Hospital opens site to do COVID testing

The newly opened Northern Outreach Laboratory is located on the corner of Worth Street, closest to Rockford Street, and across the street from the Northern Regional Hospital Emergency Department. The office is next door to Affordable Wellness.

Northern Regional Hospital has opted to open an outreach laboratory across the street from the hospital’s emergency department, where it now will be doing its COVID-19 testing.

”The site is for the collection of specimens only and is not a clinic to be evaluated by a physician,” according to a statement released by Ashly Lancaster, director of marketing for the hospital. “Patients may come for a COVID-19 test, with or without symptoms.”

She said the outreach site will not be testing for antibodies, nor are the workers there administering rapid tests.

“As of Friday morning, the return of test results is averaging three to five days,” she said.

In addition to walk-ins, Northern is utilizing the outreach location to test pre-surgical patients and those sent from other area medical clinics who may be out of test kits. Insurance is accepted and there are options available for those without insurance.

“We do ask for anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 to call the number on the door when they arrive and someone will instruct them on entering the office.”

She said there are several reasons the hospital has opted to move testing from the emergency department to the facility.

“Until now, we have had to send all of our pre-surgery patients to our emergency department to be tested for COVID several days prior to their surgery date, as it is required for them to test negative prior to elective surgical procedures. Having this location available for those patients is quicker, easier, and more convenient for them,” she said.

Lancaster said the hospital, during July, averaged administering between 50 and 60 tests a day.

“There are a growing number of people who have been exposed at their place of work, at home, etc. and are seeking a test for reassurance, to return to work, or to travel, even if they do not have symptoms,” she said, adding that in the first week of operation for the center, “the majority of our patients have been asymptomatic.”

The climb in the number of tests is reflected, at least in part, in the continuing climb of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the area. As of Saturday, the Virginia Department of Health and Human Services reported Surry County had 928 cases, with 9 deaths. Figures from neighboring counties include: Forsyth with 5,213 with 52 deaths; Yadkin County with 532 cases and 6 deaths; Wilkes with 792 cases and 11 deaths, and Alleghany County with 162 cases and no deaths. Across the border in Virginia the figures are 327 cases, with 13 deaths in Carroll County, 346 with 24 deaths in Galax, 152 cases with 5 deaths in Grayson County, and 154 cases with four deaths in Patrick County.

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Wendy’s

Wendy’s last week reported second-quarter net income of $24.9 million, or 11 cents per share. That was down from $32.4 million, or 14 cents per share for the same quarter a year ago, but slightly ahead of what some analysts had projected.

Removing one-time charges, the adjusted earnings per share was 12 cents, ahead of the 11 cents per share many analysts had forecast.

Total revenue for the fast food chain was $402.3 million, down from $435.3 million during the same period a year ago.

Year to date, Wendy’s net income stood at $39.3 million in 2020, down sharply from $64.3 million a year earlier, while total revenue for the first half of 2020 stood at $650.6 million, down from $676.8 million during the first half of 2019.

The fast food company, with multiple locations in Surry County, declared a per share dividend of 5 cents, payable on Sept. 15 to shareholders of record as of Sept. 1.

“I continue to be extremely proud of, and humbled by, the tireless efforts and dedication from our employees, franchisees and supplier partners across the globe as we successfully manage through COVID-19,” President and Chief Executive Officer Todd Penegor said when the results were released. “Our business and restaurant economic model continue to show incredible resilience as we build momentum with U.S. same-restaurant sales accelerating to high-single digit growth in July, driven by the continued strength of our breakfast and digital businesses.”

Yum Brands

Yum Brands, owner of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, and other businesses, recently reported its second quarter and year-to-date financial results.

For the second quarter, which ended June 30, the company reported net income at $206 million, or 67 cents per share, down from $289 million, or 92 cents per share, during the same period a year earlier. Total revenue for the quarter stood at $1.19 billion, down from $1.31 billion a year earlier.

For the first six months of the year, net income was $289 million, 94 cents per share, nearly half of the $551 million, $1.75 per share, from a year earlier.

“While second-quarter results were meaningfully impacted by COVID-19, I couldn’t be prouder of how our brands adapted with remarkable agility, leveraging consumer insights and digitally enabled off-premise capabilities to adjust operations, menu options and marketing across the globe,” said David Giggs, CEO. “Digital sales were a big driver of the dramatic improvement in sales from the initial impact of COVID-19.”

AEP

American Electric Power Co., which supplies electric service to most customers in both Carroll and Patrick counties in Virginia, reported last week operating earnings were up in the quarter which ended June 30.

Operating revenue stood at $533.5 million for the quarter, $1.08 per share, up from $493.6 million, or $1 per share, during the same period in 2019. Year to date the company has experienced operating revenue of $1.03 billion, or $2.10 per share, down from $1.07 billion, or $2.19 per share a year earlier.

Earlier the company had declared a 70 cents per share case dividend, payable Sept. 10 to stockholders of record on Aug. 10.

“Our employees have done an amazing job protecting themselves and our customers over the past five months as we’ve kept power flowing, responded to storms and adjusted to a new normal of nearly 12,000 employees working remotely,” said said Nicholas K. Akins, AEP chairman, president and chief executive officer.

”In the last few months, we’ve focused on outreach to our customers, providing resources and payment options to help them manage the economic impacts of the pandemic. While adjusting to the challenges of the pandemic, we still made significant progress on our long-term strategy to diversify our generation mix in the second quarter. We received all necessary approvals to move forward with the $2 billion North Central wind projects that will provide renewable energy for our customers in Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. Additionally, we retired the last generating unit at our coal-fueled Conesville Plant in Ohio.

Yadkin Valley Economic Development District Inc. Senior Services team recently held nine drive-through volunteer recognition events to honor those involved in the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP). This program is designed for anyone 55 or older to be involved in volunteering in the community.

Recognitions were held at the Jones Family Resource Center — including volunteers from the Mount Airy Nutrition Site and Senior Center, Lyn’s Medical Loan Closet, Surry Baptist Association, and the Mount Airy Public Library; Pilot Mountain Nutrition Site and Senior Center; Foothills Food Pantry; Staples Food Pantry; American Red Cross; Yadkin Valley Nutrition Site and Senior Center; Yadkin County Nutrition Site and Senior Center; Yadkin Christian Ministries; and East Bend Nutrition Site and Senior Center.

These recognition events were held in lieu of the annual Volunteer Recognition Banquet that was scheduled to occur in April but was cancelled due to COVID-19. RSVP has more th an 150 active volunteers serving in Surry and Yadkin counties. These volunteers logged more th an 20,500 hours of service from April 2019 to March 2020.

Volunteers were invited to attend the event at the site where they serve, or the one most convenient for them. Each volunteer received a certificate, insulated tote, pen and notepad, as well as a treat bag filled with fresh fruit, a pie, and some peppermints.

Two plaques were given to honor the volunteers who had the most hours served, one for Surry County and one for Yadkin County. Barbara George received the award for Surry County having volunteered 1,743 hours for the year. The Yadkin County recipient was Henry Hutchens with a total of 1,185 hours served for the year.

Anyone interested in volunteering opportunities should call RSVP manager Emily Mauck at 336-415-4247.

North Carolina continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed 2,160 people at last report, and a top official in Raleigh is keenly aware of its magnitude due to being stricken with the coronavirus himself.

“But as we focus on the sick, we’ve got to find a balance of where we don’t punish the healthy along the way,” state Treasurer Dale Folwell said Friday afternoon during a visit to Mount Airy.

Folwell was in town for the grand opening of the local Republican Party Headquarters at 693 W. Pine St., where about 75 people assembled to see a ribbon cut at the front door. They then gathered at an area nearby to hear remarks from the visiting official who escaped the noontime sun by standing under a tent.

The state treasurer, the first Republican to hold that post in 140 years who is seeking re-election against Democratic candidate Ronnie Chatterji in November’s election, has been critical of Gov. Roy Cooper’s handling of COVID-19.

This has included attempts to apply public pressure on Cooper, a Democrat, to reopen North Carolina’s economy, which Folwell reiterated Friday.

“What I’ve said is we need to push as much power down to the local level as possible,” the state official said in fielding questions before the grand opening of the headquarters, taking into account the COVID-19 situation in different communities.

Folwell says he is against a “one size fits none” approach.

Meanwhile, North Carolina as a whole remains in Phase Two of a state reopening plan, due to the governor announcing last Wednesday that it will be extended until at least Sept. 11, leaving coronavirus restrictions in place.

Along with maintaining limits on the size of gatherings indoors and outdoors in retail stores, restaurants and other businesses, the restrictions continue to keep bars, gyms, entertainment venues such as movie theaters and other establishments closed.

While deaths in the state remain high, hospitalization numbers are coming down, with Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, saying that metrics the state uses to analyze the COVID-19 spread show signs of stabilization.

In wanting to maintain that stability, Cohen considers the number of cases as still too high — with at least 134,766 people in North Carolina having tested positive as of Saturday — and favors the continuation of a cautious approach.

Folwell, who was hospitalized with the disease earlier this year, said Friday that his criticisms of the governor, mirroring those of Cooper’s Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, aren’t politically motivated.

“I don’t think people give a damn what political party you’re a member of — they just want their problems fixed,” the state treasurer said of various facets impacted by COVID-19. These include jobs, health, food availability and the education of their children.

“This election is really about choice,” said Folwell, whose role as treasurer involves managing the “public purse,” including a pension fund for teachers, law enforcement officers and similar employees in addition to the state health plan.

He said Friday that all those operations are remaining stable amid the pandemic that has adversely impacted North Carolina’s financial picture overall.

“I wouldn’t trade places with any other state treasurer in the U.S. based on the potential we have to recover,” Folwell told the crowd gathered around the tent.

The Winston-Salem man has been treasurer since January 2017 and before that served four terms in the N.C. House of Representatives, including one as speaker pro tempore, the second in command of that body.

GOP chairman comments

Friday’s gathering at the Mount Airy Republican Party Headquarters — which will be at the center of local campaign activities until the November election — included a party pep talk of sorts by Surry County GOP Chairman Mark Jones.

“Everybody here understands this is the most critical election of our lifetime,” Jones told those assembled.

He warned that if Republican candidates fail to win or retain key seats such as president and governor this year, there might not be another chance to have control if far left forces take over.

Jones referred to one of the latter’s proposals, to defund police agencies around the country, as the crowd that included law enforcement personnel such as Surry County Sheriff Steve Hiatt and other GOP officer-holders or seekers listened.

“That right there tells you the difference between the Democratic and Republican parties.”

Many Surry County residents found their world rattled just a bit for a few moments this morning, when a magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck just outside of Sparta shortly after 8 a.m. The US Geological Survey (USGS) said this is the most powerful earthquake to strike North Carolina in more than a century and the strongest on the East Coast in nearly a decade.

The quake, according to the US Geological Survey, was felt in a seven-state area that includes North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia. It was the fourth quake to strike the area in less than 24 hours — the USGS said on its website this morning that the earthquake was preceded by at least “four small foreshocks ranging from M 2.1-2.6, beginning about 25 hours prior to the main shock.

Hundreds of people in Surry County and the surrounding area have reported on Facebook and elsewhere they felt the quake this morning. In Sparta, a number of media reports show minor damage in the area, mostly in the form of some cracks in foundations, chimney damage, and broken dishes that were shaken from their cabinets.

“Moderately damaging earthquakes strike the inland Carolinas every few decades, and smaller earthquakes are felt about once each year or two,” the website said.

The agency said a magnitude 5.2 quake struck an area in the Great Smoky Mountains in 1916, roughly 60 miles from where Sunday’s quake occurred. The largest recent earthquake to affect the East Cost was the magnitude 5.8 event centered in Mineral, Virginia on Aug. 23, 2011. That earthquake was felt widely along the East Coast, including around Surry County, and caused slight damage around the epicenter..

Northern Regional Hospital has opted to open an outreach laboratory across the street from the hospital’s emergency department, where it now will be doing its COVID-19 testing.

She said the outreach site will not be testing for antibodies, nor are the workers there administering rapid tests.

“As of Friday morning, the return of test results is averaging three to five days,” she said.

“We do ask for anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 to call the number on the door when they arrive and someone will instruct them on entering the office.”

She said there are several reasons the hospital has opted to move testing from the emergency department to the facility.

Lancaster said the hospital, during July, averaged administering between 50 and 60 tests a day.

ELKLIN — Dr. Jonathan Snyder recently was named the first chief medical officer of Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital. An Elkin native, Dr. Snyder is board-certified in orthopedic surgery and a Fellow in the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.

“This newly created position will allow Dr. Snyder to continue as an orthopedic surgeon while influencing system wide decisions and performance,” said Paul Hammes, Hugh Chatham’s CEO. “The future of healthcare will require exceptional quality, service, and seamless access. Jonathan brings great vision, perspective and presence of mind to the executive team, and will be pivotal as we engage the entire organization in making our vision a reality,” continued Hammes.

Dr. Snyder earned a biology degree with distinction at Duke University prior to completing medical school at Wake Forest University, then returning to Duke for a residency in orthopedic surgery. Dr. Snyder joined Tri-County Orthopedic and Sports Medicine and the Hugh Chatham medical staff in 2009. He served as chief of surgery from 2014-2017 and as chief of the medical staff since January of 2018.

Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital (www.hughchatham.org) is a not-for-profit community health care network of physician clinics and an 81-bed acute care hospital in Elkin.

DOBSON — The Surry County Sheriff’s Office has released the following arrest reports:

• Julian Leon Rawley II, 24, of Carolina Court, Mount Airy, was served a criminal summons June 18 charging him with second-degree trespassing, dated June 12. The complainant is Cathy Brim of Mount Airy. He was given an Aug. 20 court date.

Rawley also has an Aug. 31 court date to face charges of possession of marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia and also resisting an officer.

On Sept. 2 the charges are felony larceny and felony financial card theft.

In May 2018 Rawley was charged with two counts of violating a restraining order. On Sept. 19, 2018, law enforcement says he ran over his girlfriend after she walked out of their house during an argument, inflicting serious injury.

A month later the sheriff’s office arrested four people who allegedly were in the car with Rawley at the time of the accident. They were each charged with a felony count of being a passenger and fleeing an accident that resulted in injury.

Only a month and a half after these other charges were filed, warrants were taken out on Rawley for new charges: assault on a female and assault by pointing a gun, both dated Dec. 4, 2018.

In November 2019 Rawley was convicted of felony hit and run and given a suspended sentence and probation.

• Jacob Anthony Boyd, 26, of Cedar Ridge Road, Mount Airy, was stopped June 3 on West Pine Street, Mount Airy, and served with three warrants: felony habitual larceny for the Mount Airy Police Department, felony possession of stolen goods, and misdemeanor larceny. He was given a $5,000 secured bond and a July 30 court date.

• Anthony Lavon Depree White, 33, of Smith Landing Road, Mount Airy, was served an order for arrest June 3 for failure to appear in court Feb. 26 on an unspecified charge. He was given a $2,500 secured bond and a July 26 court date.

In 2008 White was convicted in Cumberland County of possession with intent to sell marijuana. He was given a suspended sentence that was later activated. He served three and a half months in prison.

In September 2012 he was convicted in Dobson of felony selling a Schedule II drug and felony possession with intent to sell a Schedule II drug. He was given a suspended sentence, but after another drug conviction the following year, the sentence was activated, and he served seven and a half months in prison.

That 2013 conviction was for two counts of felony selling a Schedule II drug, three counts of possession with intent to sell a Schedule II drug, two counts of felony maintaining a drug dwelling or vehicle, and drug paraphernalia. This added another 10 months onto the 7½ he was already serving, so he was in prison from March 2013 to September 2014.

In February 2017 he again was convicted of felony selling a Schedule II drug and felony possession of a Schedule II drug. He served 10 months in prison.

