Area News

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…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      Injuries to one woman did not appear life threatening following a three-vehicle crash on US 701 at NC 410 at East Tabor at 9 a.m. Monday.      Video of the crash from a surveillance system at Long’s Outdoor Equipment enhances the argument, business owner Joe Long said, that a signal light is…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      A long-running narcotics operation focusing on a community east of Tabor City has resulted in the arrest of a Peacock Road man on drug, assault, weapons and stolen vehicle charges.      Bradley Courtland Williams, 32, was arrested after sheriff’s Vice/Narcotics detectives and SWAT Team members served a warrant on his home in…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      School building needs in Columbus County would get from $9 million to $12 million if a proposed $1.9 billion school construction bond issue is approved by voters state wide, Speaker of the NC House of Representatives Rep. Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) said during a stop at South Columbus High School Friday.      Moore…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      State legislative leaders including Tabor City’s member of the NC House of Representatives have scheduled to discuss a meeting at South Columbus High School this Friday to discuss a proposed school construction bond with area educators.      Speaker of the NC House of Representatives Rep. Tim Moore (R-Cleveland and Deputy House Majority…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      “If I can help somebody, as I pass along…then my living shall not be in vain.”      Borrowing from Mahalia Jackson’s “If I Can Help Somebody,” Rev. Toni Vereen set a tone of service over self during Monday’s annual observance of the birth of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      With a 30-day clock ticking on a lawsuit brought by former Columbus County Sheriff Lewis Hatcher against currently installed Sheriff Jody Greene, and others, a jury trial date has been set for Feb. 11, most likely in Burgaw.      Wake County Superior Court Judge A. Graham Shirley made clear that the law,…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      A Wilmington lawyer has been hired to represent Columbus County Commissioners in a lawsuit brought by former Sheriff Lewis Hatcher seeking to return him to his post as appeals in the November 2018 general election wind their way through the process.      A hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for 11 a.m.…