🗞️ A decorated NC gymnast is opening a new training center in Kernersville

🗞️ A Kernersville teen is crowned Miss North Carolina Native American

🗞️ July 4 in the Triad could flirt with 100 degrees

🗞️ Kernersville-area neighbors reflect as America turns 250

🌡 Hot, isolated afternoon storm | High: 93°F | Low: 71°F

A hot, humid Saturday with a high near 93 and the chance of an isolated afternoon thunderstorm, with damaging wind the main risk if one pops up. Stay hydrated and keep an eye on the sky.

One of North Carolina's most accomplished gymnasts is back in the Kernersville gym, this time as a coach and owner. Chris Young, once the state's most decorated male gymnast and a competitor at the 1999 World Gymnastics Championships in China, has opened the Phoenix Gymnastics Training Center along with a team of coaches. The gym opened May 15 at 1128 Snow Bridge Lane, the former home of Flip Force Gymnastics.

The location is familiar turf for Young, who co-owned Flip Force at the same spot with Bob Kohut from 2000 to 2019. Now he and his coaching staff are focused on passing their experience along to the next generation of local gymnasts.

For Kernersville families looking for a summer or fall activity, it is a welcome addition: a hometown gym led by someone who reached the very top of the sport. Phoenix is up and running now at 1128 Snow Bridge Lane.

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A Kernersville teenager who describes herself as someone who "keeps to myself" just stepped into the spotlight in a big way. Aiyana Maela Suarez, a rising 10th-grader at The North Carolina Leadership Academy, was named Miss North Carolina Native American at the NCNAYO pageant on June 18 at Campbell University. "My dad threw me into it, and I went along with it," she said. "It was a good experience to get me out of my shell."

Suarez, who is Meherrin, wowed the judges with a talent routine that blended her cultures and skills. A five-year kung fu student and green belt, she performed traditional smoke dancing, five animal-form combos and a routine with double arnis sticks and a longsword, then broke a board with her hand to finish. On Wednesday, Mayor Dawn Morgan presented her a certificate of appreciation at the Board of Aldermen meeting, where she shared a bit about American Indian culture.

Now she has a mission: to visit all of North Carolina's tribes and represent Native Americans at pow wows and events across the state. "A lot of people don't know much about it," she said. "Maybe it will entice them to come to one of our pow wows one day." This weekend alone she plans to attend Lumbee and Cherokee gatherings.

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If you are planning a Fourth of July cookout, plan for serious heat. The National Weather Service is warning of extreme temperatures from July 2 through 4, with an early forecast putting the Triad's highs in the mid-90s to around 100 degrees, plus heavy humidity. Even the overnight lows, expected between 70 and 80, will offer little relief.

The holiday heat lands on top of a stubborn drought. This spring was Forsyth County's fifth driest since 1894, and the county remains in D-3 extreme drought, while Guilford sits at the worst level, D-4 exceptional drought. This week's scattered rain did little to help, and forecasters say isolated severe storms with damaging winds are possible over the weekend.

Weather service officials urge everyone to take the heat seriously: drink plenty of fluids, stay in air conditioning when you can, limit time in the sun, check on older relatives and neighbors, and never leave children or pets in parked cars. With Kernersville's fireworks and concert set for July 4 at Raiders Field, it is a good idea to bring water and a plan to stay cool.

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As the country approaches its 250th birthday, Winston-Salem Journal reporters fanned out across local parks and shopping centers to ask neighbors what the milestone means to them, and the answers ran the full range. Several said they planned simple celebrations: cookouts, fireworks, time with family. Donnie Hilliard, who will play trumpet with the Salem Band at Old Salem on the Fourth, said people sometimes take liberty for granted. "We're having to fight to maintain how sacred it is," he said.

Others were more reflective or critical. One resident said he felt the national rollout of the America 250 commemoration had not done enough to bring people together, while another said it did not project enough inclusion. And several simply expressed affection for the country: "I love this place," said Emile Thaxton of Winston-Salem. "There is no better place in the world."

For historical context, Wake Forest University history professor Ben Coates noted how far the nation has traveled, from "a small, relatively weak nation" to a global power over 250 years, with both achievements and hard chapters along the way. However you mark the holiday, it is a moment a lot of Kernersville-area families will spend together.

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