News

Backflow prevention devices

Commercial property owners in Kernersville and elsewhere in Forsyth County have received a letter from Winston-Salem/Forsyth County utilities that they did not want to receive and in some cases are a bit confused about.
In short, the letter says that all commercial business owners, regardless of the age of the building, must install a backflow prevention device (BFP) in their building if they have a hazardous cross connection. This would have to be paid for out of pocket by the commercial business owner. Four N.C. Senators do not believe this is fair to commercial business owners that were in compliance for many years prior to a law being changed by the state in 2020, and have filed a bill to try to keep commercial business owners from having to pick up a considerable extra expense.
For more, see the Thursday, March 2, 2023 edition.

Warrant served

A Winston-Salem man who was arrested Monday on a murder charge was also wanted in connection with a shooting in Kernersville last September, court records show.
Nehemiah Chrysyion Chandler, 19, of Winston-Salem, is charged with murder in the Monday shooting of Quante Donnell Wilder, 35.
Wilder, 35, was shot in the 1100 block of Burke Street in Winston-Salem around 2 a.m. on Monday after a fight involving several people, according to the Winston-Salem Police Department.
Chandler has also been charged with discharging a weapon into occupied property and injury to personal property in a shooting that happened Sept. 18 in Kernersville, according to an arrest warrant.
Chandler was served with the outstanding warrant by a Forsyth County magistrate.
For more, see the Thursday, March 2, 2023 edition.

Chinese New Year Gala

Local residents are invited to attend and enjoy the Kernersville Sister City Chinese New Year Gala on March 11 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Kernersville Moravian Church, located at 504 South Main Street.
The performers at the event are Taiwanese and live in the U.S. Some of them are members of the Greensboro Chinese Association and some of the performers will be from the Triangle area of North Carolina. The Greensboro Chinese Association is a part of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office located in Atlanta, GA. Dashi, Taiwan officially became a sister city to Kernersville in 2004. Xiuman Rose Chaffin (Rose Li), who is on the Kernersville Sister City Board, is helping to put the March 11 event together and will also be one of the performers.
For more, see the Thursday, March 2, 2023 edition.

Book donations

In honor of Black History Month, the Paddison Memorial Branch Library in Kernersville was given new book donations on African American stories that the library needed.
At the beginning of February, Dr. William Kelly and his wife, Joanelle, reached out to the library wanting to donate books for Black History Month. The couple graciously allowed the library to pick the books that they were in need of and the Kellys donated all the books the library asked for.
For more, see the Tuesday, February 28, 2023 edition.

Healthy Living & Business Expo

The Healthy Living & Business Expo for 2023 is right around the corner. The event will be held on March 14 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Kernersville Family YMCA.
The event is the first of its kind. The Kernersville Chamber of Commerce merged two popular events together to create the Healthy Living Expo and Business Showcase. The title sponsors for this event are Allegacy Federal Credit Union and Novant Health and the supporting sponsors are Sutton Brothers and Advanced Benefits Consultants.
For more, see the Tuesday, February 28, 2023 edition.

Construction costs

The Forsyth County (FC) Board of Commissioners discussed ways to fill a big gap in school construction during their winter work session on Thursday. The FC Board believes there is a way to provide an additional $77 million in school construction funding through 2027 without raising the tax rate. They also believe this could set the stage for a $300 million or more school bond referendum in 2028.
For more, see the Tuesday, February 28, 2023 edition.

John & Bobbie Wolfe Visitors Center

The Körner’s Folly Foundation and the Town of Kernersville broke ground on the site of the new Visitors Center at Körner’s Folly, located at 411 South Main Street, on Saturday, February 25.
For more, see the Tuesday, February 28, 2023 edition.

Samantha Kiger back home

Samantha Kiger was only eight years old when she was diagnosed and hospitalized due to flu A, which then progressed to pneumonia in only a few days. After 112 days in the hospital, she was finally able to go home.
“On October 24 she was diagnosed with flu (A) at eight years old,” Samantha’s cousin Brandi Pettus said. “She was a healthy, active eight-year-old. And then a couple days later, her mother noticed that she was having problems breathing and she sent her back to the doctor. Then she realized she had developed pneumonia. Not only did she have pneumonia, she had MRSA in her lungs. She went into multi-organ failure. She ended up on life support from it. Her lungs failed, kidney failure and she ended up on ECMO.”
For more, see the Saturday/Sunday, February 18 & 19, 2023 edition.

Classified Employee of the Year

Anita Linville is the lead financial secretary at Kernersville Middle School (KMS) and she has recently been named Classified Employee of the Year.
She has worked for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools (WS/FCS) for 26 years.
“I worked one year at Hanes-Lowrance and then came to Kernersville Middle that summer to help open the school in August of 1998,” Linville said. “That was an adventure to say the least.”
For more, see the Saturday/Sunday, February 18 & 19, 2023 edition.

Forsyth County to take over animal shelter on April 1

Back in October, the FHS said it needed $1.85 million (three times what it was previously receiving) to provide its current level of service. The FHS then scaled back its demand to $1.5 million annually. At the Dec. 1 county commissioners meeting a number of individuals were demanding that the commissioners immediately approve a $1.5 million annual budget for the FHS.
Some of the budget debate and confusion was reportedly because the FHS had expanded its level of service, and the Board of Commissioners was not made aware of this.
For more, see the Saturday/Sunday, February 18 & 19, 2023 edition.