RFP Staff

♦ Today the findings of the NC Department of Agriculture investigation into Cooper the cat’s broken jaw were announced. NCDA inspectors found Cooper’s injuries were consistent with an “accidental injury” and therefore no action will be taken. No violation of the State’s Animal Welfare Act was found.

The county maintains they will pay for Cooper’s medical bills. The investigation was undertaken by Dr. Patricia Norris, Director of the Department of Agriculture’s Animal Welfare Section.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 21, 2016

ROWAN COUNTY CLEARED OF ALLEGATIONS – NOT IN VIOLATION OF THE NC ANIMAL WELFARE ACT

The NC Department of Agriculture investigation of the incident with “Cooper” the cat is complete. Dr. Patricia Norris the Director of the Animal Welfare Section provided her report to Rowan County this Morning.

According to the report the Veterinary review of the fractures show that the injury is most consistent with a recent accidental type injury. The statements of the shelter staff, rescue personnel and veterinarians, the veterinary medical records and the shelter records have been reviewed. The review concludes that as Cooper was provided with access to veterinary care within 30 minutes of injury. Therefore veterinary care was provided as required by 02 NC Administrative Code .0210 (c). Consequently, the findings of this investigation do not substantiate a violation of the NC Animal Welfare Act.

Aaron Church,
Rowan County Manager

Later Monday it was announced that the Rowan County Nature Center and the Animal Control Divisions were being consolidated.  Former Animal Control Director Clai Martin’s position will be reclassified to Manager of the Animal Enforcement Division.  Bob Pendergrass will head up the newly restructured Rowan County Animal Services Department.

Rowan County will have 4 divisions: the Nature Center, Veterinarian Services, Animal Enforcement, and Shelter Management.  A new position titled “Animal Shelter Manager”  was created and before long it will be filled by an Interim Animal Shelter Manager.

Area animal rights activists are vehement in their denunciation of Cooper’s handling at the Rowan County Animal Shelter. Many are saying the County is perpetrating a cover-up of the extreme abuses going on at the county animal shelter. Much of their ire is focused on Clai Martin (who they want fired) and County Commission Chairman Greg Edds who is viewed as insensitive.

The Facebook Page for “Saving Cooper N.C.” which provides current updates:

https://www.facebook.com/savingcoopernc/

The Facebook Page of Debbie Orbison:

https://www.facebook.com/orbison1?ref=br_rs

RFP Staff

♦ Video: Rowan County, N.C. Commission Meeting on Monday March 21st at 6 P.M in Salisbury, N.C.:

http://rowancountync.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=577

Todd Paris, Associate Editor and Salisbury Attorney/the RFP Newsroom

♦ Stephen Elliott Arthur, former Salisbury City Council Candidate, “shipped out” this morning for basic training to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for nine weeks of basic training and a further three weeks at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri to become an “88 Mike” with the National Guard 1454th Transportation Company in Concord, NC.

In an interview at his going away party last Sunday, Mr. Arthur acknowledged that even National Guard Units in recent years have often been activated to war zones and placed in harm’s way. Arthur, pointing to a proud family tradition of two uncles that were both Vietnam Veterans, said he was looking forward to “stepping outside his comfort zone” to serve his country. Arthur further mentioned that at 31 years of age and with no commitments like a wife and children to hold him back, now was the time. Beyond his desire to serve, the Guard and Reserve would allow him to qualify for the GI Bill so as to complete his education started at RCCC in information technology and business that was set aside during the recent recession.

Our best wishes go out to Stephen and his family as he leaves Salisbury to serve his state and nation. He may well write back to us from time to time to inform us as to his progress. Good luck Stephen and thank you for your service!

RFP Staff

♦ With the uptick of breaking and entries throughout Salisbury and Rowan County, often fueled by the meth, heroin, and crack epidemic, female breaking and entry perpetrators operating lone wolf style, are frequently arrested for this crime.  This is a dangerous “occupation” for a woman operating alone as our readership might imagine.

On Thursday Amanda Kaye Hall, 33, whose last known address was in Spencer, was arrested for allegedly breaking into a mobile home at 325 Nazareth Home Road in Rockwell.

Hall was charged with breaking and entering–building (misdemeanor).  Under a secured $1,000 bond, Hall was placed in the Rowan County Detention Center and later released on bail.

