The Officer Jeff Shelton Memorial Park in Locust continues to honor the memory of Officer Jeff Shelton who was fatally shot in the line of duty in Charlotte six years ago. PHOTO BY MICHELLE WATERS

For the sixth year, the City of Locust and Officer Jeff Shelton Memorial Foundation will partner to observe National Police Week beginning next Sunday, May 12 through Saturday, May 18. This year the collaboration will host a Thin Blue Line Silent Auction and Awards Dinner to honor members of law enforcement and raise funds for various projects within the foundation.

Officer Jeff Shelton, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer and Locust citizen was killed in the line of duty April 1, 2007 after responding to a disturbance call. His partner, Sean Clark was also killed responding to the same call.

Shelton and Clark were the first Charlotte-Mecklenburg officers fatally shot in the line of duty in more than a decade.

“It means so much to me that our community still remembers Jeff and supports our efforts to keep his memory alive,” said Jennifer Shelton. “Not only do events like this pay tribute to Jeff, but they give us a chance to honor law enforcement officers as well. By the community supporting events like these, I feel the compassion and caring that this community has extended to me since Jeff was killed.”

For the past five years, the city and foundation have hosted an annual police week memorial service to honor the fallen officers who died in the line of duty while living or working in Western Stanly County. This year, the foundation has decided to increase their activities by hosting the silent auction and awards dinner. During the awards dinner, a Stanly County Officer will be recognized for heroic work and dedication to law enforcement and community achievement by going above and beyond the call of duty during 2012.

Proceeds from the silent auction will serve several different purposes: scholarship opportunities for the next generation of law enforcement officers, funds to maintain the vision and integrity of the Officer Jeff Shelton Memorial Park in Locust, and to financially assist with programs offered to the community by the City of Locust Park and Recreation Department. 

A Midland man, William Brian Morrison, 35, of Sleepy Hollow Road, while appearing to be intoxicated and possibly under the influence of other substances, fired shots at Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Department officers while hiding in the basement the evening of Tuesday, April 16.

Officer were called to the residence, according to a press release, after receiving a call concerned about shots being fired by a white male potentially close to other residents in the area.

When officers arrived on the scene, they engaged in conversation with Morrison’s father who said he was no longer in the residence and said he could have returned back into the basement of the residence.

“Officers attempted to communicate with Brian through the partially opened basement door…Brian then discharged several gunshots with a handgun at officers. One of the gunshots struck a deputy in the belt area.”

The gunshot did not penetrate the officer’s body, but reflected off the officer’s equipment and no injury was reported. After firing back at the suspect, Morrison retreated deeper in the basement and then approached the front door and discharged a long gun towards officers in the front. The officers returned fire at the suspect before he again retreated into the residence.

After surrounding the house, officers were able to get Morrison’s father and mother out safely. The Cabarrus County Officers negotiated with Morrison throughout the night and were able to bring him out of the residence at 5:30 am Wednesday. Morrison was transported to Northeast Medical Center and is being treated for two gunshot wounds.

“Unofficially, the suspect was struck in the upper leg region and arm pit region; neither of which appear to be life threatening,” stated a press release.

Morrison is initially being charged with Felony Possession of a Firearm by a felon; other charges will follow but have not been decided as of yet. No bond was set on Morrison since he was directly sent to the hospital. No officers at the scene were injured.

“We are very thankful that our officers in this community were not injured,” stated Sheriff Brad Riley, “You never want to see incidents like this occur, but it is a good feeling to know that your officers’ training and preparedness allowed them to return home uninjured to their families.”

If you have any further information, contact the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at 704-920-3000. 

Kilah’s Law will officially be signed into law Wednes- day by Gov. Pat McCroy nearly a year after three-year old Kilah was admit- ted to the hospital.

Nearly a year after three- year-old Kilah Davenport was admitted to the hospital with potentially life threatening brain injuries, the Kilah Davenport Foundation has announced Kilah’s Law will officially be signed into legislation by Gov. Pat McCrory Wednesday, April 24.

In the hours following the tragic beating Kilah Davenport suffered at the hands of her stepfather, Kilah’s doctors told her family she would never live after the May 16, 2012 beating. Later, the doctors said she would be in a vegetative state for the rest of her life. In the months since, Kilah has grown stronger each day and is slowly learning to eat, walk, and talk again.

The family, in conjunction with The Justice for All Coalition, has been in the process of gathering support from communities to introduce a tougher sentencing guideline for anyone who causes permanent and debilitating physi- cal injury to a child. The bill has gone through the N.C. House and most recently, the N.C. Senate passing unanimously. The final step will occur Wednesday when Gov. McCrory signs the bill into law.

The current sentencing guidelines for a class C felony child abuse case would be a maximum 44- 92 months in prison, the same as for animal abusers. When the law passes, it will increase the severity of the felony charge for a parent or guardian who inflicts serious injuries on a child and roughly doubles the penalty to a minimum of 125 months in prison for the person caring for a child under 16 years of age who inflicts serious bodily injury, either intentionally or as the unintentional result of an assault. The law will also stipulate that a permanent record be added in the defendant’s criminal history that specifies the offense involved in child abuse.