• Amanda Ashley Hunter, 27, of Bear Creek Church Road, Dobson, was served a warrant June 7, charging her with possession of stolen goods, dated April 29. She was given a $500 unsecured bond and a June 24 court date.

For the first time since 1967, the VFW Labor Day Gun Show and Flea Market in HIllsville, Virginia, will not be held.

This year’s flea market was to be the 53rd annual installment of Hillsville’s biggest event, but officials with the Grover King VFW Post 1115 voted to cancel this year’s show after meeting Friday morning, according to the post’s quartermaster, Gary Adams. The event has been held every year since its humble beginnings before blossoming into what organizers clai is one of the biggest flea markets in the United States, drawing, at its peak, what they say are hundreds of thousands of visitors for the four-day event.

Friday’s decision to cancel the event comes on the heels of state officials stepping in and preventing town leaders from not issuing food vendor and other permits.

On June 10, both Adams and Hillsville Mayor Greg Crowder stated that the 2020 Flea Market would go on as planned, even though other big events in the area such as the Galax Old-Time Fiddlers’ Convention had already cancelled its 2020 date because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Things began to change quickly, however, after the Town of Hillsville posted Tuesday on its Facebook page that the town would not be issuing permits or be involved with this year’s show. The town had received notification if it issued such permits, the health department would take action against town officials, including potential misdemeanor charges and civil action.

Hillsville Town Manager Retta Jackson said the state has designated this event as a “festival,” which changed the requirements, meaning the town will no longer be able to issue permits for the event in 2020, although yard sale permits would still be sold to town residents for Labor Day Weekend.

“Public health has always been and continues to be a concern. We have continued selling yard sale permits since the state has moved to Phase 2 and we will continue issuing those permits to town residents,” Jackson said. “We will continue selling yard sale permits throughout the season as usual and that will include the dates of Labor Day. The regulations for the yard sale permits still apply in that property owners are able to get a permit and sell. They will have to follow any mandates or orders from the governor also.”

Even so, organizers of the Bowman Festival and Hundley Flea Market portion of the annual show had already announced they were not participating in this year’s Hillsville Flea Market. That basically left just the VFW lot remaining for a potential show in 2020 before Friday’s decision to cancel.

“Just too much come against us. We couldn’t pull it off,” Adams said Friday following the VFW meeting, noting the post is working with vendors to roll over their payments to next year’s show and holding spaces for those vendors in 2021. “We are working with everybody. We just couldn’t think of a way to pull it off. We had problems with gate workers this year, we had problems with the ROTC this year because the school system couldn’t help us. We had problems with trash pickup, just a lot of our volunteers weren’t able to help us this year. It takes a lot of organizations for us to pull off a flea market and everybody is feeling the effects.”

Area groups to be hurt

As far as the Grover King Post 1115, Adams said the local VFW would be “okay.” He said the post has prepared for such a scenario so that it would be able to survive without its biggest annual fundraiser. While he said the post has been criticized for being “greedy” on social media for trying to hold a flea market this year, Adams wanted the community to know the reasons behind waiting so long to make a decision.

”I hate it for the other people. We are going to survive it, but a lot of people depend on us that will be let down. We have a lot of commitments people don’t think about and that is what bothers me,” Adams said. “We won’t be able to honor our commitments. A lot of people depend on us. I know a lot of people on social media think we are greedy and think we are pocketing that money. We are not. That money comes in and goes right back out. We spend a lot of money in programs, especially with the youth.”

Some of those programs have included providing funds to the Carroll County Touchdown Club (for the high school football program), the high school chorus program, girls’ and boys’ basketball teams, and the JROTC program at CCHS. Adams said at least three churches depend on the VFW show also for funds from the gate. Additionally, he said the Grover King VFW Post uses the funds for veterans in military services, including supporting three service officers in the Department of the VA.

“The list goes on and on,” Adams said. “We gave more money than we made last year out to the community and that is a fact.

Adams said the hope is that the pandemic will have blown over in time for next year’s Memorial Day Flea Market, and certainly in time for next year’s Labor Day show. He said the VFW has no plans of discontinuing the annual show permanently, although he admitted it has not been the moneymaker it has in the past.

“It has declined to, last year we probably made 25% of what we are used to (in the hey day). Online (shopping) has to do a lot with that. A lot of people just don’t go for it like they used to. It is an older generation thing,” Adams said. “But we have been bracing ourselves for something like this. We just figured it would be something else that took it out. We didn’t think it would be the Mount Rogers Health District.”

Before the VFW’s decision to cancel the Flea Market this year, Jeremy Hundley of the Hundley Flea Market (across the road from the VFW post) announced the decision to cancel its portion of the show on Facebook.

“It is with heavy hearts that we must announce that the Labor Day show will indeed be cancelled. Trust me when I say that this hurts us as much as it does any of you, the vendors, or the general public,” Hundley wrote on Hundley Flea Market’s Facebook page. “This was not our decision and is something we worked really hard to avoid. To the public: we will work twice as hard to make sure that Memorial Day and Labor Day are great shows in 2021 and we hope to see you all out in full force. To the vendors: I will begin contacting you guys and issuing refunds either on Friday of this week or on Monday of next week. Any questions or comments, you know that I am always available.”

Allen Worrell can be reached at (276) 779-4062 or on Twitter@AWorrellTCN

DOBSON — The Small Business Center at Surry Community College has announced the expansion in its business counseling services.

The center is offering free counseling services to local small business owners affected by the COVID-19 economic crisis. This effort will expand counseling to more than 40 different categories that are uniquely suited for small businesses in Surry and Yadkin counties.

“Local businesses are currently experiencing multiple challenges in every aspect of owning and operating a business in this period of economic crisis. Counseling services provided by the SBC are intended to help local business owners meet these many challenges,” says Mark Harden, director of the Small Business Center. “Consulting services include accounting, finance, legal, marketing, branding, e-commerce, social media, technology, website design, employee matters, business planning and numerous other topics. Applicants will have access to local experts. All SBC confidential counseling is free up to the prescribed limits by the SBC and will be offered remotely if requested.

In direct response to the COVID-19 economic crisis, North Carolina’s General Assembly passed H1043, providing grants to Small Business Centers with the express goal of providing free or low-cost counseling services to businesses negatively affected by COVID-19. The expanded counseling has been made possible by these grants and enables the SBC to provide free counseling, coaching, information and resources to local small business owners who are struggling to remain in business due to the pandemic.

The SBC can also fund the use of local professionals, other than the SBC counselors, for specialized counseling and services needed by individual business owners.

“This health crisis has been detrimental for so many of our local small businesses, and many are struggling to figure out how to remain in business,” explains Harden. “Pandemic relief funding has allowed the SBC to hire more counselors and expand the extent of our counseling services to local businesses in order to help them survive during these challenging times.”

Interested businesses are encouraged to apply by visiting www.surry.edu/sbc and click on the “Request Confidential Counseling” button. Businesses needing assistance with COVID-19 business issues can also contact Dale Badgett, Small Business Center counselor at 336-386-3445 or [email protected]. Any in-person counselling will follow social distancing protocols.

More than 100 members of the Mount Airy High School Class of 2020 finally got a chance to celebrate graduation — though it was far different than the ceremonies enjoyed by their predecessors over the years.

The students gathered recently for a morning graduation at the high school’s Wallace Shelton Stadium, with graduates required to sit 6 feet apart, wear masks, and they were each limited to just two family members attending the ceremonies. All of those measures were in keeping with CDC recommendations and state mandates for public gatherings, aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.

“It was a little different, but it was still a wonderful ceremony,” said Dr. Kim Morrison, city schools superintendent.

She said the school system began working with the seniors and their parents in the spring, shortly after Gov. Roy Cooper’s stay-at-home orders meant educational activities had to go virtual and most extracurricular activities were cancelled.

She said the vast majority of parents and students wanted to wait until later in the year to hold a graduation ceremony, hoping those restrictions would ease. They did not, forcing the school system into altering the graduation ceremony.

One unfortunate fallout, she said, was that a few of the students were not able to attend, having already moved on to military service or college. Still, she said most students were able to take part, and those who could not, as well as any other friends and relatives not in attendance, were able to watch the ceremony being live streamed on the city school’s website.

Additionally, she said all graduates were given a video of the day’s events, and the recording is still available online.

“This class will have a lot of mementos to take with them,” she said.

The ceremony did include three student speeches, but those were recorded ahead of time and played on large screens in the stadium. As the students were called to the stage, each one came individually, while others maintained social distancing.

She said the ceremony took about twice as long as a typical graduation.

There were 126 graduates in this year’s class, according to information supplied by the city school system. Among those, 37 qualified as honor graduates, 18 as Summa Cum Laude, 12 as Magna Cum Laude and seven as Cum Laude. Roughly 12% of the class is entering the workforce or military service, while the remaining 88% plan on attending a two- or four-year college this autumn. All totaled, those continuing their education were offered more than $1.5 million in scholarships.

Mount Airy residents have been appointed or reappointed to three different advisory groups and commissions that have a hand in aspects of local life ranging from planning growth to preservation and even death.

These include the Mount Airy Planning Board, the city Historic Preservation Commission and the Cemetery Trustees Board.

One of the appointments was approved during a meeting of the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners,Thursday afternoon, when Carroll Hooker was named to the Mount Airy Historic Preservation Commission.

It is a nine-member citizen board that advises the commissioners on historic landmark and property designations and functions as a design review board for proposed changes to the exterior of such properties and structures.

Members of the commission must be qualified based on interest or experience in history, architecture, archaeology or related fields.

Hooker is replacing Amanda Yarboro, who resigned from the preservation group, leading to a recommendation for his appointment.

The new appointee is to serve out the remainder of Yarboro’s term that expires on June 20, 2021.

Hooker, 70, is a retiree whose background includes serving as facilities director at the RidgeCrest retirement community for more than 18 years, according to bio information.

He also has been self-employed, running a wallpaper-installation business, in addition to working as a paramedic with the Surry County Emergency Medical Service for 10-plus years.

During the commissioners’ last meeting on July 16, Joseph Zalescik was appointed to the Mount Airy Planning Board.

This was necessitated by board member David Jones relocating outside the city limits and therefore no longer being eligible to serve on that group.

Zalescik was approved to complete the unexpired term of Jones ending on Oct. 31, 2022. No bio information was available for him.

The Mount Airy Planning Board is an advisory group to the city commissioners which analyzes present and emerging land-development trends and activities. It makes recommendations on plans, policies and ordinances designed to maximize opportunities for growth while promoting public health, safety, morals and welfare.

That group has nine members.

Also in July, three members of the Cemetery Trustees Board whose terms have expired were reappointed, Dr. John Crane, Ivy Sheppard and Bill Rountree.

They each were approved for new four-year terms ending on March 1, 2024.

The Cemetery Trustees Board is a five-member body that oversees the municipal-owned Oakdale Cemetery.

DOBSON — A sick employee has caused the Surry County Judicial Center to be shut down until Monday.

Neil Brendle, the Surry County clerk of court, posted a notice on the county clerk’s website and on its Facebook page about the closure Thursday morning.

“To protect the health and safety of the public and personnel the Surry County courthouse facility is CLOSED EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY for deep cleaning by order of the senior resident superior court judge,” Brendle posted. “This order is effective immediately, and the facility will remain closed on Thursday, Aug. 6, and Friday, Aug. 7.”

In her court order, Judge Angela Puckett stated, “An employee of the Surry County Register of Deeds Office has tested positive for COVID-19 on or about Aug. 5, 2020. This individual may have exposed other immediate staff members, and they, therefore, may have exposed other individuals throughout the Surry County Courthouse.”

While respecting the privacy of the employee who is sick, Carolyn Comer, the county register of deeds, did say it was a woman in her office who had come down sick and tested positive for the virus.

When the state first went into the shelter-at-home period, Comer said the courthouse was closed to the public, however, “we were able to still work in the office. But now we have a case.”

As far as where the worker caught the virus, Comer said, “No one can make that call where it came from.” She said the employee has been questioned about where she has been and who she has been in contact with.

The Register of Deeds office has been doing what it can to keep people, she said. There are Plexiglas barriers at front desks, hand sanitizer stations throughout the offices and courthouse, X marks on the floor to make sure people stay 6 feet apart, and the employees make sure they have their masks on when they interact with the public or each other.

Still, because of the close proximity of the affected worker to others, many of the deeds employees are now under quarantine at home, she added.

While the courtrooms are expected to reopen Monday, the deeds office won’t be open until the following Monday, Aug. 17.

Late on Thursday, Comer said that she had spoken to Puckett and appreciated the judge working with her on finding a way to keep some work flow going during the closure.

Some laptops have been set up to work with the county’s information system so that employees can work from home. Though Comer said she wouldn’t expect any employee showing symptoms to try to work while actively sick.

The county has set up a method of electronic recording of real estate transactions. If a person sells a piece of property, an attorney will handle the paperwork, Comer gave as an example. That attorney will be authorized as a submitter through a portal to file the document.

With the whole courthouse shut down, Comer said this real estate work may not be ready to go until Monday, but it would give the staff a way to get some things done for the week the office is closed.

For those needing to do business with the clerk of courts office, Brendle posted this notice, “I have designated an alternate filing site to be located at the Surry County Magistrate’s Office, 120 W. Kapp St., Dobson, NC 27017. Their office number is 336-386-3719.”

Brendle added, “If you have a District Court appearance scheduled during this temporary closure, please contact either your attorney or our office at 336-386-3700 next week to determine your next court date.

“Administrative/traffic court appearances that were scheduled for Friday, Aug. 7, will be added to the Friday, Aug. 14, session. Please contact our office if you need a continuance in these matters.”

The public may contact the Clerk of Superior Court’s staff at [email protected] or Brendle himself at [email protected].

Judge Puckett said, “As has been the case throughout this pandemic crisis, this court is faced with making unprecedented decisions concerning the closure of courthouse facilities, which are generally required by law to be open to the public.

“Such decisions necessarily include a balancing of the imperative and absolute necessity of protecting the public from the possibility of infection, while at the same time protecting the constitutional rights of those having pending civil and criminal proceedings that need to be addressed in a timely manner.”

Surry isn’t the only county to have a courthouse closure right now because of detection of the virus. Three others were also closed for Thursday and today: Guilford, Harnett and Lee counties.

Brendle said he believed the health procedures put in place has kept the courthouse from having to go through a shutdown up until now. In addition to the steps Comer noted, Brendle said visitors arriving at the building are screened before being allowed inside. They are asked questions and have their temperature checked, he noted.

The courtrooms get a quick cleaning during a morning break and then again in an afternoon break, he explained. At the end of the day, the courtrooms get a more thorough sanitizing.

“Every single individual I’ve encountered has been self-aware with proper hygiene and protective equipment,” he said of the employees.

While Comer is coming up on retirement (having announced she wouldn’t run for office this November), Brendle is less than halfway through his first term of office after winning in 2018.

While he acknowledged that no previous clerk of court has gone through an experience like 2020, he said he still loves his job and has only taken one day off since March.

As for next week, Puckett said, “Upon the reopening at the Surry County Courthouse, it is mandated that no employee within any department located inside the courthouse return to work if experiencing any symptoms.”

While generally supporting the creation of the proposed Market Street Entertainment District, the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners decided Thursday afternoon that a public hearing should be conducted before it becomes reality.

That plan, introduced to the board last month by Main Street Coordinator Lizzie Morrison of the group Mount Airy Downtown Inc., calls for closing a portion of Market Street on weekends during warmer months to establish a pedestrian-only area.

This would include the moving of picnic tables in and out of the closed section — from near Market Street’s halfway point south to Franklin Street — to allow outdoor dining, with open containers of alcoholic beverages there another part of the proposal.

The once-rundown Market Street has undergone a major transformation in recent years and is now home to six businesses, including two craft beer/restaurant operations that draw much night life.

