Your WBFJ Family Station Forecast: Sunny and breezy…High 65
Storm Damage update…
Duke Energy reporting several thousand customers still without power this morning in Davidson and Rowan counties. As of 9am, Guilford County has over 14,000 residents without power.
Counties without power (by the number) www.duke-energy.com/north-carolina/outages/current.asp
The deadline for filing state and federal income tax returns is coming quickly (April 18th this year)…but TODAY is Tax Freedom Day. For us in North Carolina, as of today, you have finally earned enough money this year to pay off your federal, state and local taxes. BTW: In Connecticut, residents must work until May 2 to pay all their taxes. The information complied by the Tax Foundation, a non-profit group. www.wxii12.com/news/27448594/detail.html
The first phase of the Paul Ciener Botanical Garden in Kernersville will be open this weekend. You can get in FREE on Saturday and Sunday. FYI: Book signing 1pm Sunday afternoon with Toby Bost “The Successful Gardner Guide – North Carolina”
Officials with the National Weather Service confirming that an EF-1 tornado did touchdown in Surry County early yesterday morning. The tornado damaged as many as 40 homes and out buildings along a 3-mile stretch from Little Mountain Baptist Church Road to Matthews Road in Surry. www.wxii12.com/weather/27434704/detail.html
More than 7,400 residents of the Triad and Northwest North Carolina will lose their extended state unemployment benefits on April 16. According to the N.C. Employment Security Commission, the reason for ending the 20-week extended benefits program — paid with federal money — is the recent decline in the state unemployment rate. 37,000 people will lose jobless benefits statewide. www.journalnow.com/business/2011/apr/06/3/wsmain01-37000-will-lose-jobless-benefits-ar-923247/
One quarter of teens saying that they had their first drink at age 12 or younger. According to a new study by the Partnership at http://www.drugfree.org/, the average age for kids consuming their first drink of alcohol is 14 years old. The study also showed upward trends in marijuana and Ecstasy useage among young people in grades 9 through 12.
Actress and mother Melissa Gilbert, the former "Little House on the Prairie" star, is the national spokeswoman for the partnership www.drugfree.org. Melissa herself a recovering alcoholic who at one time was drinking two bottles of wine a night but has been sober now for six and a half years. She has faced drug-abuse struggles with one of her four sons, and she says she is doing everything in her power to make sure her youngest, now 15, knows the drama and pain that addiction can bring. www.wxii12.com/health/27447242/detail.html
There is a ‘gang’ presence in Forsyth County, but experts suggest that the county is not in ‘crisis mode’, yet. In a first-ever gang assessment study, Winston-Salem State University's ‘Center for Community Safety’ reporting that Forsyth County has 37 known gangs with more than 600 validated members. Those gangs have been connected to 10 major crimes since 2007, compared to 700 acts of minor vandalism during the same time. The report was compiled using crime data and surveys with students, teachers, neighborhood watch groups and some confirmed gang members. Gangs are a bigger problem in cities like Charlotte, Durham and even Greensboro.
BTW: The Konnoak Hills community has experienced more gang related graffiti (or tagging) along South Main Street over the past year. www.myfox8.com/news/wghp-story-winston-salem-gang-110404,0,2180059.story
SPORTS: NC State has a new basketball coach. Mark Gottfried has been an ESPN analyst for the past two years after leaving as the head coach at Alabama.
