As he puts pieces together again, Anderson says his son is his first priority
Saturday, Dec. 1, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Two years ago, Jerry Anderson and his wife, Emily, were working at their Caldwell County dairy farm and preparing to start a new, larger spread in Tennessee.
The farm would have been the largest in four states and something Anderson, who had been a dairy farmer for most of his life, had been working toward for years.
"My life was real simple. Dairy. Church. Work," he said.
But now, Anderson is building a whole new life after spending 18 months in jail on charges that he murdered his wife.
On Tuesday, District Attorney Jay Gaither's office dismissed first-degree murder charges against Anderson, who became the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office's main suspect after his wife disappeared and her body was found stuffed in the toolbox of her truck. She had been shot twice.
"I worked hard for 25 years, my whole life, and saw it crumble in 25 seconds," he said Thursday.
Anderson was charged with murder in his wife's death, but after a 10-week trial, a Gaston County jury could not reach a verdict. The jury split 11-1, with the majority favoring acquittal. Anderson was released on bond and returned to Caldwell County.
The cows had been sold, stalls at the Sawmills dairy farm sat empty and plans to start a larger farm in Tennessee were abandoned.
Since July, Anderson has been living with friends not far from the Sawmills farm and has spent time reconnecting with his son, 13-year-old Matthew, whom he didn't see while he was in jail.
"My son is No. 1 right now," he said.
Anderson said he's still trying to cope with losing his farm and his wife. "Emily was super outgoing, and she was really good for Matt and I," he said. "We offset each other well."
Morganton attorney Dan Kuehnert is representing Anderson in several civil matters, including a wrongful death suit filed by Emily Anderson's sister, Adelia Griffitt Watson, in 2006. Neither Kuehnert nor Anderson would talk in detail about the criminal charges and the arguments made during the trial by the district attorney's office, but Anderson has maintained his innocence for nearly two years.
"It's nothing I should have ever gone through," he said. Court documents showed that Emily
Anderson had more than $4 million in life insurance, and authorities originally said they believed at least part of the motive in her slaying was financial gain. Anderson said Thursday that his life was also insured -- for $10 million.
Gaither's office, in a press release sent by the lead prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Eric Bellas, said Tuesday it "remains committed to the prosecution of the person or persons responsible for Emily Anderson's murder."
Anderson said he hopes they catch her murderer and can prove it in court. "If you're going to charge someone with capital murder," he said, "be sure you've got the right person."
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
12/1/07
Company's stolen data used in scam
Fake checks made with financial information from trucking business
Saturday, Dec. 1, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A family-owned trucking company in Claremont has been used in an international fake-check scam, officials at the Better Business Bureau said Friday.
Financial information, including bank account numbers, were stolen from Freedom Transportation and used to generate fake checks that were sent all over the world, said Janet Hart, a spokeswoman for the BBB of Southern Piedmont.
The checks were printed with Freedom Transportation's name, address and bank account routing number and were accompanied by a letter that said the recipient had won a home improvement grant, said company owner Kathy Gregory.
In most cases, she said, a $4,900 check arrived with a letter telling the recipients that they had won $34,000.
The recipients were asked to cash the checks and were told they'd receive the balance of their prize money after they had sent at least $3,100 to another bank account, usually in another country, to cover taxes and fees.
"A few days later, the `winners' found out that the original check was fake and that they had lost the money they sent," Hart said.
Neither Gregory nor Hart knew how many of the fake checks had been cashed.
In the past four weeks, Freedom Transportation and the company's bank have received several hundred calls from people across the country asking about the letter or saying the cashed checks had bounced.
"I just hate that there are poor people out there who have cashed these checks, and now the banks are wanting their money back," Gregory said.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Saturday, Dec. 1, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A family-owned trucking company in Claremont has been used in an international fake-check scam, officials at the Better Business Bureau said Friday.
Financial information, including bank account numbers, were stolen from Freedom Transportation and used to generate fake checks that were sent all over the world, said Janet Hart, a spokeswoman for the BBB of Southern Piedmont.
The checks were printed with Freedom Transportation's name, address and bank account routing number and were accompanied by a letter that said the recipient had won a home improvement grant, said company owner Kathy Gregory.
In most cases, she said, a $4,900 check arrived with a letter telling the recipients that they had won $34,000.
The recipients were asked to cash the checks and were told they'd receive the balance of their prize money after they had sent at least $3,100 to another bank account, usually in another country, to cover taxes and fees.
"A few days later, the `winners' found out that the original check was fake and that they had lost the money they sent," Hart said.
Neither Gregory nor Hart knew how many of the fake checks had been cashed.
In the past four weeks, Freedom Transportation and the company's bank have received several hundred calls from people across the country asking about the letter or saying the cashed checks had bounced.
"I just hate that there are poor people out there who have cashed these checks, and now the banks are wanting their money back," Gregory said.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
11/29/07
For some Hmong, law is still tough to understand
About two-thirds need legal speech translated
Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
It has been 30 years since the Hmong began settling in Western North Carolina, but community leaders say they are still trying to fully bridge the language barrier and need more and better trained translators in the courts.
About a third of the 15,000 Hmong living in the Catawba Valley and McDowell County speak English well enough to communicate and understand the law, said Tong Yang, executive director of the United Hmong Association of North Carolina, leaving many others dependent on translators if they have to go to court.
"Even though they can communicate well enough to get by in everyday life," Yang said, "they might not be able to fully understand what a judge or a lawyer is saying in a court proceeding."
And that creates several hurdles for the Hmong, who have been trying to adjust to this county's culture and still maintain their Southeast Asian identity.
Court administrators, judges and lawyers, Yang said, often don't understand the Hmong culture and the complexity of the language, making it, in turn, difficult for non-English-speaking Hmong to grasp how the system works.
"There's a lot of legal jargon ... and we just don't have those terms," Yang said. "Sometimes one word in English would take a couple of sentences in Hmong to explain."
That's a common challenge in the legal system, said Jenny Fernandez Griffin, a state certified interpreter, and one that she has been working with Yang and Hmong translators to overcome.
Her company, Bilingual Consulting, coordinates contracts between interpreters and the courts and has been training Hmong translators about the court system and introducing them to some of the more complex legal terms.
"Even though they can be very good interpreters, they might not understand how the court system works fully, and that can cause interpreters to freeze up," she said. "What they need is a little bit of direction on how to operate in a courtroom and the mechanics of the system."
Currently, courts only provide Spanish translators but will work with other groups, including the Hmong, who need to provide their own translation services, Yang said.
The United Hmong Association works with all Hmong needing translation services, Yang said, but only gets reimbursed if the court requested the translator to work on criminal, child protection and domestic violence cases.
Since the association doesn't charge clients for translation services, and the courts will only pay for time spent in court, Yang said, it is difficult to recruit translators and have them available when needed.
"Nobody can make a living out of that, and it's hard to find someone who is willing to make that sacrifice to be a court translator," he said.
The solution, Yang said, would be for the association to hire a full-time translator to work on cases, both criminal and civil, in Burke, Catawba and Caldwell counties and have a few other interpreters on call.
And while members of the Hmong community say there's a need in the court system for more translators, there may not be enough Hmong going through the courts to justify paying for a full-time interpreter.
District Judge Bob Brady, who has been talking with Yang on ways to provide better translation services, said he doesn't see Hmong in court very often and thinks the state would prefer to pay for translators on a case-by-case basis rather than fund a full-time position.
"It's always better to have someone on staff," he said, "but you have to look at the need for it."
And as fewer Hmong immigrate to the United State and younger Hmong learn the language, the need for translation services will likely diminish over the years, he said.
"Many of the second generation and the young people learn to speak English," he said. "It doesn't seem like it would be a long-term need and goal."
Who are the Hmong?
Originally from China, the Hmong fled to the mountains of northern Laos in the early 1800s, where they remained until after the Vietnam War. When the Communist Pathet Lao overran the country in 1975, thousands of Hmong fled to refugee camps in Thailand and then to the United States.
More than 300,000 Hmong have sought refuge across the United States, and about 15,000 have settled in North Carolina. Most of those live in Catawba, Burke, Alexander, Caldwell and McDowell counties, where the foothills terrain and climate are similar to their Laotian homeland.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
It has been 30 years since the Hmong began settling in Western North Carolina, but community leaders say they are still trying to fully bridge the language barrier and need more and better trained translators in the courts.
About a third of the 15,000 Hmong living in the Catawba Valley and McDowell County speak English well enough to communicate and understand the law, said Tong Yang, executive director of the United Hmong Association of North Carolina, leaving many others dependent on translators if they have to go to court.
"Even though they can communicate well enough to get by in everyday life," Yang said, "they might not be able to fully understand what a judge or a lawyer is saying in a court proceeding."
And that creates several hurdles for the Hmong, who have been trying to adjust to this county's culture and still maintain their Southeast Asian identity.
Court administrators, judges and lawyers, Yang said, often don't understand the Hmong culture and the complexity of the language, making it, in turn, difficult for non-English-speaking Hmong to grasp how the system works.
"There's a lot of legal jargon ... and we just don't have those terms," Yang said. "Sometimes one word in English would take a couple of sentences in Hmong to explain."
That's a common challenge in the legal system, said Jenny Fernandez Griffin, a state certified interpreter, and one that she has been working with Yang and Hmong translators to overcome.
Her company, Bilingual Consulting, coordinates contracts between interpreters and the courts and has been training Hmong translators about the court system and introducing them to some of the more complex legal terms.
"Even though they can be very good interpreters, they might not understand how the court system works fully, and that can cause interpreters to freeze up," she said. "What they need is a little bit of direction on how to operate in a courtroom and the mechanics of the system."
Currently, courts only provide Spanish translators but will work with other groups, including the Hmong, who need to provide their own translation services, Yang said.
The United Hmong Association works with all Hmong needing translation services, Yang said, but only gets reimbursed if the court requested the translator to work on criminal, child protection and domestic violence cases.
Since the association doesn't charge clients for translation services, and the courts will only pay for time spent in court, Yang said, it is difficult to recruit translators and have them available when needed.
"Nobody can make a living out of that, and it's hard to find someone who is willing to make that sacrifice to be a court translator," he said.
The solution, Yang said, would be for the association to hire a full-time translator to work on cases, both criminal and civil, in Burke, Catawba and Caldwell counties and have a few other interpreters on call.
And while members of the Hmong community say there's a need in the court system for more translators, there may not be enough Hmong going through the courts to justify paying for a full-time interpreter.
District Judge Bob Brady, who has been talking with Yang on ways to provide better translation services, said he doesn't see Hmong in court very often and thinks the state would prefer to pay for translators on a case-by-case basis rather than fund a full-time position.
"It's always better to have someone on staff," he said, "but you have to look at the need for it."
And as fewer Hmong immigrate to the United State and younger Hmong learn the language, the need for translation services will likely diminish over the years, he said.
"Many of the second generation and the young people learn to speak English," he said. "It doesn't seem like it would be a long-term need and goal."
Who are the Hmong?
Originally from China, the Hmong fled to the mountains of northern Laos in the early 1800s, where they remained until after the Vietnam War. When the Communist Pathet Lao overran the country in 1975, thousands of Hmong fled to refugee camps in Thailand and then to the United States.
More than 300,000 Hmong have sought refuge across the United States, and about 15,000 have settled in North Carolina. Most of those live in Catawba, Burke, Alexander, Caldwell and McDowell counties, where the foothills terrain and climate are similar to their Laotian homeland.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
11/28/07
D.A. dismisses murder charges against husband
Wife's body found in truck's toolbox
Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Almost two years after Emily Anderson's body was found stuffed in the toolbox of her pickup, the district attorney's office on Tuesday dismissed murder charges against her husband and said it would re-evaluate the case if new evidence comes in.
But lawyers for Jerry Anderson, 48, who has been free since his murder trial ended with a hung jury in July, say they doubt new charges will be brought against the Caldwell County dairy farmer.
"For all practical purposes, I think this is it," said his attorney Lisa Dubs.
Emily Anderson was last seen alive Dec. 29, 2005. Ten days later, the 49-year-old woman's Chevrolet Silverado pickup was found in a Duncan, S.C., restaurant parking lot, about 100 miles from their farm in the town of Sawmills. She had been shot twice.
Jerry Anderson was charged in the death, but Gaston County jurors split 11-1, with the majority voting not guilty.
Since being released, Anderson has been living with friends near the farm. He could not be reached Tuesday evening. But Dubs said he was "obviously very pleased."
"He's avoiding attention right now and taking some time for himself," she said. "(But) he's always told us that the right thing was going to happen, and he has never faltered in his faith that he would be exonerated."
But for Mike Griffitt, Emily Anderson's brother, the dismissal doesn't end the case.
"We're not through with him," said Griffitt, who lives in Nicholasville, Ky. "Dismissing the case doesn't mean he can't be recharged with a crime. ... There's no doubt in my mind that he did it."
Court documents showed that Emily Anderson had more than $4 million in life insurance, and authorities originally said they believed at least part of the motive in her slaying was financial gain. Witnesses said they saw the couple arguing, and lawyers on both sides agreed the marriage of more than four years was strained.
District Attorney Jay Gaither's office, in a press release sent by the lead prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Eric Bellas, said it will look at any new information in the case. The office "remains committed to the prosecution of the person or persons responsible for Emily Anderson's murder," the statement said.
Several messages left with Gaither and Bellas were not returned Tuesday, and the statement did not say whether Jerry Anderson is still a suspect or whether the district attorney's office would consider charging him again.
The case's lead investigator, Maj. Jeff Stafford of the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office, said authorities are looking for more evidence that could help solve the murder.
"If we feel comfortable bringing something against this man again, then we'll bring what we find to the D.A.'s office. Or if we find something else, we'll bring that to the D.A.'s office," he said. "We'll go where the evidence points us."
Family and friends of Emily Anderson, including some of Jerry Anderson's supporters, are offering a $3,500 reward for information that leads to a conviction in her killing and have created a Web site, http://www.emilygriffittanderson.com/, to solicit information about her death.
Friends of Jerry Anderson, many of whom attended most of his 10-week trial, said they hoped investigators would be able to figure out who killed his wife.
"I'm thrilled that he's able to get back with his life," said Jennie Wilson, a friend of Emily and Jerry Anderson. "I just hope they can find who did it."
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Almost two years after Emily Anderson's body was found stuffed in the toolbox of her pickup, the district attorney's office on Tuesday dismissed murder charges against her husband and said it would re-evaluate the case if new evidence comes in.
But lawyers for Jerry Anderson, 48, who has been free since his murder trial ended with a hung jury in July, say they doubt new charges will be brought against the Caldwell County dairy farmer.
"For all practical purposes, I think this is it," said his attorney Lisa Dubs.
Emily Anderson was last seen alive Dec. 29, 2005. Ten days later, the 49-year-old woman's Chevrolet Silverado pickup was found in a Duncan, S.C., restaurant parking lot, about 100 miles from their farm in the town of Sawmills. She had been shot twice.
Jerry Anderson was charged in the death, but Gaston County jurors split 11-1, with the majority voting not guilty.
Since being released, Anderson has been living with friends near the farm. He could not be reached Tuesday evening. But Dubs said he was "obviously very pleased."
"He's avoiding attention right now and taking some time for himself," she said. "(But) he's always told us that the right thing was going to happen, and he has never faltered in his faith that he would be exonerated."
But for Mike Griffitt, Emily Anderson's brother, the dismissal doesn't end the case.
"We're not through with him," said Griffitt, who lives in Nicholasville, Ky. "Dismissing the case doesn't mean he can't be recharged with a crime. ... There's no doubt in my mind that he did it."
Court documents showed that Emily Anderson had more than $4 million in life insurance, and authorities originally said they believed at least part of the motive in her slaying was financial gain. Witnesses said they saw the couple arguing, and lawyers on both sides agreed the marriage of more than four years was strained.
District Attorney Jay Gaither's office, in a press release sent by the lead prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Eric Bellas, said it will look at any new information in the case. The office "remains committed to the prosecution of the person or persons responsible for Emily Anderson's murder," the statement said.
Several messages left with Gaither and Bellas were not returned Tuesday, and the statement did not say whether Jerry Anderson is still a suspect or whether the district attorney's office would consider charging him again.
The case's lead investigator, Maj. Jeff Stafford of the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office, said authorities are looking for more evidence that could help solve the murder.
"If we feel comfortable bringing something against this man again, then we'll bring what we find to the D.A.'s office. Or if we find something else, we'll bring that to the D.A.'s office," he said. "We'll go where the evidence points us."
Family and friends of Emily Anderson, including some of Jerry Anderson's supporters, are offering a $3,500 reward for information that leads to a conviction in her killing and have created a Web site, http://www.emilygriffittanderson.com/, to solicit information about her death.
Friends of Jerry Anderson, many of whom attended most of his 10-week trial, said they hoped investigators would be able to figure out who killed his wife.
"I'm thrilled that he's able to get back with his life," said Jennie Wilson, a friend of Emily and Jerry Anderson. "I just hope they can find who did it."
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
11/27/07
Driver critically injured when truck crashes into gas station
Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A Lenoir man was critically injured Saturday when the truck he was driving slammed into a gas station, police said.
David Shawn Miller was driving his 2004 Dodge Ram north on Blowing Rock Boulevard about 6:50 p.m. when the truck veered off the right side of the road, police said.