Kenny Hardin, Salisbury City Councilman

♦ I’m extremely proud to be a part of the Tsunami Literacy Development Program. We are truly making a difference in the lives of kids in our City. We have a great group of Volunteers who give unselfishly of their time, knowledge and expertise to the kids.

Not only are they improving their literacy and reading comprehension skills, the students are also being immersed in the arts as well.  A huge thanks to Craig and Melissa Pierce for implementing the guitar program.

Each week, I provide a 30 minute Character Development component. Today I spoke to the students on understanding the difference between character and reputation, gaining respect, building self respect, how to sit and stand properly, shaking hands properly, eye contact, effective speech and the importance of saying “Yes Ma’am” and “No Sir.”

The kids were very engaged, asked a lot of questions and practiced what they learned.  Next week, we will focus on public speaking.

If you have a 3rd-5th grader or would like to volunteer, please reach out to Ebony Roberts Harris. We need male volunteers.

RFP Staff

♦ Desperately struggling for air, Rowan County’s impoverished economy moves closer and closer to being taken off life supports with the news that Tuscarora Yarns, Inc. on 308 E. Thom Street in China Grove was closing its doors. Tuscarora Yarns operated in China Grove for almost 30 years–first at 406 N. Main and later at its present E. Thom Street location. Tragically 123 millworkers’ jobs are lost.  Many will be praying for their friends, neighbors, and the families affected by the plant’s closure.

Tuscarora Yarns, Inc. in China Grove contacted the N.C. Department of Commerce that it would permanently close on May 9th with the loss of 123 jobs. The company filed a required Worker Adjustment and Retaining Notification (WARN) at that time.

Since 1899, according to head office’s website, Tuscarora Yarns operated manufacturing mills in North Carolina.  Tuscarora manufactured yarns for sweaters, sportswear, underwear, hosiery, and home furnishings among other products.

In the coming days various county organizations and churches will no doubt come together to help provide a safety net for the 123 employees suddenly made jobless. These higher paying jobs are difficult to replace.

The HQ in Mt. Pleasant, N.C.:

Tuscarora Yarns, Inc. Plant in China Grove, N.C.:

**This article will be updated as more information arrives.**

CordCuttersNews.com

♦ Cord Cutters Review: Tubi TV–The FREE Netflix Alternative:

NCSBE.Gov

♦ North Carolina: Discover YOUR Congressional District in the Newly Proposed 2016 Congressional Districts.  Simply Put in YOUR ADDRESS:

http://www.ncsbe.gov/webapps/redistrict/uscongmaps.html

RFP Staff

♦ The Salisbury Police are hunting for Eliezer Zaragoza Cruz, 36, for the alleged statutory rape of a 12 year-old girl at a Salisbury Home. The girl and her family were said to be known by Cruz.

Cruz, 5’3″ and weighing approximately 135 lbs., is believed to be in either Salisbury or Wilmington, N.C. where has family. Cruz is also associated with a church on Newsome Road in Salisbury.

The Rowan County Department of Social Services is investigating the case.

If you know Cruz’s whereabouts or any information about the case please contact the Salisbury Police at 704-638-5333 or the Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

Eliezer Zaragoza Cruz:

RFP Staff

♦ Perry Quintin Simmons, 52, formerly of the streets of Salisbury, registered sex offender, and on the Rowan County Sheriff’s Most Wanted List since January, was arrested earlier in March by Winston-Salem Police for alleged indecent exposure. A computer background check by Winston-Salem Police turned up Simmons’s outstanding warrants in Rowan County.

Simmons is due to be transported back to Rowan County where he will face felony charges for failure as a registered sex offender to notify authorities of his change of address.

Currently Simmons is being held in the Forsyth County Detention Center under a secured $10,500 bond.

Perry Quintin Simmons’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=0370153&searchLastName=simmons&searchFirstName=perry&searchMiddleName=q&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

Press Release from the Office of U.S. Senator Richard Burr

RFP Staff

♦ Rep. Harry Warren (R-77) filed on Wednesday to run in the proposed 13th Congressional District Republican Primary on June 7th.  Harry joins a crowded field where Sen. Andrew Brock (R-34th) is the favorite.  Others running so far are Vernon Robinson, John Blust, George Rouco, Matt McCall, and Chad Grant.

