Monday, Oct. 26, 2009

The Carolinas | Woman, 32, dies after shooting

South Carolina

ROCK HILL

Woman, 32, dies after shooting

Rock Hill Police have charged an Orangeburg man with murder in the death of a woman who was shot Saturday morning in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant.

Matthew Oliver Aldrich, 20, of Orangeburg is charged with killing Tameka Bostic, 32, of Rock Hill, who was shot about 10 a.m. while sitting in a car at a Jack in the Box.

Aldrich, Bostic and another woman were in the car when Bostic was shot in the back with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun, said Rock Hill Police Lt. Brad Redfearn. The name of the other woman has not been released.

Bostic was taken to Piedmont Medical Center where she was pronounced dead, York County Coroner Sabrina Gast said. Gast would not say how many times Bostic was shot.

Aldrich was taken into custody at the scene for questioning and was charged with murder Saturday afternoon. He also is charged with possession of a firearm during a violent crime, according to an arrest warrant.

A bond hearing is set for 6 a.m. today.

The case remains under investigation.

The shooting is Rock Hill's fourth homicide of the year.

AIKEN

Rep. Joe Wilson pushes alternative

U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., of the 2nd District, told a crowd in Aiken this weekend that there are alternatives to the proposed public option in the health care reform packages being debated on Capitol Hill.

Wilson, who is seeking re-election in 2010, was little-known nationally until he yelled out "You lie," to President Obama during the president's address to Congress on health care reform last month.

Wilson said the White House plan would create a heath czar who "would become the most powerful person on Earth, making all the decisions on health care in America."

The plan would cost more than $1 trillion and create an additional $236 billion in debt, Wilson said. He further predicted that 100 million people would lose their insurance plans and as many as 1.6 million jobs would be lost.

He acknowledged that millions of Americans are without health insurance and more are losing coverage daily. The alternative H.R. 3400 would address affordability and accessibility, creating jobs and not eliminating them, Wilson said.

North Carolina

RALEIGH

Rockslide closes both directions of I-40

A rockslide in western North Carolina near the Tennessee state line has closed Interstate 40, and officials say it could take several months to clear the debris.

The state Department of Transportation on Sunday issued an emergency declaration. Initial estimates from engineers are that it could take several months to clean up the entire slide and restore traffic.

DOT said a contractor is en route to begin clean up.

The rockslide occurred shortly after 2 a.m. near mile marker 3 in Haywood County.

A detour has been set up. Drivers traveling west to Tennessee should take I-40 West to I-240 West in Asheville to I-26 West. Follow I-26 West from Asheville to I-81 South in Tennessee, back to I-40. Eastbound drivers will follow the reverse directions.

HIGH POINT

Hospital volunteer still working at 101

Hilda Fountain still wears the blue and white pinstriped Red Cross volunteer dress she got when she first signed up to help at a central North Carolina hospital 35 years ago.

The News & Record of Greensboro reports that Fountain turned 101 years old Sunday, and that the hospital's director of volunteer services says Fountain's dress will wear out before she does.

Fountain maintains a brisk pace away from the hospital, tending her own garden and volunteering at church. She is also a breast cancer survivor, and while her body may have taken a beating from the disease three years ago, her sense of humor has endured. Fountain says she sees her doctor in the hallway and fears he may bill her for their conversations.

FORT BRAGG

Firefighters going to Puerto Rico

Fort Bragg is sending four civilian fire fighters to Puerto Rico to help fight an explosion at a petroleum plant near an Army installation there.

Officials say the fire fighters are leaving early Sunday morning for Fort Buchanan.

More than 1,500 people were evacuated after Friday's earthshaking explosion at the Caribbean Petroleum Corp. in the suburb of Bayamon, just west of the capital of San Juan.

The Fort Bragg fire fighters will be assisting the fire department at Fort Buchanan, which was damaged in the blast. They're expected to be there for about a week.

The cause of the explosion is still under investigation. Officials say 15 of 40 fuel tanks caught fire.