Scott Pelkey, | Randolph News Now

Dec72022 by Scott PelkeyNo Comments

NC Zoo Offers Free Admission to Moore County Residents

NC Zoo

ASHEBORO N.C. - The North Carolina Zoo is offering free admission to residents of Moore County affected by the recent power outages. According to the Moore County Edition of the North State Journal on Saturday, Dec. 3, Moore County saw two substations attacked, leaving over 40,000 customers without power. Just after 7 pm, customers across Moore County started seeing power outages. As utility companies sent our crews, they found evidence that indicated that intentional vandalism had occurred at multiple sites. Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said at a Sunday news conference in Carthage that authorities have not determined a motivation. The sheriff said it appeared the culprits pulled up and "opened fire on the substation, the same thing with the other one." On Wednesday December 7t...

Dec62022 by Scott PelkeyNo Comments

Meta (Facebook) Threatens to Remove News if JCPA Passes

News

ASHEBORO N.C. - Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is threatening to remove news from its platforms if the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) passes. This year, news reported on Randolph News Now has been read hundreds of thousands of times. Many of those readers came from Facebook, Instagram, and Google, but the future of local news, like Randolph News Now, is under threat more than ever as Meta the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is threatening to pull news from its platforms if the JCPA becomes law. What is the JCPA? The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA), is designed to ensure that news publishers will be fairly compensated for content. The bill would require that platforms (such as Facebook, Instagram, and Google) ne...

Dec12022 by Scott PelkeyNo Comments

Crime Trending Up at Asheboro City Schools

News

A patrol vehicle for a School Recourse Officer (SRO) sits out front of South Asheboro Middle School. (Scott Pelkey / Acme News) ASHEBORO N.C. - Crimes at Asheboro City Schools have been and continues to trend upwards with more crimes reported to police in 2022 than 2021. In recent police reports we know that between November 17th and 18th Asheboro Police responded to a fight-in-progress and a student in possession of marijuana at Asheboro High School, and a fight at North Asheboro Middle School. These reports are part of a trend noticed from evaluating police reports and 911 records since early September 2022. By using 911 records to graph reported crimes we can see when comparing September and October of 2021 with the same months in 2022 that Asheboro High School, South Ash...

Dec12022 by Scott PelkeyNo Comments

Minor Injuries After Wednesday Morning Crash Closes all Southbound Lanes on I-85

News

ASHEBORO N.C. - A vehicle crash in the early morning hours of November 30th, 2022, closed all southbound lanes on I-85 in Trinity leaving several people with minor injuries. Just after 4:30 am on Wednesday, November 30th, 2022, emergency crews responded to a vehicle accident on I-85 southbound near Hopewell Church Road in Trinity. According to information from the North Carolina Highway Patrol, David Thorman Reed, 60, of Trinity, N.C., was traveling north on I-85 in a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox. A female driver from Smyrna, GA., was traveling south on I-85 in a 2016 BMW. Troopers say that Reed exceeded a safe speed for the then existing rainy conditions, traveled off the roadway to the left and into the median, across the median, entered the southbound lanes of I-85, and struck the...

Nov252022 by Scott PelkeyNo Comments

Holiday & Christmas Events in Randolph County

Events

Here is a list of the Christmas and Holiday events we have on our calendar for this year. Know of an event we missed? Let us know by either sending us a message or submitting it to our calendar. Parades & Festivals Randleman Christmas Parade December 1 @ 7:00 PM | Downtown Randleman View Event Details Asheboro Christmas Parade December 2 @ 7:00 PM | Downtown Asheboro View Event Details Christmas on Main St December 3 @ 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM | Downtown Ramseur View Event Details Liberty Chamber Christmas Parade & Tree Lighting Festival December 3 @ 2:30 PM - 6:00 PM | Downtown Liberty (Depot St) View Event Details Archdale Christmas Parade December 4 @ 3:00 PM | Downtown Archdale View Event D...

