Archive - May 23, 2011 - News Article
The local district attorney's office is using the help of state representatives to make dismembering a corpse to conceal a crime a felony in North Carolina.
State representatives Tim Moore and Mark Hilton are currently drafting a bill in partnership with Catawba County District Attorney Jay Gaither that will re-word an existing law to make dismembering a corpse to conceal a crime a Class C felony.
"I certainly would hope and believe that this bill will receive a lot of support," Moore said.
Moore said he was contacted by the district attorney's office about the bill.
Hickory Public Utilities crews and state-hired contractors say the cause of a U.S. 70 sinkhole is a storm drain junction box failure.
The sinkhole, which happened at about 3 p.m. Thursday, closed traffic between Chili's and Colonial Lanes Bowling Alley. Crews worked Friday and Saturday to stabilize the hole, repair the damaged infrastructure and install a new junction box.
The existing storm drain under U.S. 70 SE is damaged, and N.C. Department of Transportation will contract to bore a new storm drain crossover pipe in the coming days.Â
Area residents flocked to the Carolina Theater in Hickory on Sunday for a screening of the area-filmed movie "Pendulum Swings."
The film, shown Friday, Saturday and Sunday, was shot in 86 different locations in North Carolina, including Newton, Conover, Hickory, Morganton and Statesville, among others.
"It's not often that you get to go to see a film that was shot locally and also get to meet some of the actors," said "Pendulum Swings" Director Bill Rahn.
Rahn, who lives in Morganton, was at the Carolina Theater on Sunday along with Reginald Blunt, an actor from the film.
A Claremont man is lucky to be alive after storms caused a large tree to fall on his car Sunday.
Brandon Pennell, 26, was driving down First Avenue South in Conover on Sunday night when high winds uprooted a 200-year-old oak tree onto the top his 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
The large tree crushed the car, pinning Pennell in the driver's seat briefly before being taken to Catawba Valley Medical Center. After doctors tested him for serious injuries, Pennell was released with a sprained back and minor lacerations to his knee and hand.
