Christmas In Wilkes
It’s almost time to start spreading the Christmas cheer to less fortunate children in Wilkes County. It’s the 12th year for Christmas in Wilkes, and the organization will start taking applications for this Christmas season on Monday. Those who meet the program guidelines are then matched with volunteers who pick their name off angel trees placed throughout Wilkes.

Christmas in Wilkes board member Judi Mitchell says applications will be taken from 11 to 7 Monday through Thursday and from 11 to 5 on Friday, all next week and Monday through Thursday of the following week. Last year Christmas in Wilkes served 17-hundred-22 children. For information on applying, call the Christmas in Wilkes office at 927-29-69.

Prostate Screening a Success
Piedmont Urology’s free prostate screening clinic appears to be a success. In the first hour and a half, more than 40 men were given the blood test that detects problems with the prostate – especially prostate cancer. This is the third year for the screening clinic, and they hoped to screen more than 100 men today.

DWI Crash Injures One
A chain-reaction crash in Wilkesboro Wednesday afternoon resulted in one person going to the hospital, and the driver that caused it being ticketed with DWI. Police say 49-year old Mary Ruth Bledsoe of Miller’s Creek slammed into the back of a group of cars waiting for the red light at Main Street and Oakwoods to change. The impact sent the other three cars into one another, injuring a passenger in the first car she hit. 16-year old Alma Erica Sandoval was taken by ambulance to Wilkes Regional. The other drivers were looked at by EMS, but did not receive any medical treatment.

Radiator Thief
Sheriff Deputies are looking for the person who stole several radiators out of a junkyard near Purlear. Wayne Phillips told deputies Wednesday that someone came onto his lot and stole radiators from thirteen old cars. This is the second time something like this happened. The first time, deputies say the thief also stole aluminum roofing, and water hoses, along with damaging a locked grainery and a house trailer. A 16 by 9 foot trailer and a car were also stolen previously. The case remains under investigation.

North Wilkesboro to Explain CDBG Proposal
North Wilkesboro Town Board members have scheduled a public hearing for next Tuesday, in connection with the city’s pending application for Community Development Block Grant money. The money is available through the state, and would be used for water and sewer system extension. At a special meeting yesterday, town board members set the public hearing for the proposal for 7pm Tuesday. It will be part of their regular monthly board meeting.

Regional News

Hickory Officer Kills Man
A Hickory police officer shot and killed a man during a domestic dispute last night. Police have
yet to release the name of the officer or of the man who died. The shooting happened shortly after 6 p.m. when the officer responded to a domestic dispute at the Ridgecrest public housing complex.

The man, who had left the scene, returned and slammed his pickup truck into the car that belonged to the woman involved in the argument. The officer shot the man when he left the truck and wouldn't back down. Major Tom Adkins says officers are trying to determine if the man had a weapon.

The officer, who will be placed on administrative leave with pay, has been with the department for a year as a patrol officer and about 10 years as a civilian employee.

Child Abuse Deaths Increase, Most Under
North Carolina a set a grim record last year as 37 children died at the hands of their parents or caregivers. That’s according to research released by Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina.
North Carolina child abuse homicides were up 20% over 2004 and hit the highest rate in 10 years.

Jennifer Tolle Whiteside is the CEO of Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina and co-chair of the N.C. Child Fatality Task Force. In a news release, Tolle said, “In 2005, a child died every nine days as a result of child abuse. Nearly 90% of these children were under four years of age.”

Forsyth County Teacher Accused of Sex Crimes
A former middle school teacher of the year in Forsyth County stands with 18 sex-related crimes.

43 year-old Robert William Watson, a sixth-grade math and social studies teacher at Jefferson Middle School, was charged with six counts of statutory sex offense, nine counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor and three counts of indecent liberty with a student by a teacher, according to the sheriff's office.

School leaders suspended Watson with pay Monday after two former Clemmons Middle School students presented inappropriate e-mails and chat messages they say were sent by Watson.