Sen. Andrew Brock (R-34th):

Federal judges to date have not ruled on approving the newly redrawn Congressional District maps so it’s still possible the proposed 13th may suddenly evaporate.

The proposed Congressional District 13 includes 18 of Rowan’s 41 precincts.  The remainder of Rowan’s precincts belong to the 8th District.  Below are Rowan’s 18 precincts in the proposed 13th Congressional District. If your Rowan County precinct is not listed below you are in the 8th District.

7 – Cleveland

11 – Franklin

12 – Milford Hills County

21 – North Locke

24 – Mt. Ulla

27 – Scotch Irish

28 – Spencer

29 – Steele

32 – Unity

34 – West Ward 2

35 – West Ward 1

36 – South Ward

38 – East Ward

39 – West Innes

40 – North Ward

41 – Milford Hills City

42 – West Ward 3

45 – Ellis

RFP Staff

♦ Yesterday word got out of Salisbury’s City Hall that Gateway Park AKA “Needle Park” AKA “Panhandler Square”, near East Innes and Depot Streets, “might” get decked out with decorative colored lights. You know “Needle Park” where heroin addicts congregate and litter the ground with syringes, where homeless sex offenders show up after hunkering down for the night in a crawlspace across from the Probation Office, or where folks too high to gain entry to North Carolina’s largest homeless shelter congregate to “nod out” on the concrete benches most of the day.

What better to illumine the human waste floating in coliform bliss in the Gateway Fountain than bright colored lights? Like countless other “promises” City Hall regularly puts out for example about how developers are coming every year to the Bury excited about the derelict Empire Hotel. Or promises about skateboard parks or bike lanes on East Innes or the city’s H.R. duo will be phased out over time. “We’re working on it.”

An early Al Pacino film: “The Panic in Needle Park” could’ve filmed today in Gateway Park:

In a city drowning in violent crime, breaking and entering artists, hard drugs, 27.2% poverty, D and F public schools, an army of registered sex offenders (many not reporting), FBI stats to die for, talk of brightly colored lights on “Panhandler Square” is almost exciting. Maybe not as exciting as teenagers, walking along East Innes and hurling rocks down on street people below in “Needle Park”.

Perhaps next week another “miscellaneous body found” will be located floating in the yellow waters of the Gateway Fountain?

RFP Staff

♦ On Wednesday morning the King Tut Café and Hookah Lounge, on 5 Easy Street in Downtown Salisbury, suffered another burglary attempt.  Salisbury Police were summoned to the popular café and lounge to investigate signs of forcible entry.  King Tut was burglarized several times in early 2016 allegedly by the same contractor who previously worked on the Café and Lounge. On Wednesday nothing was reported stolen.

An RFP article appeared about the previous burglary on March 17th 2016: “SHOTZBURY TOKEZ: Paul Ewing Busted Wednesday For Allegedly Breaking into Downtown Salisbury’s King Tut Café and Hookah Lounge”:

“Salisbury, N.C.’s premier hookah parlor and café and a huge favorite among those who dare to adventure Downtown after dark, the King Tut Café and Hookah Lounge on Easy Street was allegedly broken into for a second time on Wednesday by Paul Anthony Ewing, 39, of Evelyn Avenue in Kannapolis. The felon and now suspected “Egyptologist”, once worked as a contractor in the mysterious and enchanting King Tut Café and Hookah Lounge. What secrets were revealed? Did he break the alleged curse?

The Salisbury Police allege that Ewing helped himself to money from the cash register and a juke box. Praise be unto King Tutankhamun that the suspect wasn’t felled by a cobra attack in the lounge area.

Ewing was charged with 2 counts breaking into a building (felony) and 2 counts of larceny (felony). He was detained in the Rowan County Detention Center and was released on bond.”

Paul Anthony Ewing’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=0688174&searchLastName=ewing&searchFirstName=paul&searchMiddleName=a&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

RFP Staff

♦ Word on the street, among hardcore addicts in Salisbury, N.C. and Rowan, is that heroin still rules as king in Salisbury and the County. Black tar heroin is said to be an easy score on the streets.

Meth is moving on up in popularity in Salisbury due to Meth’s easy availability and its recent growth in the city’s minority neighborhoods. In years past meth was considered “county”. Not so with meth labs sprouting up though out Salisbury and enterprising amateur chemists jumping into the market with one-pot shake n’ bake labs. It’s suspected that due to meth’s current rate of growth and easy availability that it will soon catch and surpass heroin. Both are extremely addicting.