Morrison said last month that the proposed entertainment district was aimed at increasing business opportunities for dining establishments impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

“This project is a result of COVID-19,” the Main Street coordinator reiterated Thursday afternoon when presenting a final plan for commissioner approval, “but also a result of the increased residential (use) in the area.”

That includes nearby condominium and apartment dwellers for whom the entertainment district would serve as “a living room, if you will,” added Morrison, saying Mount Airy Downtown is looking out for both residential and business stakeholders.

Under the plan tweaked since last month, the affected portion of Market Street would be closed to traffic from 4 p.m. on Fridays to 9 p.m. on Sundays from March 1 through Dec. 1.

This would coincide with an ordinance change to allow the consumption of malt beverages or unfortified wine in the entertainment district, which the commissioners also were asked to approve Thursday afternoon as part of the overall plan.

Police Chief Dale Watson said the open-container provision and the closing of part of Market Street are considered a package deal.

Morrison says the area would not just serve as an outdoors dining venue or “beer garden,” but be available for additional programming such as food truck events, artistic and farmers’ market activities. “I want this to be community space,” she advised.

“We’re thinking we would like to start this on Sept. 4,” Morrison said, and maintain the district for a trial period to see how it works.

Public hearing approved

Commissioner Jon Cawley, whose suggestion last month to lengthen the weekend closures from an initial April through October period was incorporated into the final proposal, said Thursday he likes the idea of a pedestrian-only area.

However, both Cawley and Commissioner Tom Koch said they had both been contacted by some business owners on Market Street who are opposed to the entertainment district and related closures.

“I can’t support this until the people who put their business there…are satisfied,” he said.

“Other than that, I‘m happy with it,” Cawley commented.

This led to a suggestion by Tom Koch to hold a public forum to allow interested parties to weigh in on the plan. It later prompted a motion by Commissioner Steve Yokeley that a public hearing be held instead — which he explained would be more formal.

The board voted 5-0 to set the hearing for its next meeting on Aug. 20 to allow citizens to be heard on the issue.

“Before we make an arbitrary decision, let’s give them a chance to talk to us,” Koch reasoned.

One person made her opinion known during a public forum portion of Thursday’s meeting. Maria Kriska, an owner of Thirsty Souls Community Brewing on Market Street, said she believes the entertainment district would be “very beneficial” to the local restaurant industry.

Morrison, who said she supported the idea of a hearing, acknowledged the opposition of some to the plan, saying Mount Airy Downtown rarely achieves a “complete consensus” from every property owner on projects undertaken.

As for Market Street, the coordinator said steps were incorporated to address the concerns of business operators opposing the proposal, including making sure the roadway would not be blocked in front of their establishments.

Based on material presented last month, a 15-minute parking and loading zone turnaround area would be created to benefit retail and service entities.

The commissioners did give their OK Thursday for a small vehicular alleyway behind Thirsty Souls Community Brewing to be converted into a permanent pedestrian area as part of the overall changeover.

It will be called “Melva’s Alley” in memory of Melva Houston, an internationally known singer who resided in Mount Airy before losing a battle with cancer earlier this year.

Also approved was the painting of crosswalk and other areas on Market Street.

HILLSVILLE, Va. — The state of Virginia has intervened on one of the biggest draws in Southwest Virginia.

A classification change by the Virginia Department of Health has left the town of Hillsville unable to issue permits for the Grover King VFW Post 1115 Labor Day Flea Market and Gun Show.

As of the last meeting of county officials in July, the supervisors learned that the state would not allow food vendors at the event. Still at that time no decision had been made on the fate of the annual show in the hopes that Gov. Ralph Northam would ease rules again by the start of September.

However, on Tuesday, the town posted a notice on its website that it had received a warning from the state not to issue permits under threat of criminal charges.

The website states, “The Town of Hillsville will not be issuing permits or having involvement in this year’s Labor Day Flea Market due to the receipt of a letter from the Virginia Department of Health.”

The website then quotes the letter as saying, “Please be advised if you continue with the planned event without meeting the requirements of Executive Order 67, the CCHD (Carroll County Health Department) will seek enforcement action … including Class 1 criminal misdemeanor charges and civil injunctive relief.”

Town Manager Retta Jackson said the state has designated this event as a “festival,” which changed the state requirements.

According to the Virginia Governor’s website, Executive Order 67 outlines restrictions for entertainment and amusement businesses.

“The total number of attendees (including both participants and spectators) cannot exceed the lesser of 50% of the lowest occupancy load on the certificate of occupancy, if applicable, or 1,000 persons.” The order reminds businesses they must comply with the “Guidelines for All Business Sectors” and the sector-specific rules.

According to The Carroll News, members of the Hillsville VFW post were scheduled to meet Friday to make a final decision on whether to have their portion of what would have been the 53rd-annual gun show and flea market.

A Pilot Mountain potter and businesswoman is using her creativity and passion for the arts to bring together an assemblage of talented area artists and craftspersons, developing a market for art lovers of all kinds.

Kathy George honed her skills as a potter while studying under well-known pottery maker and teacher Sylvia Lawson. George is a cosmetologist by trade and has owned and operated of The Head Shoppe Plus in Pilot Mountain for more than 40 years.

At her business and in her classes, George had developed a network of friends who appreciate a variety of art. They had often reminisced about the art market which once operated in downtown Pilot Mountain and lamented its closing. George began to wonder if, with the help of friends, she could revive the art market concept.

Sylvia Lawson joined in the idea and the friends began to make plans, welcoming enthusiastic input from other artists. A third local potter and pottery teacher, Joel Jessup, also volunteered his time and skills to the project.

When a pottery friend of Lawson’s passed away, she and George purchased an assortment of equipment in order to establish a studio in a large space at 703 West Main Street in Pilot Mountain. George’s salon is located at 701 West Main Street.

The space soon proved ideal for established artists to come in to work and offer classes, while also displaying some pieces. The growing venture was dubbed the West End Arts Market.

“It’s a place to learn,” Lawson said. “It’s a place where artists can not only teach but show off their own quality work. And right now, when we don’t have festivals and shows, it’s an outlet for them.”

“It’s been so much fun working with Kathy to set this up and get it started,” Lawson noted. “We’ve been a sounding board for each other and we work well together.”

“Several of our artists have taken classes under Sylvia,” George said. “She has been so generous with her time and knowledge.”

George also voiced appreciation to her husband, Lynn Templeton, without whom, she said, “these things wouldn’t be possible.”

“Kathy has accumulated so much art and developed a real love of art over the years,” Jessup said. “She has a vision and appreciation for so many different genres. It’s so good to be able to come here and talk to other artists, to learn from them and to grow an appreciation for what they do.”

According to George, the studio started out as a place for potters to gather, sharing ideas and an appreciation for the creativity being displayed. But soon artists began to talk with their friends and the collection of artists grew and became more diverse.

Classes are now being offered for instruction in various forms of art. An effort has been made that when not having classes, however, studio displays will be limited to established local artists.

Gradually, the concept has outgrown the studio and George has now dedicated a significant portion of her salon to the display and potential sale of finished pieces.

Work is also on display in the studio, which opens to the public from 11-2 on the first Saturday of each month for a time known simply as “First Saturday Arts.” For the studio’s initial event, a meet-the-artists day was held with numerous participating artists in attendance.

“And there may be artists on hand working on a First Saturday,” George noted. “We never know in advance who’ll be here or who’ll be coming by.”

A large assortment of pieces in the space made available at the salon will be available during normal salon hours each Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Artists taking part in the studio include potters George, Lawson and Jessup as well as Shirley Peele (inspirational rock painting), Ginny Adams (pottery and garden-themed skills), Tommy Cheek (stained glass), the husband and wife team of David (pottery) and Arlene Johnson (painting), Ellen Peric (soaps), Debbie Lyons (pottery), Pamela S. Buchanan (Kudzu art), Jill Boyes (pottery and quilting), Randy Keirl (woodworking) and Marion Nunn (embroidery). Other artists are expected to be added as word of the venture spreads.

“I allow them to display for a small percentage,” George said, “but for me, it’s a labor of love. This is my baby.”

“This is good for all of us and for Pilot Mountain,” she continued. “We have some priceless talent here. These are artists whose creativity pours out through their work. This provides them with the outlet they need and deserve.”

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and 2020 being “a strange year,” Mount Airy officials are launching an initiative for redevelopment efforts on the former Spencer’s textile mill property downtown.

It is targeting the Sparger Building — a large baby blue structure on Willow Street amid the sprawling site the city government bought in 2014 after years of infant apparel manufacturing there — and other property on Franklin Street nearby which is vacant.

The process now underway involves the preparation of a request for proposal (RFP) document to solicit potential developers for Spencer’s property. This effort is led by Bryan Grote, a highly regarded local financial expert, who is donating his time to the city as a member of the group Mount Airy Downtown.

Grote gave an informational briefing on the RFP plan during the last meeting of the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners on July 16 and is scheduled to deliver a final draft during its next one Thursday at 2 p.m.

It lists existing opportunities as the historic rehabilitation of the Sparger Building and surrounding property, with a hotel preferred on the site, and new construction on the Franklin Street frontage property with a residential use preferred.

Flexibility desired

However, new commissioners who have been in office only since December — after years of controversies surrounding the Spencer’s project — said during the July 16 meeting that they aren’t married to the idea of a hotel for the Sparger Building.

Tom Koch, one of three freshmen on the five-member group, said his preference is for a hotel, but city officials should be open to other uses for that structure including residential.

“Why limit it?” Koch asked. “I’d rather leave it open.”

Commissioner Ron Niland also said he favored the flexibility the RPF plan offers.

Steve Yokeley, one of the two veteran council members, agreed. “There are a lot of creative people out there and it may be something different (than a hotel).”

However, the other long-serving commissioner, Jon Cawley, who has been part of the redevelopment effort since the beginning and a frequent critic of it — often on the losing end of 3-2 votes on various steps — supports the hotel use.

“I’ve been through a lot with this property,” Cawley said, citing millions of dollars spent on infrastructure and other improvements on the site so far.

If the Sparger Building does not become a hotel but some kind of residential facility, “we will never justify the money that has been spent,” he remarked, due to new jobs and other factors.

Cawley asked if there is any serious interest in the latter.

Grote replied that several inquiries have been made regarding the Sparger structure, including one “major” entity eyeing a residential development there.

He said this boils down to a policy decision of the board, with the request for proposal process a mechanism to bring that about.

“If the city wants a hotel, put that expectation out there,” Grote added. “Make that crystal-clear.”

Previous plans for the Spencer’s redevelopment have included a four-star hotel in conjunction with an expansion of the Virginia-based Barter Theatre to provide a ready-made customer base for the lodging establishment of out-of-town persons attending shows.

Those plans were abandoned in 2018 amid concerns that the Barter addition subjected Mount Airy taxpayers to undue financial risks.

Grote stayed neutral on the Barter proposal, which split the community.

“But that process was poor,” he said at the recent meeting, adding that the RFP effort at hand is designed to prevent city officials from making the kind of last-minute decisions that plagued the Barter plan.

“I want it to be right,” said Commissioner Marie Wood, another of the newer commissioners, implying that this hasn’t occurred previously to the satisfaction of local taxpayers wary of further problems with Spencer’s. “I don’t think the public can take that.”

Among other requirements for prospective developers, the RFP procedure envisioned by Grote includes demonstrating the financial capacity to make a project a reality and providing a timeline with key milestones through its completion.

An upscale apartment complex has been developed on the former Spencer’s property so far, with an events center planned by local businessman Gene Rees at a site he owns there known as the Barrel Building.

A culinary school and other educational uses are being pursued for another structure referred to as the Cube Building.

A bad time?

Similar to the proverbial elephant in the room, implications of the coronavirus are looming over further efforts regarding the Spencer’s transformation for new uses.

“The market is not normal right now,” Grote said. He acknowledged the desire of Mount Airy officials to test the water by moving ahead with the RFP plan during the remainder of 2020 — “even though it is a strange year.”

Yet the financial consultant said the present conditions could be a plus in perhaps attracting fewer developers but a better quality of project proposals while weeding out less-serious ones.

Board members are appreciative of the concept Grote has devised.

Commissioner Niland called his work “outstanding” and well-conceived. “And I appreciate it very much.”

Although he favors a hotel for the Sparger Building, Commissioner Cawley said he is happy about where the redevelopment now stands overall through Grote’s involvement.

“For the first time in a long time, I’m excited about what’s going on with the Spencer’s property.”

This year has been hard on everyone. Winter is coming and things get worse — heating bills, medical bills, travel back and forth for treatments. Oftentimes people have to ask for help and we want to help whenever we can.

At Rock House Ruritan Club, on 2889 Hwy. 268 East in Pinnacle, our two main fundraisers have had to be canceled. We are having a huge yard sale on Aug. 7-8 from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. We need your help. Baked goods will be available — help us help our neighbors.

Happy birthday to Randy Pack, Patrick Inman and Melissa Carter.

“Martin Luther on Trial,” a play, was shown at Brown Mountain Baptist Church. It was informative and had great actors.

Gloria Smith, Yvonne Love, Sylvia Fagg, Sandra Stevens and I enjoyed a meal in The Big Creek Lodge Restaurant at Luna Trails in Westfield to celebrate my birthday. Sylvia and Yvonne purchased my lunch; Gloria, Yvonne, Sylvia and Sandra brought birthday cards and they all made me feel loved. They are awesome friends and I want to thank them for a special birthday gift of friendship. The restaurant is serving dinner on Thursday, lunch and dinner on Friday, and breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday and Sunday. The food was very good.

Prayers for Novella Adams. She is recovering from surgery at her home.

Please continue to pray for healing and all of those that have been affected by COVID-19.

• Brannock and Hiatt Furniture and an employee of that store were victimized in a recent theft involving property valued at hundreds of dollars, according to Mount Airy Police Department reports.

The incident occurred on July 28 at a Brannock and Hiatt warehouse on Galloway Street, where miscellaneous hand tools and a camouflage tool bag were taken by two unknown suspects after they broke into a 2004 Chevrolet Express Cutaway van. The loss totaled $700. In addition to the business, Brannock and Hiatt employee Frank Clarence Ceasar of Ceasar Lane is listed as a victim of the crime.

• A power tool valued at $100, owned by Eric Salernitan of Gemstone Lane, was stolen from the back of his 2020 Tao Tao scooter on July 28 while at the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet shopping center on North Renfro Street. It was identified as a DeWalt 18-volt Sawzall, yellow and black in color.

• The Speedway convenience store on Rockford Street was the scene of a larceny on the night of July 28, which involved a known suspect going behind the counter and stealing two packages of Newport 100s cigarettes valued at $11.

• Police were told on July 26 that a pair of $500 tennis shoes, which city police records indicate are of the Nike Air brand and black, red and white in color, had been discovered stolen from the front porch of owner Cheryl L. Grant on Mitchell Street.

• Cassie Ann Davis, 42, of 285 Alicia Lane, was charged with possession of stolen goods, identified as a license plate, on July 25 after officers investigated an alarm call at the Sheetz convenience store, which led to the tag’s discovery.

Also during that investigation, Rachel Nicole Chamberlain, 26, of 126 Emerald Lane, who had come in the same vehicle as Davis and was at the scene, was charged with larceny after being identified as the suspect in a theft that had occurred at the store on July 10 involving Mountain Dew.

The two women are scheduled to appear in Surry District Court on Sept. 21.

• A crime classified as injury to real property was discovered on July 24 at the residence of James Frank Cavallo in the 400 block of West Pine Street, where granite blocks were removed from a wall and placed on the sidewalk. Damage put at $200 resulted to the blocks.

• A purse containing a Surrey Bank & Trust debit card and checkbook and a driver’s license was found on July 23 to have been taken from the 2006 Nissan Quest of Jordyn Emily Massey while it was parked at her home on Willow Hill Circle.