Miller, 34, was not wearing a seat belt when the truck hit a utility pole and sign before colliding with the steel column over the Gas n' Go's pump station.No one else was injured in the wreck.
Miller was taken to Carolinas Medical Center, and police said he will be charged with reckless driving to endanger, driving while impaired and failure to wear a seatbelt.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A Lenoir man was critically injured Saturday when the truck he was driving slammed into a gas station, police said.
David Shawn Miller was driving his 2004 Dodge Ram north on Blowing Rock Boulevard about 6:50 p.m. when the truck veered off the right side of the road, police said.
Miller, 34, was not wearing a seat belt when the truck hit a utility pole and sign before colliding with the steel column over the Gas n' Go's pump station.No one else was injured in the wreck.
Miller was taken to Carolinas Medical Center, and police said he will be charged with reckless driving to endanger, driving while impaired and failure to wear a seatbelt.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Low water levels close last public ramp at Lake James
Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Low water levels at Lake James have forced the state to close the lake's last open ramp, officials said Monday.
Officials at the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation closed the Canal Bridge boat access point because water levels have dropped so low that the ramps are no longer safe.
The ramp was the last open public access point on the 6,510-acre lake. Officials closed ramps at Hidden Cove and the Linville River in August, and the Black Bear access point was closed in October.
Water levels at the lake are about 12 feet lower than normal, and officials said the ramps will remain closed until enough rain falls to raise the water level.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Low water levels at Lake James have forced the state to close the lake's last open ramp, officials said Monday.
Officials at the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation closed the Canal Bridge boat access point because water levels have dropped so low that the ramps are no longer safe.
The ramp was the last open public access point on the 6,510-acre lake. Officials closed ramps at Hidden Cove and the Linville River in August, and the Black Bear access point was closed in October.
Water levels at the lake are about 12 feet lower than normal, and officials said the ramps will remain closed until enough rain falls to raise the water level.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
11/25/07
Hickory police get ready for more giving
Department collects for Cops for Tots program
Sun, Nov. 25, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Santa's helpers at the Hickory Police Department are starting to work on getting toys and gifts ready for the holiday season.
Every year, the department collects new and slightly used toys for Hickory-area children who might not otherwise have gifts waiting for them, said Sgt. Bob Winters, the department's community services supervisor.
The Cops for Tots program has been growing steadily since the early 1980s, when the department first started gathering games and toys -- and asked officers to play Santa and make deliveries to Hickory homes.
As the program grew more popular, the department started thinking about ways it could reach more kids and give more gifts, Winters said.
In the early 1990s, the department decided to open a Christmas Wish House where parents could browse toys and pick which toys they wanted for their children, he said.
The Wish House worked so well, Winters said, that it grew over the years, and police were able to get gifts to hundreds more children. Last year, more than 2,100 children opened Cops for Tots gifts, he said.
The department sets up donation boxes across the city and, for three days, opens the Wish House to parents and legal guardians shopping for infants, toddlers, elementary and middle school-aged children and teenagers.
Gift collection will run through Dec. 14, and the department will give the toys away at the Wish House -- the multipurpose building at Winkler Park, next to L.P. Frans Stadium -- Dec. 17-19.
Want to give?
Police are collecting gifts for children of all ages, including infants and teenagers. Gifts can be dropped off at several locations across Hickory, including most of the city's middle schools.
Monetary donations can be sent to: Hickory Police Department, Cops for Tots, 347 Second Ave. S.W., 28602
Drop-off locations
Hickory Police Department, 347 Second Ave. S.W.
The Arts and Science Center of Catawba Valley, 243 Third Ave. N.W.
Jenkins Elementary School, 3750 N. Center St.
Viewmont Elementary, 21 16th Ave., N.W.
Oakwood Elementary, 366 Fourth St. N.W.
Details: 828-324-2060
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Sun, Nov. 25, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Santa's helpers at the Hickory Police Department are starting to work on getting toys and gifts ready for the holiday season.
Every year, the department collects new and slightly used toys for Hickory-area children who might not otherwise have gifts waiting for them, said Sgt. Bob Winters, the department's community services supervisor.
The Cops for Tots program has been growing steadily since the early 1980s, when the department first started gathering games and toys -- and asked officers to play Santa and make deliveries to Hickory homes.
As the program grew more popular, the department started thinking about ways it could reach more kids and give more gifts, Winters said.
In the early 1990s, the department decided to open a Christmas Wish House where parents could browse toys and pick which toys they wanted for their children, he said.
The Wish House worked so well, Winters said, that it grew over the years, and police were able to get gifts to hundreds more children. Last year, more than 2,100 children opened Cops for Tots gifts, he said.
The department sets up donation boxes across the city and, for three days, opens the Wish House to parents and legal guardians shopping for infants, toddlers, elementary and middle school-aged children and teenagers.
Gift collection will run through Dec. 14, and the department will give the toys away at the Wish House -- the multipurpose building at Winkler Park, next to L.P. Frans Stadium -- Dec. 17-19.
Want to give?
Police are collecting gifts for children of all ages, including infants and teenagers. Gifts can be dropped off at several locations across Hickory, including most of the city's middle schools.
Monetary donations can be sent to: Hickory Police Department, Cops for Tots, 347 Second Ave. S.W., 28602
Drop-off locations
Hickory Police Department, 347 Second Ave. S.W.
The Arts and Science Center of Catawba Valley, 243 Third Ave. N.W.
Jenkins Elementary School, 3750 N. Center St.
Viewmont Elementary, 21 16th Ave., N.W.
Oakwood Elementary, 366 Fourth St. N.W.
Details: 828-324-2060
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11/18/07
Drought helps drug agents in fight against marijuana
Illegal crops drying up across region and state as rain levels plummet
Sunday, Nov. 18, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Severe drought has baked the state, leaving crops withered and the water supply dangerously low, but law enforcement officials say the extreme weather isn't all bad.
It's dampened the production of marijuana.
Through October of this year, drug agents have seized 16,139 plants, compared to the 92,614 plants found during the same period in 2006, due at least in part to the drought, said Noelle Talley, a spokesperson for the N.C. Department of Justice.
In Caldwell County, for example, pot plants usually grow to be between 6 and 8 feet tall, said David Barbour, a narcotics agent with the Sheriff's Office, but this year, the tallest outdoor plants seized barely cleared 2 feet.
"A marijuana plant is just like any other plant," he said. "If it doesn't receive enough water, it just won't grow."
The dry conditions have helped curb outdoor pot production across the state and the Southeast, as well, said Special Agent Chuvalo Truesdell, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration whose division includes North and South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.
"I've been an agent for 18 years, and we've never had this much help from the weather," Truesdell said. "We'll take a victory wherever we can."
Outdoor marijuana crops usually hit peak heights in the late summer, Barbour said, but the dry weather stunted growth early in the season.
Most of the state's marijuana, he said, is grown in rural areas, planted near creeks so tending to the plants is more convenient and less conspicuous.
But as the smaller streams dried up during a year of record heat and little rain, so have the crops. Dragging bucket-loads of water through rural parts of the state is not only a difficult task, Barbour said, but could draw attention and increase the grower's risk of getting caught.
"Growing a patch of marijuana is harder than growing a garden ... and the lack of water makes it even more difficult," he said. "The drought isn't a good thing, but it did help us out with this."
And growers can't easily move their operation indoors, where water is easily accessible.
"Hydroponic growers are quite a different operation," Truesdell said. "It's a lot more scientific and requires a lot more work ... it's a totally different commitment level."
Outdoor marijuana production in N.C.
According to a 2006 study by Virginia-based researcher Jon Gettman, North Carolina is the fifth-largest outdoor producer of pot in the county, and marijuana is the state's top cash crop.
DEA officials said that marijuana is one of the most common drugs in the state and has recently become more prevalent. Though the drought has helped stunt the plants' growth this year, Special Agent Chuvalo Truesdell said, large outdoor marijuana operations are being planted in rural areas across the state and the Southeast.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Sunday, Nov. 18, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Severe drought has baked the state, leaving crops withered and the water supply dangerously low, but law enforcement officials say the extreme weather isn't all bad.
It's dampened the production of marijuana.
Through October of this year, drug agents have seized 16,139 plants, compared to the 92,614 plants found during the same period in 2006, due at least in part to the drought, said Noelle Talley, a spokesperson for the N.C. Department of Justice.
In Caldwell County, for example, pot plants usually grow to be between 6 and 8 feet tall, said David Barbour, a narcotics agent with the Sheriff's Office, but this year, the tallest outdoor plants seized barely cleared 2 feet.
"A marijuana plant is just like any other plant," he said. "If it doesn't receive enough water, it just won't grow."
The dry conditions have helped curb outdoor pot production across the state and the Southeast, as well, said Special Agent Chuvalo Truesdell, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration whose division includes North and South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.
"I've been an agent for 18 years, and we've never had this much help from the weather," Truesdell said. "We'll take a victory wherever we can."
Outdoor marijuana crops usually hit peak heights in the late summer, Barbour said, but the dry weather stunted growth early in the season.
Most of the state's marijuana, he said, is grown in rural areas, planted near creeks so tending to the plants is more convenient and less conspicuous.
But as the smaller streams dried up during a year of record heat and little rain, so have the crops. Dragging bucket-loads of water through rural parts of the state is not only a difficult task, Barbour said, but could draw attention and increase the grower's risk of getting caught.
"Growing a patch of marijuana is harder than growing a garden ... and the lack of water makes it even more difficult," he said. "The drought isn't a good thing, but it did help us out with this."
And growers can't easily move their operation indoors, where water is easily accessible.
"Hydroponic growers are quite a different operation," Truesdell said. "It's a lot more scientific and requires a lot more work ... it's a totally different commitment level."
Outdoor marijuana production in N.C.
According to a 2006 study by Virginia-based researcher Jon Gettman, North Carolina is the fifth-largest outdoor producer of pot in the county, and marijuana is the state's top cash crop.
DEA officials said that marijuana is one of the most common drugs in the state and has recently become more prevalent. Though the drought has helped stunt the plants' growth this year, Special Agent Chuvalo Truesdell said, large outdoor marijuana operations are being planted in rural areas across the state and the Southeast.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
11/11/07
Late shakeup in Lenoir race
Mayor narrowly fends off last-minute challenger
Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Seven days before last week's election, David Barlow thought his third term as Lenoir mayor was clinched.
No one had filed to run against him, and he hadn't heard any murmurings around town that anyone was planning to seek the seat as a write-in candidate.
But then, with a week to go before the Nov. 6 election, Debra Venti, a downtown merchant, launched an intense write-in campaign, nearly ousting Barlow.
Barlow narrowly won with 661 votes, but write-in candidates got 619 votes. And most of those went to Venti, said Caldwell County Board of Elections Director Sandy Rich, though she won't have the exact totals until the votes are canvassed on Tuesday.
Venti, a political newcomer, began a whirlwind campaign promoting the need for a fresh perspective in city government. She printed hundreds of flyers, posted signs, sent e-mails, took newspaper ads and booked radio spots, and within a week had garnered wide support.
"It just really came down to being motivated for change and being excited about it," she said. "And people were really supportive (of that)."
Barlow, meanwhile, said he hadn't heard about any frustrations or concerns from residents and said Venti's intense campaign caught him off guard.
"We had to respond very quickly," he said. "We were working all day long, and I didn't know if I'd win by a lot or lose."
Venti's decision to run, she said, wasn't motivated by discontent with city leaders, but by her feeling that Lenoir needed new ideas for revitalizing downtown and bringing more business to the city.
Venti, who owns Venti's Casa, She-Sha's and a downtown upholstery studio, moved to Lenoir from Greenville, S.C., more than five years ago and said the city needs to start thinking more about how it is going to adjust as factories continue closing.
"On the edges of our town, it still says, `Welcome to the furniture capital of the world,' but those mainstays are changing," Venti said. "We need to redefine who we are and what we are about today."
But Barlow, who owns a real estate company, said the city is constantly looking for new ways to bring more business to the city, improve downtown and find ways to overcome the exodus of furniture and textile jobs.
"We have a lot of good things here, and a lot more good things are happening," he said.
Bringing Google to Caldwell County, a project that Barlow worked on closely with county officials, will help attract new business, he said, but is only one of many projects the city is looking at.
"Google is not totally the answer. It's a steppingstone," he said. "(Development) just doesn't happen overnight."
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Seven days before last week's election, David Barlow thought his third term as Lenoir mayor was clinched.
No one had filed to run against him, and he hadn't heard any murmurings around town that anyone was planning to seek the seat as a write-in candidate.
But then, with a week to go before the Nov. 6 election, Debra Venti, a downtown merchant, launched an intense write-in campaign, nearly ousting Barlow.
Barlow narrowly won with 661 votes, but write-in candidates got 619 votes. And most of those went to Venti, said Caldwell County Board of Elections Director Sandy Rich, though she won't have the exact totals until the votes are canvassed on Tuesday.
Venti, a political newcomer, began a whirlwind campaign promoting the need for a fresh perspective in city government. She printed hundreds of flyers, posted signs, sent e-mails, took newspaper ads and booked radio spots, and within a week had garnered wide support.
"It just really came down to being motivated for change and being excited about it," she said. "And people were really supportive (of that)."
Barlow, meanwhile, said he hadn't heard about any frustrations or concerns from residents and said Venti's intense campaign caught him off guard.
"We had to respond very quickly," he said. "We were working all day long, and I didn't know if I'd win by a lot or lose."
Venti's decision to run, she said, wasn't motivated by discontent with city leaders, but by her feeling that Lenoir needed new ideas for revitalizing downtown and bringing more business to the city.
Venti, who owns Venti's Casa, She-Sha's and a downtown upholstery studio, moved to Lenoir from Greenville, S.C., more than five years ago and said the city needs to start thinking more about how it is going to adjust as factories continue closing.
"On the edges of our town, it still says, `Welcome to the furniture capital of the world,' but those mainstays are changing," Venti said. "We need to redefine who we are and what we are about today."
But Barlow, who owns a real estate company, said the city is constantly looking for new ways to bring more business to the city, improve downtown and find ways to overcome the exodus of furniture and textile jobs.
"We have a lot of good things here, and a lot more good things are happening," he said.
Bringing Google to Caldwell County, a project that Barlow worked on closely with county officials, will help attract new business, he said, but is only one of many projects the city is looking at.
"Google is not totally the answer. It's a steppingstone," he said. "(Development) just doesn't happen overnight."
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
11/10/07
Most of salmonella cases related to eatery, officials say
Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Catawba County health officials said Friday that 176 people have reported symptoms of salmonella, and most of the cases are connected to a Newton restaurant that closed last week.
Health officials have confirmed 25 cases since Oct. 31. Most of the people reporting symptoms - including diarrhea, vomiting, headache and fever - had eaten at Carniceria y Taqueria Hermanos Chavez off U.S. 321 Business, said a spokeswoman for Catawba County Public Health.
The restaurant closed Nov. 2 after a visit from public health officials
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Catawba County health officials said Friday that 176 people have reported symptoms of salmonella, and most of the cases are connected to a Newton restaurant that closed last week.
Health officials have confirmed 25 cases since Oct. 31. Most of the people reporting symptoms - including diarrhea, vomiting, headache and fever - had eaten at Carniceria y Taqueria Hermanos Chavez off U.S. 321 Business, said a spokeswoman for Catawba County Public Health.
The restaurant closed Nov. 2 after a visit from public health officials
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
11/8/07
Troopers investigate case of child being hit by SUV
Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Authorities are trying to determine if the caution lights were blinking and the stop sign was extended on a Caldwell County school bus Wednesday morning when a kindergartner was hit by another car.
Trooper M.T. Stutts of the state Highway Patrol said Thursday that 5-year-old Dancy Porter was crossing the street near the intersection of Calico and Autumn roads at about 6:45 a.m. when she was struck by a sports utility vehicle.
She was taken to Carolinas Medical Center, where she was in critical but stable condition, Stutts said.
The driver of the SUV, 22-year-old Karmen Stewart of Lenoir, was not speeding and has not been charged, Stutts said.
Authorities have heard conflicting reports about whether the caution lights were flashing and the stop sign was extended, Stutts said.
"Until we get something concrete, that’s the question mark," he said.
Dancy’s mother, Melissa Porter, was waiting at the bus stop with her daughter, Stutts said, when the bus stopped at the intersection. Porter told authorities that the bus’ caution flashers were not activated and the stop sign was not extended from the side of the bus when her child stepped out into the road and was hit, Stutts said.
But Cheri Mayberry, who was driving the bus, told Stutts that she had turned on the orange, flashing lights and that the stop sign arm was out, he said.
A witness behind the bus told authorities that the bus was stopped and the rear, brake lights were, but was not sure if the caution lights were flashing or if he saw the stop sign arm extending from the driver’s side of the bus, Stutts said.
Authorities inspected the bus, Stutts said, and found that the lights and extendable stop sign were not broken.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Authorities are trying to determine if the caution lights were blinking and the stop sign was extended on a Caldwell County school bus Wednesday morning when a kindergartner was hit by another car.
Trooper M.T. Stutts of the state Highway Patrol said Thursday that 5-year-old Dancy Porter was crossing the street near the intersection of Calico and Autumn roads at about 6:45 a.m. when she was struck by a sports utility vehicle.