Crack ranks 3rd and OxyContin comes in 4th in 2016.

1–Heroin

2–Meth

3–Crack

4–OxyContin (“hillbilly heroin”, a powerful form of highly addictive synthetic heroin)

RFP Staff

♦ With Friday’s noon filing now complete for the newly redrawn 13th Congressional District primary on June 7th we can report a mind-boggling field of 22 candidates in all. The Republican’s 17 candidates resembles a Kentucky Derby-sized field where whoever lands in the top 2 spots on the ballot greatly raises their chances of winning. The Democrats offer 5 candidates.

Last month the North Carolina General assembly redrew the boundaries of the state’s 13 congressional districts. The changes were dramatic. The new 13th Congressional District flows through parts of Rowan, Iredell, and Guilford County and all of Davie and Davidson.

Republican candidates who filed were: Andrew C. Brock, Chad A. Gant, Dan Barrett, David W. Thompson, Farren K. Shoaf, George Rouco, Hank Henning, Harry Warren, Jason A. Walser, Jim Snyder, John Blust, Julia Craven Howard, Kathy Feather, Matthew J. McCall, Ted Budd, Kay Daly and Vernon Robinson. (17)

Democratic candidates who filed were: Adam Coker, Bob Isner, Bruce Davis, Kevin Griffin and Mazie Ferguson. (5)

With Friday’s noon filing completed, Rowan’s new 8th Congressional District field will include incumbent Republican Congressman Richard Hudson and his Republican Challenger Tim D’Annunzio.

The Democrat running for the New 8th Congressional seat is Thomas Mills.

The Rowan Free Press

♦ Enjoy this Easter Weekend with Family, Friends, and at Services. Drive Safely and May Peace and Goodwill Visit Every Corner of World:

RFP Staff

♦ Early Thursday morning a 911 dispatch brought Salisbury Police officers to 1004 Crane Creek in Salisbury where a motor vehicle arson allegedly took place.  Fortunately no one was reported injured in the vehicular fire believed to be deliberately set according to investigators.

According to neighbors the vehicle’s owner Brenda Kathleen Blaxland, 52, of Crane Creek Road was distraught at the loss of her transportation and the recent passing of her father on March 11th.

At this time investigators have released no motives or the names of any suspects in this vehicular arson case.

If anyone has information about this vehicular arson you are urged to call the Salisbury Police at 704-638-5333 or Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

The victim Brenda Kathleen Blaxland:

RFP Staff

♦ Gary Dean Stout, 28, a registered sex offender on the run and allegedly hiding out in China Grove, Kannapolis, and Concord, was arrested on January 29th in Arizona on charges of sex crimes with an underage girl in 2013. Returned to the Kannapolis Police, Stout was charged with statutory rape/sex offense with a 13/14/15 year-old by a defendant 6 years older (felony) and 2 counts of failure to appear/comply (misdemeanor).

Under a secured $151,850 bond, Stout is being held in the Rowan County Detention Center in Salisbury.

Dean Gary Stout’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=1018462&searchLastName=stout&searchFirstName=dean&searchMiddleName=g&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

RFP Staff

♦ During Friday’s early morning hours a domestic dispute escalated to the point where Michael Sherrod Garner, 42, from the streets of Salisbury, allegedly punched Audria Lynete Black AKA Audreyia Coney, 40, of Salisbury in the face and Black allegedly returned fire by slashing Garner’s neck with a butcher knife. (a long slash mark down the side of his Garner’s neck is visible in his mugshot)

Salisbury Police negotiated a cease fire between the domestic combatants and handcuffed the pair before hauling them to the Magistrate’s office where they both were charged.

Audria Lynete Black AKA Audreyia Coney was charged with assault with a deadly weapon (misdemeanor) and was placed in the Rowan County Detention Center. Black received no bond owing to the domestic nature of her arrest.

Michael Sherrod Garner was charged with assault on a female (misdemeanor) and is being held in the Rowan County Detention Center. Garner received no bond due to the domestic nature of his arrest.

Audria Lynete Black AKA Audeyia Coney’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=0604521&searchLastName=black&searchFirstName=audria&searchMiddleName=l&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

Audria Lynete Black AKA Audeyia Coney:

Michael Sherrod Garner: