STONEVILLE -- A Rockingham County man has pleaded guilty to saying he was going to assassinate President Obama.
Steve Lee Stone pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of communicating threats, resisting a public officer and misusing the 911 system, authorities said. He was sentenced to two 45-day jail terms, which were suspended, and 18 months probation.
Police say that Stone, 44, called a 911 dispatcher twice from his mobile home about five miles south of the Virginia border in late July and said he was going to assassinate the president. He did not identify himself.
Sheriff's deputies and a Secret Service agent investigated the caller's identity. Stone was interviewed by Rockingham County deputies at his mobile home in Stoneville.
Deputies say that Stone became combative during the interview and they were forced to use a stun gun and arrest him.
Teenager acquitted in robbery trial
A Forsyth County jury this week found Kalvin Michael Smith Jr. not guilty of robbery.
Smith, who was 16 at the time of his arrest, was accused of robbing Stephonie Jerome Sansbury on Aug. 12 outside the 3 Corner Food Mart on Indiana Avenue.
Sansbury told police that he went into the store then returned to his car to find that a silver car had blocked him in. A man got out of the silver car, pointed a gun and told Sansbury to give him money.
He testified during the trial that he gave Smith about $14. The trial started Monday afternoon. The jury came back with the not-guilty verdict Tuesday, said Belinda Foster, an assistant district attorney.
Smith is the son of Kalvin Smith, a man who supporters believe was wrongfully convicted in 1995 of the near-fatal beating of Jill Marker at the Silk Plant Forest.
1 arrested, 1 still sought in robbery
Winston-Salem police have arrested a man in connection with an armed robbery of a restaurant on Jonestown Road late Wednesday. Another robber was still at large yesterday.
Two men entered the Burger King in the 400 block of Jonestown Road about 10:30 p.m. One man had a handgun, and the other had a hammer. They robbed the restaurant of an undisclosed amount of cash, police said.
After fleeing the restaurant, they tried to steal a customer's car, police said. Once police arrived, the men got out of the car and ran. One man was found in nearby woods, but the other got away.
Tyrece Golphin, 17, of 290 Hialeah Court was charged with two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon. He was being held at the Forsyth County Jail, with bond set at $250,000.
The second robber was described as a black male in his late teens or early 20s, 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet tall, with an average build, close-cut hair and wearing all black clothing.
No one was injured.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 727-2800.
Ex-employee sues Graham group
CHARLOTTE -- A woman has filed a lawsuit against the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, saying she was abruptly fired from the organization after complaining it was not reaching out to blacks.
Kimberly McCallum of Charlotte says in the lawsuit filed in Mecklenburg County that she was the only black employee working in the association's executive offices when she started there in February 2007. She complained to her superiors later that year when she was asked to recruit congregations to a camp program but found that a list of 635 prospective churches had only three congregations that were primarily black.
McCallum was told a week later that her job was being eliminated.
The association declined to immediately talk about McCallum's job but called her allegations "preposterous."
Gastonia backtracks on walk design
GASTONIA -- Contractors have torn up new concrete for the entrance of Gastonia's downtown pedestrian plaza after city officials decided that they didn't like the look.
The Gastonia City Council rejected the off-white walkways and decided to rip them out, a move that will cost the city almost $13,000. City officials said that it is worth getting the look right now, rather than regretting how it looks after it's too late to repair.
City Manager Jim Palenick said that officials are rethinking the plaza's overall design. They are replacing the plain white concrete with a decorative variety that is pressed and colored to look like brick.
The city council committed $600,000 to build the plaza.
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