She was taken to Carolinas Medical Center, where she was in critical but stable condition, Stutts said.
The driver of the SUV, 22-year-old Karmen Stewart of Lenoir, was not speeding and has not been charged, Stutts said.
Authorities have heard conflicting reports about whether the caution lights were flashing and the stop sign was extended, Stutts said.
"Until we get something concrete, that’s the question mark," he said.
Dancy’s mother, Melissa Porter, was waiting at the bus stop with her daughter, Stutts said, when the bus stopped at the intersection. Porter told authorities that the bus’ caution flashers were not activated and the stop sign was not extended from the side of the bus when her child stepped out into the road and was hit, Stutts said.
But Cheri Mayberry, who was driving the bus, told Stutts that she had turned on the orange, flashing lights and that the stop sign arm was out, he said.
A witness behind the bus told authorities that the bus was stopped and the rear, brake lights were, but was not sure if the caution lights were flashing or if he saw the stop sign arm extending from the driver’s side of the bus, Stutts said.
Authorities inspected the bus, Stutts said, and found that the lights and extendable stop sign were not broken.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Newton sewer line ruptures, spills 4,300 gallons
Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A sewer line in Newton ruptured Wednesday, spilling about 4,300 gallons of wastewater, the city reported.
A 12-inch pipe ruptured at the Burris Road Pump Station in northeast Newton, according a statement from the Division of Water Quality. About 1,075 gallons of untreated wastewater spilled into a nearby stream, McLin Creek, officials said.
Authorities spent about six hours cleaning McLin Creek, which is near the N.C. 16 bypass and Burris Road, city assistant public works director Doug Wesson said.
Officials do not think drinking water was contaminated, and there was no evidence that fish were killed, Wesson said.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A sewer line in Newton ruptured Wednesday, spilling about 4,300 gallons of wastewater, the city reported.
A 12-inch pipe ruptured at the Burris Road Pump Station in northeast Newton, according a statement from the Division of Water Quality. About 1,075 gallons of untreated wastewater spilled into a nearby stream, McLin Creek, officials said.
Authorities spent about six hours cleaning McLin Creek, which is near the N.C. 16 bypass and Burris Road, city assistant public works director Doug Wesson said.
Officials do not think drinking water was contaminated, and there was no evidence that fish were killed, Wesson said.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Bicyclist who was hit by train in town center dies at hospital
Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A Hickory bicyclist who was struck by a train Monday died overnight at an Asheville hospital, police said Tuesday.
Mack Junior Johnson, 53, of Hickory was riding his bike Monday morning through a parking lot in Union Square, Hickory's city center, while a train was passing through.
Witnesses said Johnson was riding on the sidewalk toward the train when his front wheel jerked and he fell off the bike. He fell to the ground, said witness Justin Cornett, and was hit in the head by the passing train.
Johnson died in the trauma unit at Mission Hospital in Asheville, police said Tuesday.
Johnson was regularly seen riding his bike in downtown, around the soup kitchen and sitting in Union Square, said Hickory resident Kathy Brewer, who was picking up a prescription Monday not far from the accident.
"He's been around here for years," Brewer said, "and he always greeted you. He was a pretty nice man, real friendly."
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A Hickory bicyclist who was struck by a train Monday died overnight at an Asheville hospital, police said Tuesday.
Mack Junior Johnson, 53, of Hickory was riding his bike Monday morning through a parking lot in Union Square, Hickory's city center, while a train was passing through.
Witnesses said Johnson was riding on the sidewalk toward the train when his front wheel jerked and he fell off the bike. He fell to the ground, said witness Justin Cornett, and was hit in the head by the passing train.
Johnson died in the trauma unit at Mission Hospital in Asheville, police said Tuesday.
Johnson was regularly seen riding his bike in downtown, around the soup kitchen and sitting in Union Square, said Hickory resident Kathy Brewer, who was picking up a prescription Monday not far from the accident.
"He's been around here for years," Brewer said, "and he always greeted you. He was a pretty nice man, real friendly."
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Man accused in sex ring says he's innocent
Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
TAYLORSVILLE - A prominent Alexander County photographer and community volunteer said Wednesday that he's innocent of charges connecting him to a high-dollar prostitution ring in Charlotte.
Glenn Fox, a Taylorsville native, said he took photos of nude women but didn't know anything about the prostitution ring described in federal court documents.
"This whole thing has been a nightmare," he said Wednesday. "Turns out I got caught in a web, and I didn't know the web was there."
Federal authorities this week charged Fox, Sallie Saxon and Donald Saxon of Charlotte with coercing women across state lines to engage in prostitution at upscale hotels in the Tyvola Road and South Park area.
Fox was released on bond Monday, and the Saxons' bond hearing is scheduled for today.
According to court documents, Fox, 58, took nude photos of the women, which were used to advertise them to clients on a Web site, http://www.asouthernlook.com/.
Sallie Saxon, who also goes by Sallie Wamsley, paid Fox about $32,000 to take the pictures, according to the documents.
Some of those photos were also posted on another Web site - www.hushhush.com - which the documents referred to as "a very exclusive prostitution service, catering to affluent clients" that was run by Saxon.
Fox, who has no criminal record, declined to talk in detail about the charges. He said he was told the photographs would appear on www.asouthernlook.com, which bills itself as a site offering erotic photography and fine nude art. He said he didn't know anything about the site possibly being connected to a prostitution ring. He said he had never heard of www.hushhush.com before he was charged.
"Maybe I was being naive," he told the Observer.
Most of the photos he took for Saxon, whom he knew as Sandy Bradshaw before being charged, were taken at bed-and-breakfasts and expensive hotels in the Charlotte area, he said. He never met Sallie Saxon but was paid by Donald Saxon, whom he knew as Jim, he said.
Fox's attorney, Samuel Winthrop, also would not talk about details of the case, but said Fox would plead not guilty.
Fox opened his photo studio in Taylorsville, 64 miles northwest of Charlotte, 32 years ago and has become a prominent figure in the Alexander County community, said Cindy Wallace of Hiddenite, who said she has worked with him on several projects.
"You'd be amazed at the things he's done and the (committees) he's served on," she said.
Fox serves on the county's Chamber of Commerce board of directors, volunteers with United Way, plays the piano at community events and has sung in his church's choir, friends said.
Each year, Wallace said, Fox photographs the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn Presented by Kia Motors, a golf tournament near Hickory, and donates his earnings to the United Way of Alexander County.
Fox said he has been photographing the annual charity event for four years and has donated about $20,000.
Denise Elder, the executive director at the Alexander Chamber of Commerce, would not talk about Fox in detail, but said he has been an active member of the chamber for 15 years.
In February, his studio, Glenn Fox Photo, was the chamber's business of the month, and his work, which includes wedding photography, portraits and model portfolio photos, has been featured in several national magazines, according to his Web site.
Wallace said Wednesday that she and others in the community knew that Fox was taking nude photographs and that he was honest about his work.
"Everything was always out there in the open," she said.
Lory Beth Huffman, pastor at the First United Methodist Church in Taylorsville, has known Fox and his family for nearly five years and said he has been active at the church, singing in the choir and teaching.
"I hope that the community will support him and not abandon him and his family during his time of need," she said.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
TAYLORSVILLE - A prominent Alexander County photographer and community volunteer said Wednesday that he's innocent of charges connecting him to a high-dollar prostitution ring in Charlotte.
Glenn Fox, a Taylorsville native, said he took photos of nude women but didn't know anything about the prostitution ring described in federal court documents.
"This whole thing has been a nightmare," he said Wednesday. "Turns out I got caught in a web, and I didn't know the web was there."
Federal authorities this week charged Fox, Sallie Saxon and Donald Saxon of Charlotte with coercing women across state lines to engage in prostitution at upscale hotels in the Tyvola Road and South Park area.
Fox was released on bond Monday, and the Saxons' bond hearing is scheduled for today.
According to court documents, Fox, 58, took nude photos of the women, which were used to advertise them to clients on a Web site, http://www.asouthernlook.com/.
Sallie Saxon, who also goes by Sallie Wamsley, paid Fox about $32,000 to take the pictures, according to the documents.
Some of those photos were also posted on another Web site - www.hushhush.com - which the documents referred to as "a very exclusive prostitution service, catering to affluent clients" that was run by Saxon.
Fox, who has no criminal record, declined to talk in detail about the charges. He said he was told the photographs would appear on www.asouthernlook.com, which bills itself as a site offering erotic photography and fine nude art. He said he didn't know anything about the site possibly being connected to a prostitution ring. He said he had never heard of www.hushhush.com before he was charged.
"Maybe I was being naive," he told the Observer.
Most of the photos he took for Saxon, whom he knew as Sandy Bradshaw before being charged, were taken at bed-and-breakfasts and expensive hotels in the Charlotte area, he said. He never met Sallie Saxon but was paid by Donald Saxon, whom he knew as Jim, he said.
Fox's attorney, Samuel Winthrop, also would not talk about details of the case, but said Fox would plead not guilty.
Fox opened his photo studio in Taylorsville, 64 miles northwest of Charlotte, 32 years ago and has become a prominent figure in the Alexander County community, said Cindy Wallace of Hiddenite, who said she has worked with him on several projects.
"You'd be amazed at the things he's done and the (committees) he's served on," she said.
Fox serves on the county's Chamber of Commerce board of directors, volunteers with United Way, plays the piano at community events and has sung in his church's choir, friends said.
Each year, Wallace said, Fox photographs the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn Presented by Kia Motors, a golf tournament near Hickory, and donates his earnings to the United Way of Alexander County.
Fox said he has been photographing the annual charity event for four years and has donated about $20,000.
Denise Elder, the executive director at the Alexander Chamber of Commerce, would not talk about Fox in detail, but said he has been an active member of the chamber for 15 years.
In February, his studio, Glenn Fox Photo, was the chamber's business of the month, and his work, which includes wedding photography, portraits and model portfolio photos, has been featured in several national magazines, according to his Web site.
Wallace said Wednesday that she and others in the community knew that Fox was taking nude photographs and that he was honest about his work.
"Everything was always out there in the open," she said.
Lory Beth Huffman, pastor at the First United Methodist Church in Taylorsville, has known Fox and his family for nearly five years and said he has been active at the church, singing in the choir and teaching.
"I hope that the community will support him and not abandon him and his family during his time of need," she said.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
The Dart: Lover of N.C. lighthouses transformed Burke field
The Dart: People and places off the beaten path
Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
MORGANTON -- The crashing waves and sandy beaches of the N.C. coast are hours away from the rolling foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, but that didn't stop Millard Duckworth from building seven miniature lighthouses in rural Burke County.
Sure, a small creek tumbles past the cylinder-shaped structures that jut 12 feet or more into the sky, but no ship or wayward fisherman runs the risk of getting lost on its waters.
Duckworth built the towers -- replicas of seven of the state's lighthouses lining the N.C. coast for one reason.
"He just liked lighthouses," said his cousin, J.B. Duckworth, who was recruited to help build and paint the structures. "He'd say, `Why go all the way to the coast if you can just come to Burke County?' "
Millard Duckworth, 74, died in March, but the staggered row of lighthouses still sit where The Dart landed Monday -- in a wooded field near a stream, fallen tepee and two-story treehouse off Dentons Chapel Road in Burke County.
Built to look like smaller versions of the actual lighthouses, Duckworth's structures are also staggered throughout the field in rough approximation to their locations on the coast.
The Currituck Beach lighthouse, a brick tower with two yellow windows on its face, is closest to Virginia and is the most northern structure in Duckworth's display.
The six others -- lighthouses from Bodie Island, Cape Hatteras, Ocracoke, Cape Lookout, Bald Head Island and Oak Island -- zig-zag across the thick, long grass in the same order they dot the coast.
Duckworth's fascination with the beacons began when he was in the U.S. Marine Corps, seeing lighthouses as he traveled across the county and other parts of the world, said Tony Duckworth, his first cousin, once removed.
"He was a lighthouse man," he said.
In the years after his retirement from Great Lakes Carbon Corp., Millard Duckworth and his wife, Nancy, spent time at the coast, admiring the towering beacons, his cousin said.
He brought family members trinkets from trips, including a decorative license plate with all seven lighthouses -- for J.B. Duckworth to attach to the front of his pickup truck -- and a magazine with shots of each structure.
But the gifts weren't just souvenirs from the beach, J.B. Duckworth said. They were guides.
"He just came up with this idea to build these lighthouses," Duckworth said. "Every time he'd go, he came back with a different picture. " `I want this, and I want this,' he'd say."
Millard Duckworth recruited his cousin and a longtime friend, Bill Crawley, to help find the giant steel tubes that they later cut into two and sank into deep beds of cement, J.B. Duckworth said.
It took nearly a year, he said, to secure the giant posts, polish the metal and paint them to match seven of the state's lighthouses.
"We had to sandpaper those jokers so they were as clean as they could be before we could paint `em," he said. "It was a lot of fun, but it was a lot of aggravation, too."
Not long before Duckworth died, his wife took him on a road trip along the coastline to make sure the lighthouses he had built on his family's property matched the real thing.
"He wanted them just exactly like the pictures," J.B. Duckworth said. "And he wanted to see each one again to make sure they were just right."
Duckworth didn't make any changes to the structures when he returned, his cousin said, but the park became a sanctuary where Duckworth played cards with friends, sat in a treehouse he built above the lighthouses and swung from a rope into the nearby steam.
Duckworth died a few months after his last trip to the coast, his cousin said, but his wife made sure he'd be able to take his lighthouses with him.
Marking his grave in the cemetery at Hopewell Baptist Church -- just a few miles from the lighthouse park -- a shiny, black headstone stands out among the gray marble markers.
Etched on it are a rolling stream, a treehouse, and of course, seven lighthouses -- exactly as they look at the beach.
The point of The Dart
The idea behind The Dart is simple: We're looking for the kind of news the media don't usually report. We throw a dart at a map of one of the counties in the Catawba Valley, and we'll write about what's happening at that spot. We hope this feature will bring out stories that too often are ignored and will help you meet some of your neighbors in the region.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
MORGANTON -- The crashing waves and sandy beaches of the N.C. coast are hours away from the rolling foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, but that didn't stop Millard Duckworth from building seven miniature lighthouses in rural Burke County.
Sure, a small creek tumbles past the cylinder-shaped structures that jut 12 feet or more into the sky, but no ship or wayward fisherman runs the risk of getting lost on its waters.
Duckworth built the towers -- replicas of seven of the state's lighthouses lining the N.C. coast for one reason.
"He just liked lighthouses," said his cousin, J.B. Duckworth, who was recruited to help build and paint the structures. "He'd say, `Why go all the way to the coast if you can just come to Burke County?' "
Millard Duckworth, 74, died in March, but the staggered row of lighthouses still sit where The Dart landed Monday -- in a wooded field near a stream, fallen tepee and two-story treehouse off Dentons Chapel Road in Burke County.
Built to look like smaller versions of the actual lighthouses, Duckworth's structures are also staggered throughout the field in rough approximation to their locations on the coast.
The Currituck Beach lighthouse, a brick tower with two yellow windows on its face, is closest to Virginia and is the most northern structure in Duckworth's display.
The six others -- lighthouses from Bodie Island, Cape Hatteras, Ocracoke, Cape Lookout, Bald Head Island and Oak Island -- zig-zag across the thick, long grass in the same order they dot the coast.
Duckworth's fascination with the beacons began when he was in the U.S. Marine Corps, seeing lighthouses as he traveled across the county and other parts of the world, said Tony Duckworth, his first cousin, once removed.
"He was a lighthouse man," he said.
In the years after his retirement from Great Lakes Carbon Corp., Millard Duckworth and his wife, Nancy, spent time at the coast, admiring the towering beacons, his cousin said.
He brought family members trinkets from trips, including a decorative license plate with all seven lighthouses -- for J.B. Duckworth to attach to the front of his pickup truck -- and a magazine with shots of each structure.
But the gifts weren't just souvenirs from the beach, J.B. Duckworth said. They were guides.
"He just came up with this idea to build these lighthouses," Duckworth said. "Every time he'd go, he came back with a different picture. " `I want this, and I want this,' he'd say."
Millard Duckworth recruited his cousin and a longtime friend, Bill Crawley, to help find the giant steel tubes that they later cut into two and sank into deep beds of cement, J.B. Duckworth said.
It took nearly a year, he said, to secure the giant posts, polish the metal and paint them to match seven of the state's lighthouses.
"We had to sandpaper those jokers so they were as clean as they could be before we could paint `em," he said. "It was a lot of fun, but it was a lot of aggravation, too."
Not long before Duckworth died, his wife took him on a road trip along the coastline to make sure the lighthouses he had built on his family's property matched the real thing.
"He wanted them just exactly like the pictures," J.B. Duckworth said. "And he wanted to see each one again to make sure they were just right."
Duckworth didn't make any changes to the structures when he returned, his cousin said, but the park became a sanctuary where Duckworth played cards with friends, sat in a treehouse he built above the lighthouses and swung from a rope into the nearby steam.
Duckworth died a few months after his last trip to the coast, his cousin said, but his wife made sure he'd be able to take his lighthouses with him.
Marking his grave in the cemetery at Hopewell Baptist Church -- just a few miles from the lighthouse park -- a shiny, black headstone stands out among the gray marble markers.
