A State of Emergency is in effect for all 100 counties in North Carolina as the state prepares for almost certain impacts from Hurricane Irma next week. This will facilitate the movement of any resources that may be needed to respond to the storm. It also waives truck weight, size and hours of service restrictions so that vehicles carrying essential supplies such as food, medicine, fuel or transporting livestick and crops can get their jobs done quickly. North Carolina could experience wind and rain from Hurricane Irma as early as Monday.

Three area meth traffickers are sentenced Tuesday in federal court. Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S.Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina announced Wednesday, lengthy prison terms for the traffickers:
Randy Lee Bivens, 35, of Hickory - 169 months in prison & 5 years supervised release.
Jerico Nathaniel Chapman, 29, of Valdese - 130 months in prison & 5 years supervised release.
Nathan Ray Bumgarner, 55, of Connelly Springs - 130 months in prison & 5 years supervised release.
The defendants were charged as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation. Two other traffickers, one from El Salvador, the other from Mexico, were sentenced as well and had leadership roles in the drug ring.

Deputies arrest a Connelly Springs man late Tuesday, wanted in connection with an earlier domestic dispute. Responding to a call of a suspicious person walking along Baptist Camp Road, deputies detained the subject identified as 55-year-old Paul Alan Hyler. He reportedly left his Deer Creek Drive residence Monday, after allegedly shooting another man who was initially listed in serious condition. The Burke County Sheriff's Office, the State Highway Patrol, and SWAT team members secured the area of the disturbance, and determined Hyler had fled from the crime scene. Hyler was described in a news release as being wet, covered in mud, and tired of running as he surrendered to officers without incident. Reports say he was wearing a 9mm pistol in a holster on his side. Hyler was jailed under a $100,000 secured bond.

Two McDowell County residents are charged with possession of methamphetamine. The McDowell County Sheriff's Office aided the State Highway Patrol on August 25th during the traffic stop, which occurred on Harmony Grove Road in Nebo. The Sheriff's Office charged Timothy Steven Clark, 46, of Marion and Robert Lee Reel, 22 of Old Fort, after allegedly finding meth on them.