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Ken Miller, Charlotte-Mecklenburg's senior deputy police chief, has taken a job as Greensboro's new top cop.
Miller has served with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department since 1989 and was promoted to deputy chief in 2006.
He starts in Greensboro on Sept. 1, though officials there plan to announce his appointment at a news conference on Monday.
Miller declined to comment Friday afternoon, but in a statement, he said "I am very excited to be selected as Greensboro's Police Chief." He said he'd make a public statement on Monday.
In more than 30 years with the department, Miller has led both the Administrative Services and Support Service Groups.
He helped the department and the city formulate the rental property ordinance that went into effect June 1. The ordinance is designed to help find ways to reduce crime at rental properties, including making it easier for police to identify owners of troubled rental property.
Miller is currently the deputy chief for investigations, overseeing all major felony investigative units - including homicide, robbery, gangs and firearms. Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
Meck briefs
Charlotte
$1,000 scholarship winner
Leonard Maxwell, 23, a junior at N.C. Central University, was awarded a $1,000 scholarship by the Youth Educational Society Friday night.
Maxwell is majoring in computer information systems. He is also a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. He is a 2005 graduate of West Charlotte High School and the son of Leroy and Melinda Maxwell of Charlotte. Staff reports
Free Hindu Center health fair
A free health fair and cultural program will be at the Hindu Center, 7400 City View Drive, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today.
Thirty Asian physicians will be on hand to provide free medical advice and examinations. Registration begins at 10:30 a.m.
There will be games for children from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., then a cultural program from 2 to 6 p.m.
For more information, call 704-535-3440. Amanda Chan
Regional briefs
North Carolina Charlotte
More of N.C. in drought
The number of N.C. counties in drought more than doubled this week, according to the latest drought map.
Thirty-nine of the state's 100 counties are in drought, according to this week's U.S. Drought Monitor map, compared with 18 last week. Severe drought, the second of four stages, has settled over four counties in northeastern North Carolina. Thirty five are in moderate drought, the first stage.
Mecklenburg County is still rated normal. Charlotte is officially 2.6 inches below normal rainfall for the year, but parts of Mecklenburg have received more rain.
Gaston and Lincoln counties are among 45 counties classified as abnormally dry, a condition that could lead to drought. Bruce Henderson
Police digest
Mecklenburg County Charlotte
Fire in hotel parking deck
A car fire in the underground parking deck of the Omni Hotel in uptown Charlotte prompted the temporary closure of North College Street around 5 p.m., Charlotte Fire Department officials said.
The car caught fire two levels below ground, so the high-rise buildings did not need to be evacuated, officials said.
There were no injuries. The sprinkler system contained the fire, but firefighters had to stretch a hose down the stairwell to completely extinguish the blaze. Amanda Chan
Lancaster County, S.C. Lancaster
Clerk defies armed robbers
A Lancaster County convenience store clerk slammed the cash register door shut and refused to give money to armed men who tried to rob the store Wednesday night, police say.
Two unknown men attempted to rob B&J Mini Mart at 7673 Kershaw Camden Highway around 10 p.m. Wednesday.
One of the men paid cash for a blunt cigar and the 38-year-old clerk opened the register drawer to make change when another man held a gun up, said store co-owner Jill Sistare.
The second man demanded that the clerk give him all the money in the register, according to a release from the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office.
"The clerk pushed the drawer closed, and she wouldn't give them any money," Sistare said. "Both men ran from the store." (Rock Hill) Herald
South Carolina Charleston
Missing teen ties sought
Police are seeking ties between the disappearance of a New York teen last seen in Myrtle Beach and two other cases.
Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon says detectives are comparing the 1998 killing of Shannon McConaughey to the 2009 disappearance of Brittanee Drexel.
Drexel was 17 years old when she was last seen leaving a Myrtle Beach hotel.
No arrests have been made. But on Wednesday, Timothy Shaun Taylor was arrested and accused of trying to kidnap another woman near the spot where Drexel disappeared.
Taylor's brother, Randall Keith Taylor, was charged in McConaughey's case, but those charges were later dismissed. McConaughey's body was found in Charleston County, near the last location of Drexel's cell phone signal. Associated Press
Bamberg
Pastor charged in porn case
A pastor and his wife have been charged with having child pornography on their computer.
Grady Bernard Ponds, 41, and Rhonda Jean Ponds, 40, of Bamberg were arrested Tuesday and charged with one count each of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.
Attorney General Henry McMaster says the couple saved pictures of children engaged in sex acts on their computer, which is now being examined for evidence. Associated Press