• Tools with a total value of $280, owned by Jerry Thomas Pack of Newsome Street, were discovered stolen on July 23 from his 1987 Mazda B2000 pickup parked there, including a yellow jack with orange paint, a tool box with miscellaneous tools and a four-way lug wrench.

• Keys were taken from the 1998 Mercury Sable of Betty Sechrist Hodges on July 23 while it was parked at her residence on Worth Street.

• A stolen firearm was recovered on July 21 at Mullins Pawn Shop and Jewelers on Caudle Drive, where a known individual attempted to pawn the Remington rifle. It was discovered to have been entered as stolen in a national crime database, with police seizing the rifle and releasing the individual involved with no other details listed.

DOBSON — The Surry County Sheriff’s Office has released the following arrest report:

• Jimmy Douglas Church, 62, of Mining School Road, State Road, was served an order for arrest June 12, charging him with a dozen counts of failure to appear in court. This includes five felony counts with a warrant date of Jan. 14 and seven misdemeanor counts with a Jan. 28 date.

He was given a $60,000 secured bond and a July 13 court date.

According to court dockets, he has a Sept. 8 date in Wilkesboro to face two felony charges of violating probation.

On Sept. 21 in Dobson he faces felony charges of possession of meth, possession of heroin, and possession with intent to manufacture/sell/deliver heroin; he also is charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting an officer.

Church is on probation following a Dec. 13 conviction in Wilkesboro for felony possession of a Schedule II drug, misdemeanor possession of a Schedule II drug, and two counts of felony maintaining a drug dwelling or vehicle.

• Autumn Marie Hawks, 23, of Tony Holder Road, Lowgap, was served an order for arrest June 13 for failure to appear in court April 16. She was given a $300 cash bond (typically a traffic citation at this amount) and a July 10 court date.

• Tyra Reynnan Jones, 19, of Rushmore Lane, Mount Airy, was served a criminal summons June 13, charging her with false imprisonment, dated June 9. The complainant is listed as Brittany Pennington of Ararat. Jones was given a July 10 court date. She has her next court appearance on this charge Sept. 18.

• Margaret Edith Gammons, 59, of the same address, also was charged with false imprisonment as well as communicating threats. She, too, was given a July 10 court date.

She will be back in court Sept. 18 for these charges. Before then on Sept. 4 she faces charges of driving without a license and driving with an expired tag.

• Jason Anthony Hall, 38, of Faith Lane, Ararat, was stopped on Old 601 and served a warrant June 13, charging him with larceny, dated the day before. He was released on no bond. He has a court date on Aug. 26.

• Marcus Clark Lawson, 28, of Nike Lane, Mount Airy, was served a warrant June 14, charging him with maintaining a dwelling or vehicle for drugs, dated the day before for the Mount Airy Police Department. He was given a $10,000 secured bond and a July 6 court date.

On Sept. 21 he faces charges of felony trafficking heroin, felony maintaining a drug dwelling/vehicle, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

In 2011 he received probation, a suspended sentence and time served for a long list of misdemeanor charges including 12 counts of breaking and entering, nine counts of larceny, possession of a Schedule I drug, two counts of possession of marijuana, possession with intent to sell marijuana, and maintaining a drug dwelling.

In 2016 he was convicted of two counts of possession of marijuana, unauthorized use of a vehicle, and assault inflicting serious injury. He again received probation and a suspended sentence.

In December 2018 the convictions were for assault with a deadly weapon, communicating threats, and possession of marijuana. He received probation and a suspended sentence.

On Oct. 30 of last year in Virginia he was convicted of his first felony: possession of a controlled substance. He was given more than two years of supervision, so any convictions now could violate his Virginia terms.

• Lucas Taylor Hiatt, 34, of Lazy Brook Lane, Mount Airy, was stopped on Westfield Road June 15 and served an order for arrest for failure to appear in court June 3. He was given a $10,000 secured bond and an Aug. 19 court date.

The charges that day are felony possession of meth, carrying a concealed firearm, possession of a Schedule II drug, possession of drug paraphernalia, and assault on a female.

Hiatt is already under probation for a Jan. 2 conviction of carrying a concealed weapon. He received a suspended sentence, which could be activated by any new convictions.

• Ethan Bradley Gallimore, 20, listed as homeless in Mount Airy, was served criminal summonses June 16 on O’Neal Road in Mount Airy, charging with second-degree trespassing, injury to property, and unauthorized use of a vehicle, all dated June 11. He was given a July 31 court date.

• Fredy Gonzalez, 25, of John Henry Lane, Mount Airy, was served an order for arrest at his home June 16 for failure to appear in court the day before. He was given a $5,000 secured bond and a July 22 court date.

He has a long list of court dates coming up in Surry, Forsyth and Tyrrell counties.

In Dobson alone he has a court date today for felony possession of meth, felony possession of a Schedule I drug, possession of marijuana, marijuana paraphernalia, drug paraphernalia, injury to personal property, and two counts of child abuse.

On Friday, Aug. 17 and Aug. 21 in Dobson he faces traffic citations.

On Aug. 26 the charges are felony possession of a Schedule II drug and drug paraphernalia. Two days later, they are second-degree trespassing and assault on a female.

In Tyrrell County Sept. 17 the charges are felony possession of meth, drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana, marijuana paraphernalia, driving while license revoked, and excessively dark window tinting (which is listed on several other citations as well).

Surry County Republicans will open their headquarters in Mount Airy Friday with the help of a high-ranking official from Raleigh.

“The state treasurer’s going to be our headliner,” local GOP Chairman Mark Jones said of Dale Folwell’s presence for the grand opening of the facility at 693 W. Pine St. The event is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. Friday, with the public invited.

“Absolutely,” Jones said.

Folwell, of Winston-Salem, has been state treasurer since January 2017, a post that involves overseeing the “public purse,” including a pension fund for teachers, law enforcement officers and similar employees in addition to the state health plan.

He previously served four terms in the N.C. House of Representatives, including one as speaker pro tempore, the second in command of that body behind the House speaker.

Jones said the presence of such a special guest will help get the Mount Airy GOP Headquarters off to a good start in playing a valuable role leading up to the general election in November.

“It’s a meeting place for Republicans,” the Surry County chairman explained. “We’ll have office hours between now and the election.”

Campaign materials highlighting the party’s candidates will be distributed at the headquarters. While the facility is geared toward Republican supporters, undecided voters also are welcome to come by and receive information.

“A lot of campaign activities will go on there,” Jones said.

Along with free signs promoting President Donald Trump and others, Trump-related memorabilia such as hats will be available for sale at the party headquarters.

This Friday’s event is coming on the heels of the grand opening of the Elkin GOP Headquarters last Saturday at 209 W. Main St. near Reeves Theater.

“Apparently they had a real big crowd,” Jones said of a turnout estimated at up to 100 people, adding that he couldn’t attend due to being on hand Saturday for an appearance by another state official in Mount Airy.

That was a campaign visit by Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, who is running for governor, to the Snappy Lunch diner downtown.

A COVID-19 outbreak at a Surry County long term care facility has sickened at least 27 staff members and residents, and claimed the lives of three residents.

PruittHealth, a skilled nursing and rehabilitation center in Elkin, has seen 12 of its staffers and 15 residents test positive for COVID-19, according to the Surry County Health and Nutrition Center. Three of the residents have died from the virus.

“The three associated deaths in this facility all involved residents in their eighties or nineties with underlying medical conditions,” the center said. As is the health and nutrition center’s custom, officials there released no additional information on the victims to protect the privacy of their families.

“According to PruittHealth, residents of the facility who have tested positive for COVID-19 have been isolated from others to stop further spread of the virus,” the health and nutrition center said. “PruittHealth has also implemented enhanced infection control protocols, including increasing cleaning frequency, postponing communal activities, ceasing visitation, screening staff and patients daily, and additional testing of staff and residents. Surry County Health and Nutrition Center will continue to closely monitor the situation and will remain in daily contact with the facility, and our partners at NC Department of Health and Human Services regarding this situation.”

Tuesday’s revelation of the outbreak apparently also includes the county’s ninth reported death from COVID-19. Two days earlier, on Sunday, the health center had reported the county’s eighth death.

In that statement the Surry County Health and Nutrition Center said that victim died on July 31. The center’s officials did not release additional information on the victim, other than to say the person was in his or her late 60s with some underlying medical conditions.

“Every COVID-19 death represents a person who had family and friends. Our heartfelt condolences go out to those who have lost loved ones due to COVID-19,” said Surry County Health Director Samantha Ange. “With the increased rate of community transmission in Surry County, it is absolutely critical that we each do our part to reduce our chances of acquiring or transmitting COVID-19.”

The July 31 death, and the apparent death of another person since then, marks the third and fourth deaths in a ten-day period, and the sixth and seventh death over the previous three weeks.

As of Tuesday morning, the latest for which figures were available, 877 cases have been confirmed in Surry County, putting it at the forefront of total cases among nearly all neighboring counties. Only the more metropolitan Forsyth County has had a higher case count, with 5,007 cases and 47 deaths as of Tuesday afternoon.

Of the other bordering counties, Yadkin County has 505 total cases with 6 deaths, Wilkes County has 741 cases with 10 deaths, Stokes County has recorded 270 confirmed cases and 3 deaths, while Alleghany County has 64 confirmed cases with no deaths, all as of Tuesday.

Statewide, North Carolina has now recorded 128,161 confirmed cases, with 2,010 deaths.

Across the border in Virginia, Carroll County has 304 total cases with 12 deaths, Galax has 341 confirmed cases with 24 deaths, Grayson County has recorded 144 cases with 5 deaths, and Patrick County has 118 confirmed cases and 3 deaths. Statewide, Virginia has 90,728 confirmed cases, with 2,244 deaths.

Nationwide, there have been 4.73 million confirmed cases in the United States, with 155,930 confirmed deaths. By comparison, the CDC says there were an estimated 35.5 million people who contracted the flu during the 2019-2020 flu season, with 34,200 deaths. In the 2017-2018 flu season, the worst in the United States in the past decade, CDC figures show 44.8 million infections, with 61,099 deaths.

During the last flu pandemic, during the 2009-2010 flu season — which the CDC characterized as the first influenza pandemic in at least 40 years — there were an estimated 60.8 million cases in the United States, with 12,469 deaths.

“The COVID-19 outbreak has been accompanied by a flood of misinformation from unreliable sources. Be thoughtful about what you read or hear about the virus and make sure you are separating rumor from fact before you act.”

To stay up to date on COVID-19 in North Carolina, visit ncdhhs.gov/coronavirus or text COVIDNC to 898211. Call 2-1-1, or 888-892-1162, for general questions or for help finding human services resources in your community.

Excessive speed has been determined as a factor in a weekend traffic accident on U.S. 52 south of Mount Airy which claimed the life of a city man, authorities say.

Samuel Carcia Sanchez, 36, was operating a BMW that left the roadway in the early morning hours Saturday near Cook School Road, hit a guardrail and then a tree.

“It’s my understanding it was traveling south at a high rate of speed,” said 1st Sgt. Mitch Haunn of the N.C. Highway Patrol, relaying information from Trooper Pat Ellis, who investigated the crash and hadn’t submitted his report as of Monday morning.

The BMW was believed to be going in excess of 100 mph.

Surry County Emergency Services Director John Shelton said the impact left a widely scattered trail of debris in its wake.

“The vehicle actually centered a tree and then it just separated,” Shelton added Monday. “The vehicle came apart in several pieces — it was unbelievable, really.”

Sanchez, who was alone in the car, died at the scene.

Although he initially was reported by some media outlets as a resident of Elkin, authorities later determined Sanchez to be from Mount Airy.

“He was actually living with his girlfriend up here in Mount Airy at 1800 Edgewood Place Apartments,” Shelton said of the housing complex near Walmart.

It has not been determined why Sanchez was on U.S. 52 at such a time of day — “the call actually came in to us at 3:22 a.m.” Shelton said in reference to the Surry Emergency Medical Service.

That agency and others responded to the scene and remained there for hours, including Pilot Mountain Rescue and EMS, the Pilot Knob Volunteer Fire Department, the Highway Patrol and Surry County Sheriff’s Office.

While BMWs have a reputation of being solid and sturdy, Shelton said the make of the car was not readily identifiable at the scene of the crash due it being torn apart and distributed over a wide area. This was determined from logos on wheels and other items found, although the model year of the vehicle was not available Monday.

One lane of southbound U.S. 52 was closed temporarily as a result of the crash, according to Shelton.

“We have no idea why he was traveling at that speed,” the emergency services director said of Sanchez, “and probably will never know.”

Late trooper’s dad dies

In an unrelated development, it has been learned that the father of a N.C. Highway Patrol trooper killed in the line of duty in 2018 has died.

The death Saturday of Samuel Wayne Bullard, 46, of Roaring River in Wilkes County, reportedly was due to a motorcycle accident, but that could not be confirmed Monday.

Haunn, the Highway Patrol sergeant, said he had received word of Bullard’s passing, but did not know the cause of death.

Obituary information for Bullard also did not list that.

His son, Trooper Samuel Newton Bullard, 24, a Wilkes County native who was assigned to the Highway Patrol district covering Surry County, had died in May 2018.

This occurred during a vehicle pursuit along Interstate 77 just inside the Yadkin County line when the younger Bullard’s patrol car wrecked and erupted in flames.

Charter

While the coronavirus pandemic has been devastating to some sectors of the economy, Charter Communications — parent company of local cable provider Spectrum TV — reported steep increases in revenue and operating income during the second quarter of the year.

Charter, trading as CHTR on the NASDAQ, reported $3.63 in earnings per share in the second quarter, more than double the $1.39 it earned in the same period last year. Revenue in the second quarter of this year was $11.7 billion, up 3.1% over the same period last year.

The company reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of $4.5 billion, up 7.3% over the same period year ago. Net income came in at $766 million, again more than double the same period a year ago, when net income was $314 million.

According to barrons.com, Charter added 842,000 internet subscribers nationwide during the quarter, many of whom were signing up for internet service. The firm also managed to see growth in its cable television and telephone service, reversing a years-long slide in those two consumer bases. Charter added 102,000 new cable customers nationwide and 38,000 voice customers.

McDonald’s

McDonald’s last week reported that it has not fared as well during the pandemic.

The fast-food chain with multiple locations in Mount Airy and elsewhere in Surry County reported second-quarter net income of $483.8 million, or 65 cents per share, down sharply from $1.52 billion, or $1.97 per share, a year earlier. It also announced the upcoming closure of a number of locations.

“In many markets around the world, most notably in the U.S., the public health situation appears to be worsening,” CEO Chris Kempczinski told analysts last week during a conference call. “Nonetheless, I believe that Q2 represents the trough in our performance as McDonald’s has learned to adjust our operations to this new environment.”

The company said it expect to permanently close 200 locations around the United States this year. Most, the company said, had already been targeted in long-range plans for closure, but the pandemic has forced the company to accelerate those plans. More than half of those are lower sales volume locations inside Walmart stores.

Net sales dropped 30% to $3.77 billion, according to the company’s report. Outside the U.S., restaurant closures hampered sales, but 94% of locations had reopened to partial operations by the end of the quarter. Ozan said that markets with a higher percentage of drive-throughs are showing faster recovery.

Ford

Beleagured auto maker Ford Motor reported a strong quarter, spurred in part by a $3.5 billion gain on a previous investment in autonomous vehicle startup Argo AI, when the company reached an agreement with Volkswagon for the German automaker to buy a portion of Argo from Ford.

With the announced deal between Ford and VW, Ford reported a net income for the quarter of $1.1 billion. Without the one-time deal, the company reported an adjusted pretax loss of $1.9 billion, or 35 cents per share, in operating revenue. Still, Ford executives seemed pleased with the results. Prior to the release of the quarterly report, anaylts had largely forecast much steeper losses in adjusted revenue, some predicting a loss approaching $5 billion.

