Emergency personnel were out searching to make sure someone hadnât fallen in the Yadkin River in Wilkesboro when the clock struck midnight on New Yearâs Eve.
The incident began when Wilkesboro police officers P.L. Parsons and J.G. McHargue found a German shepherd dog in the Yadkin near where Moravian Creek enters the south side of the river around 11:30 p.m.
The officers were at the nearby town garage at the end of North Collegiate Drive to drop off a vehicle needing work when they heard the dog bark, said Robbie Bolin, Wilkesboro Fire Department captain.
The dog âwas hanging on the side of the bank and couldnât get out because it was so steep,â said Bolin.
The Wilkes Sheriffâs Officeâs latest round of felony drug arrests reflects the increased prevalence of imported methamphetamine in Wilkes County, said Capt. Craig Dancy, who heads the agencyâs narcotics unit.
âEverything has gone to meth now,â said Dancy when he announced these latest cases on Dec. 18. Charges against all but four of 35 defendants in the latest round include meth offenses.
âAnd theyâre not making it here anymore because it canât competeâ with meth produced by drug cartels in Mexico, said Dancy. âWe havenât found a meth lab (in Wilkes) in two years.â
He said laws requiring retailers to keep records of people who buy household ingredients used in simple âone-potâ meth labs, once prevalent across Appalachia, are also a factor.