A tractor trailer driver from Miami faces charges in a motor vehicle crash in McDowell County Saturday that killed a Marion woman.

Marion Police report the collision occurred at the intersection of 221 and 226 South around 10 am involving a passenger car driven by Elizabeth Gunter and a tractor trailer driven by Ivan Portal.

Gunter was killed in the mishap, while four of her passengers were transported to Mission Hospital in Asheville with non-life threatening injuries.

Upon investigation, Marion Police discovered Portal to be in possession of misdemeanor amounts of prescription medications.

He was then charged with one count each of possession of a schedule 4 controlled substance; along with one count of misdemeanor death by vehicle.

Portal was issued a 5-thousand dollar secured bond and was confined to the McDowell County Detention Facility.

A FedEx tractor trailer caught fire on I-40 Monday morning, igniting a nearby wooded area on Old Fort mountain.

Just before 11, firefighters responded to interstate 40 westbound at the 68 mile marker where the double-trailer had caught fire on the roadway.

Fire officials say the fire began when the engine compartment began smoking and later burst into flames.

The fire reportedly spread causing at least 2 to 3 acres of woodland to burn.

Westbound traffic was rerouted for about 2 hours to the slow travel lanes.

The tractor trailer was being operated by Raymond Brown of Saugerties New York.

There were no injuries.

An Alexander County inmate is now charged with sending a letter containing threats to blow up three Alexander County Schools earlier this month.

24-year-old Sadarius Trumane Douglas is charged with three counts of threat of mass violence on educational property and one count of making a threat of a destructive device – that according to a news release from the Alexander County Sheriff’s Office.

The letter reportedly threatened to blow up the prison in addition to the schools the release states.

Reports say the letter was sent to the state’s prison legal services in Raleigh November 15^th and they further notified the Alexander Sheriff’s Office.

A DNA test performed on the envelope at the state’s crime lab was a match for Douglas.

Local and state authorities increased security at the schools as a precaution after becoming aware of the threat.

The investigation continues along with the SBI and the NC Department of Public Safety assisting.

Douglas was issued a 150-thousand dollar secured bond.

 Lincoln County officers arrest a Maiden man on drug charges during a traffic stop.

A search of the vehicle driven by 28-year-old Aaron Douglas Goodson turned up marijuana, 24-hundred dollars in US currency, and 392 grams of meth with an estimated street value of 40-thousand dollars.

Goodson was also armed with a stolen firearm.

He was charged with felony trafficking in meth, felony possession with intent to manufacture, sell, and deliver a Schedule-two controlled substance, maintaining a vehicle for a controlled substance, and possession of a stolen firearm.

Goodson was also charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

He was jailed under a 75-thousand dollar secured bond.