Obituary

Hannah Swanson, a 16-year-old junior at Mora High School, died yesterday evening from unknown causes. She loved to play sports and be with her family and friends. She was mostly excited about being done with high school soon. Her future was undecided, but she was thinking about broadcast journalism or being an ultrasound technician.

The High Honors student was involved in National Honors Society and was deciding whether or not to do a fall or spring sport. She attended Emmanuel Baptist Church and their youth program, The Rock. Swanson was hoping to participate in a mission’s trip with them to Jamaica this spring. She loved God, her family, friends, sports, and laughing. Her friend Evan said, “Every time I was with Hannah I laughed. We’ve known each other forever, and she was such a nice and funny girl to be with.” Funeral details have not yet been released.

Budget Fight

     County commissioners and the county sheriff faced off on Thursday afternoon over new police cruisers, sheriff’s deputies, and county funds. “You’re putting the lives of people of this county in jeopardy,” said Sheriff Gus DiCesari.
     DiCesari was talking to Commission President Anne Chenn about his request for new cruisers and five new deputies. DiCesari said that eight of the older cruisers have over 150,000 miles each on them and need to be replaced. Buying new vehicles would cost $580,000 over and above the county’s $127 million budget. Chenn said that there is not enough money to carry out the requests, and the commissioners voted 5-2 against the proposal. 
     The sheriff replied by saying, “This is the first time in my 27 years as sheriff that the county hasn’t allocated money to the sheriff’s department to buy equipment. My deputies can’t keep driving these old vehicles. Something bad is going to happen.”
     Later on in the meeting, Commissioner Anita Shenuski discussed why she does not want money to be spent on programs helping migrant workers in the county. She explained by saying, “We never had problems until we began letting migrants come…they are a problem for our law enforcement, our schools and our health care system. They take away jobs from decent people and work for next to nothing and if something gets stolen, you can bet it is one of them that’s taken it. We need to protect local residents from them.”
     Chenn denied that immigrants are a problem saying, “Those people who come here to work are decent, hardworking people being employed at jobs that local residents don’t want to do. They add a great deal to the local economy and they pay taxes. You are being a hypocrite when you try to blame those people for everything.”

First News Story

With bodies lying on the road, people covered in blood sitting near their cars, emergency personnel moving everywhere trying to help victims, and sirens screaming their arrival, Interstate 790 looked like a war zone. This was how local fire chief Tony Sullivan described the aftermath of a 14 car and four tractor-trailer pile-up that happened at 6:45 a.m. this morning.
With two people dead, 20 injured, and two of the most seriously injured flown to the trauma center in Statesville, Sullivan says this is the worst accident he has seen in his 18 years of service. It all started when two tractor-trailers collided, one of them carrying diesel fuel, in the northbound lanes of Interstate 790. All of the city’s fire department’s ambulances arrived at the scene, as well as some from four area cities. Emergency personnel were rushing around trying to help all the victims, while police officers tried to figure out which people were drivers, who were passengers, and who the vehicles belonged to, said Sgt. Albert Wei.
    Interstate 690, the alternative route drivers took after the accident, was backed up for three hours after the accident. The traffic problems may continue because Wei is not sure when Interstate 790 will open again.