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Regional Briefs: Grassy Creek case may go to trial Dec. 1
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Published: August 16, 2008
INDEPENDENCE, Va. -- A judge has set Dec. 1 as the tentative trial date for an Ashe County man accused of killing three people at a Grayson County Christmas-tree farm.
Freddie Hammer, 48, of Crumpler appeared yesterday in Virginia Circuit Court in the Grayson County Courthouse to be advised of new charges against him and to be given a chance to decide his legal representation.
Hammer is facing three counts of capital murder in connection with the Jan. 24 shooting deaths of Ron Hudler, 73; Hudler's son, Fred, 44; and farm-worker John Miller Jr., 25, at the Hudler Christmas-tree farm in Grassy Creek. A grand jury will consider at least two more capital-murder charges, and he also faces 11 other charges in connection with the case.
The judge appointed Hammer's current attorneys -- Jonathon Venzie and Steve Milani -- to represent him on the new charges.
Although the judge set the tentative trial date, he told Venzie and Commonwealth's Attorney Douglas Vaught that he would give them more time to prepare for trial if they need it.
The court also set a tentative date of Sept. 12 to hear pretrial motions.
Baptist's Sticht Center retains national recognition on aging
The J. Paul Sticht Center on Aging at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center was told this week that it will remain one of 11 nationwide Claude D. Pepper Older American Independence Centers for a fourth consecutive five-year cycle.
As part of the recognition, the medical center will receive nearly $1 million each year to support and promote clinical research in aging, with a particular focus on the maintenance of functional independence of older adults.
"The competition for Pepper Centers is intense," said Stephen Kritchevsky, the research director of the section of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine and a professor of internal medicine. "This renewal is a strong validation of the strength and depth of the aging-research program here at Wake Forest."
The medical center will use the grant money to help pay for four core research groups focused on aging.
The money also will help support a research career-development initiative, which is focused on training junior faculty to become independent researchers.
Baptist also was awarded money to coordinate the National Pepper Center program. The coordinating center will be directed by Dr. Kevin High. It will help the National Institute on Aging to align the strengths and capabilities of all 11 Pepper centers to increase the effectiveness of the program overall.
More than 300 lose jobs at boat-building plants
NEW BERN -- More than 300 people have lost their jobs at Hatteras Yachts' boat-building plants in New Bern and Edenton.
Employees learned Thursday of the terminations, which were effective immediately. It was unclear how the 325 lost jobs were divided between the plants.
The layoffs were announced by Hatteras Yachts' parent company, Brunswick Corp. of Lake Forest, Ill. Brunswick spokesman Dan Kubera said that the company began reacting to the domestic market in June by finding ways to cut $300 million in costs.
The last major cutback at Hatteras Yachts was in January 2003, when 250 jobs were eliminated in New Bern. Hatteras' first production plant was in High Point. The New Bern plant opened in 1967.
According to market-research data, sales of new boats have been slipping nationwide virtually every month since mid-2004.
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