person I spoke with at Wilkes EMS was not able to confirm that, but did say it was one of the small buses where the children all wear five-point harness seat belts. He believes that is part of the reason injuries were so minor.

Gas Drive-Off at Pure for Sure

Sheriff deputies are following up on a gas drive-off reported Sunday evening at a Wilkes convenience store. The clerk at Pure for Sure in Purlear tells deputies someone drove up in a silver, late 80's model 4-door Dodge car about 6 in the evening. The woman pumped a little over 24-dollars worth of gas, jumped in the car and took off without paying. The clerk described the thief as a white woman, about 5-4, with black hair. She was unable to get a tag number form the car, and did not know the woman. The drive-off remains under investigation.

Thief Should Keep Day Job

It wasn't for a lack of effort, but a thief didn't get away with anything after they broke into a local convenience store last week. Bobby Eller says he went to his store in Ferguson early last week to open up, and found the lock on the front door had been jimmied. He looked through the store and found one floor panel that had apparently been pried up, but nothing take from anywhere in the building. He tells sheriff deputies he wonders if anyone actually made it into the building, and he has no idea who may have tried to break in. There was no security tape. The investigation is still listed as open.

Pickup Stolen

Sheriff deputies are looking for a stolen pickup truck. Ricky Sheets called deputies last Saturday after he thought there was no place else to turn. He'd left his pickup on the side of Suncrest Orchard Road back on the 6th, after it broke down. When he was finally able to get back to it two weeks later, the pickup was gone.



Before calling the sheriff's office, Sheets had checked with the person who owned the property next to the road, and with the highway patrol, and with all the local towing companies. None knew anything about the truck. It's a white 1971 Ford F-150 pickup.



Deputies have noted the tag number and put it in the national crime database in case the pickup shows up in the future.