The State for July 20

Woman's body found in Davidson County

Davidson County sheriff's detectives are investigating the shooting death of a woman whose body was found early Tuesday.

County emergency dispatchers were called at 12:11 a.m. about a shooting at 2140 U.S. 64 West, Lot 2, the sheriff's office said in a news release. Deputies found the body of a woman inside the house. Investigators interviewed two people who were at the house at the time of the shooting, and they were released. No charges have been filed.

The sheriff's office did not release the name of the woman, pending notification of next of kin. It also did not release the name of the two people investigators interviewed.

The body of the woman was sent to the medical examiner's office in Chapel Hill. The sheriff's office said in the news release that it would not comment further on the investigation.

Michael Hewlett

King man's body found in Stokes lake

Rescuers on Tuesday found the body of a King man who drowned in a 60-acre lake Sunday after his kayak overturned in a private lake in southwestern Stokes County, authorities said.

The body of Harvey Alexander Ledford Jr., 26, of King was found about 1:30 p.m. about 20 feet from where his wife told emergency officials he went under, according to FOX8/WGHP, the news-gathering partner of the Winston-Salem Journal.

Personnel of 10 agencies had searched the private Pinnacle Watershed off High Bridge Road since Sunday at 4 p.m., the television station reported.

The man's wife called 911 and told emergency officials he tried grabbing hold of the kayak several times before going under. The man was not wearing a life vest, his wife told rescuers.

Searchers were delayed in their recovery efforts by a locked gate that blocked their initial access to the lake. They found the kayak early in the search.

John Hinton

Inspection to close lanes on I-77 bridge

State transportation officials plan to close lanes on the Interstate 77 bridge over the Fisher River in Surry County today in order to inspect the structure.

A lane will be closed in either direction of the highway between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Jim Sparks

Three are arrested in copper thefts

Three Winston-Salem residents were charged Tuesday with stealing or damaging 10 air conditioners valued at $21,000 and other items, Winston-Salem police said in a news release.

The air conditioners were stolen for their copper pipes, which could be sold at local scrap metal dealers, police Capt. David Clayton said.

Christopher Lenard Harper, 24, is charged with two counts of felony larceny, four counts of misdemeanor injury to real property and one count of breaking and entering, police said.

Sarah Michelle Little, 29, is charged with felony larceny, misdemeanor breaking and entering and misdemeanor injury to real property, police said.

Marcus Dwayne Brown, 41, is charged with felony larceny. Harper, Little and Brown live at 1638 N. Chestnut St., Apt. C.

Harper, Little and Brown were arrested after someone saw an air conditioner being cut up at their apartment, Clayton said. All three were accused of stealing an air conditioner Saturday from a house in the 2900 block of Patterson Avenue.

Investigators also linked the trio of break-ins, thefts of air conditioners and copper and related damage to these items from two churches and homes on Orchid Drive, Old Greensboro Road and Rosemary Drive, police said.

Harper, Little and Brown were being held yesterday in the Forsyth County Jail. Harper's bond was set at $15,000, Little's bond at $2,000 and Brown's bond at $4,000.

John Hinton

I-40 lane to be closed for bridge repairs

State transportation officials will close a lane on eastbound Interstate 40 Business in downtown Winston-Salem on Thursday so work crews can repair the bridges that carry Green and Broad streets over the highway.

The lane will be closed at 9 a.m. and reopened by 2:30 p.m., N.C. Department of Transportation officials said.

Jim Sparks

Fine upheld for bar that allowed smoking

North Carolina's Court of Appeals has upheld fines against a Greensboro bar that continued to allow patrons to smoke even after the state enacted a smoking ban.

A three-judge panel ruled unanimously Tuesday that Gate City Billiards owed the fines, saying the bar didn't prove that a private-club definition that allows smoking at nonprofit private clubs but not at for-profit ones was unconstitutional. The judges also said Gate City didn't provide any evidence of its own membership requirements that would prove that it's a private club.

Lawyers for Gate City had argued in February that the state can't allow smoking on the left side of the street but not on the right, while attorneys for Guilford County argued that legislators drew a rational distinction.

The Associated Press

Bids to replace Hatteras span opened

It will cost between $194 million and $250 million to replace the aging bridge that now links Hatteras Island to the northern Outer Banks based on construction bids from three companies opened Tuesday by state transportation officials.

If a bid is approved, a contract could be awarded next week, with construction beginning as early as late 2012, N.C. Department of Transportation officials said, The bridge could open to traffic in spring 2015 and be completed the following year.

The Associated Press