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Regional Briefs: Golf courses to be fully open at Tanglewood
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Published: June 12, 2009
Most attractions at Tanglewood Park will be open today after downed trees forced the closing of the park Wednesday.
About 50 trees were downed on the Reynolds and Championship golf courses, and power lines were down at various places in the park after a storm ripped through Tuesday evening.
The park was open yesterday but not everything was up and running.
Mallard Lake, which has paddle boats and fishing, will remain off-limits probably until Tuesday, said Mark Serosky, the director of Forsyth County Parks and Recreation.
An uprooted tree damaged the entrance to the boat dock. The boat house had gutter damage.
Golfers were able to get their 18 holes in yesterday playing the back nine holes on both the Reynolds and Championship courses. The remaining parts of both courses are to reopen today.
A small building near Walnut Hall not in active use was destroyed by a falling tree, Serosky said.
Former house speaker Black asks to be moved to prison close to home
RALEIGH -- Former House Speaker Jim Black wants President Obama to send him home, or at least send him to a federal prison closer to it.
WRAL-TV reported Wednesday that Black's attorneys have asked Obama to commute his sentence, or let him serve the remainder of his five-year sentence for a corruption conviction in North Carolina or South Carolina.
Black attorney Whit Powell said that his client's health is poor and that his wife suffers from Lou Gehrig's disease.
Black, 74, is in a Pennsylvania federal prison after pleading guilty to a felony charge in 2007. Black, a Democrat from Mecklenburg County, acknowledged taking money from chiropractors while pushing their agenda in the legislature.
Officials look into fish kill connected to low levels of oxygen in creek
BLOUNTS CREEK -- More than 54,000 dead fish have been found in Blounts Creek in Eastern North Carolina.
The N.C. Division of Water Quality says the fish were found Wednesday morning in the upper part of the creek in Beaufort County. The creek feeds into the Pamlico River.
Spokeswoman Susan Massengale said the dead fish included menhaden, spot, sunfish, bream, gizzard and shad.
Massengale says low dissolved oxygen levels were measured at the surface and three feet below the surface throughout the area where the dead fish were found.
She says officials are trying to determine what caused the oxygen levels to drop. Water samples have been sent to a lab in Raleigh for analysis.
Carolina Waterfowl Rescue caring for geese found oiled and emaciated
CHARLOTTE -- A North Carolina bird rescue group is working to clean nearly 30 Canada geese found near a business park covered in oil and emaciated.
Carolina Waterfowl Rescue said on its Web site that it received a call on Tuesday about an oiled bird. The group responded and found 10 adult and 18 juvenile birds at various sites around a business park on the southwest side of Charlotte.
Group director Jennifer Gordon said yesterday that the birds underwent an initial washing on Tuesday and were to undergo a second round of washing last night. She said all the birds are doing well.
Gordon said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the incident.
Canadian geese are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.
Highway patrol starts new canine program using Labrador retrievers
RALEIGH -- Six months after it dissolved its old canine program amid criticism of dog welfare, the N.C. Highway Patrol has implemented a new one with new dogs and new handlers.
Patrol spokesman Capt. Everett Clendenin said yesterday that six Labrador retrievers had been paired with freshly trained troopers. Clendenin says the patrol is using Labs because they are better at detecting drugs, which is the dogs' primary duty.
Clendenin said that shepherd breeds that had been used in the past aren't needed anymore because they are no longer used for pursuits and protection.
The patrol disbanded its canine unit in December after incidents raised concerns about treatment of the dogs. A video showed a trooper kicking his dog, which wasn't injured.
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