Your WBFJ Family Station Forecast: Cloudy skies with a few showers possible…High 68
Celebrate National Nursing Home Week and ‘Give the Gift of Life’ during the 8th annual community blood drive this afternoon at Village Care of King. Find us at Ingram Road…behind Rite Aid…off Main Street in King. The Blood Drive is from 1 – 5pm…WBFJ will be on location from 2 – 4pm. Help us exceed our goal of 25 units of blood donated.
Walk ins welcomed or to schedule an appointment call 983-4900.
Isabella and Jacob took the number one spots for top baby names of 2009. The Social Security Administration has released the top 100 baby names for 2009…based on Social Security cards issued for US births. For baby girls, Isabella, Emma and Olivia. For the boys, Jacob, Ethan and Michael.
Check out the entire list of names: http://www.babyhold.com/babynames/Popular/Top_100_Baby_Names_2009%3A_Social_Security_Administration/
Melinda Doolittle, third place finisher on season 6 of American Idol, is adding ‘author’ to her resume. “Beyond Me” published by Zondervan hit bookstores last Tuesday (May 4th). Melinda writes about growing up as the child of a single mother, being tone deaf as a child, and overcoming challenges and struggles to find success as a singer and musician. Jordin Sparks (season 6 winner on American Idol) wrote the book’s forward.
http://realitytvmagazine.sheknows.com/blog/2010/05/05/american-idol-melinda-doolittles-releases-new-book-beyond-me/
The NASCAR Hall of Fame opens today in Charlotte.
Ticket information: (704) 654-4400 www.nascarhall.com
Interesting story: A driving jacket worn by legendary driver Fireball Roberts during the 1964 season came from Roberts' fiancé. They were to have been married, but Roberts was severely injured in a fiery crash in the World 600 at Charlotte in 1964 and died later that summer. After Roberts died, his fiancé stored his racing jacket. For a time, she would retrieve it every so often because she could still smell Roberts' scent from the jacket. When the scent faded, she boxed the jacket until a few years ago. FYI: Stuck in the jacket's pockets were a cigarette lighter, Roberts' signed NASCAR credential and a race ticket from 1964.
http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/05/11/article/buz_building_at_nascar_hall_of_fame
The Mid-West will likely see more severe weather today. Violent storms spawning several tornadoes in Oklahoma and Kansas yesterday . Tens of thousands of people without power. In Oklahoma City, five people died in the storms including a young boy who was hit by debris in his home. http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/tornado-outbreak-plains-oklahoma_2010-05-11
State officials in Virginia want to establish tolls on I-95 near the North Carolina / Virginia border. The Virginia Department of Transportation estimates the tolls could generate $30 million to $60 million dollars annually, based on user fees of $1 to $2 an axle. Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has already submitted an application to the Federal Highway Administration to establish the tolls. http://www.wxii12.com/news/23508520/detail.html
Water and sewer rates in Forsyth County are on the rise. The Utility Commission approved an increase to help the county cover current and long-term costs. The increase means the average household using 9,000 gallons of water per billing cycle will pay roughly 8 cents more a day.
Customers who use more water will be billed at a higher rate. http://www.wxii12.com/money/23508692/detail.html
Whitaker Elementary School in Winston-Salem was placed on lockdown after a suspicious device was found on a playground yesterday morning. An official with the Winston-Salem Police Department said some kids were playing near the school this weekend and were trying to build an explosive using soda bottles and antifreeze. The school was placed on lockdown while officials investigated the device. No one was injured and the lockdown was lifted shortly after 9 a.m.
The blame game is in full throttle as Congress begins hearings on the massive oil spill threatening marine life along the Gulf Coast. Executives of the three companies in question: BP, Deepwater Horizon and Halliburton will be ‘grilled’ on Capital Hill later this morning.
http://www.wxii12.com/news/23506661/detail.html
Conservative leaders are questioning President Obama’s pick of Elena Kagan as his Supreme Court nominee. Dr Richard Land, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, stating that Kagan is the first Supreme Court nominee in 38 years without previous judicial experience. As dean of Harvard Law School she barred the R-O-T-C from campus during the Iraq war. http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000012622.cfm
