News
Email
Print
Regional Briefs: Employees not in room, lawyer says
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: June 18, 2009
RALEIGH -- The attorney for a contractor being sued by two workers injured in the explosion at a Slim Jim processing plant says its four workers were not near the site of the explosion.
Attorney Rod Pettey said yesterday that two employees of Southern Industrial Constructors were at a trolley maintenance area. He says one was outside the building and another was at a wastewater facility some distance from the ConAgra Foods plant in Garner.
Federal investigators have said they think that the June 9 explosion at the ConAgra Foods plant was caused by a natural-gas leak and that they had traced the blast to a pump room.
Two employees sued Southern Industrial on Monday. Three people died in the explosion.
Thomasville hires new police chief
The city of Thomasville has a new police chief.
City officials said Tuesday that Jeff Insley, the former police chief for the town of Roxboro, will take over the Thomasville Police Department. Insley has 22 years of law-enforcement experience, according to a news release that Thomasville city officials sent out.
He has been police chief for Roxboro for the past five years and was chief of police for the town of Spring Lake before that. He holds a bachelor's of science degree in criminal justice from Livingstone College and an associate's in arts degree from Rowan/Cabarrus Community College.
He replaces Ronald Bratton, who served as Thomasville police chief for more than three years.
Davidson trooper receives award
An N.C. Highway Patrol trooper from Davidson County has been given a national award.
Gregory J. Seabolt, 47, of Denton was given the Trooper of the Year award Tuesday by the American Association of State Troopers.
The organization said it is honoring Seabolt, a 24-year veteran of the highway patrol, for rescuing a woman who attempted suicide in March 2008 by jumping off a bridge into Randleman Lake.
Seabolt heard a faint cry for help while investigating a suspicious car, then grabbed a rope and life vest from his patrol car and went into the cold lake to save the woman.
The woman survived and Seabolt was not injured.
Along with the award, Seabolt gets a check for $1,000.
Teen suffers minor injuries in fall
HIGHLANDS -- Authorities said that a teen-ager trying to take a picture of a Western North Carolina waterfall fell off an 80-foot cliff but suffered only minor injuries.
Multiple media outlets reported that the 16-year-old boy's family was with him at Glen Falls near Highlands when he fell.
Highlands Fire Chief James Manley said it took about 30 minutes to extract the teen, who was flown to Mission Hospital in Asheville. The accident happened late Tuesday afternoon.
Manley said that the boy had cuts and bruises.
Fort Bragg barracks to be torn down
FORT BRAGG -- A Korean War-era barracks at Fort Bragg that was publicized for its poor condition is being torn down.
Fort Bragg officials said that the barracks will be one of 13 demolished this week. An official said that the demolition may begin today. Preparation started last week with removal of asbestos and other hazardous material.
One of the buildings was filmed by the father of an 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper last year after his son returned from Afghanistan.
The video showed peeling paint and mold, a torn toilet seat, and a soldier trying to unplug a floor drain that appeared to be clogged with sewage. The barracks had been repaired by the time then-President Bush visited the post in May 2008.
UNC Pembroke chancellor leaving
PEMBROKE -- The chancellor of UNC Pembroke is leaving to take a job as head of his alma mater in Arkansas.
Allen Meadors announced that he would take a job as chief of the University of Central Arkansas.
Meadors, 61, presented his resignation yesterday to Erskine Bowles, the president of the UNC system, the university said.
Meadors was offered a three-year contract with salary of $238,000 and a car allowance, according to media reports. Meadors has been chancellor at Pembroke for 10 years.
The Arkansas university has about 13,000 students and is the second-largest in the state. UNC Pembroke has an enrollment of 6,300. It enrolled about 3,000 students when Meadors took over as chancellor.
Email
Print