Laptop Reported Stolen; No Leads
Sheriff Deputies report no leads on the weekend theft of a laptop computer from a Wilkes home. Clayton Porter told deputies Sunday afternoon someone had kicked in the back door of his house on Ruritan Road and stolen the Dell Laptop, valued at 34-hundred dollars. The investigating deputy confirmed there appeared to be damage to the back door.

Home Break-In, Neighbors Saw a Pickup
There are some leads on another home break-in over the weekend. A North Wilkesboro man reported Friday that someone broke into the home he is renovating in Moravian Falls and took a window air conditioner valued at about 2-hunred dollars. A neighbor said he saw a 90’s model red Chevy pickup pull into the driveway while the homeowner was making a trip to the landfill. Unfortunately, the neighbor did not get a tag number, and couldn’t see the driver or passenger clearly enough to make an I-D.

Report of Laptop Theft Delayed A Week
Another laptop computer was stolen recently, but not reported to sheriff deputies until a week later. Some office equipment including a Dell laptop computer was moved into an employee’s office at Carolina West back on September 8th, a Friday. When the employee returned to work the following Monday, the laptop, valued at 12-hundred dollars, was gone. Security staff at Carolina West have gone over the video tapes from that weekend, and did not see anyone take the computer. So far, there are no suspects.

No Video of This Week's Service
A Miller’s Creek church family will have to dig a little deeper when the collection plate goes around Sunday, to replace a video camera and tripod stolen earlier this week. Someone broke into Oak Grove Baptist Church between Monday morning and Tuesday evening, by breaking a bathroom window. Once inside, the thief or thieves forced open two metal interior doors, breaking the latches in the process. Then they left with the video camera, valued at 400-dollars, and the tripod, which is worth about 300-dollars. According to deputies, several ladies from the church were in the building Tuesday afternoon, but did not see the forced window or doors. The theft remains under investigation.

Jewelry Stolen
Over 25-hundred dollars worth of silver jewelry was stolen from a Ferguson woman Tuesday, and she believes she knows who did it. Vena Bowman gave deputies the name of a woman who visited her Tuesday evening. She said the woman asked to go to the bathroom, and a few minutes later, Bowman found the jewelry ahd been taken from a lockbox in her bedroom. She told deputies she lost 18 silver rings, 40 silver earrings, 20 silver bracelets, 40 silver charms, and an 18-inch silver necklace. No arrestes in the case yet.

Borrowed or Stolen? Deputies Aren't Sure
Deputies are investigating the theft of an air compressor from a Wilkes construction site. At least that’s what it looks like right now. An Emglo compressor worth 800-dollars was taken from the tool shed at a job site on Highway 268 West sometime over the weekend. The man who reported the compressor missing told deputies the shed had been unlocked, the compressor taken, and several other expensive tools left in the shed, untouched. Then the key was put back in its hiding place. He thinks an employee on another work crew may have borrowed the compressor without telling anyone, but until he can confirm that, deputies are treating the case as a theft.

Disturbance, Yes . . . Violence, No
In spite of significant damage to a car and a house, a judge told sheriff deputies Monday the domestic situation that prompted the damage would not qualify for a warrant for domestic violence. Deputies were called for shots fire at a house in Purlear Monday night. When they arrived, they found a 2002 Toyota 4-Runner crashed into the sun deck. They went into the house cautiously, after also seeing an open window that appeared to have blood on the curtains. They found the man of the house inside and handcuffed him while they searched for his wife. She was in the woods. Both denied that the other had assaulted them, and refused medical treatment. A deputy says other than some briar scratches on the woman, they appeared unhurt. The couple, who are both 60, are both charged with Domestic Disturbance and Damage to Property. Deputies say alcohol played a role in the incident.


Regional News

Geddings: I'm Not Guilty
Prosecutors have dropped one of the wire fraud charges against former state lottery commissioner Kevin Geddings.

Geddings still faces five counts of mail fraud and three counts of wire fraud. He pleaded not guilty Wednesday as his trial began in federal court in Raleigh.
Gov. Mike Easley is listed as one of the possible witnesses in the case, but he said he hasn't been subpoenaed yet.

Duke Hospital Honored
Duke University Hospital has received a 2006 North Carolina Award for Excellence, made by the state to recognize outstanding organizational performance.