Etched on it are a rolling stream, a treehouse, and of course, seven lighthouses -- exactly as they look at the beach.
The point of The Dart
The idea behind The Dart is simple: We're looking for the kind of news the media don't usually report. We throw a dart at a map of one of the counties in the Catawba Valley, and we'll write about what's happening at that spot. We hope this feature will bring out stories that too often are ignored and will help you meet some of your neighbors in the region.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
11/7/07
Restaurant closes after reports of salmonella symptoms
Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A Newton restaurant has closed after dozens of people became ill with symptoms of salmonella, Catawba County health officials said Tuesday.
Since Oct. 31, nearly 100 people have reported having salmonella symptoms -- including diarrhea, vomiting, cramping, headache and fever -- and 13 cases had been confirmed by Tuesday, said Maria Reese, a spokeswoman for Catawba County Public Health.
Most of the people with symptoms had eaten at Carniceria y Taqueria Hermanos Chavez off U.S. 321 Business in Newton, Reese said. The owner closed the restaurant Friday after a visit from public health officials, Reese said.
Anyone with symptoms should be tested, Reese said.
About 40,000 cases of salmonella are reported each year in the United States, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, but the actual number of infections is likely considerably higher because milder cases are often not reported.
To report salmonella symptoms or for more information call Catawba County Public Health, 828-695-5800.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A Newton restaurant has closed after dozens of people became ill with symptoms of salmonella, Catawba County health officials said Tuesday.
Since Oct. 31, nearly 100 people have reported having salmonella symptoms -- including diarrhea, vomiting, cramping, headache and fever -- and 13 cases had been confirmed by Tuesday, said Maria Reese, a spokeswoman for Catawba County Public Health.
Most of the people with symptoms had eaten at Carniceria y Taqueria Hermanos Chavez off U.S. 321 Business in Newton, Reese said. The owner closed the restaurant Friday after a visit from public health officials, Reese said.
Anyone with symptoms should be tested, Reese said.
About 40,000 cases of salmonella are reported each year in the United States, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, but the actual number of infections is likely considerably higher because milder cases are often not reported.
To report salmonella symptoms or for more information call Catawba County Public Health, 828-695-5800.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
11/6/07
Cyclist loses control, struck by train
Witness says rider `jerked his wheel,' fell, was then hit in head
Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
HICKORY --A bicyclist riding through downtown Hickory was injured Monday when he lost control of his bike and was struck by a passing train, witnesses said.
Mack Junior Johnson, 53, of Hickory was riding his bike about 10:50 a.m. through a parking lot in Union Square, Hickory's city center, while a train was passing through, Hickory police said.
"I saw him ride up the sidewalk toward the train, and that's when he jerked his wheel and just lost control," said witness Justin Cornett.
Johnson fell to the ground, Cornett said, and was hit in the head by the passing train.
Cornett, who was setting up an ice cream and hot dog stand in Union Square, ran to get his cell phone from his car, he said, while his co-worker, Sherry Baxter, ran to where the man was lying near the train.
"I went over immediately to check his pulse," she said. "I knew he was in trouble."
Baxter, who is trained in first aid and CPR, said Johnson was unconscious, had a rapid pulse and was bleeding severely from the back of the head.
"He had just smiled at me," Baxter said, "right before he got hit."
Johnson was taken to Frye Regional Medical Center and was transported Monday afternoon to the trauma unit at Mission Hospital in Asheville, police said. His condition was not available Monday evening.
The 36-car and seven-engine cargo train was stalled on the tracks for more than three hours after the accident, and police blocked downtown traffic between Fourth Street N.W. and North Center Street, said Capt. Clyde Deal of the Hickory Police Department.
It was the second time in less than four months that a passing train in Hickory has hit a person near the railroad tracks. On July 31, a cargo train hit and critically injured Lester Glass, who was walking near the tracks in southeast Hickory.
Monday's accident happened less than a mile from where Glass was hit.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
HICKORY --A bicyclist riding through downtown Hickory was injured Monday when he lost control of his bike and was struck by a passing train, witnesses said.
Mack Junior Johnson, 53, of Hickory was riding his bike about 10:50 a.m. through a parking lot in Union Square, Hickory's city center, while a train was passing through, Hickory police said.
"I saw him ride up the sidewalk toward the train, and that's when he jerked his wheel and just lost control," said witness Justin Cornett.
Johnson fell to the ground, Cornett said, and was hit in the head by the passing train.
Cornett, who was setting up an ice cream and hot dog stand in Union Square, ran to get his cell phone from his car, he said, while his co-worker, Sherry Baxter, ran to where the man was lying near the train.
"I went over immediately to check his pulse," she said. "I knew he was in trouble."
Baxter, who is trained in first aid and CPR, said Johnson was unconscious, had a rapid pulse and was bleeding severely from the back of the head.
"He had just smiled at me," Baxter said, "right before he got hit."
Johnson was taken to Frye Regional Medical Center and was transported Monday afternoon to the trauma unit at Mission Hospital in Asheville, police said. His condition was not available Monday evening.
The 36-car and seven-engine cargo train was stalled on the tracks for more than three hours after the accident, and police blocked downtown traffic between Fourth Street N.W. and North Center Street, said Capt. Clyde Deal of the Hickory Police Department.
It was the second time in less than four months that a passing train in Hickory has hit a person near the railroad tracks. On July 31, a cargo train hit and critically injured Lester Glass, who was walking near the tracks in southeast Hickory.
Monday's accident happened less than a mile from where Glass was hit.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
11/4/07
Political battles stir distruct in tiny town as election looms
Rhodhiss struggles to rebound from turmoil
Sunday, Nov. 4, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
In the town of Rhodhiss - a tiny community straddling two Western North Carolina counties - years of political troubles have created an atmosphere of distrust during a contentious election.
The squabbles and problems in this town of about 1,000 people have peaked in recent months. In just the last year:
A longtime public works supervisor - who also is a town commissioner - was fired, charged with felony embezzlement and later cleared of the charges by the district attorney's office.
The town manager who fired him was herself fired, and has sued the town. Town Hall closed for a month, and a new manager was hired.
The mayor abruptly resigned and is being investigated by state law enforcement for matters not related to town business.
A commissioner took the open mayor's seat, and the council appointed someone to fill his spot.
Now, as Rhodhiss prepares for Tuesday's election, eight challengers and sitting commissioner Barbara Kirby are campaigning against three incumbents - interim Mayor Rick Justice and commissioners Joe Kirby and Wayne Wilson.
"If you're elected into a position, you need to do what is best for the town," said Barbara Kirby, who was elected four years ago and calls the other commissioners and mayor "an old boy's club."
"All this fighting is doing nothing for the town and the people have had enough," she said.
But Justice, a former commissioner who took over as mayor in May, said the problems are in the past. "It doesn't have anything to do with today, and that's what we're concentrating on," he said.
Town commissioner Clarence Burns, who is also the fired public works supervisor, is in the middle of a four-year term and is the only commissioner not at risk of losing his seat.
The most recent string of problems surrounds the February firing of former Town Manager Rose Waldroup. Until then, Waldroup appeared to be doing well in her job and three months earlier had received a raise - unanimously approved by the council.
The controversy began in June 2006, when she asked Police Chief Tim Anthony to investigate allegations that Burns, in his role as public works supervisor, was collecting scrap metal from town streets using Rhodhiss employees and equipment, exchanging it for cash and pocketing the money.
Burns was eventually charged, but the charges were later dropped.
Burns could not be reached for comment - several messages left at his home, including one with a woman who identified herself as his wife, were not returned.
In October, Waldroup fired Burns, later questioning his job performance.
Three months later, the council voted to fire Waldroup, who had worked only 18 months out of a 10-year contract.
In response, she filed a lawsuit against the town, then-mayor Jimmy Wilson, Justice and Burns in March, saying she was fired because she had discovered possible illegal conduct by elected officials.
The suit claims Waldroup was improperly fired and that the town officials breached her contract, violated her First Amendment rights, defamed her and intentionally and negligently inflicted emotional distress.
Waldroup could not be reached for comment.
But her firing sparked controversy, and residents - in online forums, at town meetings and privately - say that the bickering between commissioners and the mayor has left an atmosphere of distrust.
The meeting held a month after Waldroup's firing drew 47 people, most of whom voiced "concerns about the termination of the manager, duties of elected officials, lack of unity among commissioners, pros and cons of employees having a contract and general concerns about the needs of the citizens not being met because of the circumstances," according to a record of the meeting.
Some, including Gary Rash, say the controversy encouraged him to run for the council.
"The commissioners have had their way too long in this town and act like it's their town to run without regard to how the citizens feel," he said. "People turned against each other, and hardly anybody trusts our government anymore."
Though commissioners talked about rehiring Waldroup - but altering her responsibilities and revoking her right to hire and fire employees without the council's approval - Kirby said no such offer was ever extended.
Justice declined to comment on the allegations in the suit, and Jimmy Wilson refused to comment on anything related to Rhodhiss or his time as mayor.
But Justice and Wayne Wilson - Jimmy's brother - say the deluge of controversy is in the past.
"I see that the people have confidence in this board," Justice said. "People have seen a change in town and have seen people trying (to do better)."
Though they say meetings - which were for months marred with arguments between commissioners and often resulted in profanities and personal attacks - are improving, some residents aren't so sure.
The instability and controversy in Town Hall, said Don Lowman, who is running for mayor, have left a deep rift that could only be repaired by a new council with fresh ideas and no baggage.
"I'm sick of the bickering and going to town meetings that might as well be (the World Wrestling Federation)," he said. "I'm sick of seeing government officials being arrested and sick of watching the street fall in."
Wayne Wilson, who was elected to the council four years ago and walked out of the Feb. 13 meeting before the commissioners voted to fire Waldroup, said he's certain that the town is healing. The council, he said, has been making plans to revamp the sewer system, build a new park and clean up the community overall.
"We're coming together," Wilson said. "I just hope I get re-elected and get this place straightened up. I want to see this town improve and grow and prosper. I love this town to death."
Now, he said, the commissioners need to make sure they are open and honest. It's clear, he said, that residents don't trust the council, and he hopes that will change.
"I hope they trust me," he said. "I don't want to hide things. If something has happened and someone is being charged or is being investigated, we need to be up front."
A history of instability in Rhodhiss
July 2003 - Mayor Doug Cowick unexpectedly resigns after an argument with commissioners about who holds keys to Town Hall. He changes his mind the next day but doesn't get the job back and, in November, loses the election to political newcomer Jimmy Wilson.
January 2004 - The town's accountant, Marvin Harold Witherspoon of Hickory, and former part-time Rhodhiss clerk David Hollar are charged by the federal government with inducing minors to participate in filming of sexual activity. Both men plead guilty to federal charges.
July 2004 - Commissioner Allen Spencer, town clerk Julie Trivette and Frannie Thompson resign because of controversy on the council.
May 2005 - Police Chief Terry Campbell abruptly resigns.
July 1, 2005 - Rose Waldroup begins job as Rhodhiss town manager. She signs a 10-year contract requiring that she can only be fired by a unanimous vote of the commissioners.
June 2006 - Waldroup asks for an investigation into allegations that commissioner Clarence Burns had been exchanging scrap metal for cash.
Sept. 14, 2006 - Board unanimously approves raise for Waldroup.
October 2006 - Burns fired as public works supervisor.
Feb. 13, 2007 - Waldroup is fired from town manager job by a 3-to-1 vote. Commissioner Barbara Kirby votes against the firing, and Commissioner Wayne Wilson leaves the meeting early and is not present for the vote. According to state law, his vote counts as a yes.
February - March 2007 Town offices close for about a month because there is no administrative staff.
Feb. 21 - Burns is charged by the N.C. Department of Justice with felony embezzlement by a public officer and misdemeanor willful failure to discharge duties as a town employee.
March 13 - Town Attorney Wayne Clontz dismissed; Jonathan Jones hired.
March 22 - Waldroup files civil suit against the town, former Mayor Jimmy Wilson, Burns and commissioner Rick Justice over her firing, saying she was dismissed because she had discovered possible illegal conduct by elected officials.
April 20 - District attorney's office dismisses the misdemeanor willful failure to discharge duties as a town employee charges against Burns.
May 8 - Mayor Wilson abruptly resigns, citing family problems.
May 9 - District attorney's office finds no evidence or probable cause on Burns' felony embezzlement charges and drops the charges
June 4 - The defendants in Waldroup's suit deny she was fired because she discovered possible illegal activity by elected officials.
October - SBI Public Information Officer Noelle Talley confirms investigation into former Mayor Wilson. His older brother, commissioner Wayne Wilson, says the investigation is not related to town business.
The candidates
For mayor
George Clarke
Rick Justice, interim mayor
Don E. Lowman Jr.
For town commissioner
Dean Isenhour
Barbara C. Kirby (i)
Joe C. Kirby, interim commissioner
William Allen Spencer Sr.
For town commissioner (unexpired term ending in 2009)
Gary Rash
Wayne D. Wilson Jr. (i)
Campaigning for town commissioner as write-in candidates
Larry Bowman, David Hylton and Robert Turner
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Sunday, Nov. 4, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
In the town of Rhodhiss - a tiny community straddling two Western North Carolina counties - years of political troubles have created an atmosphere of distrust during a contentious election.
The squabbles and problems in this town of about 1,000 people have peaked in recent months. In just the last year:
A longtime public works supervisor - who also is a town commissioner - was fired, charged with felony embezzlement and later cleared of the charges by the district attorney's office.
The town manager who fired him was herself fired, and has sued the town. Town Hall closed for a month, and a new manager was hired.
The mayor abruptly resigned and is being investigated by state law enforcement for matters not related to town business.
A commissioner took the open mayor's seat, and the council appointed someone to fill his spot.
Now, as Rhodhiss prepares for Tuesday's election, eight challengers and sitting commissioner Barbara Kirby are campaigning against three incumbents - interim Mayor Rick Justice and commissioners Joe Kirby and Wayne Wilson.
"If you're elected into a position, you need to do what is best for the town," said Barbara Kirby, who was elected four years ago and calls the other commissioners and mayor "an old boy's club."
"All this fighting is doing nothing for the town and the people have had enough," she said.
But Justice, a former commissioner who took over as mayor in May, said the problems are in the past. "It doesn't have anything to do with today, and that's what we're concentrating on," he said.
Town commissioner Clarence Burns, who is also the fired public works supervisor, is in the middle of a four-year term and is the only commissioner not at risk of losing his seat.
The most recent string of problems surrounds the February firing of former Town Manager Rose Waldroup. Until then, Waldroup appeared to be doing well in her job and three months earlier had received a raise - unanimously approved by the council.
The controversy began in June 2006, when she asked Police Chief Tim Anthony to investigate allegations that Burns, in his role as public works supervisor, was collecting scrap metal from town streets using Rhodhiss employees and equipment, exchanging it for cash and pocketing the money.
Burns was eventually charged, but the charges were later dropped.
Burns could not be reached for comment - several messages left at his home, including one with a woman who identified herself as his wife, were not returned.
In October, Waldroup fired Burns, later questioning his job performance.
Three months later, the council voted to fire Waldroup, who had worked only 18 months out of a 10-year contract.
In response, she filed a lawsuit against the town, then-mayor Jimmy Wilson, Justice and Burns in March, saying she was fired because she had discovered possible illegal conduct by elected officials.
The suit claims Waldroup was improperly fired and that the town officials breached her contract, violated her First Amendment rights, defamed her and intentionally and negligently inflicted emotional distress.
Waldroup could not be reached for comment.
But her firing sparked controversy, and residents - in online forums, at town meetings and privately - say that the bickering between commissioners and the mayor has left an atmosphere of distrust.
The meeting held a month after Waldroup's firing drew 47 people, most of whom voiced "concerns about the termination of the manager, duties of elected officials, lack of unity among commissioners, pros and cons of employees having a contract and general concerns about the needs of the citizens not being met because of the circumstances," according to a record of the meeting.
Some, including Gary Rash, say the controversy encouraged him to run for the council.
"The commissioners have had their way too long in this town and act like it's their town to run without regard to how the citizens feel," he said. "People turned against each other, and hardly anybody trusts our government anymore."
Though commissioners talked about rehiring Waldroup - but altering her responsibilities and revoking her right to hire and fire employees without the council's approval - Kirby said no such offer was ever extended.
Justice declined to comment on the allegations in the suit, and Jimmy Wilson refused to comment on anything related to Rhodhiss or his time as mayor.
But Justice and Wayne Wilson - Jimmy's brother - say the deluge of controversy is in the past.
"I see that the people have confidence in this board," Justice said. "People have seen a change in town and have seen people trying (to do better)."
Though they say meetings - which were for months marred with arguments between commissioners and often resulted in profanities and personal attacks - are improving, some residents aren't so sure.
The instability and controversy in Town Hall, said Don Lowman, who is running for mayor, have left a deep rift that could only be repaired by a new council with fresh ideas and no baggage.
"I'm sick of the bickering and going to town meetings that might as well be (the World Wrestling Federation)," he said. "I'm sick of seeing government officials being arrested and sick of watching the street fall in."
Wayne Wilson, who was elected to the council four years ago and walked out of the Feb. 13 meeting before the commissioners voted to fire Waldroup, said he's certain that the town is healing. The council, he said, has been making plans to revamp the sewer system, build a new park and clean up the community overall.
