Generic Acetaminophen Recalled
A company that makes store-brand acetaminophen for Wal-Mart, CVS, Eckerd, Food Lion, Lowes Foods and dozens of other large retailers is recalling 11 million bottles because small metal fragments were found in some caplets.

Perrigo Co. told the U.S. Food and Drug Administration it discovered that some of its manufacturing equipment was wearing down and passed 70 million caplets through a metal detector.

Fragments were found in about 200 caplets.

The FDA said Perrigo told the agency about the problem on Nov. 1. The FDA took a week to investigate the report before informing the public. The agency did not know when Perrigo tested the pills.

The FDA said that neither it nor Perrigo know the source of the metal. Both are investigating. The agency would not say whether Perrigo or any of its suppliers were still making acetaminophen.

Shoplifter Caught, May Face Drug Charges
Wilkesboro Police recovered more than 200-dollars worth of merchandise when they arrested a woman accused of shoplifting from Kohl’s Wednesday. The woman had been stopped in the parking lot, after a Kohls security officer saw her stuff nine items into her purse, including two bottles of perfume, three pairs of jeans, three shirts, and a pair of earrings. As he was interviewing the suspect, 29-year old Nerys Shoemaker, the police officer reported she was having a hard time keeping her balance, and was slurring words so badly it was hard to understand. When he got her to jail. The officer found several pill bottles on her, but none of the bottles had her name on them. A narcotics investigator has been assigned to that part of the case.

Lowes Theft Investigation Produces More Charges
Lowes security personnel have been spending many long hours reviewing security videotapes, as they help police build the case against a man accused of repeatedly stealing merchandise without paying. 51-year old Ronnie Lee Moore is already charged with multiple counts of shoplifting from Lowes, for a series of items taken from the store throughout June.

Another videotape review Tuesday found two more instances of alleged shoplifting. In the first, which happened June 9th, Moore is seen putting a DeWalt combo tool kit in a cart and pushing it and what appeared to be two cases of tile grout through the garden ceter entrance without paying. The value of the tool sets is almost 0ne-thousand dollars.

The second incident happened June 30th. Again, Moore is seen on the tape loading a DeWalt combo set into a cart, along with a Husqvarna chainsaw. Again, he’s shown walking out the garden center entrance without paying. Total loss this time was over 500-dollars.

The tape review and investigation by Lowes Security and Wilkesboro Police is ongoing.

Purse Stolen
A Wilkes woman tells police officers someone opened her car door and stole her purse while she was at work yesterday. 18-year old Brandy Davis said she left the car unlocked, and when she came out from work, found the purse missing. Her check book, check card, and driver’s license were in the purse. Unfortunately that means she may find herself the victim of identity fraud, as those items contain enough information for an identity thief to strike.

Identity Theft
Another Wilkes resident reports they have been the victim of an identity thief. Tammy Hayes called sheriff deputies Wednesday after being told by her bank someone had used her debit card to to buy over 400-dollars worth of merchandise at a Foot Locker in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The thief tried a third purchase of over 300-dollars, but the bank turned that transaction down. Mrs. Hayes says she doesn’t know how the identity thief got her debit card number.

Stolen Trailer Recovered
Sheriff Deputies have found a utility trailer reported stolen last month. The stolen trailer was one of several crimes Wayne Phillips reported last month, including the theft of a number of radiators out of cars. The utility trailer was found recently at the rural Wilkes residence of James Roberts. He was arrested for the theft after Phillips positively identified the trailer.

Man Charged With Biting, Grabbing His Girlfriend
A very public argument ended with a man in jail, charged with assaulting his girlfriend. Wilkesboro Police were called to Ruby Tuesday’s about 11 last night, after employees reported a disturbance. Melissa Barbee told officers her boyfriend, 27-year old Byron Parsons, had bit her on the shoulder and then grabbed her several times. Each time left a visible mark, according to the police report. Parsons was arrested and charged with assault on a female.