Company officials said they expect an adjusted pretax profit of between $500 million and $1.5 billion in the third quarter “as long as economic conditions remain favorable without production disruptions.”

General Motors

General Motors Company reported last week an $800 million loss on $16.8 billion in revenue during the second quarter of the year. The auto-maker said that represents a 13% decline in income and a 53% decline in revenue.

GM characterizes the earnings as “solid,” in light of “significant impacts to production and wholesales as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Additionally, the Detroit-based automaker stated in its release announcing the figures that “the results reflect actions GM has taken over the past few years to be more resilient.”

“Clearly, the second quarter was a challenge, but we achieved near breakeven EBITA. in North America, despite losing 8 of 13 weeks of production. These results illustrate the resiliency and earnings power of the business as we make the critical investments necessary for our future,” GM CFO Dhivya Suryadevara told analysts.

Global GM sales fell about 24.3% to 1,466,229 units during the second quarter of 2020, caused by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

BLUEFIELD, VA – First Community Bankshares Inc. (NASDAQ: FCBC) last week reported a drop of 30.3% in net income for the second quarter, when compared to the same quarter the year before.

For the quarter ending June 30, the bank reported net income of $8.24 million, or 46 cents per diluted common share, for the quarter ended June 30, which was a decrease of 20 cents over the same quarter of 2019.

For the six months ending June 30, net income was $16.11 million, or 90 cents per diluted common share, a 29.13%

The company also declared a quarterly cash dividend of 25 cents per share, payable to common shareholders of record on August 7. The dividend will be paid on or about August 21. This marks the 35th consecutive year of regular dividends to common shareholders, and the dividend amount is the same the bank paid in the previous quarter and the same quarter a year earlier.

The bank stock closed trading Friday at $19.56.

In releasing its quarterly earning statement, the bank shared what it considered to be highlights of its second quarter operating practices and results. Among those are:

• The company’s social distancing practices at its branches and corporate offices continue. Remote working environments remain in place for about 60% of the company’s back office workforce;

• The bank implemented a pay differential for employees working at branch and back-office locations which ended May 31. As a result of the pay differential and other COVID-19 related expenses, the company incurred approximately $612,000 in additional expenses for the quarter.

• The bank modified or deferred payments on 1,277 commercial loans totaling $340 million in principal balances and 1,820 retail loans totaling $96.11 million in principal balances;

• Through June 30 the company processed 758 loans with original principal balances totaling $60.23 million through the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program;

• As a result of the low interest rate environment, the company’s pipeline for mortgage loans grew to approximately $99.75 million as of June 30 and stood at $101.39 million as of July 24;

• Second quarter earnings reflect a loan loss provision of $3.83 million, an increase of $2.25 million over second quarter of 2019, to recognize the impact of the coronavirus slowdown. Coupled with the provision in the first quarter of 2020, the cumulative loan loss reserve stands at $5.33 million.

• Pandemic shutdowns and stay-at-home orders had a significant negative impact on deposit service charges.

MEADOWS OF DAN, VIRGINIA – The Highland Course at Primland, one of resort’s collection of amenities, has garnered acclaim from Golfweek as one of America’s finest playing venues.

Set within Primland’s 12,000 acres of Blue Ridge Mountains in Southwestern Virginia, The Highland Course earned the No. 2 rating in Virginia among the state’s several hundred public-access courses. It also ranks No. 37 in “America’s 100 Best Courses You Can Play” out of more than 10,000 public courses in the country.

“The Highland Course features immaculate conditions, stunning views, no surrounding development, and a masterful course layout by Englishman Donald Steel, whose design philosophy highlights nature and golf tradition,” Primand said in announcing the recognition.

“Good courses protect the environment, bad designs disfigure it,” said Steel, who has advised every club or course on which the British Open Championship is, or has been, played. “They should provide an interesting challenge and fair test for every class of player; and they should make the best possible use of the land.”

Steel’s beliefs are on full display at The Highland Course, which flows through the mountain landscape, “as if it has been there for time immemorial,” the company said.

This latest acclaim for the Primland golf amenity comes after recently being rated No. 30 in Golf Digest’s biennial “America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses, 2019-2020.”

“Primland is thankful for this critical praise,” said Steve Helms, Primland vice president. “Our mission is to inspire our guests with our wide range of luxury amenities and activities.”

For more information about Primland, visit Primland.com, or call 866-960-7746.

A day of reckoning is looming for delinquent water-sewer customers in Mount Airy due to the expiration last Wednesday of an executive mandate prohibiting cutoffs of service.

But the good news is, steps are in place to help those affected, a city official says — including a special relief fund set up through the local Salvation Army, and the availability of a payment plan.

Under Executive Order 124 issued by Gov. Roy Cooper in response to COVID-19 — effective March 31 — local governments that operate utilities were prohibited from disconnecting service to residences or charging late fees to people who haven’t paid their bills.

This was aimed at assisting citizens who might have lost their jobs or were otherwise impacted by the pandemic economically, while also accommodating the need to maintain running water in households to aid handwashing and prevent the coronavirus spread.

Another order was issued by the governor on May 30 extending that moratorium by 60 more days, but the clock has now run out due to the ban on service interruptions ending Wednesday.

In mid-July, about 400 water customers in Mount Airy were determined to be on the cutoff list, according to city Finance Officer Pam Stone, whose department handles water-sewer utility billing. Customers receive one monthly bill for both services.

The number could be even higher now.

“We will not run another listing until mid-August,” Stone advised.

The cutoff list has steadily grown in recent months, somewhat mirroring the pandemic itself, rising from 170 accounts in February to 298 in April, when previous balances not paid totaled nearly $71,000, to about 400 in the July count.

Payment plan, utility fund

Even with Executive Order 124, and the follow-up Order 142, not being extended past Wednesday, Mount Airy water users with delinquent accounts still have a little more time to get caught up, Stone mentioned.

“We are going to give customers with past-due balances until Sept 1 to set up a payment plan,” the city finance director explained.

“If they do not set up a payment plan they will be disconnected in September,” she added.

To arrange a plan, customers are directed to contact Sherri Abbott at City Hall at 336-786-3512.

Stone also mentioned the availability of the city Utility Donation Fund, established during a recession in 2008 to assist those in need through donations by other customers. The fund was expanded by the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners earlier this year, at Stone’s urging, to help customers better deal with COVID-19 financial repercussions.

Under a procedure announced at that time, customers can contact the Mount Airy Salvation Army office at 336-786-4075 to determine if they qualify for a one-time payment of their bills from the Utility Donation Fund, up to $100.

“This fund is only available to residential customers,” Stone emphasized.

It contains $24,000.

The plight of water users who are behind in payments has been a concern of city officials during recent meetings.

Commissioner Jon Cawley said on one occasion that it might be easy for them to start paying water bills again, but questioned their ability to satisfy the past-due sums given the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on the local economy.

“These people aren’t going to be able to go back and make (that) up,” Cawley feared, with Stone responding that it is hoped the payment plan will adequately address such cases.

For some people, life just kind of happens. For others, there sure seems to be some divine guidance — and maybe a little grandparently influence — in the direction they go.

Such is the case for Jeff and Lea Brooks, Salvation Army lieutenants who serve at the ministry in Mount Airy.

The couple have served in Mount Airy for a little more than three years, having come to the local Salvation Army post in June 2017. Their family has also grown along the way, with 2-year-old Jeffrey and another child on the way, due this autumn.

The two met while in college at Mars Hill University, not far from Asheville, where their desire to serve was quickly evident. In fact, each was attending the college on a Bonner Scholarship from the Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation. Similar to many scholarship programs, it is based on demonstrated merit of the applicants and financial need, but an equally important component is commitment to community service. Bonner scholars are required to complete 10 hours of community service each week while in school.

“A lot of that work was with the Salvation Army in Asheville,” Lea said recently.

Although she had grown up just outside of Atlanta, Lea had ties to both the Salvation Army and the Asheville area — her grandparents were long-time officers with the Salvation Army, retiring from the mission in Asheville.

“We already had the love to serve,” Jeff said, adding that working with children, youth, and other people through the Salvation Army and other organizations “meant a lot to me.”

The longer they were in that community, the more they became involved with various ministries. Lea, in particular, was drawn more into the work of the Salvation Army.

“The officer there…asked me if I wanted to help,” Lea said of her first opportunity to take on more responsibilities there. She was excited about the chance, seizing on the offer.

“My first job with the Salvation Army was volunteer coordinator and Angel Tree coordinator,” she said, excitement bubbling up at the memory. Lea, she makes clear, really enjoys working with Christmas programs, and that first work with the Salvation Army was right up her alley, though a little overwhelming at first.

“She literally just handed me a folder with all the files in it,” and that was her introduction to the program. “I had to learn as I went,” she said of overseeing the program.

Jeff explained that was no easy feat, given that the Christmas Kettle program there included 25-30 locations.

From working with Christmas programs, Lea gradually began taking on some of the ministry’s human resources, or HR, duties.

“I became the HR assistant volunteer coordinator and events planner,” she said, with a laugh at the length of the title. “I enjoyed it, I was looking to go to school to do more with HR.”

Along the way, Jeff was working in various positions. He spent a year as a teacher, and while public school teachers aren’t allowed to overtly proselytize, he said it was not at all unusual for some of the kids to come up to him and ask if he was a Christian. “They could see that in me.”

Though he was no longer teaching at the time Jeff was still working with kids through the Boys and Girls Club while Lea was moving more toward what she thought would be a career in HR.

By this time, others around them had suggested they consider taking on the role of professional ministry through the Salvation Army.

“People started talking to us about officership, but we just wanted to be good church members, good soldiers,” Jeff said, adding that to consider going into full-time ministry, he needed to hear the call from God.

That came soon enough, in a way that the two said it was clear, this was truly a calling.

Lea said she was at an HR conference one day, then was driving home when she felt God reaching down to her, and she can still recall the words that came to her mind, as if planted there. “I don’t want you to just work for the Salvation Army. I want you to lead. I want you to be an officer.”

While she didn’t actually hear the words, she said it was clear they were coming from above.

As life often is, that day was far too packed with tasks and schedules for her to be able to talk with Jeff about the calling, or even mention it to him in passing. Unbeknownst to her, Jeff had his own interaction with the Almighty that day.

“I was at a men’s camp in Denton, and they had an alter call. I went up, I said to the Lord ‘whatever you want me to do.’”

He got his answer quickly, knowing almost immediately that God was calling him to full-time ministry as a Salvation Army officer.

That was a Wednesday, and the two of them had been apart — separated by more than a hundred miles — all day. They hurried home to make it to church services that night, and during the service Jeff said he leaned over to his wife: “I’ve been called to lead,” he whispered.

The two of them said Lea turned to her husband, smiled and replied “I have something to tell you.”

“I thought I was in trouble,” he said recently, laughing at the memory and his nervousness over what her reaction was going to be.

That night, he learned her “something” was that she had received the same call that day.

Soon enough, the two had left Asheville and were in Atlanta, taking part in a two-year Salvation Army seminary program, and then they were sent to Mount Airy.

Unique challenges

The Salvation Army, and its leadership structure, is different from other churches and ministries in many ways, among them being so involved in distributing food, clothing, and other assistance to the needy, in addition to preaching, teaching, and counseling on spiritual matters.

“I’ve heard it said, and it makes sense, that we’re bi-vocational,” Lea said when discussing the challenges of the ministry. “We do the administrative work of a church, we do the administrative work of a non-profit, but we do the ministry…as well.”

One of the keys to their ministry has been the support they have found in Mount Airy.

“We’re really blessed here,” Jeff said. “We have a top-notch staff,” with a great deal of experience. Within the ministry portion of the operation, he said the person with the least tenure has been there 18 years.

One surprise they had upon moving to Mount Airy — a nice surprise given Lea’s love for the holiday season — is the size of the local Christmas effort, particularly the annual Christmas Angel Tree program, which served about 1,900 local children and teens last year.

“That was kind of eye-opening,” Jeff said. “Most small towns this size might serve 400 to 500.”

“I love it,” she said. “We have such a supportive community here.”

Another challenge not faced by most other ministers is the possibility of being transferred to another location. While the Brooks have been in Mount Airy for more than three years, they both said the Salvation Army regularly transfers its officers from one location to another as a result of retirements and the occasional person leaving the ministry.

“That usually happens in April,” Lea said of the reassignments. On the third Sunday of April is when it often occurs.

“You’re sitting by your phone shaking like a leaf. If you get the call you know you’re moving. If you don’t get the call, you’re staying,” Jeff said.

While they’ve enjoyed their time in Mount Airy, and eagerly look toward much more ministry work for months, and even years to come, the couple said they both have to prepare as if they will be moving every spring.

“I’m expecting a call in April,” she said. “If we don’t get the call, that’s great. But we’ve already began to do some things, to get things done that we’d need to finish up if we do go.”

Ultimately, though, the couple said they leave it up to the Lord to determine where they will serve. That’s how they ended up joining the Salvation Army, it’s how they found Mount Airy, and they believe it’ll be how they find their next post — even if that post is another year, or more, in the Granite City.

DOBSON — An investigation surrounding a 33-year-old woman who went missing more than two years ago is drawing renewed interest from the Surry County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies.

Sarah Ashley Hill, 33, who had an address in Patrick County, Virginia, and also was known to stay with friends in North Carolina, has not been heard from since June 6, 2018.

Early that morning, Hill used her cell phone to call her older sister, a registered nurse at Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital in Elkin, saying she was on Blue Hollow Road near Mount Airy and needed a ride.

The sister, April Hill Cain, could not respond right away due to being needed at the hospital, and was unable to reach Sarah Hill after her shift ended — it was if she disappeared off the face of the Earth without a trace.

This has led up to investigators focusing their efforts on a location in the Sheltontown area in recent days.

Although the missing woman has been described as someone who liked to party and had many friends, it was unlike Hill to have a prolonged period of no contact with family members, her sister has said.

Hill’s disappearance sparked a poster-distribution campaign with her photograph and details of the case widely disseminated in an effort to solicit information from the general public as to her whereabouts.

One apparent breakthrough in the case came in January 2019 when it was reported that law enforcement officers from multiple agencies had conducted a day-long search centered on three different sites on King Park Circle. This is just off Blue Hollow Road, where Cain’s last contact with Hill originated.

The search involved specialized canines and heavy equipment being used to move dirt and terrain, with the Surry Sheriff’s Office releasing no information on any evidence found.

Meanwhile, the case has remained unsolved since that search — although a new development surfaced in late July.

The Surry Sheriff’s Office issued a statement on July 22 that it, in conjunction with the State Bureau of Investigation and the Patrick County Sheriff’s Office, had converged on King Park Circle regarding a follow-up investigation on the missing person.

It was conducted to obtain information, evidence and any other leads related to Hill’s disappearance, with the statement saying no additional details would be released at that time.

One source familiar with the case reported that the most recent activities involved another digging effort, sparked by a new tip being received by authorities.

Capt. Scott Hudson of the Surry County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that the follow-up probe “was in the same general area” as the search in January 2019.

He also did not specify if anything had transpired in the days since the July effort which has led to investigators coming closer to solving the case.

“They’re still working it,” was about all Hudson would say Friday, adding that the multiple agencies involved were continuing to pursue any leads received.

He also was asked if any persons of interest had been developed during the course of the investigation.

“We’re working the case — actively working it,” was his reply.

Hill has been described as weighing 160 pounds at a height of 5-9 to 5-11, with red/auburn hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with knowledge of the Caucasian female’s disappearance is asked to contact the Patrick County Sheriff’s Office at 276-694-3161.

Lt. Governor Dan Forest, who is running as the GOP candidate for governor in the fall, was in Mount Airy on Saturday, meeting with supporters, campaigning for office, and visiting with folks at The Snappy Lunch on Main Street.