"We're coming together," Wilson said. "I just hope I get re-elected and get this place straightened up. I want to see this town improve and grow and prosper. I love this town to death."
Now, he said, the commissioners need to make sure they are open and honest. It's clear, he said, that residents don't trust the council, and he hopes that will change.
"I hope they trust me," he said. "I don't want to hide things. If something has happened and someone is being charged or is being investigated, we need to be up front."
A history of instability in Rhodhiss
July 2003 - Mayor Doug Cowick unexpectedly resigns after an argument with commissioners about who holds keys to Town Hall. He changes his mind the next day but doesn't get the job back and, in November, loses the election to political newcomer Jimmy Wilson.
January 2004 - The town's accountant, Marvin Harold Witherspoon of Hickory, and former part-time Rhodhiss clerk David Hollar are charged by the federal government with inducing minors to participate in filming of sexual activity. Both men plead guilty to federal charges.
July 2004 - Commissioner Allen Spencer, town clerk Julie Trivette and Frannie Thompson resign because of controversy on the council.
May 2005 - Police Chief Terry Campbell abruptly resigns.
July 1, 2005 - Rose Waldroup begins job as Rhodhiss town manager. She signs a 10-year contract requiring that she can only be fired by a unanimous vote of the commissioners.
June 2006 - Waldroup asks for an investigation into allegations that commissioner Clarence Burns had been exchanging scrap metal for cash.
Sept. 14, 2006 - Board unanimously approves raise for Waldroup.
October 2006 - Burns fired as public works supervisor.
Feb. 13, 2007 - Waldroup is fired from town manager job by a 3-to-1 vote. Commissioner Barbara Kirby votes against the firing, and Commissioner Wayne Wilson leaves the meeting early and is not present for the vote. According to state law, his vote counts as a yes.
February - March 2007 Town offices close for about a month because there is no administrative staff.
Feb. 21 - Burns is charged by the N.C. Department of Justice with felony embezzlement by a public officer and misdemeanor willful failure to discharge duties as a town employee.
March 13 - Town Attorney Wayne Clontz dismissed; Jonathan Jones hired.
March 22 - Waldroup files civil suit against the town, former Mayor Jimmy Wilson, Burns and commissioner Rick Justice over her firing, saying she was dismissed because she had discovered possible illegal conduct by elected officials.
April 20 - District attorney's office dismisses the misdemeanor willful failure to discharge duties as a town employee charges against Burns.
May 8 - Mayor Wilson abruptly resigns, citing family problems.
May 9 - District attorney's office finds no evidence or probable cause on Burns' felony embezzlement charges and drops the charges
June 4 - The defendants in Waldroup's suit deny she was fired because she discovered possible illegal activity by elected officials.
October - SBI Public Information Officer Noelle Talley confirms investigation into former Mayor Wilson. His older brother, commissioner Wayne Wilson, says the investigation is not related to town business.
The candidates
For mayor
George Clarke
Rick Justice, interim mayor
Don E. Lowman Jr.
For town commissioner
Dean Isenhour
Barbara C. Kirby (i)
Joe C. Kirby, interim commissioner
William Allen Spencer Sr.
For town commissioner (unexpired term ending in 2009)
Gary Rash
Wayne D. Wilson Jr. (i)
Campaigning for town commissioner as write-in candidates
Larry Bowman, David Hylton and Robert Turner
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
11/1/07
Providing a lively note near Day of the Dead
La Catrina brings chamber music to a more diverse crowd
Thursday, Nov. 1, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
HICKORY - La Catrina was trying to be a little scary this week.
It was the day before Halloween -- two days before the Mexican holiday DÃa de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead -- and the string quartet was hoping the 80 kids at the Centro Latino performance would feel a little creepy when they heard Franz Shubert's "Death and the Maiden."
"This one is about a chase between death and a lady," said Daniel Vega-Albela, one of the quartet's two violinists. "Guess who ends up winning?"
The string group -- three Mexicans and a New York-born Puerto Rican -- launched into the piece, playing the high-pitched ferocity of death with fervor and the whimsical protests of the maiden softly.
The Tuesday evening performance -- held for a group of mostly Latino students -- was one of several shows La Catrina will play during its three-year residency with the Western Piedmont Symphony, which began in the fall.
But the group, said Chris Brown, the symphony's executive director, isn't getting attention only from the regular classical musician patrons, but from a more diverse audience that might not typically listen to the violin, viola and cello.
"Chamber music is a niche market," Brown said, "but it is one (La Catrina) is opening up by their style ... They play newer music and very lively pieces with great verve and vigor."
La Catrina, one of only a few professional Latino string quartets in the United States, draws much of its inspiration from Mexico's culture and traditions.
So, when the original group started playing together 10 years ago in Morelia, Mexico, and was choosing a name, it wanted something representative of the entire country.
"Day of the Dead is something everyone in Mexico knows about," said cellist Alan Daowz.
And La Calavera de la Catrina, a 1913 etching of a well-dressed skeleton woman by Jose Guadalupe Posada, is one of the best-known images of the Day of the Dead celebrations, Daowz said.
"La Catrina, with her mischievous smile," the group notes in its performance program, "pleads with the living to seize the moment, and through music and dance, find life's meaning."
The group separated for a while but came back together -- this time with George Anthony Figueroa on violin -- a few years ago and has performed as a group and as soloists in Mexico, the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom.
Collectively, the men have more than 86 years playing string instruments and have all earned bachelor's and master's degrees in music -- but they say it is the blending of their backgrounds and attention to newer pieces that elevate their sound and draw attention from the audience and critics.
"Chamber music is sort of dying in a way," said violist Jorge Martinez, "so we start by playing things (younger audiences) want to hear and slowly bring them into it. How can they not like it after that?"
Figueroa, 36, began his classical training at age 6 and is the son of a composer in Puerto Rico. Vega-Albela, 36, was 9 when he started playing the violin but, with a grandmother who was trained as a concert pianist and taught lessons, was always surrounded by music.
The group's violist, 30-year-old Martinez, took piano lessons as a child and was 17 when he was introduced to string instruments at a festival. And Daowz, 34, said he didn't plan to become a professional cellist, but when art school didn't turn out to be what he expected, he started thinking about music.
Though they're from different backgrounds, they come together in the group. "You can hear the four different sounds," Figueroa said. "Somebody usually becomes the diva, and the others are overlooked. But in our quartet, that is not the case."
And while La Catrina draws much of its inspiration from Latin traditions, Vega-Albela said he hopes that their cultural background isn't what defines them.
"It makes people more comfortable to put people in these neat, little packages," he said. "But we can play Mozart, and we can play tango. And we can play both well."
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Thursday, Nov. 1, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
HICKORY - La Catrina was trying to be a little scary this week.
It was the day before Halloween -- two days before the Mexican holiday DÃa de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead -- and the string quartet was hoping the 80 kids at the Centro Latino performance would feel a little creepy when they heard Franz Shubert's "Death and the Maiden."
"This one is about a chase between death and a lady," said Daniel Vega-Albela, one of the quartet's two violinists. "Guess who ends up winning?"
The string group -- three Mexicans and a New York-born Puerto Rican -- launched into the piece, playing the high-pitched ferocity of death with fervor and the whimsical protests of the maiden softly.
The Tuesday evening performance -- held for a group of mostly Latino students -- was one of several shows La Catrina will play during its three-year residency with the Western Piedmont Symphony, which began in the fall.
But the group, said Chris Brown, the symphony's executive director, isn't getting attention only from the regular classical musician patrons, but from a more diverse audience that might not typically listen to the violin, viola and cello.
"Chamber music is a niche market," Brown said, "but it is one (La Catrina) is opening up by their style ... They play newer music and very lively pieces with great verve and vigor."
La Catrina, one of only a few professional Latino string quartets in the United States, draws much of its inspiration from Mexico's culture and traditions.
So, when the original group started playing together 10 years ago in Morelia, Mexico, and was choosing a name, it wanted something representative of the entire country.
"Day of the Dead is something everyone in Mexico knows about," said cellist Alan Daowz.
And La Calavera de la Catrina, a 1913 etching of a well-dressed skeleton woman by Jose Guadalupe Posada, is one of the best-known images of the Day of the Dead celebrations, Daowz said.
"La Catrina, with her mischievous smile," the group notes in its performance program, "pleads with the living to seize the moment, and through music and dance, find life's meaning."
The group separated for a while but came back together -- this time with George Anthony Figueroa on violin -- a few years ago and has performed as a group and as soloists in Mexico, the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom.
Collectively, the men have more than 86 years playing string instruments and have all earned bachelor's and master's degrees in music -- but they say it is the blending of their backgrounds and attention to newer pieces that elevate their sound and draw attention from the audience and critics.
"Chamber music is sort of dying in a way," said violist Jorge Martinez, "so we start by playing things (younger audiences) want to hear and slowly bring them into it. How can they not like it after that?"
Figueroa, 36, began his classical training at age 6 and is the son of a composer in Puerto Rico. Vega-Albela, 36, was 9 when he started playing the violin but, with a grandmother who was trained as a concert pianist and taught lessons, was always surrounded by music.
The group's violist, 30-year-old Martinez, took piano lessons as a child and was 17 when he was introduced to string instruments at a festival. And Daowz, 34, said he didn't plan to become a professional cellist, but when art school didn't turn out to be what he expected, he started thinking about music.
Though they're from different backgrounds, they come together in the group. "You can hear the four different sounds," Figueroa said. "Somebody usually becomes the diva, and the others are overlooked. But in our quartet, that is not the case."
And while La Catrina draws much of its inspiration from Latin traditions, Vega-Albela said he hopes that their cultural background isn't what defines them.
"It makes people more comfortable to put people in these neat, little packages," he said. "But we can play Mozart, and we can play tango. And we can play both well."
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
10/31/07
Man flung from car, run over in wreck
Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A Minnesota man died Tuesday night after he was flung from his car onto the highway and run over by another vehicle, authorities said.
Peter Yang of St. Paul, Minn. was driving a 1994 Honda west on Interstate-40, less than a mile from Valdese, shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday and was merging into another lane when he lost control of the car and slammed into the guardrail, said First Sgt. J.G. Duckworth of the N.C. Highway Patrol.
Yang was going about 90 mph in a 65 mph zone, Duckworth said, when he hit the barrier and veered back onto the highway and into a 1995 Lexus driven by Edgar Gamez of Hendersonville.
Yang was thrown from the Honda onto the highway before the car came to rest near the side of the road, Duckworth said.
About a minute later, he said, a 2006 Chevrolet sports utility vehicle headed west on the interstate ran over Yang's body, which was still lying in the roadway.
"Did he die because of the first collision or because of being run over in the second?" Duckworth asked. "That's a question we'll probably never be able to answer."
Two passengers in Yang's car and one other person in Gamez's vehicle received minor injuries in the wreck. The driver of the SUV, Walter Labbett of Fletcher, was not hurt.
Duckworth did not know the ages of anyone involved and said that no one will be charged.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A Minnesota man died Tuesday night after he was flung from his car onto the highway and run over by another vehicle, authorities said.
Peter Yang of St. Paul, Minn. was driving a 1994 Honda west on Interstate-40, less than a mile from Valdese, shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday and was merging into another lane when he lost control of the car and slammed into the guardrail, said First Sgt. J.G. Duckworth of the N.C. Highway Patrol.
Yang was going about 90 mph in a 65 mph zone, Duckworth said, when he hit the barrier and veered back onto the highway and into a 1995 Lexus driven by Edgar Gamez of Hendersonville.
Yang was thrown from the Honda onto the highway before the car came to rest near the side of the road, Duckworth said.
About a minute later, he said, a 2006 Chevrolet sports utility vehicle headed west on the interstate ran over Yang's body, which was still lying in the roadway.
"Did he die because of the first collision or because of being run over in the second?" Duckworth asked. "That's a question we'll probably never be able to answer."
Two passengers in Yang's car and one other person in Gamez's vehicle received minor injuries in the wreck. The driver of the SUV, Walter Labbett of Fletcher, was not hurt.
Duckworth did not know the ages of anyone involved and said that no one will be charged.
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Man robs Hickory bank, flees with cash
Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Police in Hickory are looking for a man who walked into a bank Wednesday afternoon, told the teller he had a gun and fled on foot with cash.
Shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday, a man walked into the First Citizens Bank on U.S. 70 in Southeast Hickory and handed the teller a note saying he had a gun, said Hickory police Capt. Clyde Deal.
Authorities said the man did not show a gun during the robbery but fled from the bank on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Hickory Police Department at 828-324-2060.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Police in Hickory are looking for a man who walked into a bank Wednesday afternoon, told the teller he had a gun and fled on foot with cash.
Shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday, a man walked into the First Citizens Bank on U.S. 70 in Southeast Hickory and handed the teller a note saying he had a gun, said Hickory police Capt. Clyde Deal.
Authorities said the man did not show a gun during the robbery but fled from the bank on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Hickory Police Department at 828-324-2060.
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10/30/07
Man charged in Newton stabbing
Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Newton police have charged a man in last week's stabbing of another man, who fled in a car for help and was spotted driving erratically by police.
Horace Eugene Bost, 24, of Newton was charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, inflicting serious injury; and armed robbery, both felonies, said Detective Spencer Cline.
On Thursday night, officers stopped Stephen Lewis Norman, 32, when they noticed his burgundy, 1996 Oldsmobile Cierra swerving through Newton's streets, authorities said.
Norman twice ran off the side of the road, hitting an embankment, mailbox, fire hydrant and a home. When police approached Norman, who was still in the car, they discovered that he had been stabbed in the abdomen.
Norman told police, authorities said, that he had been robbed by two men at E-Z Way Food on East D Street. Newton police are still trying to identify the second man involved in the robbery, Cline said.
Norman was at Catawba Valley Medical Center Tuesday and in critical condition. Bost was being held at the Catawba County Jail on a $200,000 bond.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Newton police have charged a man in last week's stabbing of another man, who fled in a car for help and was spotted driving erratically by police.
Horace Eugene Bost, 24, of Newton was charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, inflicting serious injury; and armed robbery, both felonies, said Detective Spencer Cline.
On Thursday night, officers stopped Stephen Lewis Norman, 32, when they noticed his burgundy, 1996 Oldsmobile Cierra swerving through Newton's streets, authorities said.
Norman twice ran off the side of the road, hitting an embankment, mailbox, fire hydrant and a home. When police approached Norman, who was still in the car, they discovered that he had been stabbed in the abdomen.
Norman told police, authorities said, that he had been robbed by two men at E-Z Way Food on East D Street. Newton police are still trying to identify the second man involved in the robbery, Cline said.
Norman was at Catawba Valley Medical Center Tuesday and in critical condition. Bost was being held at the Catawba County Jail on a $200,000 bond.
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10/29/07
Man killed during home invasion
Monday, Oct. 29, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A Valdese man died early Sunday morning after a botched home invasion at a neighbor's apartment, authorities said.
Joseph Jay Durkee, 35, was stabbed six times in the chest and the back and died shortly after midnight at Valdese General Hospital, said Chief John Suttle of the Valdese Police Department.
Henry Jackson, 59, told officers that he and his wife were sleeping in their Valdese home at about 11:55 p.m. Saturday when they heard glass shatter and found someone climbing into their apartment through a rear bedroom window, Suttle said.
Jackson and the man, who was wearing a stocking mask and gloves and was carrying a knife, Suttle said, began fighting and moving from one room to another.
"It was evident that there was a significant struggle," Suttle said.
Jackson told police he grabbed the mask off the man's head and recognized him as Durkee, who moved into the neighborhood from Florida a few months ago, Suttle said.
During the fight, Suttle said, Jackson grabbed the knife and stabbed Durkee several times. Durkee was taken to Valdese General Hospital, where he died.
Jackson received a few minor cuts on his hands during the altercation, Suttle said, and his wife, who called police during the break-in, was not injured.
Police have not charged anyone in the death and have turned their investigation over to the District Attorney's Office, Suttle said.
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By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A Valdese man died early Sunday morning after a botched home invasion at a neighbor's apartment, authorities said.
Joseph Jay Durkee, 35, was stabbed six times in the chest and the back and died shortly after midnight at Valdese General Hospital, said Chief John Suttle of the Valdese Police Department.
Henry Jackson, 59, told officers that he and his wife were sleeping in their Valdese home at about 11:55 p.m. Saturday when they heard glass shatter and found someone climbing into their apartment through a rear bedroom window, Suttle said.
Jackson and the man, who was wearing a stocking mask and gloves and was carrying a knife, Suttle said, began fighting and moving from one room to another.
"It was evident that there was a significant struggle," Suttle said.
Jackson told police he grabbed the mask off the man's head and recognized him as Durkee, who moved into the neighborhood from Florida a few months ago, Suttle said.
During the fight, Suttle said, Jackson grabbed the knife and stabbed Durkee several times. Durkee was taken to Valdese General Hospital, where he died.
Jackson received a few minor cuts on his hands during the altercation, Suttle said, and his wife, who called police during the break-in, was not injured.
Police have not charged anyone in the death and have turned their investigation over to the District Attorney's Office, Suttle said.
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10/25/07
Rains cause another Hickory sinkhole
Thursday, Oct. 25, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Rain that has pounded Hickory for three days caused another sinkhole to open Wednesday afternoon.