Just Good Ol' Boys...
A wild police chase last night fortunately ended without anyone getting hurt. A shreiff deputy parked along Traphill Road looked up about 9pm, tos see a car barreling toward him on Huie Road. After the car slid through the stop sign and nearly hit another car, the officer turned on his emergency lights and began to follow the car. Once the deputy hit his siren, the driver sped off, driving as fast as 85 miles an hour through 35 mile-an-hour speed zones.

The driver apparently thought the Ford Escort was the General Lee, because he locked up the brakes at the driveway to the Grocery Bag and slid into the parking lot Dukes of Hazzard-style. On the way into the lot, he narrowly missed another car and two people waling in the lot. He jumped out of the car and started to walk toward the deputy and confront him, took a swing, and seconds later found himself on the ground, tackled and pepper-sprayed by the deputy with the help of a couple of bystanders.

Other deputies arrived and carted the 39-year old Jeffrey Baugess off to jail, where he head-butted a deputy who was trying to give him a breath test. He now faces more than more than 10 charges, including two of assaulting an officer. He’s being held on a 15-thousand dollar bond.

2 Jailed for Having Stolen SUV
Two men are in jail, after sheriff deputies arrested them when they refused to give up the keys to an S-U-V that had been stolen in Boone. Deputies arrested 23-year old Stacey Heatley and 33-year old Matthew Puckett early yesterday. They had seen the stolen Blazer earlier in the night, but had been unable to confirm it was stolen because of computer problems. When they were finally able to run the tag, it confirmed the S-U-V had been stolen earlier in the day. When they went to the men’s apartment to confront them, Puckett became belligerent to deputies, and denied knowing anything about the Blazer. Deputies arrested both men for possession of stolen property, and for drug possession, because there was an open baggie of marijuana laying out on the living room table when they arrived at the apartment.

Business Mileage Deduction to Increase
Good news for those who drive for business. The IRS says new mileage rates will go into effect for next year, raising the deduction for business mileage to 48 and a half cents per mile. Other mileage deductions have increased as well, because of higher automobile and gasoline prices. For this year, business mileage can be deducted at 41 and a half cents per mile.

Results of County Races
In complete by unofficial results, Democratic Commissioner Luther Parks led the field with 7,404 votes. Republican Zach Henderson, the chairman of the board, finished second and won re-election with 6,442 votes. David Day, a Republican challenger, finished third with 6,252 and Democrat Matt Ledford came in fourth with 5,692.

Sheriff Dane Mastin was unopposed in seeking a fifth term. He had 9,137 votes.

In the clerk of court race, Republican Janet Handy held on to the office she was appointed to last year. after the retirement of long-time clerk Shirley Randleman. Handy had 8,317 votes, while Democratic challenger Brenda Barber got 5,171 votes.

Wilkes Results for State Races
The races for N.C. House and Senate districts in Northwest North Carolina offered a few surprises.

45th Senate (Alexander, Ashe, Watauga and Wilkes counties)

Democrat Steve Goss appears to have edged Republican David Blust in the race to represent the 45th District. In complete but unofficial results, Goss won with 24,104 votes to Blust's 23,804.

Goss is a retired Baptist minister. He lives in Watauga County.

Blust, a Watauga County commissioner, beat Wilkes County's Sen. John Garwood in this spring's Republican primary. Garwood blamed his loss in part on his controversial nonvote on the N.C. Lottery. He didn't vote for the lottery, but he could have blocked its passage by using a parliamentary procedure when he was absent because of health reasons.

Foxx Wins Re-Election
On a day when Democrats took control of the U.S. House of Representatives, voters in Northwest North Carolina re-elected U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, solidifying the 5th District as a Republican stronghold.

Foxx's Democratic opponent, Roger Sharpe, lost by a wide margin despite campaigning on hot-button issues - dissatisfaction with the Iraq war, Congress and Pre-sident Bush - that resonated among voters in other states and helped Democrats take seats held by Republicans.

