INDEPENDENCE, Va. -- An Ashe County man accused of killing three people at a Christmas-tree farm in Grayson County has waived his right to a speedy trial.
Freddie Hammer 48, of Crumpler appeared yesterday in Virginia Circuit Court in the Grayson County Courthouse. He is facing three capital-murder charges and other charges in connection with the Jan. 24 shooting deaths of Ron Hudler, 73; Hudler's son, Fred, 44; and farmworker John Miller Jr., 25, at the Hudler Christmas-tree farm in Grassy Creek.
A defense attorney and prosecutor both told a judge that they couldn't be ready by Dec. 1, when the trial had been tentatively scheduled to begin.
Virginia law requires that someone who has been held in custody and indicted be tried within five months unless he waives the right to a speedy trial. Hammer has been in custody since Jan. 26 and was indicted on one of the charges in July.
Judge Brett Geisler set a date of Jan. 9 to review progress in the case, although attorneys said they don't expect to be ready for trial then. Defense attorney Jonathon Venzie told the judge that the date may need to be set six to nine months in advance in order to clear enough time for the trial.
Star of TV's Lost, to speak at rally for Obama near WSSU
Actor Harold Perrineau, a star of the television series Lost, will speak at a rally today during a voter-registration rally for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.
Perrineau will speak at 4:40 p.m. in the parking lot of Bowman Gray Stadium, near Winston-Salem State University.
In addition to Lost, Perrineau has also appeared in the feature films The Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions, and on TV in such shows as CSI and Oz.
New data show 2,356 new HIV infections in N.C. in 2006
RALEIGH -- The N.C. Division of Health and Human Services said yesterday that there were 156 more North Carolinians who were infected with HIV in 2006 than were initially counted.
The agency reported that based on new data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 2,356 new HIV infections in 2006 rather than 2,200. The agency said that the reason for the higher count is more recent data availability and differences in methods of eliminating interstate duplication of cases.
The state's rate of new HIV infections in 2006 -- 32.2 cases for every 100,000 residents -- is more than 40 percent higher than the national rate of 22.6.
The new research found that blacks accounted for 67 percent of the new HIV infections in North Carolina compared with 45 percent nationally. Twenty percent of new HIV infections in North Carolina were among people age 50 or older compared with 10 percent in that age category nationally.
About 72 percent of all new HIV infections in the state in 2006 involved men, with 57 percent coming from men having sex with men.
Boonville to mark its entrance into small-towns program
BOONVILLE -- The town of Boonville will begin its participation in the N.C. Rural Center's small-towns program this weekend.
The N.C. Rural Center's Small Towns Economic Prosperity Initiative is a program that encourages small towns to put together a strategy to use grant money to build the economy, attract jobs and improve the quality of life.
Local leaders and residents will gather from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Boonville Baptist Church park on Baptist Church Road for a presentation, music and food.
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