The trip was part of his statewide campaign tour for the autumn, and drew a large crowd of supporters. He is facing incumbent Gov. Roy Cooper in the Nov. 3 election.

Two Mount Airy Police Department officers who were involved in a fatal shooting have been placed on leave, according to Police Chief Dale Watson.

Watson also identified those individuals Friday as Lt. Charles Reeves and Officer Tyler Riddle.

“They have both been placed on administrative leave until the investigation is complete,” the police added regarding an inquiry by the State Bureau of Investigation into the shooting late last Sunday night.

It occurred shortly before midnight after the officers responded to a residence at 504 Allred Mill Road, off West Lebanon Street, to assist the Surry County Emergency Medical Service concerning a reported chemical overdose.

A statement issued by the Mount Airy Police Department in the wake of the incident further stated that the officers arrived to find Samuel Solomon Cochran Jr., 22, barricaded inside the home.

They were able to gain access to the residence and encountered Cochran armed with a knife, leading to an altercation that resulted in him being shot, the statement added.

No additional information has been released about the potential drug overdose, whether the man was shot more than once or a possible involvement by anyone else at the scene.

The placing of Reeves and Riddle on administrative leave, which Watson said will be a paid leave, is a normal departmental procedure for officer-involved shootings. Only a couple of such fatalities have occurred in the city in about the last 10 years.

Previous investigations have taken around three months to process and cleared the officers of any wrongdoing in each case.

Riddle joined the Mount Airy Police Department in June 2015, while Reeves has been on the force since October 1993.

Former mayor comments

The shooting occurred in the same neighborhood where former Mount Airy Mayor Deborah Cochran lives, and while she and the man killed share the same last name, they were not related, she said Friday.

“I have had numerous calls and emails about that,” acknowledged Cochran, who said she did know of Samuel Solomon Cochran. “I did hear some of the commotion that night.”

The former mayor expressed sympathy for the man’s relatives in their loss.

“My thoughts are with the family.”

Mrs. Velva Virginia Collins Collins, 84, of Ararat, Virginia; went home to be with her lord and savior Jesus Christ on Friday, July 31, 2020, surrounded by her loving family at Hillsville Rehabilitation and Healthcare. Mrs. Collins was born April 6, 1936, in Patrick County, Virginia, to the late John Walter and Frances Hall Collins. She was a sweet loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother who will be dearly missed. She is survived by her husband of 66 years, Irvin Warren Collins; daughters and son-in-law; Donna Collins Payne and husband William, Frances Collins Sutphin and husband Michael; a son, Leroy Collins; grandchildren, Chris Sutphin, Josh Sutphin and wife Katrina, Brandon Collins; great-grandchild Ben Sutphin; many nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, Mrs. Collins was preceded in death by a son, Irvin Warren Collins Jr.; sisters, Lettie Collins Nester, and Maybelle Collins Marshall; brothers, Lester Collins, and Burnie Collins. A funeral service will be held Tuesday, August 4 at 2 p.m. at Moody Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Bud Cameron officiating. Burial will follow in the Collins Family Cemetery. Friends may pay their respects on Monday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at Moody Funeral Home in Mount Airy. Flowers will be accepted or memorial contributions may be made to the Ararat, VA Rescue Squad, 4690 Ararat Hwy, Ararat, VA 24053. Online condolences may be made at www.moodyfuneralservices.com.

The Surry Arts Council received a grant from South Arts to host the Sons of Mystro for two performances in the spring of 2021. A daytime performance will target middle and high school students, and an evening performance will be open to the public.

Born in South Florida to a Jamaican father and Barbadian mother, Malcolm, 23, and his 20-year old brother, Umoja, learned to play violin through South Florida’s public school system. They attended Dillard High School for the Performing Arts. Together, these brothers are Sons of Mystro. This pair of violin virtuosos use their violins to interpret reggae classics, American pop songs, and their own creations accompanied by a DJ and a drummer.

Their music journey began when Malcolm was enrolled at Bethune Elementary, a magnet school located in Hollywood, Florida. He gained interest in music at that time but was pushed toward the violin by his third grade teacher. She told him “if you play the violin in my class, you can go to Disney World,” Malcolm said. After he took up the violin, Umoja wanted to follow in his older brother’s footsteps and took up the violin as well. Their father realized the duo’s talent when they played in Umoja’s middle school talent show.

Their dad was DJ Mystro in his early years, thus the Sons of Mystro name was chosen to carry on the family legacy. They have played for many events and with many well-known musicians but their most surreal experiences are collaborating with Black Violin, an American hip-hop group that primarily plays the violin as well. Black Violin played in Mount Airy for area schools several years ago. Black Violin was a major influence on this group from its beginnings. Those who hear them say their violins sing in many genres.

Sons of Mystro are the winners of the Emerging Artist under 21 Years Old award at International Reggae and World Music Awards. Their debut recording, “Reggae Strings” is available. “These artists are stars on the rise. Our proteges, Sons of Mystro, are an innovative musical force that is ready to take the world by storm,” says their mentors, Black Violin.

These performances are sponsored in part by a grant from South Arts. South Arts is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts as well as other public and private sources.

No Ferris wheel, cotton candy, games, livestock shows or other attractions of a county fair are in store this year in Mount Airy as part of the seemingly never-ending wild ride powered by COVID-19.

The latest cancellation casualty of the coronavirus locally is the Surry County Agricultural Fair, which had been scheduled to mark its 73rd year with an eight-day run at Veterans Memorial Park from Sept.12-19.

Whether or not the fair would be held was still a question mark as of Wednesday, but a subsequent governing board discussion led to an official of the event making the grim announcement regarding its fate Thursday.

“We are canceling the fair for 2020,” said Katherine Thorpe, its longtime co-manager.

Fair officials had been in a kind of holding pattern while monitoring the status of COVID-19, which has put the clamps on large public gatherings with the imposition of health restrictions.

“We were kind of waiting — everybody was sort of on edge about what to do,” Thorpe added Thursday.

“With the virus increasing, we thought it would be better (to cancel).”

The scrapping of the Surry County Agricultural Fair for this year came on the heels of the cancellation earlier in the week of the October North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh for the first time since World War II. This was expected to trigger a domino effect for county fairs held in late summer and fall across the state.

Another catalyst for the decision locally, Thorpe said, involved uncertainty surrounding the availability of Powers and Thomas Midway Entertainment, a Wilmington-based company that has provided attractions including rides and games at the Surry fair for the past four years.

Powers and Thomas has not participated in other events it normally does during the summer in states such as Pennsylvania and New York. “They haven’t been able to set up anywhere,” Thorpe said.

“With our fair dates being this close (about six weeks off), it would have been hard to get everything going.”

Above all, the health and safety of the public was the overriding factor in the decision, according to the fair official. “We want safety first.”

Hopefully, COVID-19 eventually will run its course, Thorpe said, with fair officials now hoping for “a better year next year.”

The cancellation of the 2020 Surry County Agricultural Fair is the second major blow dealt to Veterans Memorial Park event-wise this year.

Coronavirus fears prompted the same outcome for the 49th-annual Mount Airy Bluegrass and Old-Time Fiddlers Convention normally staged in June at the West Lebanon Street facility.

• Two credit cards and an undisclosed sum of cash were discovered stolen Sunday as the result of a motor vehicle break-in on West Lebanon Street, according to Mount Airy Police Department reports.

The incident occurred at the home of Stephanie Marie Simpson, where her 2004 Hyundai Tiburon GT was forcibly entered, enabling the theft of a wallet containing U.S. Bank and Carter Bank and Trust credit cards, the money and Simpson’s driver’s license.

• Police were told Tuesday that a 2020 Carry-On trailer valued at $2,840 had been stolen sometime in June from Leonard Aluminum Utility Buildings on North Andy Griffith Parkway. It is described as a 6-by-12-foot, two-axle trailer with a drop gate.

• A case involving the obtaining of property by false pretense occurred on July 15, when an unknown suspect deposited fraudulent checks into the account of victim Deyanta Cornelius Moore of Jasper Pointe Circle, leading to the receiving of an undisclosed sum of money.

Also listed as a victim of the crime is Allegacy Federal Credit Union on Rockford Street, which was requested by the perpetrator to send money to an unknown party via an Internet transfer.

DOBSON — A Mount Airy man is being held in the Surry County Jail under a $376,500 secured bond on multiple methamphetamine-trafficking charges stemming from a search of his vehicle after a chase.

The arrest of Michael Shane Blaylock, 40, of 108 Knob Drive, occurred earlier this month, but details regarding it were not released by the Surry County Sheriff’s Office until this week.

Blaylock, who already had court cases pending, stemming from a series of charges filed in February, had his latest brush with the law on July 17, when that agency’s Narcotics Division and Street Crime Unit (SCU) was conducting surveillance in the West Pine Street/Beulah community.

Detectives attempted to pull over a vehicle during an interdiction stop, which resulted in a pursuit.

During that pursuit, the driver of the vehicle, later identified as Blaylock, jumped from it and ran into a wooded area.

Blaylock later was apprehended at a residence on Maple Grove Church Road.

“They got him later that afternoon,” Capt. Scott Hudson of the Surry County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

During a search of the vehicle, detectives located what Hudson called “a trafficking amount” of methamphetamine (49 grams), along with Suboxone strips, marijuana and assorted drug paraphernalia.

Someone found with more than 28 grams is subject to a Level One trafficking charge, he explained, and a $250,000 fine.

Blaylock is facing three counts of trafficking methamphetamine, along with one count each of felony maintaining a drug vehicle, felony fleeing/eluding arrest with a motor vehicle, possession of a Schedule III controlled substance, possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana paraphernalia and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He is scheduled to appear in Surry District Court on Aug. 26.

Blaylock’s incarceration under such a large ($376,500) secured bond is believed to have been due to the large quantity of meth involved, and he also could be considered a flight risk because of the charges still pending.

The Mount Airy man is awaiting trial in Surry Superior Court in connection with a previous arrest on Feb. 19, when deputies found Blaylock unconscious, slumped over the steering wheel of his car. It was sitting in the middle of a roadway not far from his home.

Those officers were responding to a suspicious-vehicle call, with a search of the vehicle turning up heroin, methamphetamine, clonazepam, two handguns and assorted drug paraphernalia.

Blaylock was charged with driving while impaired; felonious possession of heroin with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver; felony possession of methamphetamine with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver; felony maintaining a drug vehicle;

Also, two counts of possession of a Schedule IV controlled substance; two counts of felony possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; two felony counts of possession of a firearm with an altered serial number; and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Westfield Baptist Church and the Westfield Volunteer Fire Department are joining together to host a community Back To School Supply Drive.

According to WBC Secretary Tricia Lowe, the organizations will be collecting school supplies from now through Aug. 9. On Aug. 15, small backpacks filled with the supplies will be handed out to community residents.

“This was inspired by the fire department’s annual Christmas toy drive,” Lowe said. “We saw the need they had been addressing and we wanted to join with them for a community outreach project for the start of the school year.”

“With so many parents out of work, we knew the start of school could be stressful. With the pandemic causing so many changes, there could be a real sense of urgency for many. We wanted to offer a little hope in a dark time,” she continued.

According to Lowe, the church and fire department will be working together to collect pencils, pens, loose leaf paper, composition books, crayons, markers, stickers, folders, colored pencils, highlighters and pencil pouches. Early donations have lessened the need for pencils and loose leaf paper.

Donations may be made by purchasing supplies at the Family Dollar Store in the Westfield community and leaving them in a marked bin at the store.

An Amazon “wish list” has also been set up and may be accessed through the church web site at www.westfieldbaptistchurch.org. Purchases will be sent directly to the church.

Supplies may be dropped off at the fire department on Sunday afternoons or at the church office during the hours of 9 a.m. -3 p.m., Monday through Thursday. The church’s address is 6713 Westfield Road, Westfield, while the fire department is located nearby at 3386 Old Westfield Road. The Westfield community Family Dollar Store is located adjacent to the fire department.

Donations may be made payable to Westfield Baptist Church with a memo noting that it is for the school supply drive.

The project goal is to collect supplies to fill 100 backpacks for distribution.

“We really appreciate Family Dollar for helping with this and for the way they always help the fire department with the Christmas toy drive,” Lowe said. “We’re excited about this and believe it will be a good way of helping to meet needs right here in our back yards.”

A man was killed Thursday night when the moped he was driving was struck head-on by another vehicle.

Burt Ford Reed, 56, was driving east on NC 268 near the intersection with Bray Ford Road when he was struck head-on by a Ford Windstar minivan driven by Britt Lee King, 44, who was traveling west on NC 268, according to a report from the North Carolina Highway Patrol.

According to that report, King had swerved across the yellow line into the oncoming traffic to avoid a truck which had stopped, waiting to turn left onto Bray Ford Road.

“Mr. King did not realize the truck was stopped in front of him, and swerved left of center on the double yellow line to avoid the stopped truck,” the statement read.

According to John Shelton, Surry County EMS director and county medical examiner, the call came into his office at 9:23 p.m. Reed was pronounced dead at the scene shortly thereafter.

It was not clear from the Highway Patrol report if charges had been filed. The case remains under investigation. It was not immediately clear where the victim, or the other driver, were from.

Truck Wreck

In an unrelated incident, a Tyson Food truck carrying a load of live chickens bound for a processing plant overturned early Thursday morning on NC 268 when several tires of the truck rode off of the highway onto the soft shoulder of the road.

The wreck and subsequent clean-up closed a long section of the highway for most of the day Thursday.

According to John Shelton, Surry County EMS director, the single-vehicle wreck occurred at 6:30 a.m., resulting in the driver, whose name was not immediately available, being transported to the hospital in critical but stable condition.

The wreck also left a mess, with both dead and live chickens strewn throughout the area around the wreck. That forced the closure of the road, from Copeland School Road to Rockford Road. Shelton said about mid-day that he anticipated the highway would remain closed at least until 4 p.m.

Shelton said officials with Tyson were on the scene quickly to assess the damage and begin clean-up, as were officials from the state department of agriculture, there to oversee the operation.

Shelton said the North Carolina Highway Patrol, officials from his office, and the South Surry Fire Department were on hand. There were no additional injuries.

No helicopter crash

Shelton also said that, contrary to what was feared for a short time on Wednesday, there was no helicopter crash in Surry County.

He said his office did receive a report of a possible crash, so he immediately went to the Surry County-Mount Airy airport to set up a command center to coordinate search efforts.

“Luckily we had a plane up in the area, we were able to find the helicopter and learned it was just an ag helicopter, going up and down.”

He explained that such aircraft are often used for field spraying operations, and they often make quick drops toward land. To someone who may not understand what’s going on, he said it would appear the helicopter is falling from the sky.

A chance to satisfy culinary tastes of all types will be offered this weekend when the “Food Truck Rodeo” is planned at Veterans Memorial Park in Mount Airy.

“This will be new for us,” President Doug Joyner of the park governing board said Wednesday of its first-ever foray into the food truck phenomenon that’s becoming increasingly popular, featuring items cooked, prepared and sold from motorized vehicles at festivals.

“I think we’re going to have at least 12 trucks out there,” added Joyner, who along with serving as park president is commander of local American Legion Post 123, co-owner of the park with Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2019.

The food truck gathering is scheduled Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the park on West Lebanon Street as a fundraiser for that facility. It has been hard-hit by COVID-19, including the cancellation of one major event normally held there and the possibility of another, which provide proceeds to support its operation.

Among the vendors slated to offer their wares during the weekend are the Mayberry Pork Chop Trailer, with items including pork chops, barbecue and chicken tenders; the Ice Shack, with ice cream, shaved ice and frozen drinks; Poppy’s Concessions (funnel cakes and fried Oreos); Cowboy Salsa (fresh-made salsa); Station 78 Firehouse (roasted peanuts); Duck Donuts; and more.

The list also will include trucks offering fish sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers, slushies and various other dessert items.

