WNCTIMES Blog

CLEVELAND (AP) — A customer left a $3,000 tip for a single beer as a restaurant voluntarily closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The man walked into Nighttown on Sunday in Cleveland, ordered the beer and asked for the check, which came to $7.02, owner Brendan Ring wrote on Facebook.  Ring said the man wished him well and told him to share the tip with the four employees who were working brunch service. As the man walked out, Ring wrote, he looked down at the tip and "realized he l...

ROXBORO, N.C. (AP) — For her 100th birthday, Ruth Bryant crossed a significant item off her bucket list. She went to jail.  The Person County Sheriff's Office helped fulfill Bryant's unusual wish when two deputies showed up at her assisted living facility to serve her a warrant charging her with indecent exposure, news outlets reported.  The two deputies handcuffed Bryant to her walker and placed her in a patrol car, giving her the full experience with lights and sirens flashing and bl...

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — A New York man claiming he was "The Sheriff" was arrested on New Year's Day after investigators said he tried to impersonate a law enforcement officer to get rid of a lien placed against his new home.  Todd Gieger, 51, of Montville, New York, faces two counts of false impersonation of a law enforcement officer, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.  Sheriff's investigators said they learned in November that Gieger tried to intimidate a subcontractor w...

How Odd: Things That Go Bump in the night: Robot Vaccum

HIGH POINT, N.C. (AP) — 'Twas the night of Christmas at a North Carolina house, no creature should have been stirring, not even a mouse. But a Forsyth County couple awoke with a fright, as something was moving about their house in the night.  They dashed to their closet and hid in fear, dialing 911 with a sensitive ear. Responding sheriff's deputies searched the home, and found a robot vacuum alone. The source of the scare had quickly been sorted, WGHP-TV reported. The robot had seemingly s...

Cha-Ching

SHELBY, N.C. (AP) — Barrels of raw pork shoulder were riding fat in a tractor trailer pulled over by North Carolina deputies.  Approximately $3 million in cash was recovered from the barrels Saturday, the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post Tuesday. The driver of the tractor trailer was accused of failing to maintain his lane and impeding the flow of traffic on Interstate 85. Deputies became suspicious of the truck when a K-9 alerted to the trailer, the post says. Depu...

Pay Ticket with PB&J, Help a Hungry Student

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — What a lip-smacking offer! Anyone with unpaid parking fines at the University of Alaska Anchorage campus has the option to reduce or cover the cost of their tickets with peanut butter and jelly.  KTUU-TV reported the university would take donations for their annual payment tradition until Nov. 8 to help combat student hunger. Officials say the food goes to students in need. University officials say each person could use PB&J payments for two citations issued wit...

PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) — A boulder that mysteriously disappeared two weeks ago from a national forest in Arizona is back, and forest officials aren't asking any questions.  Prescott National Forest officials said a forest employee on patrol Friday noticed that the 1-ton boulder dubbed "Wizard Rock" had been returned to a site along State Route 89 south of Prescott. The much-admired boulder is black with streaks of white quartz running through it. District Ranger Sarah Clawson said forest offi...

How Odd!

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Police in Maryland say a burglary suspect jumped over a 12-foot (4-meter) wall twice during a chase before being captured. Montgomery County police said in a press release 56-year-old Steven Anderson is charged with burglary and assault.  The Washington Post reports the "startling display of acrobatics" happened Oct. 19 in Silver Spring. An officer with a K-9 tracked down Anderson. Police say he then "jumped over an approximately 12-foot wall," but jumped back over...