Regional Briefs: Highland Games open today

LINVILLE -- The 54th Grandfather Mountain Highland Games will open today and continue through Sunday with bagpipers, drummers, athletic contests, herding demonstrations, concerts and other events at MacRae Meadows and area venues.

A torchlight opening ceremony will take place tonight at MacRae Meadows, after The Bear, a five-mile footrace up the summit road. The race will start at 7 p.m. Tickets to the torchlight opening ceremony are $15 for adults and $5 for children ages 5-12. Admission for children younger than 5 is free to all events.

MacRae Meadows will open at 9 a.m. Friday for preliminary athletic events, sheepherding, music and other events. The Celtic Groves will be open for music. Tickets are $20 for adults and $5 for ages 5-12. Events will conclude at 3 p.m., then resume with a Celtic music jam concert from 7 to 11 p.m. at MacRae Meadows. The Ceilidh family gathering of Scottish music, song and dance will run from 8 to 10 p.m. at Hayes Auditorium at Lees-McRae College. Tickets are $10 at the door for adults and $5 for ages 5-12.

MacRae Meadows will open at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, with adult tickets $30; and $5 for ages 5-12. The gate will open at 8 a.m. Sunday, with adult tickets $15; and $5 for ages 5-12. The games will close at 4 p.m. Sunday.

For detailed information, visit www.gmhg.org.

Officer in Afghanistan was killed by IED

WASHINGTON -- Army Capt. Mark A. Garner died Monday of wounds he suffered in the Arghandab District in southern Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle, the U.S. Department of Defense said yesterday.

Garner, 30, was a company commander in the 1st Battalion of the 4th Infantry Regiment based in Hohenfels, Germany. His unit is part of the Joint Multinational Readiness Center.

Garner, a 1997 graduate of Elkin High School, was among seven U.S. troops killed in what was one of the deadliest days for U.S. forces in Afghanistan since the American-led invasion in 2001, officials said. Garner is the 13th person from Northwest North Carolina to die in wars in Afghanistan or Iraq since 2004.

Flags are flying at half-staff in Elkin to honor Garner who graduated in 2002 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

Former Basset worker sentenced

MOUNT AIRY -- A former supervisor at Basset Furniture Industries Inc. was sentenced to prison Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to 25 counts of felony embezzlement, authorities said.

Michael Gray Slate, 34, of Mount Airy was sentenced to serve 15 to 18 months in prison and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service, said Noelle Talley, a spokeswoman for the N.C. Attorney General's office in Raleigh. Slate entered his plea in Surry Superior Court.

Slate also was ordered to pay $17,500 in restitution to Bassett, and he was fined $5,000, Talley said.

Slate was among eight people accused of stealing about $1.9 million worth of merchandise from the plant that has since closed.

Authorities said that the thefts of furniture occurred over about seven years.

More candidates for office file

Candidates in Clemmons, Walkertown and Bethania filed to run for office yesterday, the Forsyth County Board of Elections said.

Mary L. Cameron became the fifth candidate trying for one of the three available seats on the Clemmons Village Council. Cameron is trying for her fifth term, having won election in 1993, 1997, 2001 and 2005.

Sarah Welch, an incumbent member of the Walkertown Town Council, filed to become the third candidate in a race for two available seats on the town council. Welch was first elected in 2003. She was re-elected in 2005 and 2007. Because Walkertown has switched to four-year terms, the winners won't have to run again until 2013.

Karl A. Florian filed to run for the board of commissioners in Bethania, which has two seats available this fall. It is Florian's first try for office in a race that has two candidates so far.

President of Greensboro College retires

GREENSBORO -- The president of a debt-ridden North Carolina private college stepped down after several months of controversy over his leadership and the school's mounting debt.

Craven Williams, 69, an ordained Methodist minister, retired yesterday after more than 16 years as president of Greensboro College.

College spokeswoman Cyndie Basinger said she did not know whether Williams' decision to retire was related to the school's debt.

Williams retired before faculty at the 171-year-old college had the chance to cast a vote of confidence, planned this week.