The Hickory Fire Department was responding to a call at a southwest Hickory business on U.S. 70 when they noticed the sinkhole in the parking lot of a neighboring building, said Capt. Farrell Duplain.
The hole was already at least 10 feet wide, Duplain said, and the pavement was giving away around the tire of a car parked in the lot.
The owner of the building, Duplain said, was in the parking lot and had called a tow truck to pull the car away from the sinkhole before it was swallowed.
Within hours, Duplain said, the hole had grown to at least 15 feet in diameter and was surrounded by another 5 feet of loose pavement that looked unstable and ready to collapse, he said.
He was not sure how far into the earth the hole went but said it was several feet deep. He recommended the building owner contact an irrigation or plumping company to pump water out of the hole.
"I told him it was not safe to put anyone near the edge of it at all," Duplain said.
Rain began falling in Hickory Monday evening and was expected to fall through Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
Hickory gained national attention in 2002 when two huge sinkholes, about a mile from the hole discovered Wednesday, opened up in restaurant parking lot and swallowed a new Corvette. Three other sinkholes in the Catawba Valley opened in 2005.
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By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Rain that has pounded Hickory for three days caused another sinkhole to open Wednesday afternoon.
The Hickory Fire Department was responding to a call at a southwest Hickory business on U.S. 70 when they noticed the sinkhole in the parking lot of a neighboring building, said Capt. Farrell Duplain.
The hole was already at least 10 feet wide, Duplain said, and the pavement was giving away around the tire of a car parked in the lot.
The owner of the building, Duplain said, was in the parking lot and had called a tow truck to pull the car away from the sinkhole before it was swallowed.
Within hours, Duplain said, the hole had grown to at least 15 feet in diameter and was surrounded by another 5 feet of loose pavement that looked unstable and ready to collapse, he said.
He was not sure how far into the earth the hole went but said it was several feet deep. He recommended the building owner contact an irrigation or plumping company to pump water out of the hole.
"I told him it was not safe to put anyone near the edge of it at all," Duplain said.
Rain began falling in Hickory Monday evening and was expected to fall through Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
Hickory gained national attention in 2002 when two huge sinkholes, about a mile from the hole discovered Wednesday, opened up in restaurant parking lot and swallowed a new Corvette. Three other sinkholes in the Catawba Valley opened in 2005.
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Teens charged with making bomb threat
Thursday, Oct. 25, 2005
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Two Catawba County teenagers were charged Wednesday with making a bomb threat at their high school, authorities said Thursday.
Brett Aaron Lytton, 16, and Spencer Logan Belair, 17, were charged Wednesday afternoon after school officials found two teenagers in a boys' bathroom at Bandys High School, Reid said.
One of the teens was writing a threat on the bathroom wall, Reid said, while the other watched to make sure no one walked in.
Lytton and Belair were charged with making a false bomb report, which is a felony. No bomb was found.
Bandys High School has initially suspended the teens for 10 days, said Catawba County Public Schools spokeswoman Carleen Crawford, and Superintendent Tim Markley will decide if the students will be suspended for longer.
Markley could not be reached Thursday but has said he'll impose the maximum penalty -- a year-long suspension -- for students caught making bomb reports, Crawford said.
"We take these bomb threats or copycat bomb threats very seriously," Crawford said.
Lytton and Belair were released to their parents' custody on $1,500 bonds.
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By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Two Catawba County teenagers were charged Wednesday with making a bomb threat at their high school, authorities said Thursday.
Brett Aaron Lytton, 16, and Spencer Logan Belair, 17, were charged Wednesday afternoon after school officials found two teenagers in a boys' bathroom at Bandys High School, Reid said.
One of the teens was writing a threat on the bathroom wall, Reid said, while the other watched to make sure no one walked in.
Lytton and Belair were charged with making a false bomb report, which is a felony. No bomb was found.
Bandys High School has initially suspended the teens for 10 days, said Catawba County Public Schools spokeswoman Carleen Crawford, and Superintendent Tim Markley will decide if the students will be suspended for longer.
Markley could not be reached Thursday but has said he'll impose the maximum penalty -- a year-long suspension -- for students caught making bomb reports, Crawford said.
"We take these bomb threats or copycat bomb threats very seriously," Crawford said.
Lytton and Belair were released to their parents' custody on $1,500 bonds.
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Rural family, developers at Wal-Mart site work together
Living in the shadow of The Great Wall
Thursday, Oct. 25, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
GRANITE FALLS --Kathy Keller wakes up early every morning to feed apples and hay to the 29 miniature horses she and her husband, Danny, keep on their Caldwell County farm.
Six dogs might be yapping behind her, while a cat or two watch lazily from the back porch and a half-dozen chickens and roosters cluck around a fenced-in portion of the yard.
"It's like you've gone back in time," Kathy Keller said of the family's 42 acres tucked into a secluded valley off U.S. 321. "There are so many leaves, and the holler slips below the highway some ... It's wilderness back here."
That's true, Keller said, even as the land has been leveled to make way for a shopping complex and Wal-Mart Supercenter being built behind their garden, woods, pond and long stretches of pasture.
Here, Caldwell County's economic future and its rural past have collided and are learning to co-exist.
And "the great wall of Wal-Mart," as Danny Keller calls it, is the divider.
On top of the 800-foot, concrete-block retaining wall that towers nearly 50 feet above the Kellers' garden and pond, bulldozers clang, giant trucks haul in loads of construction materials and workers build the 280,000-square-foot shopping center.
But on the other side of the wall, seven cows take refuge in the shade of a juniper tree, snakes slither along the parched fields, raccoons capture and kill poultry during the night, grandkids play with the horses, and dogs trot behind the Kellers when they take walks through the property.
"It looks like two worlds," said 61-year-old Danny Keller, who was raised on the farm and has lived on the property most of his life.
Last spring, a national commercial development company announced that it had bought the land adjacent to the Kellers' property and would transform the rolling hills and woods into a shopping complex and later add single-family homes.
"We were just scared to pieces when Wal-Mart first said they were coming," Kathy Keller, 60, said. "No one would choose to have an industry behind them when they're used to having other houses. But how can you pick up a farm and move it?"
And while news of a new Wal-Mart often brings with it opposition and controversy, the Kellers said none of that has been true in their case. Instead, they said, they are learning to co-exist with economic progress.
The development company has been good to work with, the Kellers said, and has adjusted building plans to accommodate some of their requests. The company rerouted the pipes when the Kellers said they were worried about drainage from the complex and the 1,800-spot parking lot seeping onto the their property.
And the company waited until the blue herons, crane-like birds and their chicks migrated before tearing down the oak trees holding the beach-ball-sized nests and leveling the land.
"There have been no cross words whatsoever," Kathy Keller said. "The privacy is gone, but they've been kind ... and have done everything they possibly could to adjust."
Though construction has caused rush-hour traffic jams and the new complex will increase the flow of cars and trucks near the Kellers' home, they say the congestion isn't a problem.
"The traffic light is a godsend," Kathy Keller said. "It used to take me 10 minutes to get onto the highway (from our driveway). Now it takes me five."
The wall, the Kellers said, is higher than they thought it would be and say it's a relief they can't see the trucks moving across the construction zone or see the buildings.
"We hear the boom, boom, boom. It's a racket," Danny Keller said. "But the wall is so high, we can't see much."
Mostly, the Kellers said, they're sad to see urban sprawl encroaching on the country way of life they've always known.
They've noticed a little more litter -- beer cans and empty chip bags -- at the base of the giant wall, have heard the clanging of construction for months and have noticed that there are more deer, snakes, raccoons, rabbits and other wild animals making their way onto the Keller land.
"They don't have anywhere else to go," Kathy Keller said. "There isn't much land left for them."
They understand the need for progress, she said, but hope that they can keep this sliver of country just as it is for as long as they can.
"Until the last Keller is alive, this will still be a farm," she said. "It's in their blood."
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Thursday, Oct. 25, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
GRANITE FALLS --Kathy Keller wakes up early every morning to feed apples and hay to the 29 miniature horses she and her husband, Danny, keep on their Caldwell County farm.
Six dogs might be yapping behind her, while a cat or two watch lazily from the back porch and a half-dozen chickens and roosters cluck around a fenced-in portion of the yard.
"It's like you've gone back in time," Kathy Keller said of the family's 42 acres tucked into a secluded valley off U.S. 321. "There are so many leaves, and the holler slips below the highway some ... It's wilderness back here."
That's true, Keller said, even as the land has been leveled to make way for a shopping complex and Wal-Mart Supercenter being built behind their garden, woods, pond and long stretches of pasture.
Here, Caldwell County's economic future and its rural past have collided and are learning to co-exist.
And "the great wall of Wal-Mart," as Danny Keller calls it, is the divider.
On top of the 800-foot, concrete-block retaining wall that towers nearly 50 feet above the Kellers' garden and pond, bulldozers clang, giant trucks haul in loads of construction materials and workers build the 280,000-square-foot shopping center.
But on the other side of the wall, seven cows take refuge in the shade of a juniper tree, snakes slither along the parched fields, raccoons capture and kill poultry during the night, grandkids play with the horses, and dogs trot behind the Kellers when they take walks through the property.
"It looks like two worlds," said 61-year-old Danny Keller, who was raised on the farm and has lived on the property most of his life.
Last spring, a national commercial development company announced that it had bought the land adjacent to the Kellers' property and would transform the rolling hills and woods into a shopping complex and later add single-family homes.
"We were just scared to pieces when Wal-Mart first said they were coming," Kathy Keller, 60, said. "No one would choose to have an industry behind them when they're used to having other houses. But how can you pick up a farm and move it?"
And while news of a new Wal-Mart often brings with it opposition and controversy, the Kellers said none of that has been true in their case. Instead, they said, they are learning to co-exist with economic progress.
The development company has been good to work with, the Kellers said, and has adjusted building plans to accommodate some of their requests. The company rerouted the pipes when the Kellers said they were worried about drainage from the complex and the 1,800-spot parking lot seeping onto the their property.
And the company waited until the blue herons, crane-like birds and their chicks migrated before tearing down the oak trees holding the beach-ball-sized nests and leveling the land.
"There have been no cross words whatsoever," Kathy Keller said. "The privacy is gone, but they've been kind ... and have done everything they possibly could to adjust."
Though construction has caused rush-hour traffic jams and the new complex will increase the flow of cars and trucks near the Kellers' home, they say the congestion isn't a problem.
"The traffic light is a godsend," Kathy Keller said. "It used to take me 10 minutes to get onto the highway (from our driveway). Now it takes me five."
The wall, the Kellers said, is higher than they thought it would be and say it's a relief they can't see the trucks moving across the construction zone or see the buildings.
"We hear the boom, boom, boom. It's a racket," Danny Keller said. "But the wall is so high, we can't see much."
Mostly, the Kellers said, they're sad to see urban sprawl encroaching on the country way of life they've always known.
They've noticed a little more litter -- beer cans and empty chip bags -- at the base of the giant wall, have heard the clanging of construction for months and have noticed that there are more deer, snakes, raccoons, rabbits and other wild animals making their way onto the Keller land.
"They don't have anywhere else to go," Kathy Keller said. "There isn't much land left for them."
They understand the need for progress, she said, but hope that they can keep this sliver of country just as it is for as long as they can.
"Until the last Keller is alive, this will still be a farm," she said. "It's in their blood."
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Johnson begins his challenge for McHenry's seat
Ex-Wake prosecutor, a Hickory native, known for saving fellow sailor
Thursday, Oct. 25, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Daniel Johnson, a Hickory native and former Navy ensign who made national headlines in 1999 after he lost his legs trying to save a fellow sailor, said Wednesday that he'll challenge U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry next year.
Johnson, 31, resigned three weeks ago from his job as an assistant district attorney in the Wake County District Attorney's Office and moved back to Hickory, in part to run for Congress, he said. He said he was in job negotiations with a law firm in Hickory.
He said Wednesday that he's running against McHenry, a Republican, because he's "tired of the partisanship and divisive politics" on Capitol Hill.
"When a person is elected as a representative in Congress, they aren't elected to represent a party," he said. "They need to be focusing on the problems people are facing in this area of North Carolina."
The biggest issues in the 10th District, he said, include economic growth, health care and veteran care.
Johnson, a Democrat, was a Navy ensign when he lost his legs below the knees while helping to free another sailor who had become entangled in a rope on the USS Blue Ridge in August 1999. The Navy gave him the Navy-Marine Corps Medal, its highest peacetime award for bravery.
"There's not a lot of people in Congress right now who have a lot of military experience, yet they make the decisions about war," he said.
McHenry, also 31, would be running for his third term next year.
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Thursday, Oct. 25, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Daniel Johnson, a Hickory native and former Navy ensign who made national headlines in 1999 after he lost his legs trying to save a fellow sailor, said Wednesday that he'll challenge U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry next year.
Johnson, 31, resigned three weeks ago from his job as an assistant district attorney in the Wake County District Attorney's Office and moved back to Hickory, in part to run for Congress, he said. He said he was in job negotiations with a law firm in Hickory.
He said Wednesday that he's running against McHenry, a Republican, because he's "tired of the partisanship and divisive politics" on Capitol Hill.
"When a person is elected as a representative in Congress, they aren't elected to represent a party," he said. "They need to be focusing on the problems people are facing in this area of North Carolina."
The biggest issues in the 10th District, he said, include economic growth, health care and veteran care.
Johnson, a Democrat, was a Navy ensign when he lost his legs below the knees while helping to free another sailor who had become entangled in a rope on the USS Blue Ridge in August 1999. The Navy gave him the Navy-Marine Corps Medal, its highest peacetime award for bravery.
"There's not a lot of people in Congress right now who have a lot of military experience, yet they make the decisions about war," he said.
McHenry, also 31, would be running for his third term next year.
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Police seek bank robber who left crime scene on foot
Thursday, Oct. 25, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Hickory police are looking for a bank robber who fled on foot Wednesday after demanding money at a BB&T branch.
Shortly after 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, a white man with dark eyebrows, mustache and goatee walked into the BB&T bank on Springs Road in Hickory and handed a teller a note saying he had a gun, Hickory police said. He did not show the teller the gun, authorities said, but demanded money.
The man, dressed in a black, hooded rain jacket and jeans, was carrying a green, military-style bag, police said. He left the bank on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Hickory Police Department at 828-324-2060.
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By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Hickory police are looking for a bank robber who fled on foot Wednesday after demanding money at a BB&T branch.
Shortly after 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, a white man with dark eyebrows, mustache and goatee walked into the BB&T bank on Springs Road in Hickory and handed a teller a note saying he had a gun, Hickory police said. He did not show the teller the gun, authorities said, but demanded money.
The man, dressed in a black, hooded rain jacket and jeans, was carrying a green, military-style bag, police said. He left the bank on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Hickory Police Department at 828-324-2060.
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Police: Collision with truck kills woman who ran red light
Thursday, Oct. 25, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A Newton woman died Wednesday when she ran a red light on U.S. 321 and collided with a tractor-trailer, authorities said.
Martha Ann Cook, 56, was driving a 1999 Subaru north on U.S. 321 shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday and drove through a red light at the intersection of Second Avenue S.W., said Capt. Clyde Deal of the Hickory Police Department.
A tractor-trailer driven by Robert Swingle of Maryland was turning east onto Second Avenue from the highway and slammed into the driver-side door of Cook's car, Deal said. Cook was taken to Frye Regional Medical Center in Hickory, where she died.
Neither Swingle nor a passenger in Cook's car were injured.
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By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A Newton woman died Wednesday when she ran a red light on U.S. 321 and collided with a tractor-trailer, authorities said.
Martha Ann Cook, 56, was driving a 1999 Subaru north on U.S. 321 shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday and drove through a red light at the intersection of Second Avenue S.W., said Capt. Clyde Deal of the Hickory Police Department.
A tractor-trailer driven by Robert Swingle of Maryland was turning east onto Second Avenue from the highway and slammed into the driver-side door of Cook's car, Deal said. Cook was taken to Frye Regional Medical Center in Hickory, where she died.
Neither Swingle nor a passenger in Cook's car were injured.
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10/20/07
13 years for fatal crash
Catawba man accused of DWI, speeding in wreck that killed Hickory woman
Saturday, Oct. 20, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A Catawba County man charged with driving drunk through downtown Hickory was sentenced Friday to at least 13 years and five months in prison in connection with a crash that left a woman dead.
Jurors deliberated for five hours before deciding to find 21-year-old Enrique Cardenas Zavala guilty of second-degree murder in the Sept. 29, 2006, death of 55-year-old Rena Moore. Her husband, 59-year-old Jerry Moore, was critically injured.
Attorneys on both sides said they agreed on the facts -- that Cardenas Zavala had gone to Hickory High School's homecoming football game and decided to drink alcohol. Afterward, they agreed, he stopped at a convenience store and bought some beer.
He was speeding through downtown Hickory's streets, going 62 mph in a 25 mph zone, when he drove his 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix through a red light and slammed into the Moores' pickup truck.
A blood test showed that Cardenas Zavala's alcohol level was 0.13. The legal limit in North Carolina is 0.08.
Cardenas Zavala, then 20, was also charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, driving while impaired, driving by a person less than 21 years old after consuming alcohol and failure to stop at a stop light.
