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Regional Briefs: Van hits a DOT truck on U.S. 421
Journal Photo by Walt Unks
An attenuator was crushed when a DOT truck was hit by a van, which then overturned on U.S. 421.
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Published: September 4, 2008
LEWISVILLE -- An accident slowed traffic on northbound U.S. 421 yesterday morning after a van driver ran into the back of an N.C. Department of Transportation truck that was accompanying a mower.
The accident happened about 9:15 a.m. near the Reynolds Road overpass. The buffer truck was on the inside lane of northbound 421 and was moving about 20 mph, said Trooper Terrence D. Shaw of the N.C. Highway Patrol. The van driver, Travis Wayne Tate, probably didn't see the truck and swerved at the last minute. He hit the corner of the truck, and the van then rolled across the road and off the right shoulder.
Tate was charged with failure to reduce speed, Shaw said.
Tate and his passenger, Paul Devon Maxwell, had minor injuries and refused treatment at the scene, Shaw said.
David Moore, a transportation technician with the N.C. DOT, said that the area was properly marked with signs warning of machinery in the road, an advance-warning truck with signs and strobe lights as well as the buffer truck with an arrow board.
"Yes, it is called a slow-moving operation, and it is considered a work zone because of the signs that are posted," Moore said.
Father charged with felony abuse of 10-month-old
A man was charged yesterday with felony child abuse with serious bodily injury after a 10-month-old child was taken to a local hospital with a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain, authorities said.
Jose Morin Saucedo, the child's father, was arrested on McCollum Lane in Kernersville by Winston-Salem police and Forsyth County sheriff's deputies, Winston-Salem police said in a statement.
The investigation began Aug. 28 when county emergency-medical personnel called police to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center about a small child with breathing problems that they had picked up at a home on Middleton Street. EMS officials told police that the child appeared to have been abused.
Investigators later obtained a warrant to arrest Saucedo. He was being held last night in the Forsyth County Jail with bond set at $50,000.
Forsyth Tech enrollment up 9 percent from last year
Enrollment at Forsyth Technical Community College is up 9 percent over a year ago, more than what had been projected for the new semester .
Forsyth officials said this week that total enrollment in its degree, diploma and certificate programs is 7,903, compared with 7,268 this time last year. The college had projected a 5 percent increase in enrollment for the fall.
College officials attribute the increase in enrollment to the area's economic woes, which include layoffs, outsourcing of jobs and plant closings.
"Forsyth Tech is bursting at the seams," said Gary Green, the school's president. "We need more classroom, laboratory and shop space, and parking space."
The need for additional space has prompted Forsyth Tech to request a $62.15 million bond referendum in the Nov. 4 election. If voters approve it the bond money will allow Forsyth Tech to acquire and renovate the administration building and Career Center of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. The school system's operations would move to a new location.
Air-quality warning issued for the Triad
Air-quality officials are warning that pollution levels in the Triad could be unhealthy for sensitive people today.
A code-orange warning has been issued for the Triad, Charlotte, Hickory and Triangle areas, the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources said yesterday.
The forecast means that people sensitive to air pollution should avoid moderate exertion outdoors in the afternoon. Sensitive groups include children and the elderly who are active outside, people who work or exercise outdoors, and those with asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and other respiratory ailments. The primary pollutant of concern is ozone, which can be unhealthful to breathe, damage plants and reduce crop yields.
Commissioners urge state to build prison in Wilkes
WILKESBORO -- Wilkes County commissioners unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday asking the N.C. Department of Correction to build a 1,000-cell, close-security state prison in Wilkes County. The town of North Wilkesboro approved a similar resolution last month.
State prison officials have visited a proposed site at the Wilkes Industrial Park, which is owned by the town of North Wilkesboro. The state is considering building new prisons to ease crowding. The county had adopted a similar resolution in 2005. County leaders said this week that state officials had asked them to reaffirm their desire to have a new prison in Wilkes.
The prison could create about 400 jobs, according to the resolution. North Wilkesboro is already home to a minimum-security prison.
Electric cooperative plans new office in Ashe County
WEST JEFFERSON -- The board of directors at Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corp. has approved plans for a new office in Ashe County to replace the office and operations center on Mount Jefferson Road.
"The number of members we serve from our Ashe office has grown exponentially," said Doug Johnson, the chief executive officer.
Increased development along Mount Jefferson Road poses safety challenges for line technicians driving the large trucks in and out of the current center, as well as for customers coming to pay bills, he said.
The new office will be on N.C. 163 South, near the Ashe operations center of the cooperative's heating-fuels subsidiary, Blue Ridge Energies. Construction is scheduled to begin by the middle of this month, and be completed in early 2010.
Vaccine for shingles temporarily unavailable
The Forsyth County health department said yesterday that because of the recent increased demand for the shingles vaccine nationwide, the vaccine Zostavax is temporarily unavailable at the department.
Because Merck Vaccines, the manufacturer of Zostavax, has estimated an eight- to 12-week delay in getting shipment, the department expects that the vaccine will be available again locally in November or December.
The department said that the cost at that time would be $221. The vaccine is recommended for people age 60 and older. Department officials said that local demand for the vaccine has increased in recent years.
The department said that some private health-care offices in Forsyth County still may have some doses of this vaccine in stock.
Individuals needing Zostavax now should contact their private physicians to determine availability. For more information, call 703-3314.
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