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Nurses from the Mecklenburg County Health Department will offer free immunizations to returning school children on four upcoming weekends as part of the 15th annual Big Shot Saturdays program.
Big Shot Saturdays, sponsored by the Health Department and the Junior League of Charlotte, help children ages 2 months to 12 years get immunizations. All school-aged children are required to be up-to-date with their shots to be enrolled in school in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Parents must bring their children's immunization records and a form of identification for their child.
Four clinics are scheduled, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dates and locations:
Aug. 22: Briarwood Elementary School, 1001 Wilann Dr.
Sept. 5: Health department offices at 249 Billingsley Road.
Sept. 12: Ranson Middle School, 5850 Statesville Road.
Sept. 26: Health department offices at 2845 Beatties Ford Road.
No appointments are necessary. Nurses will be able to serve the first 100 students at each clinic.
If those Saturdays are not convenient, shots will be available at the two health department sites on other days, by appointment only. The dates are Aug. 14 and 21 and Sept. 11 and 18 at the Billingsley Road office and Aug. 21 and Sept. 11 and 18 at the Beatties Ford Road office. For appointments at these clinics, call the health department appointment line, 704-336-6500. -- Karen Garloch
North Carolina
Raleigh
N.C. officials have released statistics that show a drop in crime in the state.
Attorney General Roy Cooper said Wednesday at a news conference in Raleigh that property crime in the state fell by more than 2 percent in 2008. Violent crime dropped by more than 1 percent.
Cooper says murders were down by 3.5 percent, rapes by 6 percent and aggravated assaults by nearly 3 percent. Robbery rose 2 percent.
Cooper credits technological advances for the decline. He says a growing list of more than 175,000 DNA profiles on file has helped state officials make more than 220 matches in the past year.
The crime statistics were compiled by the State Bureau of Investigation. They are based on data from local law enforcement. -- Associated Press
The National Enquirer, which broke the story of John Edwards' affair more than a year ago, claims DNA tests have proven that the former Democratic presidential candidate is the father of his mistress' baby.
In a story Wednesday, the tabloid said Edwards has secretly undergone a paternity test and that it proves he's the father of Frances Quinn Hunter, Rielle Hunter's daughter, who was born in February 2008.
The paper says lawyers for Edwards are “privately hammering out” child-support payments. It cites “multiple sources” that are not named.
Rielle Hunter, with daughter in tow, appeared before a grand jury in Raleigh on Aug. 6. Prosecutors are looking at whether Edwards misused campaign funds in any payments that might have been used as hush money. Raleigh attorney Wade Smith, among those representing Edwards, declined to comment.
Edwards has denied he's the father. In a statement last year, he wrote he had “not been engaged in any activity of any description that requested, agreed to or supported payments of any kind to the woman or to the apparent father of the baby.”
The Enquirer last year published photos it alleged showed Edwards holding the baby at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. -- Jim Morrill
South Carolina
Clover
LeGrand “Chip” Guerry will start a new career today as a college instructor, after resigning Tuesday as police chief in Clover.
Guerry, who had been with the Clover police for 10 years, will teach criminal justice at York Technical College.
“I just got to the point where I could retire from law enforcement and start something new,” said Guerry, adding that his parents and wife have been teachers.
Guerry worked with the S.C. Wildlife Department and the Rock Hill Police before taking the job in Clover. Town officials have named Capt. Chuck Neil interim chief until a permanent replacement is found. -- (Rock Hill) Herald
Police digest
Lincoln County
Denver
Lincoln County authorities have charged a Charlotte man with not doing promised work for a homeowner and are checking to see if other residents have experienced problems with the suspect.
The sheriff's office in Lincoln County said it has charged Anthony Downs, 46, with obtaining property by false pretense.
Deputies say Downs told a homeowner he was a contractor.
According to deputies, Downs was paid $3,000 by a resident on Ravenwood Lane in Denver and promised to complete work for the resident. The work was not done, deputies say, and Downs was arrested Friday in Charlotte.
Sheriff's Detective Darrell Hutchens said if anyone else in Lincoln County has experienced problems with Downs, they should contact the sheriff's office at 704-268-3044, or Crime Stoppers at 704-736-8909. -- Steve Lyttle
South Carolina
Newberry
An S.C. man was recovering in a Columbia hospital Wednesday after a weekend attack by his own children, who say he molested his grandchildren.
Newberry Police Chief Jackie Swindler said the 54-year-old man has not yet been charged. Newberry County sheriff's deputies say he will face charges involving criminal sexual conduct with a minor and a lewd act on a child.
His children accuse him of molesting three of his grandchildren and an additional child in the family. Authorities are still reviewing the case. No charges have been filed against the man's children.
According to police reports, the man was confronted Sunday night by his adult children and attacked after he admitted molesting the children. One of his daughters took him to a jail after the beating. -- Associated Press
Charleston
A new Web site has been launched to help find a woman missing for two months.
Katherine Waring, 28, of Charleston was last seen June 12. A group, “The Friends of Kate Waring,” has launched www.bringkatehome.com.
A $25,000 reward is being offered to anyone who has information leading to the missing woman. The Web site includes developments in the investigation and notes from the Waring family, as well as photos, videos and links to Crime Stoppers.
The woman's family has said Waring received threatening text messages before her disappearance. -- Associated Press
Walterboro
A judge has turned down an appeal from the owner of nearly four dozen horses that officials say were being mistreated.
Circuit Judge Perry Buckner on Tuesday rejected the appeal from Eddy Ackerman, who had the horses at a camp in Cottageville.
Colleton County Animal Control Director Tim Lynes says the ruling clears the way for the county to start finding homes for the horses.
Officers took the horses, a dozen dogs and some chickens on May 5 from the Gift Horse Bible Camp.
Ackerman said some of the horses weren't eating because they were sick, but none was abused or neglected. -- Associated Press
