Census Day is Today!

Today is Census Day. Its the day they start counting all the people in the country to see exactly how much of what that we need. But how do you know the person at your door, asking the questions is really a census taker? William Hatcher is the regional director for the US Census Bureau out of Charlotte and he says census takers should have an official badge with the words US Department of Commerce, the name of the census taker and the words US Census Bureau on it. Hatcher says they'll give you some info, the will not ask for donations, bank information, money or credit card information, but will ask you only the ten questions that are actually on this year's Census.

WCSO Investigating Conversion

Wilkes County sheriff's deputies are investigating a conversion incident from late in March that's been going on for a while. Deputies say William Cater Jr. of North Wilkesboro was approached by a man who had a land deal to make with him. The man told Carter a few years ago that he could invest in some land and trailers and that all this time, the man was making the payments with Carter's money. Carter told deputies that he found out that was not true. A report from the sheriff's office says the man also pastured a horse on Carter's property, but neither fed, nor watered it, and let it die. Sheriff's officials say the unnamed man is charged with animal cruelty and conversion by false pretenses.

Services for Margie Wagoner Announced

Service arrangements have been announced for the Wilkes woman who died this weekend as the result of a head-on crash Friday afternoon. Friends and family will remember Margie Wagoner in a service Saturday afternoon at 2 at Union Chapel Baptist Church, with visitation an hour prior to the service. Wagoner died Saturday of injuries received in the crash. Wagoner was riding in the pickup driven by her husband Cranford Lee Wagoner. Troopers say charges are pending further investigation of the crash, which a crash report indicates was caused when 30-year old Matthew Roger Mastin of Millers Creek drove left of center in a curve on N.C. 18.

Plantings Plans Released

North Carolina farmers say they will plant more acres of cotton, peanuts and sweet potatoes this year than in 2009. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Prospective Plantings report says farmers intend to plant less wheat, soybeans and tobacco. Cotton has the biggest turnaround -- after a three year decline in planted acres, farmers say they will increase cotton plantings by 44-percent this year. Cotton is planned for 540-thousand acres, just less than the planned plantings of wheat, which are down 21% from 2009. The leading crop again this year will be soybeans, with 1.65 million acres planned for planting. That's a decline of 8-percent, though. Tobacco acres are down 6-percent, and now are barely more than either wheat or cotton.

Man, Charged with Wife's Murder, Dies Monday

The man charged last fall in the domestic violence death of his wife in 2008 is now dead. According to a notice this morning on the Reins-Sturdivant website, Terry Crit Marley died on Monday. There will be a private service, according to the notice. Marley's wife Linda was killed August 23, 2008, after she was shot in the chest. Mr. Marley was beside her body, officers said, and had a severe cut on one of his arms, a cut that appeared to be self-inflicted. He was airlifted to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, and later transferred to the mental facility. Authorities confirmed last November after Terry Marley had been charged with Linda Marley's death that he had been held in the state mental facility in Morganton. His attorney had asked for and received an extension on the case. No information has been released that details the place or manner of Mr. Marley's death.

Doc Checks Up on Patient's Pills

Now here's one way of keeping prescription drugs out of the wrong hands: Wilkes County Sheriff's deputies said in a report that Crystal Robinson of North Wilkesboro called them and said that when she got home from work, her house had been racked. She said she suspected a friend who asked her to sell some of her prescription meds. Robinson then told deputies that her doctor called to see how many of her prescription pills were in the bottle. The doctor said two people had called him and said that Robinson was selling her medication. Deputies are still investigating.

Man Busted on DWI After Trip Through Drive Thru

Probably a good idea to have a driver's license if you're driving a car. Wilkesboro police were called to the McDonald's drive thru after an employee reported an alleged drunk driver. An officer spotted the vehicle, followed it and eventually stopped the driver and asked for his ID. The driver, John Hicks of Mountain City Tennessee said he had no license. The officer also noticed the smell of alcohol in the car and gave Hicks a sobriety test. He failed, then blew a .14 on the breathalyser. Hicks was taken to jail and charged with DWI, failure to maintain lane control and driving without a license. It had been suspended after a previous DWI.

Census Undercount Could Impact Wilkes

As the nation prepares for Census Day on April 1, a new report finds that areas of North Carolina are at high risk of not being fully counted in the 2010 Census, thanks to the economic recession and housing crisis that have hammered parts of the state. The study by the non-profit Institute for Southern Studies measures how North Carolina counties have been affected by job losses, business layoffs and home foreclosures — economic troubles that officials say make it difficult to get an accurate Census count. Using these economic warning signs combined with other indicators, the report ranks all 100 N.C. counties by their risk of being undercounted in the 2010 Census. An undercount could cause counties to lose millions of federal dollars tied to Census data. Wilkes county ranks 28th on the list, meaning there are 27 counties projected to have a worse census undercount rate than in Wilkes. Yadkin county is projected to be the county with the lowest undercount rate in the state.

Didn't Pay Your Property Taxes? Your Name's In the Paper

If you're behind on your taxes, you probably saw your name in the paper yesterday. Not that you didn't know it was coming, since the county has sent letters to all delinquent taxpayers warning this would happen. The delinquent tax rolls were published yesterday, and the list is almost 18-percent longer than the list published a year ago, according to the Journal-Patriot. The tax liens, for 2009 county property taxes still unpaid, represent 4,583 parcels. Wilkes Tax Administrator Alex Hamilton tells the paper the total past-due tax bill on those properties is 2-point-2 million dollars, up 25-percent from last year.

Goodwill Store in Lenoir Celebrates 10 Years

The Goodwill in Lenoir is celebrating! The retail store will be ten years old and the party's on April 2nd and Saturday April 3rd. It'll be at the sore on Blowing Rock Road North East from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Jaymie Eichorn is the spokeswoman for Goodwill and said of the anniversary quote -- “We want to thank our shoppers and donors and celebrate the store’s history with them.” Not only does Goodwill serve the public through its retail thrift store, Goodwill also provides free job search training at its Career Connections Center in Wilkesboro and it helps as a whole with career development and reaching financial stability.