Unofficial election results released by the State Board of Elections showed that Foxx had a commanding lead, with 95,466 votes to Sharpe's 71,499. The total gave Foxx 57 percent of the vote.

Find complete voting tallies for Wilkes county here.


Rain Comes Down, Playground Goes Up
Heavy rain and mud didn’t put a stop to the first day of two days of construction yesterday, as volunteers and workers from Swing-n-Slide worked side by side to set up a new playground for the Ebeneezer Christian Children’s Home. A spokeswoman for the company says the value of the playground is over 28-thousand dollars, plus the hundreds of donated man-hours to put it together. Work continues today.

The long awaited Health and Human Resource Directory for Wilkes County is printed, and the staff at United Way is getting ready to mail and hand deliver these directories out to the community. The directory has over 120 health and human service agencies listed along with an address, phone number, contact person and an explanation of what the agency does.

United Way Guide to Be Distributed Soon
United Way says it has printed enough to give them to the Personnel Managers at the businesses, the Guidance Counselors at the schools, Social Services, churches, and to the doctors and dentists offices. The directory has also been translated into Spanish. If you would like to get your name on the list to receive a copy of this directory, call Rita Smith at 651-7802.

C-Store Manager Says Employee Stole $928
A local business owner tells sheriff deputies one of his employees has been stealing from him. Jim Blevins, the manager of Four Brothers Convenience Store, said he’s fired the person, who we are not identifying because he has not been charged with the crime.

According to Blevins, the former employee was working the closing shift the middle of last month. The next morning, Blevins found two safe drops had been recorded on the store log, but the money wasn’t in the safe. The total of those cash drops was 600-dollars. Blevins said there was also nearly 230-dollars in cash for phone card sales missing from the till. When he confronted the employee, Blevins says he denied any knowledge or responsibility for the shortage.

Deputies are continuing their investigation of the case.

Theft from Pickup Bed
Nearly 1000-dollars worth of tools and chairs were stolen from the back of a pickup, according to a rural Wilkes man. The theft happened about a week ago, but the report was only released today. Nathan Mathis tells deputies someone came onto his property and stole the items, which were laying in the bed of the pickup. He says he saw a van at the edge of his property, but by the time he made it to the front door, the van had sped off. Neighbors say the van stopped at the edge of the property to pick someone up. They were able to give deputies a partial description of the men in the van. The case remains under investigation.

Firefighting Foam OK'd to Mass Kill Chickens
The government has approved the use of firefighting foam to quickly kill chickens if there is an outbreak of deadly bird flu in commercial poultry, an idea researched by animal health officials in North Carolina and Delaware.

The Agriculture Department says water-based foam can be an alternative to carbon dioxide, which has traditionally been used to quickly kill large quantities of birds.

Taylorsville Hospital to Close
Operators of Alexander County's only hospital say they will close the 25-bed facility and move emergency care to a nearby doctors' office.

Frye Regional Medical Center of Hickory, which has operated the Alexander hospital since June 2002, will move the Taylorsville operation to a new urgent care center at the Taylorsville Family Care Center on N.C. 16. Hospital officials did not say when the facility would move.

Polling Places Change
As you head out to the polls today, be aware that a couple of voting places have changed. If you live in the Walnut Grove precinct, you’ll need to go to the Piney Grove Church Fellowship on Absher Road, instead of the usual location at Wilkes County North High School. That’s because construction at the school is making the voting place inaccessible. New Castle precinct voters will also have a different poling place, at the Ronda-Clingman School. Polls are open until 7:30 this evening.

Wilkes County Airport Theft
Sheriff’s Deputies are keeping an eye on the area around Wilkes County Airport, after somone stole a set of wheel chocks off the airplane parking strip there this weekend. The theft was reported Saturday afternoon by Robert Goss. He said a man dressed in dark clothing walked across the runway, pick up the chocks, and walk away. A neighbor said his deer stand had been distrubed the same day. Deputies report other minor thefts at the airport, including several directional light covers taken on different occasions. Right now they have no suspects.

