According to the Davie County Blog, BesTreads has completed the move to 279 Bethel Church Road in Mocksville.

Owners Harry and Debbie Price told the blog on Wednesday that the new location has granted room for expansion, as well as increased operating efficiency.

Debbie Price noted the town and county’s permit and inspections processes, which she said allowed for better safety for both employees and the environment.

Through the use of Temporary Resources in Mocksville, Debbie Price said her company has found that local students are “graduating from high school work-ready.”

The company makes tires for more than a dozen various agencies across the state, including Forsyth County Schools and the public transportation system in Raleigh.

Source: daviecountyblog.com

The board on Monday denied a request to rezone 115 acres of land in the Triad Business Park on South Bunker Hill Road for what would be known as the Airport Area High School.

The board, along with many others in the area, felt a school in an industrial area is just not suitable for nearly 1,400 students.

Garland Stacks, who lives just feet away from where the school would be, worries about traffic and safety issues. 

“I would ask the school board and county officials: ‘Are you for the people? Or are you for the speculators?’ Lets have a balance here,” Garland said.

The land is annexed to Guilford County, but zoned in Kernersville.

TDO Land Holdings owns the land, but Guilford County Commissioners approved the school board to purchase it in December 2011.

Andy LaRowe, the district’s chief operations officer, said they still want to purchase the land despite the planning board’s decision.

“There has not been a better option for us than this piece of property,” LaRowe said.

The Kernersville Board of Alderman will make a final decision at its June 5 meeting.

The fire was reported at the McConnell Crossing mobile home park off McConnell Road shortly before 11 a.m. 

Greensboro Fire Chief Bryant Staples said a woman in her 40s suffered burns over 90 percent of her body. 

The woman, whose name will be released pending notification of relatives, was taken to the Burn Center at UNC Chapel Hill Hospital, Staples said.

The woman’s husband was taken to Moses Cone Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, Staples said. 

Witnesses at the scene said a maintenance worker with the mobile home park pulled the woman from the burning home.  However, Staples said the husband may have been the one who pulled her outside. 

The cause of the blaze is still under investigation. 

Firefighters from both Greensboro and Guilford County responded to the scene, as the area was recently annexed by the city. 

No other details were immediately available. 

The program started in the Piedmont Triad, but is now spreading to other states across the country. 

Watch the video above to learn more about this edition of FOX8 Fit. 

Terry Stout, of Greensboro, matched all five balls in the Powerball drawing and will receive $680,000 after taxes are taken out.

“This money really gives us peace of mind,” said Stout who said he plans to spend his winnings wisely.

Stout purchased his winning ticket from the Circle K on New Garden Road in Greensboro.

According to the N.C. Education Lottery, Guildford County education programs have received more than $102 million in funding from the lottery which pays for teachers’ salaries, school construction, need-based college scholarships and pre-K programs.

The new feature debuting Wednesday draws from a Google-built database of more than 500 million people, places and commonly requested things to provide a summary of vital information alongside the main search results.

Google Inc. spent the past two years poring through online encyclopedia Wikipedia, the CIA Factbook and other sources to expand a database of 12 million items that it picked up as part of its 2010 acquisition of Metaweb.

The information warehouse, which Google calls a “Knowledge Graph,” is an attempt by the Internet’s dominant search engine to provide answers as quickly and concisely as possible so users don’t have to sift through a hodgepodge of Web links displayed on the main results page.

The nuggets of information will appear in boxes to the right of the main search results. Google will gradually roll out the feature to its logged-in users in the U.S. during the next few days before extending it to a wider audience.

The changes come as one of Google’s biggest rivals, Internet social networking leader Facebook Inc., prepares to complete an initial public offering of stock that is dominating the technology spotlight. The Knowledge Graph’s unveiling comes a week after the second-largest search engine, Microsoft Corp.’s Bing, announced an overhaul that will highlight more information mined from Facebook — insights that typically don’t show up in Google’s results.

The Knowledge Graph will work in different ways.