The award was presented today at Duke University Medical Center.

Duke University Hospital is one of seven organizations to be honored this year. Only two hospitals have previously been recognized with the award in the program's 15 year history.

Elkin Soldiers Coming Home
Troops with area ties will be coming home this weekend.

Soldiers with the 505th Engineer Battalion, with troops from Mocksville and Elkin, have been in Iraq since August 2005.

One of those soldiers is 22-year old Devin Longworth, who has been away from his family for 13 months. He left for training camp 10 days after his wedding. Family members have made posters, banners, signs and even his favorite bread to greet him when he arrives at Fort Bragg on Monday.

Top Legislative Issue: Immigration Reform
Immigration reform will be a top issue for the Legislature next year, according to a Senate panel leader looking at changing laws targeting illegal immigrants.

It's ``one of the highest priorities of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the General Assembly,'' Sen. Jim Ritchie, R-Spartanburg, said Tuesday during a panel meeting.

The panel, considering laws like those recently passed in Georgia, heard testimony from people who want something done now and those who say this is an area for the federal government.

The panel is considering legislation that would:

• Require all public agencies, their contractors and subcontractors to verify an employee's citizenship by participating in a federal program that compares employee forms to certain databases, such as one maintained by Social Security.

• Screen jails for illegal immigrants

• Allow state prosecutors to go after the crimes of sexual or labor servitude and regulate immigration service companies.

The panel also was interested in federal law allowing local law enforcement agencies to sign an agreement with Homeland Security, which houses immigration enforcement efforts, and become trained in identifying and detaining illegal immigrants.

Fatal Crash Near Ferguson
A Wilkes woman is dead, and two family members were airlifted to Baptist Hospital, after a wreck on Highway 268 near Ferguson. Highway Patrol Trooper Brent Morgan tells me the wreck happened yesterday morning, when 22-year old Jennifer Lynn Hamby turned left out of the Ferguson Fire Department parking lot into the path of a dump truck. Morgan says she died at the scene. A 21-year old man, James Hudson, was airlifted from the scene to Winston-Salem, and a 4-year old boy, who was not in a child seat, was thrown from the car – he was taken by ambulance to Wilkes Regional and then airlifted to Baptist. Trooper Morgan says he does not believe the injuries are life-threatening.

Long-Haul Trucker Comes Home to Theft
A long-haul truck driver who hails from Wilkes County arrived home from his latest run Friday to find his house had been broken into. Well, technically – actually, the back door was unlocked. William Bounds tells sheriff deputies a generator and two tool sets were taken, with a total value of about 600-dollars. Neighbors say they didn’t see anyone.

Bucket-wielding Burglar
Another Wilkes homeowner was the victim of a break-in over the weekend – this time at the hands of someone wielding a bucket. Bobby Poplin says he had been moving items into a new home, and arrived on one trip Friday evening to find a bucket had been thrown through his front window and more than 800-dollars worth of items were missing. The stolen items included bed linens, 20 stuffed animals and 10 Beanie Babies, plus porcelain dolls and a lamp. Deputies list the case as under investigation, but have no suspects.

It May Be the Memories More THan the Money
A Greensboro man’s car was broken into as it sat outside a Wilkes business Monday. James Parkhurst told sheriff deputies he’d been parked outside ABTCO in Roaring River, and as he was on the way home, he realized several items were missing form the car. One may have had as much sentimental value as monetary value – a 14-Karat yellow gold wedding ring values at over 62-hundred dollars. Parkhurst also reported ten CD’s and about 10 dollars worth of change had been stolen form the car. Detectives are still investigating.

Laptop Computer Stolen
Sheriff Deputies report no leads on the weekend theft of a laptop computer from a Wilkes home. Clayton Porter told deputies Sunday afternoon someone had kicked in the back door of his house on Ruritan Road and stolen the Dell Laptop, valued at 34-hundred dollars. The investigating deputy confirmed there appeared to be damage to the back door.