While this weekend’s event officially is known as the Veterans Park Drive-In Food Truck Rodeo, Joyner said customers can walk up to the trucks to order. In an effort to accommodate those who want to dine on-site along with patrons who prefer to pick up items and leave, picnic tables will be placed on the park grounds.

“We’re going to try to enforce the social distancing as much as we can,” Joyner said of plans to provide proper spacing of trucks, tables and other facets of the gathering.

Attendees are encouraged to wear face masks, and a hand-sanitizer station will be in place.

The Food Truck Rodeo originally was scheduled for June 27-28, but postponed due to pandemic-related restrictions imposed by the Mount Airy Police Department.

“It was just not the best time,” Billy Noah, another event organizer, explained at that time, when organizers had hoped that the food truck festival could be held later in conjunction with restrictions being somewhat eased.

An annual fiddlers convention staged in June at Veterans Memorial Park was cancelled, with plans for the county fair there in September still uncertain, a fair official said Wednesday.

Other gatherings have been scheduled to help take up the financial slack, including an auction at the park last Sunday that was deemed “a huge success” by one organizer and this weekend’s food truck festival.

A GoFundMe campaign also has been launched to aid the park.

Mount Airy City School is expanding course offerings in Career and Technical Education to include Entrepreneurship I and II.

“We have been working in partnership with YESurry, a non-profit organization, to introduce students to entrepreneurship during their high school years,” the school system said in a release announcing the expansion.

The new classes will be offered at Mount Airy High School for the 2020-2021 school year, with Will Pfitzner, a local entrepreneur, joining the staff as the instructor for the new classes.

Pfitzner graduated from Mount Airy High School in 2012, went on to earn a B.S. in biomedical engineering from NC State University while also launching his wood home decor company, LazerEdge. Upon graduation, he spent two years working for Deloitte Consulting aiding in business technology development across North and South America. In February of 2018, he decided it was time to pursue his dream of becoming an entrepreneur.

Pfitzner now serves on the board for YESurry that strives to create a community “where young people are prepared and empowered to take responsibility for their personal and professional future through creating and developing their own businesses to achieve financial independence,” the school system said.

Pfitzner still owns and operates LazerEdge in Mount Airy, where he has made it his mission to continue to grow his business while giving back to the community through teaching and mentorship.

The school is partnering with NC State University through a collaboration with The Innovation Project, to bring “innovative leadership” to rural districts. The NC State curriculum, AsaP Curriculum via the Applied Synergies Partnership, will be a pilot program at Mount Airy High School and will be shared across the state. It introduces students to aspects of developing a business idea, working a business plan, marketing that plan, and creating a product. These aspects will help students understand all aspects of business and be able to launch their own business even in high school.

“Will’s positive energy and experience as an entrepreneur in our community will help generate excitement for young entrepreneurs in our school system to pursue their own innovative business ideas,” said Olivia Sikes, director of Career and Technical Education. “Through enrollment in these courses, students will have the opportunity to earn credentials such as the Venture Entrepreneurial Expedition Credential and will also have the opportunity to take the Small Business exam.

”Students will also have the opportunity to be members of the DECA club, which prepares high school students to be emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management, as well as the YESurry challenge. This challenge competes with other students around the county to create a realistic and visionary project. The winning projects are funded through this challenge and allow students to realize their vision,” she said.

Mount Airy Fire Department members have responded to two blazes on back-to-back nights this week, including one Monday that sent an elderly couple to the hospital and fatally injured their pets.

“It’s very unusual,” city Fire Chief Zane Poindexter said of that frequency, especially in the summertime when heating sources are not a factor as they are in colder months. “Two nights in a row is not the norm.”

The fire Monday night occurred at a residence on 322 E. Independence Blvd. across the street from the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet shopping center, caused by an electrical problem, with the first blaze Sunday night on Merita Street stemming from an illegal burn.

It damaged a garage-type structure.

The incident on East Independence Boulevard was reported around 9 p.m. Monday at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Tate, who have been displaced as a result.

“He was crawling out of the house,” Poindexter said of the scene greeting fire personnel, with Mr. Tate having been exposed “to quite a bit of smoke.”

“Mrs. Tate was able to get out,” the fire chief added.

Both were transported to Northern Regional Hospital by the Surry County Emergency Medical Service.

“She has been transferred to Baptist hospital,” Poindexter said Tuesday of Mrs. Tate, whose condition was unknown, while her husband subsequently was released from Northern Regional.

Donald Tate is now staying at a local hotel through an American Red Cross program that provides temporary lodging to displaced fire victims.

The couple’s pets, however, did not fare as well, with their dog, a Chihuahua, lost due to the fire along with a cat; a pet bird, identified as a cockatiel; and some fish as part of a large menagerie.

One cat survived and fire personnel on the scene Tuesday were awaiting the arrival of a granddaughter of the couple to take charge of that animal and some guns in the house.

Heat hampers firefighters

Monday night’s blaze also took its toll on the fire personnel at the scene, who not only had to cope with the heat from the structure but air temperatures near the 80-degree mark along with high humidity.

“Three firefighters were treated for heat-related illnesses,” Poindexter said. “They just had to go to the ambulance and get cooled off.”

Battling a blaze in the summer warmth is much more dangerous for fire personnel than any other weather condition, according to Poindexter, who explained that their gear weighs about 55 pounds and the body is much more susceptible to heat-related illnesses.

During such situations, a larger-than-usual amount of manpower is required so firefighters can be rotated in and out from the front line to keep them fresh and lessen the chances of being overcome, he said.

The Bannertown Volunteer Fire Department assisted the 14 city firefighters responding, and in addition to the EMS and Red Cross, the Mount Airy Rescue Squad and Mount Airy Fire Department were on the scene.

Monday night’s blaze initially was listed as still under investigation, but by Tuesday its cause had been ruled accidental in nature.

It occurred due to an electrical malfunction in a bedroom on the right-rear corner of the house.

“We’re really unsure” of the specific cause, the fire chief said. “It could have been an overloaded circuit or failure — it could have been so many things.”

Damages from Monday night’s fire are estimated at nearly $53,000 — including $37,900 to the house, owned by Pamela Draughn — and $15,000 to contents.

Merita Street fire

The blaze Sunday night at 823 Merita St., located south of Fowler Street off U.S.52, resulted in damage put at $10,000. It was reported shortly after 8 p.m. to an outbuilding, described as a garage-like structure.

“It was a cinder block building,” Poindexter said, which had been set up to accommodate body and mechanic work.

“They were burning trash outside their building and it caught the building on fire,” the chief related.

“It has an external wood-frame attachment to the back that the illegal burning got into.” The fire then spread to an attic area.

The owner of the property is listed as Danny Golding, with Jimmy Smith as tenant.

Thirteen Mount Airy firefighters responded to that incident, along with Bannertown volunteers, city police, the EMS and Mount Airy Rescue Squad.

Although the blaze involved an illegal burn, no charges will be filed, Poindexter said.

The Surry Arts Council has received a $10,000 NC CARES: Humanities Relief Grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council. This emergency grant funding was provided to North Carolina cultural organizations experiencing hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are grateful to be one of 59 organizations the North Carolina Humanities Council selected for this funding,” said Tanya Jones, Surry Arts Council executive director. The Surry Arts Council has suffered unprecedented financial losses since March and did not reach its fund drive goal for the first time since 2008, the agency said in a written statement announcing the grant. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue have been lost, most of the programming remains at a standstill with no concerts, community theater, movies, and more.

“This important funding will help support operating expenses for the next few months as we continue to reassess ongoing programming and offerings in light of the pandemic,” the council said in the statement. “The arts council is in the process of repurposing spaces and will soon begin to offer new options for small groups of locals and visitors with this new funding that will focus on sharing our cultural assets. The Surry Arts Council recently cut back staffing for the second time since March and this funding comes at a crucial time.”

NC CARES: Humanities Relief Grant funding was provided to the North Carolina Humanities Council by the National Endowment for the Humanities through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed by Congress in March. The $2.2 trillion CARES package included $75 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities, nearly $30 million, or a total of 40%, of which was sent to the 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils, including the North Carolina Humanities Council, to distribute to local cultural nonprofits and programming. The North Carolina Humanities Council www.nchumanities.org is a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

For more information about Surry Arts Council visit www.surryart.org.

DOBSON — After being attacked at two county board meetings, a Mount Airy woman fired back at her detractors recently.

At meetings in May and June of the Surry County Board of Commissioners, three neighbors off Galax Trail just outside the Mount Airy city limit asked county officials to help them get rid of what they called a nuisance property.

Delores Taylor, of Alton Lane, spoke about the neighborhood, which is just up the hill to the west of Northern Wellness and Fitness Center (formerly Pro Health). She said it was a quiet residential area before the Ritter family moved in.

She and two other women told the board of more than a dozen dogs barking for most of the day, dozens of chickens, ducks and a few goats all being kept on less than one acre of property. They spoke of the noise and smell coming from the lot.

Commissioners Johnson and Bill Goins visited the Taylor house and came back sympathetic to the barking they heard while there.

County Attorney Ed Woltz advised that because of rules in place to protect real farms in the rural county, there wasn’t much the board could do to help without infringing on farmers’ rights.

In defense

At the most recent board meeting last week, Crystal Ritter appeared during the open forum portion of the meeting to speak on behalf of herself and her daughter Jenna, whom she said was autistic and needed to write her thoughts down.

Normally the board chairman asks the speakers to limit their remarks to three minutes. With Vice Chair Mark Marion filling in for Chairman Larry Johnson, Ritter stayed at the podium for 28-½ minutes.

“Since the day we move into our 0.83-acre property with just two dogs, our family has been relentlessly harassed, lied to, lied about, and, dare I say, stalked by our neighbors,” Crystal Ritter read aloud.

“It has made living in our home we got with a loan meant for farming and rural living for low-income people torture, and it has gotten to the point I am terrified to be outside by myself and enjoy the very thing I hold dearest in my life: my animals.”

According to Ritter, “When we bought the house, we got a home filled with trash and mice. We did not know this was an issue until we spent our first night in the house and started cleaning it. We found dozens of mouse traps. After doing laundry, we saw them in the basement, and we heard them in the attic.”

She stated that while the neighbors claim that she and her family have brought down the property values, the house was already doing that before they moved in.

The house has 1,700 square feet with a three bedrooms, two baths and a full basement, yet it was only valued at $122,270, according to a tax document Crystal Ritter brought to the board. The full-sized tennis court mentioned by the neighbors behind the house was in such disrepair that it was listed as having no value on the form.

There are other factors in the lowered property values, Jenna Ritter claims.

“The opioid epidemic has also affected it,” she wrote. “There are drug deals in the park, people have tried breaking into houses, and strange people show up in our yard.”

She said unkempt trees have resulted in large branches and even trees themselves falling on buildings and power lines.

“Our street is used frequently by people to dump animals,” she claims. “This is how we went from two to four dogs. … In fact, many of the cats the neighbors describe as feral are not feral at all.” They are house cats who have been abandoned.

After Pamela Bledsoe complained about the property at two county meetings, Jenna Ritter wrote, “The whole time we have lived there, the Bledsoes have always wanted us to adapt to them.

“They complained that we were not sociable. … They complained we had too many cars in our driveway. The complained we had too many visitors and wanted to know who was visiting. They complained that I always had a light on in the window.”

She said the couple demanded changes of her family.

“They threatened our animals harm or to have us annexed into the city limits against our will. The threats resulted in us filing a restraining order against them.”

Ritter admitted to have different types of animals on the farm such as chickens, ducks and goats.

“The animals are the secondary food source for not just our immediate family, but for friends, extended family and friendly neighbors,” she noted. “We struggle with store-bought food due to the variety of food sensitivities and allergies in our family.”

She said she had offered to show the neighbors around the property and explain what her plans for the development of the property are, but hasn’t had any takers.

Instead she said people from animal control showed up because of a complaint about overcrowding of dogs on the tennis court when there were only five at the time.

“We showed them to the tennis court. The officer asked where the rest were. We told him that was it. He told us that the lady behind us, Delores, called to complain we had 50 dogs. We never, ever had that many. After that, we started finding Delores a few feet into our property yelling at our dogs and us while filming.”

With the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction ordinance overturned, and the property part of the county, she wants to be left alone.

“This is just a bunch of nosy, retired busybodies who want the benefits of the city and an HOA (homeowners association), but do not want to pay the fees associated with such,” she wrote. “If someone bought our house for what we owe on it, we would gladly move.”

After Ritter spoke, the board, as usual, took no action and moved on to the next open forum speaker.

DOBSON — A Zephyr man was arrested Saturday evening after allegedly shooting a Dobson man during an argument.

The Surry County Sheriff’s Office said at 4:07 p.m. on Saturday it received an emergency call “in reference to a shooting incident at the address of 7814 U.S. 601, Dobson,” which is about a mile north of the intersection of U.S. 601 and N.C. 268.

When deputies arrived at the address, the officers found a white male, later identified as Wesley Dale Hall, 27, of that address, with a gunshot wound to his mid to upper torso, according to Capt. Larry Lowe.

“Hall was transported to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center for treatment of non-life threatening injuries,” said a press release from the sheriff’s office.

After the investigation was completed, the sheriff’s office stated, detectives charged and arrested Tyler Blake Daughenbaugh, 22, of 107 Powell Hall Lane, listed as Elkin but in the Zephyr community.

Daughenbaugh was charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, inflicting serious injury.

The sheriff’s office believes the incident occurred directly as a result of an argument between Hall and Daughenbaugh over personal property.

“After the arrest, Daughenbaugh was presented in front of a judicial official and received a $200,000 secured bond. Daughenbaugh is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 5.”

According to the Surry County court docket, on Sept. 4 Daughenbaugh has a court date to face a charge of driving while license revoked (not from being impaired).

On Sept. 25 he faces charges in Yadkin County for driving with no license, driving a motorcycle without an endorsement on his license, having a fictitious title/registration/license plate, and having no vehicle insurance.

Criminal record

Daughenbaugh has multiple convictions on his record with the N.C. Department of Public Safety.

In July 2015 he was convicted in Wilkes County of larceny of more than $1,000 from an offense in August 2014 (when he was 16 years old). He was given a suspended sentence, probation and community service.

In December 2016 at 18 years old, he went to prison for the first time after being found guilty of six charges. The initial charge was felony possession of a weapon of mass destruction in February. Then in July came two felony counts of possession of a Schedule II drug, assault inflicting serious injury, and two counts of injury to property of more than $200. He served 10 months in prison, getting out in October 2017.

He was only out two months before being charged with violating his parole by interfering with his ankle monitor.

On Jan. 31, 2018, while waiting for his court appearance, Daughenbaugh was arrested and charged with speeding to elude arrest, failure to heed lights/siren, and felony possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

He was taken to court and convicted of the felony parole charge and went back inside for nine more months, getting out in October.

That was short-lived, however, as by January 2019 he had his court date for the three charges that came the year before when he reportedly tried to flee from an officer.

On Jan. 14, 2019, he was convicted of the three charges and served 14 months in prison, getting out on March 22 of this year.

His parole was scheduled to continue until Dec. 17, which means this arrest could violate the terms of his release and get him sent back to prison.

Two more Surry County residents have died from COVID-19 related complications, bringing the death toll to 7 as the overall case load in the county has soared to nearly 800.

Officials from Surry County Health and Nutrition Center said the sixth victim died on July 23, while the seventh victim succumbed on July 25. The July 23 death involved a person in his or her 80s who had what the agency called “underlying medical conditions.” The seventh victim was a person in his or her 60s, and there was no mention of any other health issues other than COVID-19.

“To protect the families’ privacy, no further information will be released,” the agency said.

“I would like to extend my deep sympathies and condolences to the families. It goes without saying that this is a very difficult time for all who are affected,” said Surry County Health Director Samantha Ange.