A small change within a text amendment made all the difference for six homebuyers in Tucker Chase in Midland, at the April Midland Town Council meeting.

The council began the meeting with a public hearing to modify a date from January 1, 2008 to January 1, 2009 on Section 2.19-1 of the Midland Development Ordinance. The reason for the change, according to Harry Grimmer, member manager of Tucker Chase, LLC, was due to a hardship case relative to the Tucker Chase subdivision’s six zoning permits which did not meet design requirements.

The previous design standard would require garages to be recessed 3.5 feet behind the primary plane of the front façade of the structure if the lot is greater than 50 feet and less than 80 feet in width if established on or before January 1, 2008. The six zoning permits, which did not meet the standards, were recorded in March of 2008.

The Tucker Chase development was approved as a subdivision June 1, 2004, and after going through a series of builders and economic hardships, the subdivision has a new builder, Regent Homes, contracted to build the remaining 12 lots.

If the text amendment had not passed, the builder would have to redesign their entire product line according to the zoning standard, which according to Grimmer, would result in the loss of current contracts and sales momentum.

Tucker Chase has 31 existing homes in 60-feet lot sections, which do not meet the zoning requirement because they were built prior to the 2008 date. Grimmer argued that if the council voted yes they would allow the remaining homes to be built on the precedent.

The planning and zoning board voted unanimously at their March 26 meeting to recommend the approval of the requested amendment. The board approved the text amendment in a 3-1 vote with council member Rich Wise voting against and council members Mike Tallent, Don McSheehan, and Doug Tucker voting for the amendment.

In other matters

• The mayor and council recognized May 5-11 as Municipal Clerk Week honoring the oldest public service position among public servants. The town will host a staff appreciation dinner April 30.

• During the public safety portion of the meeting, Deputy Sheriff Stephen Wagoner gave the total calls for March: 396 calls with 39 vehicle stops, two break-ins at businesses, one home break-in, 19 burglar alarms, and five larcenies.

• The council approved a number of resolutions and ordinances at the meeting: budget ordinance for a fence project for the Carolina Thread Trail Project, a resolution to support the 2013-2015 Clean Water Management Trust Fund along with a budget amendment for the Main Street Phase I were some of the approved items. The council also adopted a resolution to add an eligible portion

of Widenhouse Road to the Town of Midland Powell Bill Maintenance Program to support future recreation facility at the Carolina Thread Trail-Widenhouse Road access site.

• During the sanitation portion of the meeting, Town staff addressed issues concerning several citizens who had discovered they were being charged double for sanitation services by Republic Waste Services. The council accepted the report and directed staff to prepare a budget amendment and a release for further instances that may arise.

• The council will hold a special meeting April 22 to discuss matters with the new Town Hall architects. The town will hold bud- get meetings May 11 and May 18 from 9 am until noon.

• Midland will host a Movie in the Park May 18. 

Lowder informed the council of the silent auction to be held May 16 supporting the Jeff Shelton Memorial Foundation of Locust. 

At the City of Locust Council meeting, the council held several discussions on the image of the city, from plans for a future memorial to illegal signs that have been dotting the landscape of roadways and curves as the warmer weather has rolled in.

Scott Efird, City Planning and Zoning Director, along with Tate Osborne, Parks and Recreation Director, unveiled preliminary plans for a veteran’s war memorial to be located next to the government center on Ray Kennedy Drive.

The plans include stone benches, five flags representing each branch of the military, and memorial brick pavers situated under a canopy of trees.

“We’ve been talking about this for a long time and there have been light- years of progress made in the past two months,” said city administrator Tim Fesperman. “This is going to happen sooner rather than later.”

The memorial team hopes to have artist renderings and more information on fundraising and future plans before the next council meeting to receive a formal approval from the council.

During the administration portion of the meeting, council member Mike Hinson mentioned the increase in illegal signs popping up around town, which are outside of regulations within the city’s ordinances.

“It is not unusual for this to happen,” said Fesperman. “This happens every spring. It’s a normal cycle that has become worse.”

Many repeat offenders are from out of town and cover a broad area and the sign ordinances, explained Fesperman vary from one municipality to the next. What doesn’t vary are regulations held by the N.C. Department of Transportation for highways such as Hwy. 24/27. Fesperman went on to explain how the sign ordinances cause the most problems within the city.

“It is very difficult. We try to be business-friendly, we try to be realistic, and we try to give someone an edge for a grand opening and for something new, but it is really difficult,” said Fesperman. “We don’t want to be heavy handed. I know we are going to have a transition.”

Celebrating its 75 year anniversary, the Midland location is the 1,199th store to be opened for the rural and ranch supply store. After looking at the zip codes of customers at the Albemarle, Concord, and Monroe stores, the national chain decided to bring Tractor Supply closer to their customers in the southern Cabarrus and western Stanly part of the state.

Tractor Supply began as a catalog company for farmers and ranchers in North Dakota in 1938 and has grown to become the largest retail and ranch store chain for rural communities in the nation, serving full and part-time farmers and ranchers, hobby farmers, rural homeowners, and contractors.