Tires Slashed
A local pizza delivery driver was without his way to make money for a while late last week, after someone slashed all four tires on his car. Brandon Wiles says he went ot a party at a friend’s house Thursday evening. When he woke up Friday afternoon, he discovered the four flat tires. He gave police the name of a woman he said had been very angry at him previously. They have not made any arrests in the case so far.

Utility Trailer Stolen
A Moravian Falls man tells sheriff deputies he has no idea who drove onto his property and towed off a utility trailer. Douglas Knight reported the theft Friday. He said the trialer had been on his property on Brushy Mountain Road when he checked Tuesday. The trailer is a double-axle model, and measures six feet by 12 feet. It has two rails for mounting motorcycles. Although deputies say tracks indicate a vehicle was used to tow off the empty trailer, it wasn’t clear what type of vehicle it may have been.

Share-A-Thon A Huge Success!
This year’s 3WC Share-A-Thon was a rousing success, with more than 64-thousand, 500 dollars pledged during the two days of the event. To those who pledged, thank you, and please remember to fulfill the pledge by mailing your donation to The Home, PO Box 2777, North Wilkesboro, 28659.

Five Children Abandoned as Mother Seeks Drugs
The same weekend as good news came for abused and neglected children, several more children may have taken the first step to become involved in the system. The five, all under the age of 10, were sent to be with relatives, after four of them were found alone last night in a house on James Lane. The mother and the fifth child were seen by a deputy on Highway 18 a little while later, in the car with a man who had drugs and paraphernalia. The one-year old was not in a car seat.

The 27-year old mother was charged with child abuse, for leaving the four children at home with a fire burning in the wood stove and for not restraining the youngest child.

Deputies were at the home in the first place because they’d charged the children’s father earlier last night for causing a disturbance while he was drunk. The charges came after the man had been repeatedly warned by deputies to stay away from the house, because he and the children’s mother were continually fighting. It was during the arrest, which happened at the nearby Run-In store, that the man told deputies the children were being left alone while the mother went to buy drugs from the man she was arrested with.

Drunk and Disorderly -- All Over the Place!
It seemed to be the weekend for obnoxious drunks. Friday night, deputies charged Danny Wellborn with being drunk and causing a number of disturbances. He was going from place to place so fast he’d be gone before they could arrive after someone called 9-1-1 to complain about the noise and profanity.

Four times, deputies were called – first from Green Acres Mills Apartments, where someone said Wellborn had been trying to break into an apartment. Next, from Skipps in Millers Creek, where a caller said he was causing a disturbance. Then deputies found Wellborn at Bojangles in Miller’s Creek, after several people their complained about him causing a disturbance. They took him to his grandmothers house, and minutes later were called to Ruth’s Sandwich Shop, where someone reported Wellborn wandering across the road. They didn’t find him that time, but about two hours later, they received another call – this time from one of his grandmother’s neighbors, reporting Wellborn trying to break into the house the deputy had let him off at a few hours earlier.

Accused Counterfeiter May Have Tried To Pass 2nd Check
A man charged last week with trying to pass a counterfeit check at a local bank is suspected of a very similar case, where he allegedly gave a different name. Tellers at the bank say the man, who gave the name Lloyd Jackson, presented a 900-dollar check written on a Gastonia business to be cashed. The check was fake. It’s the same ruse used by a man identifying himself as Australia Miller, the man we told you about on 3WC News Friday who had been arrested for passing a counterfeit check. The bank and police are reviewing security tapes to verify whether it was the same man in both cases.

Steaks in the Purse
A cashier at Mountain View Grocery foiled a shoplifter Friday, but the woman ran from the store before sheriff deputies could arrive. The Mountain View manager, Eric Adams, reports the cashier saw four ribeye steaks in the woman’s purse as she tried to leave the store. She stopped the woman, who dashed form the store when Adams confronted her and said he was calling the sheriff. As she ran off, the steaks fell from her purse. She has been seen shopping in the store frequently, and employees don’t know her name, they suspect she has been stealing merchandise previously.