If a person enters a search request, such as “kings,” that can be interpreted in several ways, Google will now display a box on the right side of the page listing several other options, such as the Los Angeles Kings hockey team, the Sacramento Kings basketball team and the Kings TV show. Clicking on any of these choices will deliver results exclusively devoted to that topic.

Queries on specific people or places will generate thumbnails that list key statistics about the topic. Google bases its assumption on what people are most likely to want to know on an analysis of past search requests.

Google is hailing the Knowledge Graph as an important step in Internet search’s evolution. The company is trying to make the difficult transition from merely presenting a list of Web links to delivering the kinds of responses that people expect when they pose a question to an expert.

“This used to be the stuff of dreams because we didn’t really know how to accomplish it,” said Amit Singhal, a Google fellow who has been studying search for 22 years. “The dream has always been to understand things like you and I do, so this this really feels like a sea change.”

The Knowledge Graph also will help address another problem vexing Google.

As websites seeking traffic have learned to manipulate commonly requested search terms, their links have been appearing more frequently on the first page of Google’s results, even though they might not have the most relevant information. Google periodically tries to remove the rubbish by tweaking its ranking system, only to have websites figure out new ways to outfox the search formula.

If the Knowledge Graph works like it’s supposed to, it will give visitors less reason to leave Google’s website.

Although Google says that isn’t its main objective, anything that gives people a reason to hang around for longer periods, and perhaps enter more search requests, promises to help the company make more money. Google distributes ads all over the Web, but it reaps its highest profit margins from commercial links that are clicked on its own website.

Anything that keeps people on Google longer is likely to amplify complaints that the company is more interested in promoting its own services than pointing visitors to other helpful Internet destinations.

Singhal doesn’t see it that way. “As we answer more of our users’ questions, we save them time,” he said. “Time is the only quantity that we can’t make more of. When people save time, people search more. The Web gets more traffic and all boats rise.”
___
This article was provided by The Associated Press Wire.  (Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

The rate hike is part of the $450 million budget proposed to the Greensboro City Council Monday night.

Interim City Manager Denise Roth said the proposed budget also includes cuts to infrastructure, parks and recreation, and public safety.  The City would also leave nine of its current positions open.

As a result, property taxes would not increase and the city would not downsize.

“I got a very clear indication from council that they wanted a balanced budget without raising property taxes,” Roth said.  “We committed to that… And we were able to achieve that.”

The proposed budget is not final. A public comment period will last until June 5.

Council will approved the budget for fiscal year 2012-2013 on June 19. That budget will go into effect July 1.

Fort Defiance, in its day, was the center of one of the largest plantations in western North Carolina.  It was also the home of Revolutionary War hero General William Lenoir. 

For more information, visit fortdefiancenc.org.

Musicians from around the world find the sound they are looking and it’s made in North Carolina.

The school board has decided to present the $223 million list to Forsyth County Commissioners so negotiations can start on a school construction package to be included on the November ballot.

The proposed list sets aside $14 million for a new Brunson Elementary School, $14 million for a new Konnoak Elementary, and $13 million for a new Ashley Elementary.

Also included on the list is $17 million for technology upgrades and $17 million for football stadium upgrades at North Forsyth, Mount Tabor and Glenn high schools. $3 million would also be used to reconfigure Wiley Middle School so R.J.Reynolds High School Boosters can build a new football stadium there.

With Brunson and Reynolds both in the West End neighborhood, neighborhood president Mark Lively said his association will be watching the bond process — especially since not everyone wants Reynolds to build a stadium in the neighborhood. 

“A greater issue to some of us is — if you are going to spend money on education — why on athletics when we are losing teacher positions?” Lively said. “It doesn’t seem a wise way to spend taxpayer dollars to build and enhance stadiums. Reynolds does have a place to play football, they have been playing there for years.”

While Lively agrees many schools need replacing and repairs, he worries a hot-button issue like the Reynolds football stadium may cast a shadow on the more important needs like technology upgrades. 

“I think we need to reassess whether (stadium renovations) should be part of package or not,” Lively said. 

