News For June 17th

News For Friday June 17th 2005
National Guard Soldiers To Ship Out
Some soldiers from the Wilkes County area will be shipping out to Iraq later on this year. Company A of the National Guard’s 505th Engineering Battalion has received orders for a one year tour of duty overseas, beginning later this fall. Current plans have the unit shipping out for two months of advanced mobilization and force protection training in August. Once that’s complete the company, which includes several members from both the North Wilkesboro and Boomer areas, will be making the trip overseas. Once in Iraq, the unit will be helping to repair the Iraqi infrastructure by repairing roads, fixing bridges and building schools along with other duties.
Came In To Have A Look Around
Thieves broke into a Millers Creek man’s storage building earlier this week, but apparently didn’t find what they were looking for. After breaking the padlock outside, the would be thieves came in, looked around and left without touching anything. Nothing inside was damaged or disturbed, according to the building’s owner. There are no suspects but deputies are continuing the investigation.
Safekids Event Today
Throughout Wilkes County, around 85% of child safety seats are not installed or used properly. While this is slightly lower than the average throughout the state, it’s still high enough for concern. To help out local families, the Wilkes chapter of Safekids will be holding a safety checkpoint later today at Wal-Mart, from 2-4pm.
Wednesday Wreck Totals Two
A wreck Wednesday afternoon in Wilkesboro totaled two vehicles and caused over $3000 worth of damage. The incident happened on East Main Street, as a Roaring River teen failed to see the vehicle in front of her stop at a traffic light. Instead she plowed directly into the back of the car, causing over a thousand dollars worth of damage while totaling her own vehicle as well. No one was injured in the wreck.
Tobacco Deadline Today
Today is the last day that tobacco farmers here in the area can apply for the government’s buyout program. Under that plan, all tobacco growers will receive $3 for each pound of their crop grown from 2002-2004, then starting in 2006 payments will continue on a yearly basis. $3.9 billion has been allocated for farmers in North Carolina and as of Thursday state officials estimated that just over 90% of growers have signed up. If you are one of those 10% who still haven’t, you can do so by going to the Wilkes Farm Service Agency and filling out the paperwork today. To set up an appointment you can call the agency at 838-3622 extension #2.
Boat Stolen From North Wilkesboro Residence
Why would you only steal parts of a boat and not the whole thing? That’s what a North Wilkesboro man is asking today, after coming home this week to find that someone had stolen his sailboat. Actually the thieves had left behind the mast boom and also the rudder, but the rest of the ship had been carried off, in addition to the man’s trailer that had been used to carry it around. Despite the size of the ship, no one in the neighborhood could remember seeing it leave. The investigation is still ongoing.
Heat Relief Still Available For Wilkes Seniors
The humidity and rising temperatures have made it miserably hot over the past few days and while forecasters are calling for cooler weather this weekend, don’t expect it to stick around. With that being the case, many seniors can find themselves in an emergency situation, without air conditioning or anything else to help keep them cool in the summer months. For those seniors in need of aid, the Wilkes Senior Citizens Council is giving out fans to anyone who meets their requirements. In order to get a fan, you must be at least 60 years old, live in Wilkes and be served by Duke Power. In addition, your home situation must present a threat to your life without the fans. Applications are being taken from 8:30am til 5pm at the Wilkes Senior Citizens Council office, located at 910 C Street in Wilkesboro. For more information you can contact them at 651-7811.
Local Woman Charged After Break-in
Breaking up is hard to do. It’s even worse when your ex knows where valuable items are hidden and when you’ll be out of town. A Wilkes County man learned that the hard way this week after returning to find that someone had broke into his camper and stolen over a thousand dollars worth of merchandise. Included in the theft were two tvs, a .22 pistol, a gas powered air compressor and a DVD player among other things. With no damage done to the camper and no sign of forced entry, it appears the thieves managed to climb through one of the windows, which was unlocked. After some investigation, deputies charged 35-yr-old Pamela Darnell with the theft, in addition to breaking & entering.
Realtors Get Involved To Help Wilkes County
Every weekend, several yard sales go on across the county in hopes of raising money for different events. This week is no different, although one of the causes involved deals with the future of Wilkes. The Wilkes County Board of Realtors is sponsoring a yard sale to help the community. Money from the sale will go toward a billboard to be placed on the highway, encouraging people to come and check out what Wilkes County has to offer. And that fundraiser will take place this coming Saturday, June 18th at the warehouse behind Dwight Phillips Auto Sales. That’s 1031 River Road in Wilkesboro.
