Regional Briefs: Girl killed in Davidson ATV accident

A 17-year-old girl died Friday evening in an all-terrain vehicle accident in north Davidson County.

The accident occurred off Abbotts Creek Church Road sometime after 7 p.m., said Maj. Brian Grubb of the Davidson County Sheriff's Office. A 23-year-old was riding with the girl, but Grubb said Saturday afternoon that he did not know whether that person was injured.

Other details were scarce Saturday, and no names had been released.

"We're not positive at this point if all the family's been notified, so no names are being given out," Grubb said.

Travis Fain

Work will close lanes on Business 40

State transportation officials will close lanes on Business 40 between the Guilford County line and N.C. 66 in Forsyth County from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Wednesday.

Crews will close one lane at a time in each direction to perform pavement and soil sampling, the N.C. Department of Transportation said in a news release. Each lane will be closed for about 45 minutes.

John Hinton

Mount Olivet Church Road to be closed

State transportation crews will close Mount Olivet Church Road on Monday in Davidson County to replace a drainage pipe under the road.

The work is scheduled to be completed by Jan. 27, the N.C. Department of Transportation said in a news release. Drivers should take N.C. 150 to Community Road as a detour.

John Hinton

Tickets going fast for dog park fundraiser

Tickets are almost sold out for the Dog-Gone Good Time fundraiser to raise money for the Dog Park at Tanglewood Park.

The fundraiser is Jan. 20 at WinMock at Kinderton in Clemmons. Tickets are $50 and include food and drinks, with raffles, auctions, door prizes and dancing. The remaining tickets can be purchased at Truliant Federal Credit Union, 4100 Clemmons Road, Clemmons.

The group had 400 tickets for sale; 40 or 50 remain, said Dan Greer, a spokesman for the organization raising money for the dog park at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons.

The proposed dog park includes an area for small dogs and an area for large ones. The land for the dog park already has been allocated; the group raising money needs to raise $150,000. It has raised $76,000, Greer said.

The group has until the end of 2012 to raise the money, according to the deal it struck with the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners.

For details or to donate to the park, visit www

.dogparkattanglewood.org.

Laura Graff

Council member gets League of Cities post

Winston-Salem City Council member Dan Besse, who represents the city's Southwest Ward, was elected to the board of directors of the National League of Cities during the league's annual meeting in Phoenix in November.

The National League of Cities board includes the president, first vice president, second vice president and 40 members. Twenty board members are elected each year to serve two-year terms. Besse previously served as the chair of the league's Large Cities Council, which includes representatives of cities with populations of 200,000 or more, or the largest city in a state.

Also at the league's meeting, City Council member Derwin Montgomery was appointed the Region 18 director for the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials. The caucus represents the interests of African-American elected officials in the league. Montgomery represents the city's East Ward.

The National League of Cities serves as a resource to and an advocate for more than 19,000 cities, villages and towns.

Laura Graff

Value of school land less than expected

North Carolina's largest school system is getting less than it bargained for from disgraced former state House Speaker Jim Black.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reports that the sale price of nearly 10 acres of undeveloped land Black turned over to help pay the fine for his state corruption conviction is less than half of the amount expected.

The Wake County school board will vote Tuesday on whether to sell the land to the town of Matthews for $295,000. A 2009 appraisal set the value of the suburban Charlotte site at $613,000.

Black was allowed to settle half of his $1 million fine by turning over the land. He paid the other $500,000 in cash.

The Mecklenburg Democrat accepted thousands of dollars in illegal payments. He is out of prison.

The Associated Press