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A college student was struck in the head by a gun during a home invasion late Monday night not far from Central Piedmont Community College.
It happened before midnight at an apartment on Park Drive, off Charlottetown Avenue near Independence Park. The victim, a student at nearby CPCC, told police that when he answered a knock at his door, three men burst in. One man struck the victim, and the intruders stole a number of items before running off. The victim suffered a cut and bruise on his head.
Another home invasion was reported about 3:30 a.m., in the 4800 block of Holbrook Drive, near Sharon Amity Road and Independence Boulevard. In that case, a man said he was stabbed by two men who robbed him inside his residence. His wound was described as not life- -- Steve Lyttle
Meck briefs
Charlotte
Free H1N1 vaccinations will be offered to students and fans before and during UNC Charlotte basketball games tonight and Feb. 24.
The vaccine clinic will be operated in a special room at Halton Arena (look for the signs). Nurses from the student health center will provide the vaccine, in cooperation with the Mecklenburg County Health Department and the N.C. Division of Public Health.
College students are among the most vulnerable when it comes to contracting the swine flu. Since late January, student health centers have outpaced other medical offices and providers in reporting cases of influenza-like illness. That was also true during the fall wave of H1N1.
But state statistics show college-age individuals remain the least immunized overall in the state. As of Jan. 30, only 5 percent of 19- to 24-year-olds had been vaccinated. -- Karen Garloch
Students and staff at Independence High School are sponsoring a spaghetti dinner and shoe-collection drive Thursday to raise money for earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.
Bosco's Bistro - named for Independence Principal Mark Bosco - is scheduled from 4 to 8 p.m. at the school, off Wilgrove-Mint Hill Road in east Charlotte. Cost of the meal is $5 for spaghetti (without meat), salad, bread and sweet tea. Meatballs are $1 extra, and desserts are $1. Eat-in or takeout service will be provided.
In addition, the school's Academy of International Studies will conduct a shoe collection, asking the public to bring gently used shoes (no stilettos or steel-toed shoes). Each shoe donor will receive a free dessert. The school's Culinary Arts students, under Bosco's direction, will cook the meal.
Details: www.bigibelieve.com. -- Steve Lyttle
Regional briefs
North Carolina
Hickory
A Hickory Fire Department staff member has won a state award for launching a program that taught an emergency response team in Spanish.
Mabelisse Hernandez, fire educator with the department, was presented Wednesday with the N.C. Fire and Life Safety Educators' Award of Excellence for the state's western region.
Hernandez, who has worked part-time with the Hickory Fire Department since 2006, was honored for her various efforts to teach fire safety to Hickory residents, including the Latino community. In 2008, the department graduated its first Community Emergency Response Team that had been taught completely in Spanish. -- Steve Lyttle
South Carolina
Chester
S.C. legislators are being asked to loosen state rules so a New Jersey company can build a $450 million garbage incinerator in jobs-hungry Chester County.
The change would let Covanta Energy burn substantially more trash than is now allowed in South Carolina - including garbage from other states, such as North Carolina.
Covanta's proposal has touched off a debate in South Carolina among environmentalists, Chester County industrial recruiters and politicians over the benefits of a trash incinerator near Fort Lawn, just west of the Catawba River
Supporters of the project say Covanta's "waste-to-energy" facility will create up to 500 construction jobs and 55 permanent positions - paying about $60,000 - in a county with an unemployment rate of 22 percent. -- The (Columbia) State
Police digest
Iredell County
Statesville
An Iredell County man is in jail after authorities say he tried to strangle a woman during a domestic dispute on Valentine's Day.
Roey Lee Parsons Jr., 43, of Harmony was charged in the case, which the sheriff's office says happened early Sunday at Parsons' house on Piney Grove Road.
Deputies say they were called to the house for a domestic assault in progress, and they arrived to find the victim with bruises on her face and neck. The victim told deputies she was punched in the face by Parsons, and that he forced her head under water.
A witness told deputies he found Parsons holding the woman's head under water, and that she was unconscious. Deputies say there were other people in the house, but the victim has a medical condition that prevented her from speaking louder than a whisper, so nobody could hear her calls for help. -- Steve Lyttle