State News
Commissioners Canceling Trip
Across the state, commissioners from several different areas have announced their intentions to stay away from the annual National Association of Counties meeting. The weeklong event, which will be held in Hawaii this year, has an overall cost of several thousand dollars when you add in hotel and airfare costs, all of which are paid for by county tax dollars. As a result, one of Gaston County’s commissioners has canceled her trip, saying that it was a questionable decision in a tight budget year. Also Iredell, Cabarrus and Lincoln County officials said they never planned to go, in order to prevent locals from having that cost put on their shoulders. Still, for some that are planning to make the trip, they’d taken the cost out of their own pockets, including Gaston County Commissioner John Torbett, who’s using the occasion to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary.
Former Cafeteria Worker Admits To Stealing
A Garner woman confessed this week to stealing more than $200,000 from the school where she used to work. 36-yr-old Frances Parker, who worked as a cafeteria manager at Garner Senior High, turned herself in this week and admitted to taking $217,000 from the school’s cafeteria program. The embezzlement came to light back in February when school officials discovered some things that didn’t add up. The investigation led back to Parker but until now she hadn’t admitted to doing anything wrong. It’s still unclear why she took the money, but Parker has made a deal to pay it all back.
New Budget Approved By The House
North Carolina’s House of Representatives approved a budget on Thursday, which would normally mean it could now go to the governor for his signature. The only problem is that the House and Senate have differing opinions on what should be included. In the House version, cuts that had been taken out of Medicaid were restored and overall, the two year plan would cause the state to spend $17.1 billion. That’s $154.8 million more than the one approved by the Senate. Also there were differences in how much the cigarette tax should be raised. The Senate version of the tax is raised to 40 cents, while the House version has smokers paying a tax of 30 cents. All this means that now, as the budget goes back to the Senate, it will probably be voted down and the process will have to go back to the drawing board. The new fiscal year begins July 1st.
Charlotte Douglas Airport Part Of New Security Plan
Charlotte Douglas International was one of ten airports selected to test a new type of security device called the puffer machine. When passengers are picked for a secondary screening, they will step into a walkthrough portal where air will be puffed onto them. That air is then collected and analyzed for any trace elements of explosives. The machine is expected to be in place by the end of the summer and is the same type of device that military operations & power plants throughout the world have used for several years.
Trinity Company Announces Closings
Bad news today for workers in the Trinity area, as Confluence Holdings announced plans to shut down its’ local facility come August. The organization plans to consolidate all operations into one location, in Easley South Carolina. The company, which manufactures products for water activities, said that an estimated 120 workers would be affected. A company spokesman said that consolidating everything into one location was the best way for the organization to grow.
Sports Headlines
Appalachian Reveals Basketball Schedule
Good news for anyone wanting to watch their favorite ACC team without making the trip to their home court. Some of them will be coming to a local gym for the upcoming men’s basketball season. The schedule was released this week for Appalachian State’s upcoming men’s basketball season and included on the list of opponents are some big name schools, including Wake Forest, Tennessee and NC State. Officials at the school said they wanted to upgrade the quality of their schedule, mixing in some tough opponents to help strengthen and develop their incoming players.
UNC Tarheels Lose Running Back
Some bad news coming out of Chapel Hill today, as the Tarheels will be without runningback Ronnie McGill for at least five months. McGill torn a pectoral muscle while lifting weights this week on campus. Coach John Bunting said that McGill is also considering redshirting this season to save a year of eligibility. The injury leaves UNC a little short on running backs, as Louisiana State transfer Barrington Edwards is the only one left in the backfield with any college experience.
Minor League Scoreboard
Around the minor leagues last night, the losing ways continued for the Hickory Crawdads as they fell 8-6 against Kannapolis for their 11th loss in a row. Hickory starter Kyle Pearson was saddled with the loss after a big fifth inning that saw Kannapolis score three runs. Overall Pearson gave up 7 runs in the five innings he pitched. And up the road in Winston, the Warthogs rebounded with another offensive explosion, beating the Fredrick Keys 15-4 on Thursday. Charles Haeger got the win for Winston, striking out seven in six innings of work. Winston’s Leo Daigle also continued his own offensive torrent, hitting his 23rd home run of the season.
Panthers Take To The Links
The Carolina Panthers took some time off to play golf this week, as the team held their annual players-coaches tournament. Quarterback Jake Delhomme led the winning team, which consisted of himself, center Jeff Mitchell, guard Todd Fordham and defensive line coach Sal Sunseri. The group finished at 13 under par. Other groups didn’t fair as well, with John Fox leading a team bringing up the rear at six under par. Cornerback Ken Lucas, guard Mike Wahle and receiver Keary Colbert helped Coach Fox survive the loss.