Air Conditioner Stolen
There are some leads on another home break-in over the weekend. A North Wilkesboro man reported Friday that someone broke into the home he is renovating in Moravian Falls and took a window air conditioner valued at about 2-hunred dollars. A neighbor said he saw a 90’s model red Chevy pickup pull into the driveway while the homeowner was making a trip to the landfill. Unfortunately, the neighbor did not get a tag number, and couldn’t see the driver or passenger clearly enough to make an I-D.

Regional News

N.C.'s Punxsutawney Phil Dies
The furry ambassador of the North Carolina Zoo has died.

"Murphy" was a groundhog who visited schools and events across the state, as well as predicting the return of spring on Groundhog Day.

Zoo officials said Murphy suddenly became ill and died on Sunday. More tests are needed to determine exactly what happened.

Murphy was just 2 months old when he was found on the road side and brought to the zoo's wildlife rehabilitation center in 2002. The staff there discovered he was unafraid of people, which meant he couldn't survive in the wild.

Geddings Jury Picks Start Wednesday
Were omissions on former lottery commissioner Kevin Geddings' state ethics form merely paperwork errors, or a deliberate fraud worthy of a federal felony conviction?

It could be that simple a question for jurors as Geddings, a former Charlotte public relations executive and South Carolina political aide, stands trial this week on nine counts of corruption-related mail and wire fraud.

Prosecutors argue Geddings's mistake was hardly a paperwork mix-up, but rather a conscious effort to hide from state ethics officials the nearly $229,000 he received while working for a for-profit lottery contractor.

Geddings, who faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 fines on each count, said the U.S. Attorney's Office has made some plea offers, which he's rejected. Jury selection for his trial is scheduled to start today.

Easley to N.C. Reps: No Guard Federalization
Governor Mike Easley has asked North Carolina's congressional delegation to reject efforts to put the state's National Guard under federal control during disasters.

In a letter sent Monday to the delegation, Easley said the proposal would make it difficult for North Carolina and other states to respond quickly to crises such as hurricanes.

Proposed language in the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act allowing a president to federalize state guards without governors' consent in the event of a ``serious natural or manmade disaster, accident or catastrophe'' would confuse the chain of command as well, Easley said

Drugs Play a Role in Odd Events
It probably isn’t the best idea to steal things from a house, then show up and confront the victims when they arrive home. But that’s what sheriff deputies say a North Wilkesboro man did Saturday.

It’s kind of an odd sequence of events. 38-year old Barry Wayne Whitley is accused of stealing several video games, and x-box and other items from an apartment in North Wilkesboro Saturday afternoon. The victims say they got home to find the stuff missing, and then Whitley pulled up, video games in plain sight in the front seat. After a short confrontation, Whitley drove off, crashing into the victims’ car in the process.

A short time later, he turned up at Wilkes Regional Medical Center, sporting a broken nose. He told deputies at the hospital he found the stolen property simply laying in the front yard. It gets weirder, or things start to make sense, depending on how you look at it.

Whitley’s girlfriend, Michelle Diane Church, took deputies back to the couple’s home, where they found marijuana, illegal alcohol, hashish, and drug paraphernalia, along with a box of tools deputies believe may also be stolen. She was arrested on drug-related charges, while Whitley was arrested for the break-in and theft, along with drug-related charges. Deputies anticipate other charges may be filed in the coming days.

Don't Drink And Drive -- No, Really, We Mean It
It’s usually a good idea to listen to a deputy when he tells you not to drive because you’ve been drinking. Not following that advice landed a Wilkes man in jail briefly this weekend. Deputies were called Saturday afternoon to calm a disturbance at the home of Radford Ray Hendrix. His wife told deputies Hendrix had been drinking all day, and was driving back and forth on Old Highway 60. After warning him not to drive, deputies left, and parked about a mile down the road.

About five minutes later, here came Whitley, driving half over the center line. When he was pulled over, he failed a roadside sobriety test and blew a .17 – more than double the legal limit – on the Intoxilyzer. Deputies arrested Hendrix, who admitted to having had at least a 12-pack over the last couple of hours.

A Hitch in His Get-Along
Impatience ended up getting another drunk driver this weekend. Deputies say 32-year old Francis Thomas Schubert tried to go around a construction vehicle that was blocking traffic on Highway 268 East so a dump truck could get backed in. The deputy smelled booze when he walked up to Schubert’s car, and a breath test measured his blood alcohol at .16 – twice the legal limit.