Nov212022 by Scott PelkeyNo Comments

Woman Arrested for Setting Leaves on Fire

News

Firefighters speak with a deputy after putting out the fire on Foster Street. [Scott Pelkey / Acme News] ASHEBORO N.C. - A woman was arrested this weekend during her second run-in with police after she set several piles of leaves on fire, endangering a house and local church, and then left the scene. On Nov 19th, 2022, Randolph County 911 dispatched fire crews and deputies from the Randolph County Sheriff's office to Foster St. after receiving a call about a female lighting leaves on fire in the side ditch near a residence. According to information from the Sheriff's Office, when deputies arrived a fire was burning up the bank of the ditch towards the residence and across the street in the ditch burning towards the Foster Wesleyan Church. The 911 caller reported that the female ...

Nov152022 by Scott PelkeyNo Comments

Area Hospitals Limit Visitation to Avoid Spread of Respiratory Viruses

Health

Randolph Hospital - Stock Photo - Acme News Archive ASHEBORO N.C. - Several local hospitals are limiting visitation in an attempt to limit the spread of respiratory viruses such as RSV and the flu. Citing concerns for the health and wellbeing of the community and the widespread prevalence of respiratory viruses such as RSV and flu among young children, several North Carolina health systems are putting in place policies restricting children 12 and under from visiting patients who are hospitalized. Those restrictions are set to go into effect on Wednesday, Nov. 16th 2022, at 7 a.m., and apply to hospitals that are part of the following health systems in North Carolina: Atrium Health Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist CaroMont Health Cone Health Novant Health Rand...

Nov92022 by Scott PelkeyNo Comments

Tropical Storm Nicole Takes Aim at South-East Local Impacts Expected Tomorrow

Weather

ASHEBORO N.C. - As Tropical Storm Nicole is nearing Hurricane strength off the coast of Florida forecasters are warning of heavy rains and the risk of tornadoes locally starting as soon as tomorrow afternoon. Timing After moving into Florida, Nicole will eventually turn northeastward and move up across the Carolinas with impacts expected to be felt locally as soon as Thursday afternoon. According to models the first of several bands from Nicole should move across central North Carolina late Thursday afternoon with rain and gusty winds expected to continue and off through Friday night. Impacts Rain will be possible from Thursday evening through Friday evening. The heaviest rain is likely duringFriday morning and Friday evening. For Randolph County 1 to 2 inches of rain are pos...

Nov72022 by Scott PelkeyNo Comments

Forecasters Watching Subtropical Storm Nicole as Forecast Tracks Target East Coast

Weather

ASHEBORO N.C. - Forecasters with the National Weather Service are keeping a close eye on Subtropical Storm Nicole as forecast models show the storm on track to impact the south-east coast by the end of the week. Subtropical Storm Nicole is currently located 465 miles to the north and west of the east of Bahamas and is expected to reach the Florida's coast by Wednesday night. The storm is expected to strengthen into a hurricane prior to landfall which is currently projected somewhere along the east-central Florida coast either late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. Today, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has already declared a state of emergency and coastal areas are preparing this week. According to the NWS office in Raleigh, if current models hold, central North Carolina, in...

Nov42022 by Scott PelkeyNo Comments

Early Voting Coming to an End, Ahead of 2022 Midterm Elections

Government, News

ASHEBORO N.C. - There is just a little over a day left to vote ahead of the 2022 mid-terms elections scheduled to take place on November 8th, 2022. Early voting in Randolph County runs today through 7:30pm and Saturday Nov 5th from 8am to 3pm. (View Early Voting Schedule Here) There is no early voting on Sunday Nov 6th or Monday Nov 7th as North Carolina Statute requires a break on those days, between the end of early voting and the start of the election. If you were hoping to vote by mail instead, the deadline to request a ballot ended on November 1st. So far since early voting started on October 20th, 2022, over 22,000 residents of Randolph County have voted early. Thats on par with the last mid-terms in 2018 where 26,000 residents voted early. The biggest question we're goin...