County Commissioners have the ultimate say as to what is on the ballot and if there is even a bond referendum at all.

The last time school bonds passed in Forsyth County was in 2006. The total package was for $250 million.

Dispatchers said troopers were responding to the crash, which happened on Highway 67 at Davis Road in East Bend around 4 p.m.

According to the Yadkin Valley News, one person was killed and two others were injured.

Trooper Darian Mendenhall told the paper that the driver of a sedan collided head-on with a minivan before it sideswiped a truck.

Dwight Slone, the driver of the truck, told the paper that he had no time to react.

The paper reports that the person who was killed is from Rockingham County.

It was not clear if charges are expected to be filed.

Developing…

Nat Ambrose weighed 300 lbs. when park workers told him in 2011 that the harness required to safely ride the Volcano roller coaster would not fit him.

“It was embarrassing,” Ambrose told WTVR-TV. “I came home and said to my wife, ‘This is it… This is crazy. I can’t fit on a ride at an amusement park.’”

After that, Ambrose said he began watching his diet and started making regular trips to the gym.

Nine months later, Ambrose said he had lost 105 lbs.

“You just have to want to do it,” Ambrose said.  “If you don’t want to do it, you’re not going to.”

Ambrose said he returned to Kings Dominion after losing the weight and was allowed to ride the Volcano.

Source: WTVR.com.

The lawyer representing the therapists filed papers Tuesday dropping the client identified as John Doe #1 because he had misstated the date of the alleged incident at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

“We fully expect that my client will similarly be vindicated with respect to Doe #2, as well as with respect to any other person who makes meritless claims against John Travolta,” attorney Martin Singer said.

The remaining plaintiff claims Travolta groped him during a massage at an Atlanta hotel last January.

“I can guarantee that John Doe #2 has a truckload of witnesses to back up what he’s saying,” plaintiff’s attorney Okorie Okarocha told CNN Tuesday.

Strauss-Kahn countersues maid for at least $1 million

His case is also bolstered by a series of e-mails in which the Atlanta plaintiff complains to his supervisor about Travolta’s advances, Okarocha said.

Singer attacked one e-mail published in some online reports that purportedly supports the Doe #2 claims.

“Various media outlets are reporting on an e-mail that Doe #2 allegedly sent to his bosses, which significantly does not refer to my client at all, nor does it make any mention whatsoever of any of the things outrageously alleged in Doe #2′s lawsuit,” Singer said. “Instead, Doe #2 voiced complaints about his co-workers gossiping and being insubordinate.”

The e-mail’s lack of Travolta’s name “says it all,” Singer said. “Nothing that is alleged in Doe #2′s lawsuit was mentioned in the e-mail he sent to his bosses, making his claims even more unbelievable.”

“The allegations in ‘Doe #2′s’ lawsuit are unraveling, just like ‘Doe #1′s’ ridiculous allegations, which were proven false and impossible,” he said.

Two men accuse Travolta of sexual battery in lawsuit

Okarocha, however, vowed that he would “mop up” in the courtroom with the witnesses and documents against Travolta.

“I think I can show a custom, habit and practice,” Okarocha said, referring to his allegation that the actor has sexually assaulted dozens of other massage therapists over the years.

“If I bring in 100 people that don’t have an ax to grind, don’t want any money, they’re in 50 different states, they don’t know each other, they’re all massage therapists, they all have dates, they’re at different spa resorts and they say this exact same thing happened, it’s pretty hard to refute,” Okarocha said.

His client “ain’t going nowhere,” and is looking forward to a trial, he said.

“He means business and he is absolutely determined and he’s as solid as they come as when it comes to character, history, reputation,” Okarocha said. “He’s everything you would want in a client.”

Okarocha apologized last Friday for putting the wrong date of the John Doe #1 incident in the lawsuit, saying his first client initially told him it was January 16, 2012. Singer produced a restaurant receipt and a time-stamped photograph that showed the actor was in New York, not Los Angeles, on that date.