It was the second time Cardenas Zavala had been charged with DWI in less than 14 months. In August 2005, he was charged with DWI in Catawba County, but the charges were dismissed when he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. He served 30 days in jail and paid a fine.
Defense attorney Dan Fulkerson asked jurors to find Cardenas Zavala guilty of involuntary manslaughter, he said, because there was "no malice involved."
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Saturday, Oct. 20, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A Catawba County man charged with driving drunk through downtown Hickory was sentenced Friday to at least 13 years and five months in prison in connection with a crash that left a woman dead.
Jurors deliberated for five hours before deciding to find 21-year-old Enrique Cardenas Zavala guilty of second-degree murder in the Sept. 29, 2006, death of 55-year-old Rena Moore. Her husband, 59-year-old Jerry Moore, was critically injured.
Attorneys on both sides said they agreed on the facts -- that Cardenas Zavala had gone to Hickory High School's homecoming football game and decided to drink alcohol. Afterward, they agreed, he stopped at a convenience store and bought some beer.
He was speeding through downtown Hickory's streets, going 62 mph in a 25 mph zone, when he drove his 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix through a red light and slammed into the Moores' pickup truck.
A blood test showed that Cardenas Zavala's alcohol level was 0.13. The legal limit in North Carolina is 0.08.
Cardenas Zavala, then 20, was also charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, driving while impaired, driving by a person less than 21 years old after consuming alcohol and failure to stop at a stop light.
It was the second time Cardenas Zavala had been charged with DWI in less than 14 months. In August 2005, he was charged with DWI in Catawba County, but the charges were dismissed when he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. He served 30 days in jail and paid a fine.
Defense attorney Dan Fulkerson asked jurors to find Cardenas Zavala guilty of involuntary manslaughter, he said, because there was "no malice involved."
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10/18/07
Authorities on lookout for burqa-wearing bank robber
Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Authorities in Alexander County Wednesday were looking for a robber who wore a burqa during a hold-up at a Hiddenite bank.
Shortly before 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, a robber dressed in black pants, a long-sleeve, black shirt and burgundy burqa -- a waist-length wrap covering the body, head, nose and mouth -- walked into the Peoples Bank on N.C. 90 in Hiddenite, authorities said.
The robber pointed a handgun at a teller, said Chief Deputy Chris Bowman of the Sheriff's Office, and demanded bank employees put cash into a black plastic bag.
The robber left the bank and a burgundy sport utility vehicle or similar type of truck was waiting, Bowman said. The vehicle had a white license plate with black letters.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Alexander County Sheriff's Office at 828-632-4658.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Authorities in Alexander County Wednesday were looking for a robber who wore a burqa during a hold-up at a Hiddenite bank.
Shortly before 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, a robber dressed in black pants, a long-sleeve, black shirt and burgundy burqa -- a waist-length wrap covering the body, head, nose and mouth -- walked into the Peoples Bank on N.C. 90 in Hiddenite, authorities said.
The robber pointed a handgun at a teller, said Chief Deputy Chris Bowman of the Sheriff's Office, and demanded bank employees put cash into a black plastic bag.
The robber left the bank and a burgundy sport utility vehicle or similar type of truck was waiting, Bowman said. The vehicle had a white license plate with black letters.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Alexander County Sheriff's Office at 828-632-4658.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
10/16/07
Trial in fatal DWI case begins
Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Jurors heard opening statements and witness testimony Tuesday in the trial of a Catawba County man charged with murder and drunken driving charges after a fatal car wreck last year.
The trial against 21-year-old Enrique Cardenas Zavala started Monday in Catawba County Superior Court with opening statements and testimony by responding officers, said Capt. Clyde Deal of the Hickory Police Department.
Cardenas Zavala is charged in the Sept. 29, 2006 accident in downtown Hickory that killed 55-year-old Rena Moore and critically injured her husband, 58-year-old Jerry Moore.
Cardenas Zavala was indicted on several charges, including felony murder, felony assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, driving while impaired, driving by a person less than 21 years old after consuming alcohol and failure to stop at a stoplight.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Jurors heard opening statements and witness testimony Tuesday in the trial of a Catawba County man charged with murder and drunken driving charges after a fatal car wreck last year.
The trial against 21-year-old Enrique Cardenas Zavala started Monday in Catawba County Superior Court with opening statements and testimony by responding officers, said Capt. Clyde Deal of the Hickory Police Department.
Cardenas Zavala is charged in the Sept. 29, 2006 accident in downtown Hickory that killed 55-year-old Rena Moore and critically injured her husband, 58-year-old Jerry Moore.
Cardenas Zavala was indicted on several charges, including felony murder, felony assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, driving while impaired, driving by a person less than 21 years old after consuming alcohol and failure to stop at a stoplight.
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Anderson's friends offer reward for information about her killing
Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Friends of Emily Anderson, a Caldwell County woman found shot to death in January 2006, are offering a $3,500 reward for information that leads to a conviction in her killing.
A Web site was created in September to solicit more information about her death Friends increased the reward by $1,000 last week.
Anderson's best friend, Patricia Thorpe of New Jersey, has said people wanting to make donations to the reward fund can contribute through the Web site at www.emilygriffittanderson.com or by visiting any Wachovia branch.
Emily Anderson was last seen alive Dec. 29, 2005. Ten days later, her Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck was found in an S.C. restaurant parking lot, about 100 miles from Caldwell County. She had been shot twice, and her body had been crammed into the truck bed's large tool box.
Her husband, Jerry Anderson, was charged with first-degree murder, but a judge declared a mistrial in July after a Gaston County jury could not reach a unanimous verdict.
Anyone with information about Emily Anderson's death is asked to call the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office at 828-758-2324.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Friends of Emily Anderson, a Caldwell County woman found shot to death in January 2006, are offering a $3,500 reward for information that leads to a conviction in her killing.
A Web site was created in September to solicit more information about her death Friends increased the reward by $1,000 last week.
Anderson's best friend, Patricia Thorpe of New Jersey, has said people wanting to make donations to the reward fund can contribute through the Web site at www.emilygriffittanderson.com or by visiting any Wachovia branch.
Emily Anderson was last seen alive Dec. 29, 2005. Ten days later, her Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck was found in an S.C. restaurant parking lot, about 100 miles from Caldwell County. She had been shot twice, and her body had been crammed into the truck bed's large tool box.
Her husband, Jerry Anderson, was charged with first-degree murder, but a judge declared a mistrial in July after a Gaston County jury could not reach a unanimous verdict.
Anyone with information about Emily Anderson's death is asked to call the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office at 828-758-2324.
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10/15/07
Death of man Tasered probed
SBI investigating case in which man hit head after police shocked him
Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into the death of a Morganton man who died Sunday morning after two police officers shocked him with Tasers.
Donald Clarke Grant, 54, fell and hit his head Saturday night after two officers from the Morganton Public Safety Department tried subduing him with Taser shocks, said Chief Mark Tolbert.
He was first taken to Grace Hospital and, about 10:40 p.m., was taken to Mission Memorial Hospital in Asheville, Tolbert said. Clark died in Asheville about 9:45 a.m. Sunday.
Grant, authorities said, had been pounding on a neighbor's door about 8:15 p.m. Saturday and had made several threats toward other neighbors.
When officers arrived at the Morganton neighborhood, near Logan and South Matthews streets, they asked Clark to return to his home, but he refused, Tolbert said.
Clark charged at the officers several times, Tolbert said, but would back away before reaching them. The officers told Clark they were going to arrest him for communicating threats and resisting and delaying officers, Tolbert said, but Clark would not listen to the officers' instructions.
"They tried to get him to go into the house, so they could leave," Tolbert said, "but he continued to charge and retreat."
Clark did not threaten police with a weapon, Tolbert said.
When Clark charged at the officers again, Tolbert said, two of the four police officers shocked him with their Tasers. The force of the shock caused Clark to fall and hit his head, Tolbert said.
The four officers involved, including the two who shocked Clark, have been put on administrative leave with pay until the SBI has finished its review of the incident, Tolbert said.
Tolbert would not name the officers involved.
The SBI's report will be turned over to the district attorney's office for review.
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Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into the death of a Morganton man who died Sunday morning after two police officers shocked him with Tasers.
Donald Clarke Grant, 54, fell and hit his head Saturday night after two officers from the Morganton Public Safety Department tried subduing him with Taser shocks, said Chief Mark Tolbert.
He was first taken to Grace Hospital and, about 10:40 p.m., was taken to Mission Memorial Hospital in Asheville, Tolbert said. Clark died in Asheville about 9:45 a.m. Sunday.
Grant, authorities said, had been pounding on a neighbor's door about 8:15 p.m. Saturday and had made several threats toward other neighbors.
When officers arrived at the Morganton neighborhood, near Logan and South Matthews streets, they asked Clark to return to his home, but he refused, Tolbert said.
Clark charged at the officers several times, Tolbert said, but would back away before reaching them. The officers told Clark they were going to arrest him for communicating threats and resisting and delaying officers, Tolbert said, but Clark would not listen to the officers' instructions.
"They tried to get him to go into the house, so they could leave," Tolbert said, "but he continued to charge and retreat."
Clark did not threaten police with a weapon, Tolbert said.
When Clark charged at the officers again, Tolbert said, two of the four police officers shocked him with their Tasers. The force of the shock caused Clark to fall and hit his head, Tolbert said.
The four officers involved, including the two who shocked Clark, have been put on administrative leave with pay until the SBI has finished its review of the incident, Tolbert said.
Tolbert would not name the officers involved.
The SBI's report will be turned over to the district attorney's office for review.
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10/13/07
Leg custody battle to hit reality TV
Pair go to Chicago to film episode of reality court program
Saturday, Oct. 13, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
It was probably inevitable -- the custody battle over an amputated legis headed to reality TV.
Shannon Whisnant and John Wood were in Chicago on Friday, filming an episode for "Judge Mathis" -- a reality court program where cases are decided by a television judge, Greg Mathis.
This week, the show featured the legal battles of former best friends ripped apart by drugs and two other women in a bitter love triangle.
Producers at "Judge Mathis" confirmed that Whisnant and Wood were inChicago on Friday filming the episode, scheduled to air Nov. 1 onWYMT-TV (channel 55).
Whisnant found Wood's amputated leg -- the foot, five toes, ankle and most of the calf -- in a barbecue smoker he bought earlier this month at a Maiden auction, and the men have spent the last two weeks vyingfor ownership of the appendage.
Wood's leg was amputated after a plane crash three years ago. He had been keeping it at a Maiden storage unit with his other belongings, but after he failed to pay $550 in rental fees, the owner of the facility auctioned off his belongings.
Though Whisnant has said he was initially sickened by the leg, which he handed over to law enforcement because he "thought it might have been part of a missing person or someone's ex-wife," he started seeing things differently when newspapers and television networks from around the world started running the story.
He began charging a few bucks for people who wanted to see the smoker and was hoping to get the leg back and charge admission fees -- $10 for adults, $5 for seniors, $3 for kids and nothing for amputees -- to see it.
Whisnant wouldn't say how the case was settled but said he was "having a hell of a time in Chicago" and was looking forward to having a few cocktails at a fancy nightclub after leaving the television studio.
Wood could not be reached by phone Friday, and his brother-in-law, Tom Lytle, said that Wood no longer has a number where he can be reached. During an interview with the Observer last week, Wood said he didn't want Whisnant to "profit off finding my leg."
But even without the world knowing how Mathis ruled in court, Whisnant said he has plans to make some cash off his discovery.
When his Web site is ready, he said, he'll be selling black T-shirts with a picture of his face flanked by a leg on either side and the words, "I am friends with the foot man."
"They'll be $15.95 plus shipping," he said. "(But) they're beautiful shirts, they really are."
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Saturday, Oct. 13, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
It was probably inevitable -- the custody battle over an amputated legis headed to reality TV.
Shannon Whisnant and John Wood were in Chicago on Friday, filming an episode for "Judge Mathis" -- a reality court program where cases are decided by a television judge, Greg Mathis.
This week, the show featured the legal battles of former best friends ripped apart by drugs and two other women in a bitter love triangle.
Producers at "Judge Mathis" confirmed that Whisnant and Wood were inChicago on Friday filming the episode, scheduled to air Nov. 1 onWYMT-TV (channel 55).
Whisnant found Wood's amputated leg -- the foot, five toes, ankle and most of the calf -- in a barbecue smoker he bought earlier this month at a Maiden auction, and the men have spent the last two weeks vyingfor ownership of the appendage.
Wood's leg was amputated after a plane crash three years ago. He had been keeping it at a Maiden storage unit with his other belongings, but after he failed to pay $550 in rental fees, the owner of the facility auctioned off his belongings.
Though Whisnant has said he was initially sickened by the leg, which he handed over to law enforcement because he "thought it might have been part of a missing person or someone's ex-wife," he started seeing things differently when newspapers and television networks from around the world started running the story.
He began charging a few bucks for people who wanted to see the smoker and was hoping to get the leg back and charge admission fees -- $10 for adults, $5 for seniors, $3 for kids and nothing for amputees -- to see it.
Whisnant wouldn't say how the case was settled but said he was "having a hell of a time in Chicago" and was looking forward to having a few cocktails at a fancy nightclub after leaving the television studio.
Wood could not be reached by phone Friday, and his brother-in-law, Tom Lytle, said that Wood no longer has a number where he can be reached. During an interview with the Observer last week, Wood said he didn't want Whisnant to "profit off finding my leg."
But even without the world knowing how Mathis ruled in court, Whisnant said he has plans to make some cash off his discovery.
When his Web site is ready, he said, he'll be selling black T-shirts with a picture of his face flanked by a leg on either side and the words, "I am friends with the foot man."
"They'll be $15.95 plus shipping," he said. "(But) they're beautiful shirts, they really are."
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Routine recount for ballots cast in early voting in Morganton
Saturday, oct. 13, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
The Morganton Board of Elections held a routine recount Friday of the ballots cast during the early voting period before Morganton's city elections, which were held Tuesday.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
The Morganton Board of Elections held a routine recount Friday of the ballots cast during the early voting period before Morganton's city elections, which were held Tuesday.
The recount, required by the state Board of Elections, was held to guarantee the hand count of votes matches the machine count. It has been part of every primary and general election since the beginning of 2006, said Don Wright, general counsel for the state board.
"This is routine," Wright said Friday. "No one has protested the results of the election, and there is nothing that indicates that (any one candidate) didn't get a fair shake."
The state board orders such site checks after all elections and notifies local boards which votes - including which race and whether the board needs to recount ballots cast early or votes cast on Election Day - should be audited, Wright said.
Morganton, the only N.C. municipality that holds its own elections, was told Wednesday morning that the votes cast for mayor in early, or one-stop, voting would be recounted, Wright said.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.10/12/07
Fines will double for violators of city's water restrictions
Friday, Oct. 12, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Morganton officials Thursday increased the penalties for violating the city's water restrictions, city officials said.
Morganton implemented stringent water restrictions earlier this month, including bans on lawn watering, residential car washing and running ornamental fountains. On Thursday, officials said fines will double for violations.
The city decided to increase the fines to prepare for what officials predict will be an equally dry winter, City Manager Sally Sandy said in the release.
"We must make every effort to conserve our water until we receive enough rain to replenish our lakes and rivers," she said.
First-time violators will be fined $100, followed by $200 for a second violation and $400 for a third offense.
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By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Morganton officials Thursday increased the penalties for violating the city's water restrictions, city officials said.
Morganton implemented stringent water restrictions earlier this month, including bans on lawn watering, residential car washing and running ornamental fountains. On Thursday, officials said fines will double for violations.
The city decided to increase the fines to prepare for what officials predict will be an equally dry winter, City Manager Sally Sandy said in the release.
"We must make every effort to conserve our water until we receive enough rain to replenish our lakes and rivers," she said.
First-time violators will be fined $100, followed by $200 for a second violation and $400 for a third offense.
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Patient's death will not result in criminal action
Staffer sat on man's torsi; incident helped lead to funding cuts
Friday, Oct. 12, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
No criminal action will be taken in the February death of a Broughton Hospital patient who died of asphyxia after a staff member sat on his torso.
The death of 27-year-old Anthony Lowery, a patient at the mental health hospital in Morganton, was one of the incidents that led the federal government to stop Medicaid and Medicare payments in August.
On Monday, the district attorney's office that serves Burke, Caldwell and Catawba counties said in a letter to the State Bureau of Investigation that it will not charge the staff member who restrained Lowery in the death.
According to the letter, witnesses told SBI investigators that Lowery tried biting the staff member during the altercation.
"The evidence that Mr. Lowery was violent and that physical restraint was justified is uncontradicted," Chief Assistant District Attorney Eric Bellas wrote in the letter.
One witness said she saw a staff member put his hands around Lowery's neck, but several others said they did not see anyone's hands around his neck, according to the letter.
Lowery's death prompted the federal government to look at the hospital. While officials were finishing their investigation, another patient was injured on Aug. 19.
The state is working to improve supervision, communication and training at Broughton to prevent the kinds of problems that led to the funding cuts.
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Friday, Oct. 12, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
No criminal action will be taken in the February death of a Broughton Hospital patient who died of asphyxia after a staff member sat on his torso.
The death of 27-year-old Anthony Lowery, a patient at the mental health hospital in Morganton, was one of the incidents that led the federal government to stop Medicaid and Medicare payments in August.
