🗞️ Three things to help you survive the heat (at your door by Sunday)

🗞️ Local unemployment rate holds mostly steady

🗞️ Poll: Are you shooting fireworks today?

🗞️ Walkertown man accused of massive military-parts fraud

🌞 Sunny and dangerously hot | High: 100°F | Low: 76°F

Happy Fourth. It is a scorcher, with full sun, a high near 100 and a heat index up to 104. Take it seriously if you are out for the 5K, the cookout or the fireworks: drink water, find shade, and check on older neighbors and pets.

It is going to be a brutally hot Fourth, with a high near 100 and a heat index around 104. Here are three things we like for staying cool and hydrated this weekend. Order today and they can be at your door by Sunday. These are affiliate links, so if you buy through them it helps support Hey Kernersville at no extra cost to you.

1. A cooling hoodie that actually cools you down. The MISSION cooling gear uses a microfiber fabric that drops below your body temperature when you wet it, wring it and snap it. Pull the hood up and it shields your neck and head from the sun while it keeps you cool for a couple of hours. Great for the 5K, yard work or standing around the grill.

Order now: MISSION Cooling Hoodie

2. Water bottles you can crush flat when they are empty. These Survivor Filter collapsible bottles come in a 2-pack, hold about 33 ounces each, and are BPA-free. They roll up small in a bag or cooler and are easy to refill all day, which is exactly what you want when it is this hot.

Order now: Survivor Filter Collapsible Water Bottles (2-pack)

3. A hands-free fan you wear on your belt. The KIBEE portable waist fan clips onto your waistband or bag and blows a steady breeze while your hands stay free. It is rechargeable, quiet, and perfect for the parade route, the ballfield or the fireworks show.

Order now: KIBEE Portable Waist Fan

Stay cool out there, and have a safe and happy Fourth.

The Forsyth County job market stayed healthy in May, with the unemployment rate holding in the same range it has been for about a year. The county's jobless rate was 3.7% in May, according to the N.C. Department of Commerce.

That is up just slightly from 3.6% in April, and it is better than the 3.9% rate recorded in May of last year. In short, hiring locally remains steady heading into the summer.

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A Walkertown man is accused of being the linchpin in a scheme to sell substandard parts to the U.S. military at premium prices, according to a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Tennessee.

Prosecutors say David Turner, 59, was the government sales director and main point of contact for Worldwide Equipment Inc. of Knoxville, which held contracts with the Defense Logistics Agency to supply the military with original-manufacturer parts such as fuel injectors and generators. Instead of buying from approved providers, the indictment alleges, Turner bought cheaper aftermarket or replacement parts through another company's supplier, which then billed Worldwide as if the parts came from an approved source and paid Turner a kickback. When the agency asked for documentation of a part's origin, the indictment says, Turner provided false and misleading paperwork.

Turner and three co-defendants, Roger Wolfgram, 56, Adam Boudet, 39, and Alex Bath, 50, are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Turner, Wolfgram and Boudet also face 10 counts of wire fraud, and Turner and Wolfgram are additionally charged with seven counts of money laundering. Between November 2022 and June 2024, the indictment says, Turner received $314,750 in wire transfers plus thousands more in cashier's checks. The charges are allegations, and the case is pending.

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