Stolen Car Recovered Within Hours
Sheriff deputies recovered a stolen car Friday night within two hours of it being reported stolen. Of course, it was within a couple of miles. Dennis Higgins reported the car, along with some tools, a cell phone and a police scanner, were stolen from his home in the 34-hundred block of Elledge Mill Road about 9:45pm Friday. Just before midnight, someone in the 27-hundred block called and said a car they didn’t recognize had been abandoned at the end of their driveway. Higgins told deputies three people had been at his house earlier in the evening, and when he woke up from a short nap, he found the car and other items gone. Charges are pending in the case.

Bond Check Cashed Twice
Apparently being in jail once wasn’t enough for one Wilkes criminal to learn their lesson. Deputies are investigating two people, after a bond refund check from the county court clerk’s office was cashed twice. Investigation showed the check had been scanned and copied using a computer. It was written to one of the suspects, who had posted bond for the other suspect to get out of jail on another crime. Their names haven’t been released yet pending formal charges.

Another Weekend, Another Blown Up Mailbox
Deputies are investigating yet another mailbox pipe-bombing. Several neighbors called 9-1-1 after hearing an explosion at the home of Lewis Miles late Saturday night. His mailbox had been destroyed, and deputies saw powder burns on the aluminum shards scattered around. The next morning, Miles found what appeared to be pipe bomb shrapnel and turned it in to the Sheriff’s Office. There are no suspects.

The Walk-In's A Bit Warm This Morning
Sometime after closing Saturday, police officers say someone cut apart refrigeration compressors behind the Wilkesboro Run-In. An employee arriving for work Sunday found the two units standing open, wires cut and the coils missing. Three beer cans were found close by, and the employee said they appeared to come from the Run-In, because they had price tags like the ones they use. So far, no suspects have been identified.

Regional News

Fatal Fire, No Smoke Detector
There was no working smoke detector inside the apartment where three young sisters died Thursday in a fire, according to investigators in Watauga County.

Killed in the blaze were 5-year-old Luz Clarita Sid Flores, 6-year-old Anadacy Flores, and Liliana Flores, who was 8. Boone fire Capt. James Isaacs said the cause of the fire remains unknown.

Sheriff's deputies found the building burning at about 11:30 p.m. Thursday.
The deputies were able to help the girls' father, Lazaro Rodriguez, out of the house. The mother, Lorena Flores, broke the front bedroom window with her elbow and escaped with the couple's infant son.

The sisters were trapped in a back bedroom and rescuers couldn't reach it because of the heat and smoke.

$4-million Dollar Wake School Fraud Nets 4 Prison Terms
Four people were sentenced to prison Monday for their parts in defrauding the Wake County school system of $4 million.

Former transportation department budget analyst Carol Finch, considered to be the central figure in the scam, received a prison term of roughly 6 to 8 years and was fined $100,000.

Prosecutors said Finch orchestrated a scheme that allowed employees of the school district's transportation department and workers at Barnes Motor Parts Co., a Wilson-based automotive parts supplier, to exchange fake invoices.

Officials allegedly used the money sent to the parts company to buy boats, big-screen televisions and other expensive items.

Strictly Below Average
Civil engineers said North Carolina's roads, dams and airports aren't good enough to support expected population growth.

The first statewide infrastructure report card was released Monday by the state chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers. It gives the state a C-minus and said improvements will cost billions of dollars.

Dams and roads in the state received Ds from the report card and airports got D-pluses. Poor roads mean motorists have to spend $1.7 billion in vehicle repairs.

Fall Color to Burst Forth Soon
It's going to be a colorful autumn in the mountains.

Experts say the autumn colors should be much more vivid than last year, when a warm fall led to late and muted color and many leaves turned brown.

Kathy Mathews is an assistant professor of biology at Western Carolina University.

She says the elements appear more on track this year to result in a more colorful autumn, which begins this week.

She says leaves should really begin changing color in early October and peak in the middle of the month.