On Monday, the district attorney's office that serves Burke, Caldwell and Catawba counties said in a letter to the State Bureau of Investigation that it will not charge the staff member who restrained Lowery in the death.
According to the letter, witnesses told SBI investigators that Lowery tried biting the staff member during the altercation.
"The evidence that Mr. Lowery was violent and that physical restraint was justified is uncontradicted," Chief Assistant District Attorney Eric Bellas wrote in the letter.
One witness said she saw a staff member put his hands around Lowery's neck, but several others said they did not see anyone's hands around his neck, according to the letter.
Lowery's death prompted the federal government to look at the hospital. While officials were finishing their investigation, another patient was injured on Aug. 19.
The state is working to improve supervision, communication and training at Broughton to prevent the kinds of problems that led to the funding cuts.
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10/10/07
Man dies in fiery motorcycle wreck
Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A Lincolnton man died Tuesday afternoon after he lost control of his motorcycle, hit a ditch and crashed into several fence posts in Catawba County, authorities said.
William Elijah White, 23, was riding a Suzuki sports bike south on Lowrance Road near Toy Campbell Street in southeast Catawba County shortly after 12:30 p.m. when he lost control of the motorcycle, said Trooper C.M. Trouille of the state Highway Patrol.
No other vehicles or people were involved in the crash, he said.
Family told authorities that White has been at lunch with his father and brothers and was returning to the job site where they were all working, Trouille said.
Witnesses told Trouille that the driver lost control of the motorcycle after riding on the back wheel, he said. When the bike's front wheel hit the road, witnesses told authorities, the bike crossed the center line and hit a ditch.
The bike hit several fence posts, which flung White off the motorcycle, and caught fire, Trouille said.
White was flown to Carolina Medical Center and died shortly after 4 p.m.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A Lincolnton man died Tuesday afternoon after he lost control of his motorcycle, hit a ditch and crashed into several fence posts in Catawba County, authorities said.
William Elijah White, 23, was riding a Suzuki sports bike south on Lowrance Road near Toy Campbell Street in southeast Catawba County shortly after 12:30 p.m. when he lost control of the motorcycle, said Trooper C.M. Trouille of the state Highway Patrol.
No other vehicles or people were involved in the crash, he said.
Family told authorities that White has been at lunch with his father and brothers and was returning to the job site where they were all working, Trouille said.
Witnesses told Trouille that the driver lost control of the motorcycle after riding on the back wheel, he said. When the bike's front wheel hit the road, witnesses told authorities, the bike crossed the center line and hit a ditch.
The bike hit several fence posts, which flung White off the motorcycle, and caught fire, Trouille said.
White was flown to Carolina Medical Center and died shortly after 4 p.m.
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DA to decide on charges in shooting
Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
The district attorney's office will decide whether a Conover man will face charges in the Saturday shooting death of an acquaintance, authorities said Wednesday.
Raymond Lee Weathers, 36, of Newton was shot and killed Saturday afternoon during an altercation with John Kenneth Hedrick, 73, said Maj. Coy Reid of the Catawba County Sheriff's Office.
Weathers had been shot at least three times -- in the neck and shoulder -- with a revolver, and Hedrick had "visible injuries" to his upper body and head when the men were found in the yard of a Newton home, said Capt. Roy Brown of the Sheriff's Office.
The Sheriff's Office investigation has been turned over to the district attorney's office, which will determine the charges, Reid said.
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By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
The district attorney's office will decide whether a Conover man will face charges in the Saturday shooting death of an acquaintance, authorities said Wednesday.
Raymond Lee Weathers, 36, of Newton was shot and killed Saturday afternoon during an altercation with John Kenneth Hedrick, 73, said Maj. Coy Reid of the Catawba County Sheriff's Office.
Weathers had been shot at least three times -- in the neck and shoulder -- with a revolver, and Hedrick had "visible injuries" to his upper body and head when the men were found in the yard of a Newton home, said Capt. Roy Brown of the Sheriff's Office.
The Sheriff's Office investigation has been turned over to the district attorney's office, which will determine the charges, Reid said.
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Hickory skeleton likely a murder victim
Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007
By Marcie Young Charlotte Observer
Staff Writer
Police think the skeleton found nearly three months ago behind a Hickory shopping center may be the victim of a murder, authorities said.
Lt. Thurman Whisnant of the Hickory Police Department said Wednesday that authorities are waiting on the final autopsy report and want to make sure the have correctly identified the skeleton before they confirm the death as a murder.
In July, construction crews were surveying land behind the Lowe's and Wal-Mart stores along U.S. 70 when one worker noticed a partially buried skeleton beneath the leaves and dirt.
Police did not want to discuss the details of their investigation before it was complete.
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By Marcie Young Charlotte Observer
Staff Writer
Police think the skeleton found nearly three months ago behind a Hickory shopping center may be the victim of a murder, authorities said.
Lt. Thurman Whisnant of the Hickory Police Department said Wednesday that authorities are waiting on the final autopsy report and want to make sure the have correctly identified the skeleton before they confirm the death as a murder.
In July, construction crews were surveying land behind the Lowe's and Wal-Mart stores along U.S. 70 when one worker noticed a partially buried skeleton beneath the leaves and dirt.
Police did not want to discuss the details of their investigation before it was complete.
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Mayor wins rough race for 10th term
Official says he's still angry over tone of rival's campaign
Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
MORGANTON --Mel Cohen easily won his 10th term as Morganton mayor Tuesday, beating former community college president Jim Richardson in a contentious and sometimes nasty race.
Cohen won with 59 percent of the vote, compared with Richardson's 41 percent, according to unofficial returns.
While Cohen said he was pleased with the victory, the divisive campaign left him "angry," he said.
"I knew when I entered this race, it would be dirty," he said. "He managed to accuse me of adultery and stealing. ... I wouldn't have been surprised if he had accused me of kidnapping the Lindbergh baby."
Richardson did not attend his campaign party, and supporters said he was at home with a fever. Messages left on his cell and home phones were not returned.
His supporters said they were disappointed in the election results, but that they hoped interest in the race would increase involvement in city politics. "We've lost the battle but we won the war to get people to come out and be involved in government," said Gresham Orrison, one of the supporters at the party.
Though both candidates said they didn't want the race to get dirty, it was heated from the beginning. Supporters on both sides said they heard allegations of unethical behavior and campaign techniques by the candidates.
Publicly, Richardson, who led Western Piedmont Community College for 25 years, questioned Cohen's involvement in keeping and maintaining the Historic Morganton Festival's financial records.
Cohen, who is president of the festival board, and members of the board responded angrily, saying the finances were handled appropriately and that Richardson was making unfounded implications.
Morganton residents turned out in big numbers this year, with more than 3,500 people casting votes, nearly doubling the number from the last city election, in 2003.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
MORGANTON --Mel Cohen easily won his 10th term as Morganton mayor Tuesday, beating former community college president Jim Richardson in a contentious and sometimes nasty race.
Cohen won with 59 percent of the vote, compared with Richardson's 41 percent, according to unofficial returns.
While Cohen said he was pleased with the victory, the divisive campaign left him "angry," he said.
"I knew when I entered this race, it would be dirty," he said. "He managed to accuse me of adultery and stealing. ... I wouldn't have been surprised if he had accused me of kidnapping the Lindbergh baby."
Richardson did not attend his campaign party, and supporters said he was at home with a fever. Messages left on his cell and home phones were not returned.
His supporters said they were disappointed in the election results, but that they hoped interest in the race would increase involvement in city politics. "We've lost the battle but we won the war to get people to come out and be involved in government," said Gresham Orrison, one of the supporters at the party.
Though both candidates said they didn't want the race to get dirty, it was heated from the beginning. Supporters on both sides said they heard allegations of unethical behavior and campaign techniques by the candidates.
Publicly, Richardson, who led Western Piedmont Community College for 25 years, questioned Cohen's involvement in keeping and maintaining the Historic Morganton Festival's financial records.
Cohen, who is president of the festival board, and members of the board responded angrily, saying the finances were handled appropriately and that Richardson was making unfounded implications.
Morganton residents turned out in big numbers this year, with more than 3,500 people casting votes, nearly doubling the number from the last city election, in 2003.
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Incumbent, newcomer take open seats
Hot election issues involved jobs, economy
Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
MORGANTON -- Voters in Morganton's municipal elections ousted one City Council member Tuesday but kept another veteran in office.
Challenger Forrest Fleming, a retired corrections officer, and incumbent Larry Whisnant won four-year terms on the council.
Fleming beat 20-year City Council incumbent and retired warehouse manager Carl Evans Sr. for the open seat in District 2.
Fleming won with 53 percent of the votes compared to Evans' 47 percent, according to unofficial returns.
In District 1, Whisnant, a 12-year incumbent, defeated challenger Rob Gage. Whisnant won with 52 percent to Gage's 48 percent.
While the candidates focused on several issues during the race -- the location of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter, the environment, development downtown and the city-owned cable and electric systems -- the hottest topic revolved around jobs and creating a robust economy.
Whisnant, who served on the council for 12 years, and Evans, who was elected in 1986, argued that their years of experience and knowledge of current projects made them the best candidates.
But Gage, a graduate of Harvard University and UNC School of Law, and Fleming, who attended Western Carolina University and Livingstone College, advocated bringing a fresh perspective to city politics.
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Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
MORGANTON -- Voters in Morganton's municipal elections ousted one City Council member Tuesday but kept another veteran in office.
Challenger Forrest Fleming, a retired corrections officer, and incumbent Larry Whisnant won four-year terms on the council.
Fleming beat 20-year City Council incumbent and retired warehouse manager Carl Evans Sr. for the open seat in District 2.
Fleming won with 53 percent of the votes compared to Evans' 47 percent, according to unofficial returns.
In District 1, Whisnant, a 12-year incumbent, defeated challenger Rob Gage. Whisnant won with 52 percent to Gage's 48 percent.
While the candidates focused on several issues during the race -- the location of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter, the environment, development downtown and the city-owned cable and electric systems -- the hottest topic revolved around jobs and creating a robust economy.
Whisnant, who served on the council for 12 years, and Evans, who was elected in 1986, argued that their years of experience and knowledge of current projects made them the best candidates.
But Gage, a graduate of Harvard University and UNC School of Law, and Fleming, who attended Western Carolina University and Livingstone College, advocated bringing a fresh perspective to city politics.
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10/7/07
Farmers have an ally in hunt for hay
Local woman finds supplier, arranges for bales to be trucked in
Sunday, Oct. 7, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
LENOIR --The summer's extreme drought and heat baked the land and stifled crops of hay at A.J. Craig's Caldwell County farm, and until last week, he wasn't sure how he was going to feed his 24 cows.
Then he met Linda Haas, who made a few calls and arranged for 637 bales of hay to be delivered Wednesday at the Caldwell County fairgrounds. Haas, a metal inspector for a Lenoir tool and gauge company, had grown up on a Valmead farm and remembered watching her father worry about feeding his animals during bitter winters and dry summers.
Haas hasn't farmed in years and doesn't own horses or cattle. "I just wanted to help people," she said, "because I know what it's like to hunt for hay."
Prices for hay brought into the county have, in some cases, skyrocketed. Several of the farmers collecting the hay said it normally cost $2 a bale but had heard it was selling for as high as $11 a bale.
Haas said she knew that was too expensive for most people trying to raise cows and horses.
So, about three weeks ago, she started to think about what she could do to get some hay to Caldwell County.
She had heard that the some of the northeastern states had good crops of the grass and started calling farmers in Pennsylvania, eventually finding one who told her he had plenty to spare and would sell it to her for $3 a bale.
Then, Haas and her husband, Jim, talked with a nephew who had a contact at Caldwell Freight Lines and arranged for a truck driver to deliver the load for $1.47 a bale.
Haas said she wouldn't take a commission or charge any fees for brokering the hay delivery, and even refunded the farmers 24 cents per bale when she realized the trucking fee was less than she expected.
Haas went to a Cattlemen Association meeting a couple of weeks ago, and within a few days had taken orders from four Caldwell County families requesting more than 600 bales.
The hay was delivered Wednesday near the Caldwell County fairgrounds, and for the first time, Haas met the people -- from cattle farmers to Paso Fino horse breeders -- she was helping.
Craig, 80, and his family, who run two cattle farms in the Granite Falls area, ordered 300 bales of hay and said they don't know how their cows would have survived if Haas hadn't intervened.
"Everybody is just looking for hay," Craig said. "She's a godsend."
Haas, for her part, said she'll keep trying to get hay to Caldwell County farmers as long as they need it.
"We'll keep on truckin'," she said.
Where to Find Hay
Farmers selling or looking to buy hay or find transportation services can get more information through the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' Hay Alert service. For more information, visit www.ncagr.com/HayAlert or call 866-506-6222 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
Sunday, Oct. 7, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
LENOIR --The summer's extreme drought and heat baked the land and stifled crops of hay at A.J. Craig's Caldwell County farm, and until last week, he wasn't sure how he was going to feed his 24 cows.
Then he met Linda Haas, who made a few calls and arranged for 637 bales of hay to be delivered Wednesday at the Caldwell County fairgrounds. Haas, a metal inspector for a Lenoir tool and gauge company, had grown up on a Valmead farm and remembered watching her father worry about feeding his animals during bitter winters and dry summers.
Haas hasn't farmed in years and doesn't own horses or cattle. "I just wanted to help people," she said, "because I know what it's like to hunt for hay."
Prices for hay brought into the county have, in some cases, skyrocketed. Several of the farmers collecting the hay said it normally cost $2 a bale but had heard it was selling for as high as $11 a bale.
Haas said she knew that was too expensive for most people trying to raise cows and horses.
So, about three weeks ago, she started to think about what she could do to get some hay to Caldwell County.
She had heard that the some of the northeastern states had good crops of the grass and started calling farmers in Pennsylvania, eventually finding one who told her he had plenty to spare and would sell it to her for $3 a bale.
Then, Haas and her husband, Jim, talked with a nephew who had a contact at Caldwell Freight Lines and arranged for a truck driver to deliver the load for $1.47 a bale.
Haas said she wouldn't take a commission or charge any fees for brokering the hay delivery, and even refunded the farmers 24 cents per bale when she realized the trucking fee was less than she expected.
Haas went to a Cattlemen Association meeting a couple of weeks ago, and within a few days had taken orders from four Caldwell County families requesting more than 600 bales.
The hay was delivered Wednesday near the Caldwell County fairgrounds, and for the first time, Haas met the people -- from cattle farmers to Paso Fino horse breeders -- she was helping.
Craig, 80, and his family, who run two cattle farms in the Granite Falls area, ordered 300 bales of hay and said they don't know how their cows would have survived if Haas hadn't intervened.
"Everybody is just looking for hay," Craig said. "She's a godsend."
Haas, for her part, said she'll keep trying to get hay to Caldwell County farmers as long as they need it.
"We'll keep on truckin'," she said.
Where to Find Hay
Farmers selling or looking to buy hay or find transportation services can get more information through the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' Hay Alert service. For more information, visit www.ncagr.com/HayAlert or call 866-506-6222 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
10/5/07
Newton's longtime police chief will retire in December
Friday, Oct. 5, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
After 34 years in law enforcement, Newton police Chief David Dial is stepping down.
The city of Newton this week announced that Dial, who joined the department as a patrol officer in 1973, is retiring.
Dial, 59, was named chief nine years ago and said he's most looking forward to spending more time with his three granddaughters and one grandson. His last day is Dec. 21.
City Manager Todd Clark will start looking for a new chief in the coming weeks, Dial said.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
After 34 years in law enforcement, Newton police Chief David Dial is stepping down.
The city of Newton this week announced that Dial, who joined the department as a patrol officer in 1973, is retiring.
Dial, 59, was named chief nine years ago and said he's most looking forward to spending more time with his three granddaughters and one grandson. His last day is Dec. 21.
City Manager Todd Clark will start looking for a new chief in the coming weeks, Dial said.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
1 injured, 2 sought after shooting at apartment complex
Friday, Oct. 5, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Several shots were fired at a Hickory apartment complex Thursday night, injuring one man, police said.
One bullet hit a man in the right leg, just below the calf, said Sgt. Mike Beam of the Hickory Police Department. The injuries were not life-threatening.Beam would not disclose the name of the victim, who was taken to Catawba Valley Medical Center.
Police believe the victim and two other men had gotten in an argument earlier Thursday at the Terrance Hills apartments on Second Street Place and 11th Avenue S.W. Beam said witnesses told police that two or more shots were fired by a man standing near a white car.
Police on Thursday night were looking for two males, one with dreadlocks, and the white car, Beam said.
Anyone with information should call 828-324-2060.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Several shots were fired at a Hickory apartment complex Thursday night, injuring one man, police said.
One bullet hit a man in the right leg, just below the calf, said Sgt. Mike Beam of the Hickory Police Department. The injuries were not life-threatening.Beam would not disclose the name of the victim, who was taken to Catawba Valley Medical Center.
Police believe the victim and two other men had gotten in an argument earlier Thursday at the Terrance Hills apartments on Second Street Place and 11th Avenue S.W. Beam said witnesses told police that two or more shots were fired by a man standing near a white car.
Police on Thursday night were looking for two males, one with dreadlocks, and the white car, Beam said.
Anyone with information should call 828-324-2060.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
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