Another HOT, HAZY and HUMID day…but some changes for the weekend
Your WBFJ Family Station Forecast: Sunny and HOT for Friday. Cooler temperatures with a better chance of showers over the weekend. High on Friday...around 90. Low 80s for the weekend.
Police in Martinsville, Virginia investigating the 2002 Short family murders, have planned a press conference for 10am this morning.
http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/08/13/article/authorities_to_discuss_short_slaying_case_today
Mortgage rates continued to drop…plunging to the lowest level in decades. According to surveys from Freddie Mac and Bankrate, 30-year fixed rate mortgage rates slipped to 4.44% this week. The lowest rates since 1971. A year ago it was at 5.29%. 15 year fixed rate mortgages are still below 4%. http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/12/real_estate/mortgage_rates/index.htm?hpt=T2
Road crews had to close one lane of Business 40 near the Church Street bridge in Winston-Salem yesterday around lunchtime after a 4-foot piece of concrete fell on the interstate. Officials said extreme heat could be to blame for the concrete falling on the road. www.myfox8.com/news/whgp-story-concrete-block-100812,0,3455034.story
A Dudley High School football player suffered a broken neck during practice earlier in the week. Brandon Burkes, a rising junior at Dudley High School, was injured on Monday when he tried to tackle a player head-on. Brandon finished practice, but started complaining of neck pain.
An MRI revealed that Brandon had broken his neck in two places. Doctors said Brandon may never play football again. The best news: Brandon will likely suffer no permanent paralysis from the injury. www.myfox8.com/news/wghp-story-dudley-100812,0,4235528.story
A 16-month-old toddler who fell into a backyard swimming pool late last week died yesterday afternoon. Alexis Marie Stephens had been listed in critical condition at WF Baptist Hospital since Sunday. http://kernersville.myfox8.com/content/update-toddler-dies-after-falling-backyard-pool
Steven Slater, the JetBlue flight attendant whose dramatic ‘departure’ from a passenger plane at JFK airport in New York earlier in the week, wants his job back. Whether Slater can regain his wings is unclear. Slater has been charged with two felonies…and faces up to seven years in prison for his actions. www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/08/12/flight.attendant/index.html?hpt=T2
Just in time for Back-to-School, JC Penny stores nationwide and locally will once again ask you to ‘round up’ your total bill for a good cause. The JC Penny Afterschool Round Up helps kids through charitable organizations. The JC Penny location at Hanes Mall continues its partnership with the YMCA afterschool programs of NW NC. The Round up goes through August 17th.
The Benton Convention Center is now covered in a forest of Christmas trees as more than 400 Christmas-tree growers and retailers are in town for the 2010 National Christmas Tree Association and Trade Show. This is the first time that the national convention has been in North Carolina since 1998, when it was in Asheville. The trade show is not open to the public…but a tree contest will determine who provides the White House tree. -North Carolina Christmas tree growers have harvested more than 3 million trees annually in recent years, ranking second in the nation after Oregon. -About 25 to 30 million Christmas trees are sold in the US each year. www.journalnow.com/content/2010/aug/12/christmas-tree-trade-show-comes-to-town/
Two men in a dryer? Firefighters in Charlotte rescued two men who were overcome by heat…after being trapped inside an industrial clothes dryer. Authorities say that the two men were working at the laundry facility at Carolinas Medical Center early yesterday morning when one of the men got into the dryer to free an item that was jammed and he was overcome by the heat. A second man went in to rescue him and he also was overcome by the heat. Another co-worker called 911. Charlotte fire officials say it took a group of about 30 firefighters a half-hour to free the men. The two workers were taken to the hospital. www.journalnow.com/content/2010/aug/13/122330/16-month-old-who-fell-into-pool-last-week-has-died/
NFL Pre-Season: Carolina Panthers fall to the Baltimore Ravens 17 – 12
www.panthers.com/schedule/schedule.html
MLB: Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones may have played his last game in the major leagues after tearing his ACL (CNN)
Pro Golf: PGA Championship round two this morning in Wisconsin
NASCAR team owner Jack Roush has been released from a Minnesota hospital two weeks after he suffered injuries in a Wisconsin plane crash. www.nascar.com
