Your WBFJ Family Station Forecast: Mostly cloudy. Isolated shower or thunderstorm possible...High 75
Smoke from that wildfire in Dare County is blowing into parts of the Triad. Firefighters have been battling a wildfire in Dare County for a week. The Triangle area (Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill) are still under a Code Orange Air Quality Alert today for sensitive groups with breathing problems.
Dr Billy Graham is resting comfortably after being admitted to the hospital in Asheville early yesterday morning. Initial tests suggested that the 92 year-old evangelist was suffering from pneumonia. Reverend Graham has been given antibiotics and is alert.
The Forsyth County 'sectarian prayer' case is heading to court today. A three-judge panel in Richmond, Virginia will hear oral arguments on whether Forsyth County can allow prayers before county commissioner meetings that reference a specific deity (such as Jesus Christ). www.journalnow.com/news/2011/may/08/forsyth-prayer-case-heading-court-ar-1014185/
Pay to play? The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education has a proposal on the table to asking high school students to pay $40 dollars per sport and middle school students to pay $15 dollars per sport. ‘Pay to play’ would bring in about $120,000 dollars a year. Students on free and reduced lunch would be exempt from the fee.
Households in the Triad (and two other metro areas) are among the biggest gasoline consumers in the nation. A nationwide study published in Forbes magazine shows the average Triad household consumes just over a 1,000 gallons of gasoline every year. If gas prices stay at $4 a gallon, that means Triad household would spend more than $4,000 to fill up this year. BTW: The Charlotte metro area and the Triangle Metro area are the second and third biggest consumers of gasoline nationwide.
New area code coming for the central portion of our state. Triangle residents using 919 will soon received a second area code — 984 — to accommodate a booming population and increase in cell phones. The N.C. Utilities Commission this week gave phone companies a month to come up with a strategy and a schedule to add a second area code.
Today is the final day. Hope Outreach Church in High Point is filling a transfer truck with relief items and supplies to take to Rainsville, Alabama . You can drop off items at the church (located at 2800 Westchester Drive in High Point). Call Gloria Swaim at 906-1896 for a drop-off time. Church website: http://hopeoutreach.net/contact.php
Third Day will be headlining a special benefit concert this Sunday night in Alabama. The “Make Your Move Alabama Tornado Relief Benefit” concert will aid the victims of the devastating tornadoes that tore through the South on April 27. Proceeds will be distributed statewide through the Come Together Fund to several chosen relief agencies, including the Alabama Baptist Tornado Relief, Samaritan’s Purse and World Vision. All of these agencies are already on the ground working to meet the immediate needs of people who lost everything. http://thirdday.com/blogs/news/make-your-move-tornado-relief-benefit-concert
Wanna help? http://makeyourmovebenefit.com/
JARS OF CLAY RAISED MORE THAN $100-THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR CLEAN WATER WELLS IN AFRICA DURING A BENEFIT CONCERT EARLIER THIS WEEK IN NASHVILLE. The band also celebrated the completion one thousand fresh water wells that have been built across Africa. Their well ministry, Blood: Water Mission, is expected to have a positive impact on the lives of more than 600-thousand people across the African continent.
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE SPENT THE NIGHT OUTDOORS IN THE REGION OF SPAIN ROCKED BY A DEADLY 5.2 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE ON WEDNESDAY. At least eight people lost their lives in the worst quake to hit Spain in nearly 50 years.
NEWT GINGRICH HAS MADE IT OFFICIAL: HE IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT. The Georgia Republican made the announcement Wednesday using Twitter and an online video. Gingrich is well known for drafting the Contract With America and leading a Republican control of Congress in 1994. Gingrich is 67 years-old.
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (U.S.A.) HAS BECOME THE FOURTH PROTESTANT DENOMINATION IN THE U.S. TO ALLOW THE ORDINATION OF HOMOSEXUAL CLERGY. The church constitution was changed to allow openly homosexual individuals in same-gender relationships to be ordained as ministers, elders and deacons. BTW: The United Church of Christ, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Episcopal Church already allow the ordination of openly homosexual candidates.
