Regional Briefs: Police kill bear found off Robinhood

By: JournalNow Staff | JOURNAL STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
Published: July 14, 2009

Winston-Salem police shot to death a bear last night in the city's northwestern corner, police officials said.

The incident occurred at 245 Kramer Court off Robinhood Road near Shattalon Drive, police officials said.

Details weren't available from police at press time.

WGHP/FOX8 reported that the bear was in a backyard going through trash cans and that officers determined it was a threat.

Throughout the day yesterday police had been warning residents of western Forsyth County to stay away if they saw bears in the area.

Police said they received reports of bear sightings over the weekend on the western edge of the city between Country Club and Robinhood roads.

Forsyth County Animal Control officers advise that people stay away from bears if they see them. Potential sources of food -- including pet food, trash, bird feeders and small pets -- should be removed from outside the home to avoid attracting them.

Officials at Grandfather Mountain in Linville have also temporarily closed a number of hiking trails because of increased bear activity, according to an announcement posted yesterday on the park's Web site.

Closed are the Grandfather Extension Trail, the Black Rock Trail and the Grandfather Trail from the Mile High Swinging Bridge to MacRae Peak.

Tobaccoville mayor files for re-election

Keith Snow filed for re-election yesterday as mayor of Tobaccoville, with candidates for elected boards filing in Kernersville and Lewisville, according to the Forsyth County Board of Elections.

Snow has been mayor of Tobaccoville since 2003. The mayor of the town serves a two-year term.

Kernersville incumbent alderman Dana Caudill Jones filed to run again for her seat on the town's five-member board.

In Lewisville, incumbent council members Mike Horn and Roger Fowler are running to retain their seats. Both filed yesterday, with six slots on the town council available.

Public-records bill goes to Senate

RALEIGH -- A House bill designed to award legal fees more often to media outlets and citizens who successfully sue over the North Carolina public-records law is heading to the Senate.

The House overwhelmingly gave its final approval last night to legislation that narrows the times when local and state governments can avoid paying attorney expenses when they lose in court.

Judges currently can decline to order governmental bodies to pay the fees for the winning side if they determine the government acted with "substantial justification" to deny access. That language would be removed but exceptions would remain.

The bill also would expand an "Open Government Unit" within the Department of Justice to help mediate open meeting and public-record disputes.

The Senate approved a similar bill last year.

Cooper vows to help crime victims

RALEIGH -- North Carolina's attorney general said that his office will help crime victims reclaim the restitution money they were entitled to get that was instead diverted to state and local governments.

Attorney General Roy Cooper said yesterday that crime victims can expect his office to help with the process of making sure they were paid what they were due. Cooper spokeswoman Noelle Talley said that a unit inside Cooper's office will work with court administrators to recover the money.

A 1998 state law put crime victims first in line to receive any restitution money paid by probationers, parolees and prisoners. The News & Observer of Raleigh reported this past weekend that millions of dollars instead went to state and local treasuries over the past 10 years.

Indigent Defense Services payments

RALEIGH -- The North Carolina office that pays to defend crime suspects who can't afford their own lawyer is catching up on its overdue legal bills.

The state's Indigent Defense Services sent $4 million last week to private lawyers for representing criminal defendants. Executive Director Thomas Maher said yesterday that attorneys who submitted bills before the state's fiscal year ended last month are still owed more than $2 million from the current year's recession-ravaged budget.

Indigent Defense Services has run out of money and delayed payments to attorneys several times since it was created in 2001.Unlike other public services, court-appointed counsel cannot be scaled back because the Constitution guarantees every criminal defendant an attorney.