Area News

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      A decision on who should be sheriff in Columbus County won’t be made by a Pender County jury, with what had been expected to be a distant jury trial now scheduled for a bench trial in Whiteville next week.      Columbus County Clerk of Court Jess Hill said Tuesday that Superior Court…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com Final update      A CenturyLink fiber line that was cut caused the 911 service outage that impacted a large part of southeastern North Carolina, including Columbus County, the NC Department of Information Technology reports.      CenturyLink replaced that line Tuesday afternoon, providing “full-service restoration” to the impacted 911 services. Tuesday afternoon…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      A Columbus County Sheriff’s Office deputy is getting praise form Sheriff Jody Greene for fending off an attack during an encounter in Green Acres near Tabor City Monday afternoon.      During the struggle Alton Maurice Graham, 36, of Graham Lane, Tabor City “struck the deputy numerous times in the face and head…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      A weekend traffic checkpoint east of Tabor City manned by Columbus County Sheriff’s Office deputies netted arrests of a local man and another from Longs on a long list of narcotics and other charges.      Bonds for the men exceeded $1 million, for one it was twice that, a news release Monday…

A curve on US 701 just across the state line in South Carolina has claimed numerous big rigs over the years, this log truck Monday morning the latest to apparently make the attempt a bit too fast. Two people were in the truck, Tabor City Fire Chief Jeff Fowler said, neither the woman who was…

A live burn training exercise on Miller Road Saturday, hosted by the Tabor City Fire Department, also involved firefighters from Roseland, Williams Township, Fair Bluff, Nakina and Evergreen fire departments and Columbus County’s Air Truck. Hose spray created a rainbow as firefighters worked late in the training. Some young firefighters had their first experience inside…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com UPDATE: Feb. 1      A body recovered near Tabor City less than a week ago has been identified as a missing Horry County man last seen in mid-December.      Jeremiah Grissett was identified as the body recovered off of Ten Mile      Road on the evening of Jan. 26, Columbus County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      A couple from Whiteville accused in warrants obtained through DNA evidence in a series of vending machine break-ins beginning last June may be in Horry County, Maj. Allen May of the Whiteville Police Department said Wednesday.      William Francis Ling III, 40, and his wife Angela King Ling, 46, are charged in…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      A former Tabor City physician and his girlfriend assistant are now facing federal drug conspiracy charges in what a state prosecutor described as a “pill mill” operating out of his East 5th Street office last summer.      Jong Whan Kim, 60, and Tammy Lynn Thompson, 54, were each indicted by a federal…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      There were numerous things the older Oldsmobile could have hit after leaving U.S. 701 at Minos Meares Road Monday afternoon, but the sturdy tree that crumpled the Cutlass Ciera stood in the way of a small wooden house.      Occupants of the home and passing motorists helped improve the outcome for the…