News

Locating missing students

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools (WS/FCS) is teaming up with Teach Tech U to assist in identifying and locating students who have not yet returned to school. During the 2020-2021 school year, 531 WS/FCS students in grades 1 – 12 either could not be located or dropped out of school and then were not accounted for during the first 20 days of that year. WS/FCS has the first 20 days of this school year to locate any students who may have dropped out during last year or who have not enrolled or engaged during the first ten days of school this year.
As of September 13, WS/FCS has identified nearly 1,000 students that have failed to enroll or engage in school as of the beginning of this year.
For more, see the Thursday, September 15, 2022 edition.

West Nile Virus

The Forsyth County Department of Public Health is reporting the presence of mosquitoes that have tested positive for West Nile Virus in Forsyth County; however, there are no confirmed cases of the virus in humans, officials said.
For more, see the Thursday, September 15, 2022 edition.

New rezoning requirements

At the recommendation of planning staff, the Kernersville Board of Aldermen has unanimously approved a measure now requiring developers to host neighborhood meetings before submitting a rezoning petition to the Town.
The new requirement was approved by the Kernersville Planning Board last month and taken up by aldermen during their September 6 meeting. Anna Gwyn, planning intern, provided details about the matter in a letter to the Board on August 19.
For more, see the Thursday, September 15, 2022 edition.

Death penalty

A Kernersville man accused of murdering his girlfriend last year after claiming she committed suicide could face the death penalty if convicted.
According to local media reports, Forsyth County Superior Court Judge Todd Burke issued the ruling during court proceedings last Wednesday, Sept. 7.
Michael Anthony McBride, 62, was taken into custody by the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) on January 14 and charged with first-degree murder, more than two months after the death of his girlfriend, Tammy Denise Jester, 52.
Following his arrest, McBride appeared before a Forsyth County magistrate, at which time he was placed into custody at the Forsyth County Law Enforcement Detention Center with no bond allowed. He remains in custody today.
McBride’s next court date is scheduled for November 2, 2022.
For more, see the Thursday, September 15, 2022 edition.

Land use planning

The Kernersville Chamber of Commerce hosted “Lunch with Leaders” on Tuesday at Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden with the theme being, “How Land Use Planning Guides Growth.”
Appropriately, the speakers at the event were Brian Hiatt, Catherine Garner and Jesse Day, all of whom have a deep insight into land use planning. Hiatt was the city manager of Concord for 20 years and retired in 2018. Garner is the Town of Kernersville community development director. Day is the planning director for the Piedmont Triad Research Council (PTRC). He has been with the PTRC since 2006 and manages planning projects on behalf of the 75-member jurisdiction in the 12-county Piedmont Triad.
For more, see the Thursday, September 15, 2022 edition.

POW-MIA Recognition Day

POW-MIA Recognition Day falls on September 16, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 5352 in Kernersville will be holding a ceremony, followed by a reception, to honor all those who were held captive or those who are still missing.
For more, see the Tuesday, September 13, 2022 edition.

Noise ordinance

When discussing complaints resulting from the Town’s new noise ordinance and how it might need to be updated, public opinion was clearly divided during last week’s Board of Aldermen meeting, but Mayor Pro Tem Bill Apple was clear about where he believes the problem lies.
“I don’t think we have an ordinance problem; we have a compliance problem. I think we have a lack of respect problem,” Apple declared during discussion between Board members and Town Manager Curtis Swisher.
The Board voted 4-1 to update the noise ordinance, recommending that staff raise the fine for violating the ordinance from $250 to $500 and add injunctive relief through the courts where if an establishment violates the ordinance three times in a six month period, the penalty would be that they could not hold live music events outdoors for six months.
For more, see the Tuesday, September 13, 2022 edition.

Business Awards

The Kernersville Chamber of Commerce held its Annual Business Awards ceremony at Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden on Thursday, Sept. 8, recognizing local businesses and individuals for their contributions to the community.
This year’s award recipients included:
Business Person of the Year, under 10 employees – Aixa Maria Haskins, of Aixa Maria’s Gift Baskets.
Business Person of the Year, 11-99 employees – Kirk Bivins of Pierce-Jefferson Funeral Services.
Business Advocate of the Year – Joe Orenstein of Atlas Orange.
Large Business of the Year- GRASS America.
Duke Energy Citizenship & Service Award – Best Logistics Group.
For more, see the Tuesday, September 13, 2022 edition.

Eating for Education

The Kernersville Chamber of Commerce and a number of Chamber member restaurants are coming together tomorrow, Wednesday, Sept. 14, to help raise money for grants for local school teachers during the Eating for Education campaign through the Chamber’s Education Grant Program.
According to Chamber President and CEO Chris Comer, funding not only comes from restaurants, but also businesses and private donors, with 100 percent of those funds going to the schools.
For more, see the Tuesday, September 13, 2022 edition.

Dog park incident

A total of six Kernersville Police Department officers responded to an incident involving a dog attack at Fourth of July Park on Saturday, Sept. 3. No one involved or the three dogs involved had any major injuries. According to the reporting officer narrative, Matthew Kelley advised an officer that he and his wife, Hillary, brought their two dogs to the dog park and walked up to the gate to enter the main running area for the dogs. Two pit bulls were at the gate. The report stated that when Matthew Kelley opened the gate, the two pit bulls ran out and started biting his dog, an 11-year-old Mini Australian Shepherd.
According to the report, Matthew Kelley tried pulling the dogs off his dog and he was bit on the right hand. The Australian Shepherd appeared to have superficial wounds, and the smaller of the two pit bulls had scratches on his nose.
EMS arrived at the scene to look at Matthew Kelley, but he refused all services. Forsyth County Animal Control has assumed the investigation into the incident.

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