Regional Briefs: Project wants people with stories to tell

By: JournalNow Staff | JOURNAL STAFF REPORT
Published: February 06, 2009

An oral history project is looking for everyday people in the Triad and Northwest North Carolina to tell their stories.

StoryCorps is a nonprofit group working to collect stories of people who are often overlooked by traditional historical research. The project will operate from a trailer in downtown Winston-Salem from Feb. 26 to March 21. A specific location has not been determined.

The goal of the initiative, which began in 2003, is to catalog stories for the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Participants will receive a CD. Some of the stories will be broadcast on National Public Radio stations.

Half of the 120 interview slots are available to the general public on a first-come, first-serve basis, said Molly Davis, the membership marketing coordinator for WFDD-FM, the local NPR affiliate.

The interview slots are open to two people who share a connection. One person interviews the other. For example, a son could ask his mother about her childhood, an immigrant could tell a friend about coming to America, or a couple could talk about their 60th wedding anniversary.

To register, go to: www.wfdd.org.

Thomasville's veteran chief of police plans to retire July 1

THOMASVILLE -- Ronald Bratton, the first black police chief for the Thomasville Police Department, has announced that he will retire July 1.

Bratton is a 35-year veteran of the department. He started as a patrol officer and was made interim police chief in January 2006 after Chief Larry Murdock retired.

Bratton took over as police chief on Oct. 30, 2006. He said today that he is ready to go after 35 years with the police department.

National morning radio show will feature WSSU in March

Winston-Salem State University will be the featured college in March on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, Chancellor Donald J. Reeves said yesterday.

Tom Joyner's radio show is a nationally syndicated morning comedy and talk show broadcast in 115 markets. It has more than 8 million listeners. The show runs from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and is carried locally by WQMG at 97.1 FM.

Reeves said that the radio show featuring WSSU will coincide with the school being a host to the MEAC basketball tournament, which will be March 9-14 at Joel Coliseum.

The show will help raise money for scholarships for WSSU students, Reeves said. In October 1999, WSSU was the featured college on the show, which raised more than $73,000 for the school, Reeves said.

New Bern man is charged with sexual abuse of child in Davie

MOCKSVILLE -- A man was arrested Tuesday on charges of sexually abusing a 13-year-old child, the Davie County Sheriff's Office said yesterday.

William Brian Whaley, 32, of New Bern was charged with felony child abuse/sexual act, indecent liberties with a minor, first-degree sex offense of a child, first-degree rape of a child and first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

According to the sheriff's office, it received a report on Jan. 11 that Whaley had sex with a child. The sheriff's office did not release the gender of the child.

The sheriff's office said that Whaley is accused of touching the child inappropriately when the child was younger, and that Whaley had oral sex with the child. Whaley is also accused of videotaping the sexual activities, the sheriff's office said.

Whaley was not in the Davie County Jail last night.