🗞️ Manhunt underway after an inmate escapes Forsyth Correctional Center

🗞️ From Forsyth Tech to Stanford: a hometown kid bet on himself

🗞️ Novant adds around-the-clock virtual care and new AI tools

🗞️ Indoor pickleball has arrived, and it is right across from Hanes Mall

🌦️ Cool and damp | High: 74°F | Low: 66°F

The stalled front is not done with us. Expect a cloudy, cool day with showers on and off and a steady rain never far away. Highs hold in the low 70s, which is a nice break from the heat even if the umbrella stays busy. Good day for indoor plans.

Heads up this weekend. State and local law enforcement are searching for a man who escaped from Forsyth Correctional Center on Friday morning.

The N.C. Department of Adult Correction identified him as Raymond Timothy Warren, 35, of Davidson County. Warren was convicted of two counts of felony larceny in Columbus County in July 2025 and was not due for release until 2028. He has several previous convictions, most of them for larceny, in other parts of southeastern North Carolina.

Officials describe Warren as a white man, 5 feet 4 inches tall, about 160 pounds, with numerous tattoos on his neck and face. Forsyth Correctional Center is on Craft Drive in northern Winston-Salem.

The Department of Adult Correction has opened an investigation into how the escape happened. If you see Warren or know anything about where he is, do not approach him. Call 911, or contact Forsyth Correctional Center directly at 336-896-7041.

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Here is a story to feel good about.

Connor Walters, 20, just graduated at the top of his class at Forsyth Technical Community College, where he served as student body president. This fall he is headed to Stanford University on a near-full scholarship to study mechanical engineering. To put that in perspective, Stanford admits fewer than 4% of its roughly 62,000 freshman applicants, and the odds are even longer for transfer students.

What makes it better is that Walters is the first to tell you he was not some obvious prodigy. A 2024 graduate of Glenn High, he describes himself as an average student who "made some B's and C's." The plan after high school was App State and a business degree. But engineering was where his heart was, so he bet on himself, enrolled at Forsyth Tech, and finally put in the work.

The project that may have sealed his application: he designed and built a robotic arm from scratch and programmed a 3-D printer at Forsyth Tech to make the parts, no kit involved. And here is the Kernersville piece. Walters spent three full days at Kernersville Middle School teaching engineering to 120 students by building bridges out of popsicle sticks, hoping to spark something in kids the way he wished someone had sparked it in him.

His scholarship covers everything but about $2,500. When he found out, he ran around his neighborhood, then called Forsyth Tech President Janet Spriggs and all his professors. He is not sure exactly what he wants to build yet, only that he wants to build things that improve people's lives. Not bad for a self-described OK high school student who found the right place to get in gear.

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If you get your care through Novant, and most people around Kernersville do, there are some new options worth knowing about.

Novant Health has expanded its primary care to include 24/7 virtual access for adult patients 18 and older, through a dedicated virtual-first provider. You book through the Novant website or your MyChart account, and the idea is to give you a real primary care relationship, not just a one-off video visit. It is also meant to keep you out of pricier urgent care and emergency-room trips for things a primary care doctor can handle.

"Access to care shouldn't depend on the time of day," said Sanjay Gupta, Novant's chief transformation officer. Dr. Roshni Patel, a Novant family medicine doctor, gave the everyday examples: waking up at 2 a.m. knowing something is off, or realizing on vacation that you left your medicine at home. She is also candid about the limits. Some visits still need a brick-and-mortar office for lab work, imaging or a physical exam, and virtual care is not a shortcut for controlled medications.

Novant is pairing this with two AI tools. One, called PatientGPT, helps screen your symptoms before an appointment so your doctor walks in already knowing the basics. The other is a free virtual assistant named Aubrey that offers reminders and guidance, starting with helping surgery patients prepare. Novant is clear that Aubrey is not for emergencies. Love it or not, this is where a lot of health care is heading.

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Pickleball keeps eating the world, and now it has a big new home nearby.

Lori and Scott Dixon, along with their son Aidan, have opened Dill Dinkers Pickleball Club, the first Dill Dinkers franchise in the Triad and in all of North Carolina. It sits in the old JoAnn Fabrics at 3208 Silas Creek Parkway in Winston-Salem, in Silas Creek Crossing across from Hanes Mall, and it opened to the public on July 16. Scott Dixon grew up in Winston-Salem and graduated from Mount Tabor, and he framed the whole thing as a way to build community, something he craved after the isolation of the early pandemic.

The place is built for comfort. All 10 courts sit on a six-millimeter rubber cushion that is easier on the knees, with 18-foot ceilings for the lob crowd. It is open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, with walk-in play and reservations, free demo paddles and balls, and three courts usually set aside for beginners. Sessions run $7.50 for members and $15 for non-members for two hours. There is a $400 annual membership with before- and after-hours access, and the Dixons are aiming for 1,000 members in year one.

One nice detail, straight from the owners: pickleball no longer has a typical player. "We've seen three generations on the court at times," Scott Dixon said. The couple hopes to open as many as nine more locations across the region. If you have been curious, this is an easy one to go try.

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