Transportation

Fatal-crash demonstration planned for high school students

Submitted by Ashley Barker, Community Web Producer

Friday, May 25th, 2012, 12:25pm

Fatal-crash demonstration planned for high school students

COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WECT) – The student body at East Columbus High School will learn about motor vehicle safety during a VIP for a VIP program on Tuesday, May 29.

VIP for a VIP—Vehicle Injury Prevention for a Very Important Person—will consist of a power-point presentation and video, plus facts directly related to teenage fatalities. Then after the presentation, students will be taken outside to a demonstration of fatal car crash, according to a news release.

The Columbus County Sheriff’s Office, Lake Waccamaw Fire & Rescue, Lake Waccamaw Police Department, Buckhead Fire & Rescue, ADR Fire and Rescue, Bolton Fire Department, Hallsboro Fire Department, N.C. Highway Patrol, North Carolina Wildlife, Southern Tire Service, The News Reporter, and Columbus County EMS will host the presentation, which begins at 10 a.m. in the school’s auditorium.

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Over $1 million awarded to Columbus County Municipal Airport

Submitted by Ashley Barker, Community Web Producer

Friday, May 18th, 2012, 12:27pm

Over $1 million awarded to Columbus County Municipal Airport

COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WECT) – Over $1 million worth of grants were awarded to the Columbus County Municipal Airport for capital improvement projects, according to a news release from the N.C. Department of Transportation.

The airport received $671,606 in state grants for apron rehabilitation, construction of a parallel taxiway on the east end of the airport and a hangar taxi lane, the release stated. The airport will also use $473,723 from a federal block grant for a taxiway and taxi lane project.

The grants, totaling $1,145,332, came from a Federal Aviation Administration block grant and the State Aid to Airports Program.

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Man dies in accident near Columbus County line

Submitted by Scott Saxton, News Director

Monday, May 14th, 2012, 5:35pm

Man dies in accident near Columbus County line

ROBESON COUNTY, NC (WECT) - A single vehicle accident near the Robeson/Columbus County line Monday morning claimed the life of one man.

The accident happened on N.C. Hwy. 72 shortly after 8 a.m., according to Sgt. Daniel Hillburn with the NC Highway Patrol.

Troopers say Joseph Freeman, 64 from Fairmont, was driving a Southern States supply truck eastbound, when he lost control of the vehicle and ran off the road. The vehicle overturned into a ditch.

Freeman died on the scene.

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Columbus Co. Municipal Airport receives $150K

Submitted by Ashley Barker, Community Web Producer

Monday, May 14th, 2012, 4:27pm

Columbus Co. Municipal Airport receives $150K

COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WECT) – The Columbus County Municipal Airport in Whiteville received $150,000 from the N.C. Division of Aviation, according to a news release from the N.C. Department of Transportation.

The DOA awarded $9,639,270 in Vision 100 funds to several airports across the state. Airports can use the funds for “general airfield improvements, runway safety, runway extensions or, in the case of Duplin County Airport in Kenansville, be put toward construction of a new terminal.” The release said that normal airport operational costs such as salaries, mowing equipment and supplies are not eligible for funding.

Other area airports to receive funds include:

Curtis L. Brown Field in Elizabethtown
Cape Fear Regional in Oak Island
Odell Williamson Municipal Airport in Ocean Isle Beach

For more information on North Carolina aviation, visit www.ncdot.gov/aviation.

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Bolton men toss marijuana during traffic stop on county line

Submitted by Ashley Barker, Community Web Producer

Friday, May 11th, 2012, 1:45pm

Bolton men toss marijuana during traffic stop on county line

BLADEN COUNTY, NC (WECT) – A driver’s license check near the Columbus County line nabbed two men from Bolton for drug-related offenses.

Bladen County Sheriff’s Deputies were conducting a check on N.C. Hwy. 211 East near the county line around 9 p.m. on Tuesday when a vehicle turned around upon seeing the checking station, according to Captain Rodney Hester. While stopping the 2008 blue Chevrolet Silverado, deputies reportedly saw the driver throw a white plastic bag out of the window. The bag was retrieved and Hester said that it contained marijuana. Deputies recovered over two ounces of marijuana and a small amount of cocaine.

Randy Jerome Jacobs, 26, and Gary Wayne Jacobs, 30, were arrested. They were each charged with possession with the intent to sell and deliver marijuana, felony possession of marijuana, manufacturing marijuana and felony possession of cocaine.

Randy Jacobs was also charged with maintaining a vehicle for controlled substances and was still in the Bladen County Jail under a $12,500 secured bond at the time of this post. Gary Jacobs was released after posting a $7,500 secured bond.

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One-pound rock thrown at windshield near Charlotte, local man injured

Submitted by Ashley Barker, Community Web Producer

Thursday, May 10th, 2012, 1:02pm

One-pound rock thrown at windshield near Charlotte, local man injured

LINCOLNTON, NC (WECT) – Two men from southeastern North Carolina were the victims of a rock throwing incident that damaged a vehicle just northwest of Charlotte.

A one-pound rock was thrown from the side of Highway 321 and crashed into the windshield of a 1996 GMC pickup truck on Tuesday evening around 7 p.m., according to a news release from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office

Deputies said that Pearlie Nailer, 56, of Rock Creek Road in Leland, was struck by the rock and was taken to CMC-Lincoln, where he was treated and released. He told officers that he and the driver, Charles Edward Self, of Old Stage Highway in Riegelwood, did not see anyone standing along the highway and there was no other traffic near where the incident occurred.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office at 704-732-9050.

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FATAL: 21-year-old man ejected during crash outside of Whiteville

Submitted by Ashley Barker, Community Web Producer

Friday, May 4th, 2012, 12:54pm

FATAL: 21-year-old man ejected during crash outside of Whiteville

COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WECT) – A 21-year-old man was ejected from a vehicle and died Thursday morning.

Nicholas Wilkinson, 19, was driving at excessive speeds on Shade Fisher Road outside of Whiteville and crashed into a tree around 4 a.m., according to Columbus County Highway Patrol Troopers. Wilkinson’s injuries are described as “serious.”

His passenger Ryan Hommel was ejected during the accident and died.

Neither of the young men were wearing seat belts, according to investigators.

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