A judge has ordered a $1 million bond for the tractor-trailer driver whose rig slammed into cars creeping along in heavy Interstate 40 traffic in Orange County last month, killing three drivers.

The judge called 50-year-old Ronald Eugene Graybeal of Newport, Tenn., "a danger to the public safety" during a hearing in Hillsborough.

Graybeal is charged with felony death by vehicle, driving while impaired and possessing drugs including marijuana and methadone. Prosecutors say they might upgrade charges to second-degree murder.

The N.C. Highway Patrol says the four vehicles damaged in the June 30 accident had stopped, then began moving at about 5 mph when the 18-wheeler hit a pickup truck, triggering a deadly chain reaction. One car caught fire. -- Associated Press

Regional briefs

Cherokee County

Murphy

Woman faces DWI charges in fatal Asheville accident

A 22-year-old Florida woman has been charged with driving while impaired after a crash that killed a Cherokee County man mowing his lawn, authorities say.

The Asheville Citizen-Times reported that 22-year-old Amanda Rose Davis lost control of her car July 6, ran off the right side of the road, down an embankment and into a riding lawn mower.

The Highway Patrol said the crash shattered the legs of 63-year-old Thomas Martin Stiles, who died in a hospital a day later.

Authorities said Davis was driving 70 mph in a 55 mph zone.

Davis has been charged with felony death by vehicle, driving while impaired, misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. -- Associated Press

Guilford County

Greensboro

Greensboro police recover Miss Babe Ruth statue

A beloved statue of a dog at a minor league baseball stadium in Greensboro has been recovered less than a week after it disappeared.

Police say tips led them to 25-year-old Andrew Seth Carawan of Greensboro, who returned the statue of the Labrador retriever called Miss Babe Ruth on Thursday.

Carawan told investigators he kicked the statue as a prank last weekend and it broke free from its cement base, so he took it from the park. He is charged with felony larceny.

The Greensboro Grasshoppers already ordered a replacement statue, so the team plans to sell the original Miss Babe Ruth statue on eBay along with several prizes.

The proceeds will go to pay for veterinary services for Greensboro police dogs. -- Associated Press

Forsyth County

Winston-Salem

Hospital worker fired after taking home medical records

A security breach involving medical documents at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center affected more than 350 people, including more than 100 patients.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports that the hospital says it fired 55-year-old Linda Bowden Turner for taking home medical records and documents dating from 1995 to 2006. Officials say the documents contained information that ranged from Social Security numbers to patient medical records.

Turner is expected in court next week on a larceny charge. Her attorney says Turner is a hoarder and didn't have any malicious intent.

The hospital has notified the 136 patients and 221 past or current employees affected and offered free credit-monitoring services. -- Associated Press

Scotland County

Wagram

543 acres donated to Sandhills wildlife preserve

Sandhills Game Lands is growing after the Nature Conservancy donated 543 acres to the Scotland County wildlife preserve.

The N.C. Council of State agreed to accept the land that borders the preserve along the Lumber River near the Hoke-Scotland county line.

The Nature Conservancy's Sandhills director Ryan Elting says the donation is also important because it expands the buffer of undeveloped land around Fort Bragg and Camp McCall. The Sandhills Game Lands wildlife preserve has 65,000 acres for hunting, fishing and wildlife observation. -- Associated Press

Wake County

Raleigh man sentenced to 12 years in Ponzi scheme

A Raleigh man has been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for a Ponzi scheme authorities say cost investors close to $1 million.

Dennis Todd Hagemann, 42, was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to 12 counts of securities fraud.

State prosecutors said Hagemann lured people to invest nearly $1 million with his foreign currency hedge company, Yellowstone Partners Inc. Investigators say Hagemann promised high returns but instead spent the money to pay back previous investors and buy things for himself, including an Aston Martin luxury car.

In March, a federal judge ordered Hagemann to pay more than $1.6 million in restitution and penalties for defrauding investors. That judge said Hagemann promised potential investors returns of up to 300 percent and falsely claimed he had connections including former Russian President Boris Yeltsin. -- Associated Press

Fighting wildfires using up resources of Forest Service

The wildfires that have raged across North Carolina this year have also been burning through state resources devoted to fighting them.

WRAL-TV reports that the state has spent nearly $20 million putting down wildfires.

State Forest Service Director Wib Owen says that comes on top of about a 40 percent budget reduction since 2007. That has forced the state to do things like ask other states to borrow aircraft this year.

Wildfires this year have burned more than 100,000 acres across the state, primarily in eastern and coastal regions. In an average year, wildfires consume about 24,000 acres.

As the fire season has gotten longer and more severe in recent years, Owen is worried that larger blazes will become the norm. -- Associated Press