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Pinehurst Police Car Design Wins Grand Prize

Posted Thursday June 13, 2013

The Pinehurst Police Department was notified today that their new police car design won the grand prize in the annual police car design contest sponsored by Law & Order magazine. The vehicle was photographed by Dave Nicoll one of the departments Citizens on Patrol volunteers.       This new design for the Village of Pinehurst Police Department (VPPD) patrol vehicle was brought about by the body style changes in the Dodge Charger starting in 2011. This 2013 was our first new Charger since the body style change. The design change takes into consideration the new body lines and elongated look of the newer Chargers. The paint scheme enhances those lines while keeping the VPPD patrol vehicle’s traditional blue and white colors.      Reflective materials were used in all of the patrol vehicles lettering and markings for additional safety measures. This is especially important at night in the Village of Pinehurst because traditionally there is no street lighting outside of the core of the Village.      The design was the brain child of Deputy Chief Floyd R. Thomas who worked with Clark’s Chevrolet of Pinehurst painting it and Sandhill’s Signs of Aberdeen, NC for the reflective lettering and markings. The graphics are unique in that all the reflective lettering has a border making the lettering jump out at passer byes.      The lettering and markings are traditional but let’s everyone know this is a VPPD patrol car. Additionally, the car is marked with a “QR” code on the rear bumper. The QR code allows smart phone users to take a picture of it and go directly to the department’s web site for information and updates.  The entirely new design is the most significant feature of this vehicle.      With the selection as the grand prize winner a picture of the police car will be the cover photo for the August issue of Law & Order magazine. The car will also be on display as a part of the Police Fleet Expo being held in Charlotte August 19th - 22nd.

Firefighters & Animal Control Team-Up To Rescue Kittens From Storm Pipe

Posted Wednesday June 12, 2013

An officer with Moore County Animal Control and firefighters with Southern Pines Fire & Rescue worked together Wednesday morning to rescue two small kittens from storm water drainage pipes at the Lowes Home Improvement Store in Southern Pines shortly before 11:00 AM.      The kittens were too small to get out of the drainage system on their own and were trapped. Firefighters removed the drain covers from three areas to access the pipes where the cats were located. One firefighter gently sprayed water into the pipe, while another crawled down into the drainage pipe further down the line to catch the kittens.      Both kittens were rescued without injury and were transported from the location by Moore County Animal Control. One of the employees at Lowes is reported to be considering adopting the two adorable kittens.

Highway 5 Paving In Pinehurst This Saturday Expect Traffic Delays

Posted Tuesday June 11, 2013

Riley paving has plans to pave Highway 5 from the south side of the train trestle in Pinehurst to Morganton Road this Saturday June 15th, weather permitting. According to Deputy Chief Floyd Thomas with the Pinehurst Police Department, they are supposed to start early and hopefully be done with the work by 2:00 pm. They will have flaggers directing traffic, but expect traffic to become a bottle neck at times since Highway 5 will be down to one lane of traffic. Avoid travel on Highway 5 this Saturday, or expect delays and be patient.

Sinkhole Opens Beside US Highway 1 In Aberdeen Sunday

Posted Sunday June 9, 2013

Emergency officials in Aberdeen were called out Sunday afternoon for a reported sinkhole that had opened up beside of the highway. The hole in the ground was located along the roadside of US Highway 1 just before the railroad tracks and the intersection with highway 5.       Spotted by a pedestrian walking down the sidewalk the opening for the hole was only about 3 feet in diameter, however the hole opened up under the ground to encompass an area approximately 8 feet across and more than 8 feet deep.       A large amount of soil was simply gone from the hole. There was no water or other signs visible as to what may have caused this hole to appear.       Aberdeen Fire & Rescue along with officers from Aberdeen Police Department responded to the location and erected temporary barricades around the area of the hole to keep people away from the unseen hazard below the ground.

Firefighters Rescue Dog From Hole In the Ground Sunday

Posted Sunday June 9, 2013

The Whispering Pines Fire Department rescued a dog Sunday that had fallen into a shallow well hole at a home on Airport Road. Firefighters responded to the call for help when a resident was outside working in the yard and heard a dog barking. The resident found a large golden retriever unable to  get out of a hole in the ground that was approximately 5 feet deep.       Firefighters arrived on the scene and were able to get the dog out of the hole. As responders were getting the dog out the dog’s owner arrived on the scene and stated that she had been looking for the dog since the night before.        The dog was reported to have not sustained any injuries from the fall into the hole and was reunited with its owner.

Four Promoted At Moore County Sheriff’s Department

Posted Wednesday June 5, 2013

There were four recent promotions at the Moore County Sheriff’s Department following the swearing in of Neil Godfrey as the new Sheriff.

Jerrell Seawell (pictured on the right beside Sheriff Godfrey above) was promoted to the position of Chief Deputy. This position is the second in command for the department. Chief Deputy Seawell has been with the Moore County Sheriff’s Department for 24 years, and most recently served as the Captain over the Narcotics Unit.

Darrin Ritter has been promoted to the position of Captain over the Narcotics Unit for the Sheriff’s Department. Captain Ritter previously served as the Lieutenant for the Narcotics Unit.

Wes Hart has been promoted to the position of Lieutenant and second in command of the Narcotics Unit. Prior to this promotion Lieutenant Hart served as a member of the Narcotics Unit.

Ricky Whitaker has been promoted to the position of Major over all of the Detention Center operations. Major Whitaker previously held the rank of Captain at the Detention Center.       Congratulations to Sheriff Godfrey and these four dedicated public servants for these well-earned promotions.

We At AberdeenTimes.Com Say Thank You

Posted Monday May 27, 2013

We are so very happy to be back online in “our own skin” so to speak. It is rare indeed that a person can make a huge mistake in the business world (like changing a business name and layout that worked so well for more than 18 months LOL) and be able to get a second chance to make things right.        Three and a half months ago we changed our name and our look in a dramatic move. To be very honest everyone around me told me that I was making a huge mistake, but I did not listen to their many words of warning.        After ultimately finding ourselves in a position that we did not want to be in, we were faced with some very tough choices. In the end we made the decision to make the giant leap backwards to try and return to our roots that had allowed us to grow in the first place, AberdeenTimes.Com        The flood of support that we have received from area residents has been nothing short of amazing to us! The many, many Facebook messages, emails, and phone calls we have received the last several days confirmed for us that we HAD made the right decision to make the switch back.        In the real world the proof is in the numbers, and our readers for sure did not let us down. Sunday was our first full day back online as AberdeenTimes.Com and we saw visitor traffic yesterday that was more than double what we would expect for a typical Sunday on the internet even though we have not finished updating all of the pages.       AberdeenTimes.Com is owned and operated by Billy and Beth Marts. We are both Moore County natives who are proud to call Moore County home. We are strongly committed to bringing our friends and neighbors the local news in our area. For the two of us what we do is not a job or a big business, it is our way of life.        We spend 24 hours a day 7 days a week working to bring our readers the local news and we love what we do. Thank you to each and every reader and local business advertiser that has given us this second chance to keep bringing you the local news. Billy & Beth Marts AberdeenTimes.Com