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Sheriff’s office investigates deaths INDIAN TRAIL – The Union County Sheriff’s Office launched three death investigations within a span of four days, including one that resulted in the arrest of a man accused of killing his wife. A detention officer conducting morning meal service at the Union County Jail around 6:15 a.m. Feb. 11 discovered a 32-year-old inmate who was unresponsive. Union EMS transported the inmate to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The sheriff’s office did not release the prisoner’s name and said there
was no evidence to suggest foul play. The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation has taken over the investigation, which is standard procedure. A few hours later, sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to conduct a well-being check at 10:15 a.m. in the Crismark subdivision in Indian Trail. Multiple sources told the sheriff’s office that a deceased woman may be inside the home within the 5000-block of Paddle Wheel Lane. Deputies and detectives found the body of 48-year-old Ashley Drinnon inside the home.
They arrested the woman’s husband, 53-year-old Timothy Drinnon, on charges of first-degree murder. Drinnon Detectives are trying to determine a motive for Drinnon’s death. Officials request anyone with information about the case to call 911, the sheriff’s office at 704-283-3789 or Union County Crime Stoppers at 704-283-5600. Deputies, detectives and investigators descended Feb. 14 to a park near N.C. 205 and Pleasant Hill
Church Road to investigate another death. Officials withheld the victim’s name as they investigated the circumstances of his passing. They described the death as an isolated incident and suspected no foul play was involved. Retired officer passes away The Union County Sheriff's Office is mourning the passing of former detention officer Mary Millhouse. Millhouse served the department from 1997 until retirement in 2009.
WHAT'S INSIDE:
Literacy program moves to SPCC
Help us help you Health care officials ask for resources, 2A
Curiosities Incoming expo is devoted to oddities, 2A Novant Health announced Feb. 14 that staff administered more than 203,700 COVID-19 vaccine doses over the past year. Photo courtesy of Novant Health
Masks optional?
Top earner Alzheimer's walk proves popular, 1B
Republicans want to give parents ability to opt out of mask mandates for children by Nyamekye Daniel Contributor
Slow aging Clinic among first in area to offer procedure, 1B
Sweet gesture Veterans receive valentines, 2B
(The Center Square) – North Carolina Republicans plan to propose legislation to allow parents to opt their children out of face covering requirements at schools. The state does not have a mask mandate at schools. The policy is left up to local school districts, and many follow the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ StrongSchoolsNC Public Health Toolkit. The toolkit recommends that “schools have a universal masking policy in place for everyone (age 2 and older), in areas of high or substantial transmission,” according to the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention guidance. Schools, however, can make face coverings optional when community transmission levels drop. As of Feb. 10, 40 out of the state’s 115 schools districts, including Union County Public Schools, moved to mask optional policies. Under current law, school districts must decide each month what their face covering policy will be. When schools reopened for in-person instruction in March, masks were required in the toolkit. Gov. Roy Cooper lifted the requirement in June but added the recommendation that schools should
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require students and staff to wear masks during the new school year. House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, sent a letter to Cooper on Feb. 11, urging the governor and NCDHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley to end the policy. “It is time to end the policies that have disrupted classrooms and hindered student achievement,” Moore said. “The science does not support these onerous restrictions that continue to harm our children.” Other governors have eased the mask requirement in other states as the current COVID-19 surge has started to decline. Cooper told reporters that Moore knows that there is no state mask mandate.
It is time to end the policies that have disrupted classrooms and hindered student achievement. The science does not support these onerous restrictions that continue to harm our children. • Tim Moore House Speaker
MONROE – Common Heart’s adult literacy program is moving to South Piedmont Community College in hopes of giving students more opportunities and helping more families. The college, which has supported the program since its launch in late 2019, will now house this free community service in the School of College & Career Readiness. The program’s 19 students and seven tutors will have access to additional resources and can use the college’s campus as a meeting place if they’d like. RJ Lightsey, Common Heart’s literacy program manager, will oversee the program at SPCC. As Common Heart focuses on its expanding food pantry network and economic empowerment programs, adult literacy needed a new home and reaching out to SPCC was top of mind, Common Heart Executive Director Keith Adams said. SPCC has supported the program with free testing services since Common Heart took the lead in reviving adult literacy in Union County after the sudden closure of the Union County Literacy Council in summer 2019. “I can’t imagine a better place for this program to land,” he said. “SPCC’s dedication and resources will allow the program not only to continue, but to grow and thrive. I’m really excited to see how many more lives will be changed by adding adult literacy services to their already robust offerings for adult learners.” Kelly Stegall, dean of the School of College & Career Readiness, said South Piedmont is excited about the potential for this program not only for new students but enrolled students who could benefit from the supplemental support – at no charge. Stegall said it was important to keep this program as a free service. Students do not have to live in Union County to receive help and the program will be offered at campuses in both Union and Anson counties. Most of the students who come for help now have never been to college and it’s a chance to encourage that excitement and zest for learning, Lightsey said. At South Piedmont, tutors will be able to meet with students in the evenings on campus which is something Common Heart didn’t have available. Email rlightsey@spcc.edu or call 704290-5261 to volunteer as a tutor or enroll as a student for free help,
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