Plaintiff’s attorney apologizes about error in sex lawsuit

Instead of just changing the date on the filing to January 15 — the day John Doe #1 later decided was when it happened — Okarocha decided to withdraw the allegation from the lawsuit. Otherwise, it would have hampered the chances of John Doe #2′s case, he said.

Okarocha also said he had “personality conflicts” with John Doe #1 that contributed to his decision.

The second plaintiff was a staff massage therapist at the Atlanta hotel where he claims he was assaulted by Travolta on January 25, the amended lawsuit said.

Travolta, 58, has been married to actress Kelly Preston for 20 years. The oldest of their three children, Jett, was 16 when he died of a seizure while the family was vacationing in the Bahamas in January 2009.

Credit: Alan Duke, CNN. CNN’s Kareen Wynter contributed to this report.

Hospital spokeswoman Stephanie Crayton confirmed the 91-year-old was in the hospital Wednesday, but didn’t release any other details.

Friday was president of UNC for 30 years, leading the school through integration, the sponsorship of the state education network and its growth into a 16-campus university system.

He also helped with the formation of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Since retiring as president in 1986, Friday has continued to push to keep college affordable and supported programs to reduce poverty and illiteracy.

He also has his own show on UNC-TV called “North Carolina People” that he last taped earlier this month.

Friday had open heart surgery in 2009.

Credit: The Associated Press.

The state embezzlement charges against disbarred attorney Sam Neill come on top of him pleading guilty last month to a federal income tax fraud charge.

Prosecutors say Neill understated his 2008 income by more than $850,000. He faces up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine in the federal case.

Neill was the Democratic nominee for Congress in 2000 and 2002, losing both times to incumbent Republican Charles Taylor. Neill also served 12 years on the UNC Board of Governors, including two years as chairman.

Credit: The Associated Press

Thirty-year-old Arnoldo Jimenez is accused of first-degree murder in the slaying of 26-year-old Estrella Carrera. She was found in her bathtub shortly after they celebrated their wedding Friday with friends.

Carrera was clad in the silver sequin cocktail dress that she wore at the wedding reception.

Capt. Joseph Ford of the Burbank Police Department says Jimenez was previously arrested for domestic violence in another city that did not involve Carrera.

Ford says police don’t think Jimenez is a danger to others. He says Jimenez should “turn himself in for the sake of his family and especially his children.”

Credit: The Associated Press

Thompson was not in uniform for this afternoon’s game at BB&T Ballpark with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans but was at the ballpark and was seen before the game.

Thompson is allowed to be in the clubhouse but can not have any contact with his team during games while he’s suspended.

Running the team in his absence will be Kirk Champion, an on-field coordinator with the Chicago White Sox, the parent organization for the Dash.

Thompson missed this afternoon’s game and he will miss Thursday’s final game of the four-game series with the Pelicans and Friday’s game with Lynchburg.

Champion has been with the White Sox organization for the last 24 years. Before this season he was the minor-league pitching coordinator for nine seasons.

Brian Boesch, the Dash’s director of media relations, released a statement during today’s game.

This article was written by John Dell and originally published in The Winston-Salem Journal. Click here to read the full story.

Officials said the company made unfounded claims that ‘Shape-Ups’ would help customers lose weight and tone their buttocks, legs and abdominal muscles simply by wearing the shoes.

Skechers also made deceptive claims about its Resistance Runner, Toners, and Tone-ups shoes, according to the FTC.

More than 40 states are involved in the settlement including North Carolina.

If you purchased a “toning” shoe from Skechers, you may be eligible for refunds either directly from the FTC or through a court-approved class action lawsuit, and can submit a claim here.

Authorities said the body of 35-year-old Tommy Webb was found around 2 p.m. Tuesday. He appeared to have been shot at least once.

Investigators said Webb’s girlfriend, 26-year-old Denika Jones, has not been seen since her boyfriend’s body was found.

The Fayetteville Observer reported that Webb shot and killed a 24-year-old man and wounded another person last June, but authorities ruled he acted in self-defense. Webb was wounded in the hand and the groin in the shootout.

Credit: The Associated Press.