The deaths mark five over a 15-day period, from July 10 to July 25, and come amidst a steep rise in local cases. As of Monday morning, the latest figures available from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services show Surry County has 773 confirmed cases of COVID-19, far outpacing any other county in the immediate vicinity except Forsyth County.

Forsyth’s figures dwarf many around the state, with 4,607 cans and 41 deaths. Wilkes County, which at one time had several hundred more cases than Surry as a result of outbreaks at chicken processing plants there, is at 701 cases with 9 deaths. Yadkin County has 445 cases with six deaths; Stokes County has 221 confirmed cases with 1 confirmed death; and Ashe County has 62 cases with no reported deaths. Statewide North Carolina now has 114,338 laboratory-confirmed cases with 1,790 deaths.

Across the border in Virginia, Carroll County has 299 cases and 10 deaths, Galax has 326 cases with 16 deaths, Grayson County has recorded 120 cases and 4 deaths, while Patrick County has had 99 cases and 3 deaths. Statewide, Virginia has 82,871 confirmed cases with 7,600 confirmed COVID-19 deaths.

Nationally, there are now 4,163,892 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 145, 982 deaths from the virus. That represents 64,582 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, along with 969 new deaths in the same time frame.

“We must all do our part to not only protect ourselves but to protect those who are more vulnerable to experiencing severe complications from COVID-19,” Ange said of the local cases. “I urge everyone to continue to abide by the recommendations set forth by the CDC, NC DHHS, and North Carolina Gov. Cooper to help ensure we do not reverse the impact we have made thus far with controlling the spread of COVID-19 in our communities.”

“Surry County Health and Nutrition Center would like to once again reiterate the importance of taking the threat of COVID-19 seriously and remembering to protect yourselves and your loved ones by wearing a cloth face covering when in public, waiting at least 6 feet from others, avoiding crowded settings, and washing your hands frequently and thoroughly,” the local agency said in its statement. “The COVID-19 outbreak has been accompanied by a flood of misinformation from unreliable sources. Be thoughtful about what you read or hear about the virus and make sure you are separating rumor from fact before you act.”

To stay up to date on COVID-19 in North Carolina, visit ncdhhs.gov/coronavirus or text COVIDNC to 898211. Call 2-1-1, or 888892-1162, for general questions or for help finding human services resources in the community.

A Mount Airy man is dead after an altercation with city police led to his shooting, according to the Mount Airy Police Department.

Samuel Solomon Cochran Jr., 22, died at the scene of the altercation with police after being shot, according to a statement released by the police department.

The shooting took place after officers were sent to 504 Allred Mill Road “to assist Surry County EMS regarding a chemical overdose,” late Sunday night, shortly before midnight, the statement said. Upon arrival officers found that Cochran was barricaded inside of the residence.

“Officers were able to gain access into the residence and found the subject armed with a knife. An altercation ensued and the subject was shot by responding officers,” the police department’s statement read. Cochran died at the scene. The statement did not say if he was shot more than once, nor did it include any additional information regarding the potential drug overdose or if anyone else was involved.

“The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation was contacted and will be conducting an investigation into the matter,” the local police department said.

DOBSON — Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society recently selected Surry Community College’s academic research project to feature in its publication, “Civic Scholar: Phi Theta Kappa Journal of Undergraduate Research.”

“Civic Scholar” features 16 research projects by society chapters across the country on a wide range of topics including “Exploring Disparities in Healthcare Based on Identities” and “Transforming Negative Community College Stigma into Positive Action.” There were 495 submissions for the third edition of Civic Scholar.

“We all know the key to success in college is driven by student engagement,” society President and CEO Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner said. “These 16 projects are the very best examples of how students apply innovative research and take meaningful action on the issues they care about most on their campuses and in their communities. We are proud to showcase their good and important work, and we are grateful to the Cooke Foundation for helping us share this work with others.”

Dr. Blake Ellis, vice president of Student Engagement added, “In publishing this journal, we hope to demonstrate something we have always known to be true: community college students are innovative scholars. They are conducting research that matters, drawing conclusions that reshape our understanding of the world, and taking action that leaves a lasting impact.”

Research was conducted as part of Phi Theta Kappa’s honors program, Honors in Action, and based on the topic, Transformations: Acknowledging, Assessing, and Achieving Change. The works published in Civic Scholar include both substantive research and community engagement — chapters ultimately turned their research into action by using their findings to meet specific community needs.

Surry Community College’s Chapter Advisor, Dr. Kathleen D. Fowler, who directed the project featured in the publication, said she is proud of the students who dedicated their time and skills to work on it.

“Honors in Action projects are designed to help students grow as scholars and as leaders,” Fowler said. “The students research a global issue and how it manifests within their community. Then they design a project, based on their research, to help their community members. Thus, they are making a positive impact through their service.”

Surry’s Alpha Xi Tau Chapter of PTK entitled their research project, “Transforming Families Impacted by Substance Abuse: The Opposite of Addiction is Connection.” After completing their 2018/2019 Honors in Action project, they learned that the local region’s substance abuse problem was worsening, and education was essential to the solution. They also learned that helping those already addicted to substances was an extremely complex issue and outside the skill set of their team. With that knowledge, they developed this research question: “How does substance abuse impact families and friends of those who are addicted?”

Researching this topic led them to develop a student survey, which asked who was likely to be affected by the substance abuse of others and how they were likely to be affected. From the data they collected and analyzed, they concluded that all levels of family, from children to grandparents, are impacted in a multitude of ways. Yet, most people are not aware of resources available to help. They used these research findings to develop a plan of action.

The students partnered with Nancy Taylor, a Surry Community College instructor specializing in the psychology of addiction, and Mark Willis, the Surry County’s Opioid Response Director, to create a resource guide to help families impacted by substance abuse. They included counties where most Surry Community College’s students reside and included sections based on specific needs revealed through their research: food pantries, shelters, health care, counseling, and additional vital resources. They also searched for churches, organizations, and other groups that provide these types of services.

While collecting information, the students realized they would need two guides: one for resources in English and one for those provided in Spanish. After developing both, they shared them with students, college administrators, county officials, and community members to help connect families affected by substance abuse with available resources.

For more information about Phi Theta Kappa, contact PTK’s Faculty Advisor Dr. Kathleen Fowler at (336) 386-3560 or [email protected] or go to www.ptk.org. You can also follow the local chapter at on Facebook @surryPhiThetaKappa.

Four 2020 high school graduates were recently awarded grants from the Taylor and Megan Memorial Scholarship, established in memory of Megan Marie Davis and Taylor Nicole Thompson, sisters who lost their lives in a car wreck on Nov. 24, 2014.

Recently several members of the Class of 2020, which would have been the year Megan would have graduated, gathered in “Megan’s Garden,” a memorial constructed at Gentry Middle School not long after the tragedy. Megan was a seventh-grader there when she died.

Carigon Dycus, Macey Edwards, Ashley Hunsucker, Mary Beth Taylor, Kiersten Walker, Logan Dean, Clemente Galeana, Kelly Hayes, Anna Cockerham, and Gracie Snow were a few of Megan’s classmates that came together along with some of their parents and friends to remember her.

It was a time to share a few stories, take some pictures and be with Megan’s parents, Nolan and Mary Ann. During the evening as the sun was setting, Mary Ann and Nolan presented four of these students with the Taylor and Megan Memorial Scholarship.

Soon after the girls passed, these bereaving parents wanted to do something that would honor their late daughters and aid several youth in pursuing their dreams so they established this scholarship. Several fundraisers are held throughout the year to raise money for the scholarships.

“We are so honored to be able to give out the Taylor and Megan Scholarship this year,” their mother said. “This has been a very hard year for us where it is Megan’s graduating class — Megan’s best friends graduating. I am so proud of the class of 2020. All of this group knows how Taylor and Megan were. They loved my baby girls so much. Megan will always be with you all, pushing you to make your dreams come true.”

This year’s recipients, receiving $1,000 each are, Mary Beth Taylor, Gracie Snow, Anna Cockerham and Kelly Hayes. Kelly, Mary Beth and Anna are graduating from North Surry while Gracie is graduating from Surry Early College High School.

“I am grateful that I was able to receive this scholarship because it helped with my cost for college and that means my parents don’t have to pay as much,” said Mary Beth Taylor. “I am also happy that I get to carry on the memory of Megan and Taylor.” Mary Beth plans to go to UNC-Charlotte and study elementary and special education and become a teacher.

Kelly Hayes will attend Surry Community College and then transfer to N.C. State. She is undecided what her major will be at this point. “Megan’s memory will live on through this scholarship and as a close friend of hers it makes it that much more special receiving it,” Kelly said.

Recipient Anna Cockerham offered these sentiments: “Well I think that even though I and Megan didn’t really think too far into depth about our futures or colleges when we were so young, I still think that she would want to go to college. With the scholarship I am kind of bringing a piece of Megan along with me and doing it for the both of us. I am really grateful Mary Ann, thank you and love you.”

Anna plans to attend UNC-Chapel Hill and major in business and advertising. She would like to work in an advertising department or work in non-profit.

Gracie, the only Surry Early College graduate of the group, wishes to attend Western Carolina in the fall and study psychology and become a therapist. She offered these words: “Getting the scholarship means a lot to me, especially because me and Megan were so close when we were younger. I know she’s going to be with me through college and longer as I grow up and go through life.”

Mary Ann and Nolan Davis said they wish to thank all of the graduates and parents that came out to remember their daughter at this event. She offered these heartfelt words: “This means so much to me. I loved seeing all of you in a circle talking and laughing. I know Megan and Taylor were looking down and smiling so big. Thank you for all the hugs. You all help me so much. The Class of 2020 will always hold a special place in my heart. Congratulations to you all.”

MARTINSVILLE, VA — Carter Bank & Trust announced last week its intent to form a bank holding company, subject to regulatory approval.

If approved, the bank would become a subsidiary of the newly-formed bank holding company. Current shareholders of the bank would become shareholders of the newly-formed bank holding company and current shareholders will have the same rights and ownership percentage in the new holding company as they have in the bank, the company said.

“The bank’s board of directors believes this new corporate structure will provide added financial and operational flexibility for the bank, is an integral part of the continued growth and prosperity of the bank, and is in the best interests of the bank’s shareholders,” said James W. Haskins, chairman of the board of the bank.

Litz H. Van Dyke, chief executive officer said: “These are times of tremendous uncertainty in the banking industry due to the impact of COVID-19. The formation of the holding company will provide more efficient access to capital markets if the need arises and will create flexibility in the overall capital structure of our organization. We believe that forming a holding company now will put Carter Bank in the best position to respond to evolving market conditions and to take advantage of future opportunities as they arise.”

“The holding company formation will not impact the bank’s operations; the bank will continue to provide its full range of financial services comprised of retail, commercial banking and insurance products,” the company said in a statement.

While the company did not specifically say what other directions the holding company might go, a holding company has a wider array of business options in can pursue compared to a bank.

The bank’s headquarters will remain in Martinsville, Virginia, as will the new holding company. Carter Bank and Trust has branches in several markets, including Mount Airy, Hillsville, Virginia, and Stuart, Virginia.

The toll has been tallied from an incident in downtown Mount Airy which caused major damage to utility poles, electrical equipment and parked vehicles after a tractor-trailer struck an overhead power line.

“This has been something else,” Capt. Barry VanHoy of the Mount Airy Police Department said Friday afternoon of efforts to calculate the devastation from the bizarre incident Wednesday afternoon in the area of Moore Avenue and City Hall Street.

“I just have got the report from the officer,” VanHoy said of the department member who investigated the chain-reaction accident that spanned the length of the two city streets, leaving five broken poles and other destruction in its wake.

The accident report, by Officer R.G. Boles, covers 10 pages and lists total estimated damages from the incident of $233,500.

It occurred shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday as a 2019 Freightliner truck operated by John Eric Gray, 47, of Covington Estates Road, Pilot Mountain, was pulling away from Sarah’s Beauty Boutique at 150 Moore Ave. after a delivery.

As the rig — with a gross weight of 72,000 pounds — headed north on City Hall Street, which runs perpendicular to Moore, it struck an overhead utility line that was caught by the top left corner of the front of the trailer.

With the line still snagged on the trailer, the truck continued north, causing the five utility poles connected to the line along the two streets to break, the accident report continues. As a result, both poles and lines toppled onto multiple vehicles.

As the poles fell, the transformers on two of them struck the ground and burst, splashing oil on three of the vehicles. One pole on Moore Avenue landed on a 2014 Kia owned by Randy Eugene Goins of Pinnacle, causing major damage listed as $10,000.

In all, five parked vehicles were impacted, also including a 2015 Lexus and a 2010 Lexus owned by John and Bobbie Collins of Mount Airy, who are associated with Homestead Realty; the 2017 Subaru of Angela Leonard Cagel of Cana, Virginia; and a 2015 Toyota owned by Kirk Ray Killon of Mount Airy.

Duke Energy suffered the biggest losses, put at more than $200,000, with the city of Mount Airy also affected to the tune of $5,000 in damage to a traffic light controller.

“The contributory circumstance he has for the driver of the truck is inattention,” VanHoy said of the findings by Boles.

“Of course, there were no charges,” he added, “and that’s our policy.”

VanHoy was referring to a departmental procedure that Police Chief Dale Watson has described as simply determining contributory negligence in traffic accidents unless some aggravating factor such as impaired driving is involved.

The two streets were closed in the aftermath of the incident to allow crews from Duke Energy and Pike Electric to clear the roadways and make repairs, which continued for a lengthy period.

Surrey Bancorp (Pink Sheets: SRYB), the holding company for Surrey Bank & Trust, on Thursday reported net income for the quarter which ended June 30 stood at $971,563, or 23 cents per share.

That represents a drop of nearly 17%, from $1,165,651, or 28 cents per share, during the same quarter in 2019.

The decrease in earnings stems from COVID-19 fallout, according to the company.

“Net interest income decreased from $3,338,262 in the second quarter of 2019 to $2,877,332 in the second quarter of 2020,” the bank holding company said in releasing its results. “The decrease in net interest income is the result of a sudden decrease in interest rates due to the COVID 19 pandemic.”

Other factors affecting the company, according to the firm, include:

• Average loans outstanding in the second quarter of 2020 were $268,196,488 compared to $242,438,661 in the second quarter of 2019;

• Loan yields decreased from 5.61% in the second quarter of 2019 to 4.72% in the same quarter of 2020.

• The yield on interest earning assets decreased from 5.05% to 3.57% from the second quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2020. In addition to the overall decrease in interest rates, lower yields were affected by the bank’s participation in the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP). The bank funded approximately $47,369,000 of PPP loans in the second quarter of 2020. These loans carry an interest rate of 1% and carry a 100% government guarantee.

• The cost of funds decreased from 0.49% in the second quarter of 2019 to 0.37% in 2020 due to general rate decreases.

• The provision for loan losses increased from $146,685 in the second quarter of 2019 to a provision of $260,051 in 2020, a $113,366 increase. This increase is due to the estimated economic impact of the pandemic.

Net income for the six months ending June 30 was $2,027,575 or 49 cents per share, compared to $2,107,415 or 51 cents share, for the same period in 2019.

Surrey Bancorp is the bank holding company for Surrey Bank & Trust and is located at 145 North Renfro Street, Mount Airy. The Bank operates full service branch offices at 145 North Renfro Street, 1280 West Pine Street, and 2050 Rockford Street in Mount Airy. Full-service branch offices are also located at 653 South Key Street in Pilot Mountain, 393 CC Camp Road in Elkin and 1096 Main Street in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina and 940 Woodland Drive in Stuart, Virginia.

Surrey Bank & Trust is engaged in the sale of insurance through its wholly owned subsidiary Surrey Investment Services Inc. The insurance agency, dba SB&T Insurance, is located at 199 North Renfro Street in Mount Airy.

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