🗞️ Friday night lights are back and the Kernersville Cup is on the line

🗞️ Where to eat before the game

🗞️ Five things you might not know about Kernersville

🗞️ Deputies say converted "switch" handguns are turning up more often

☀️ Sunny and pleasant | High: 90°F | Low: 69°F

A bright, sunny Tuesday with a high near 90 and a light northwest breeze. Humidity stays comfortable, so it should feel a good bit nicer than the numbers suggest. Clear skies tonight with a cool low around 69. No rain in the forecast, so it is a good day to be outdoors.

Mark your calendar, Kernersville. High school football returns this Friday, Aug. 21, and our two hometown teams both open at home on the same night.

The big one is at Glenn. The Bobcats host crosstown rival East Forsyth at 7 p.m. at Glenn High School, 1600 Union Cross Road, with the Kernersville Cup on the line. It is the game that splits families and offices every year, and it is the season opener for both sides. Glenn head coach Tommy Green likes where his group is after preseason, with a new full-time quarterback and an experienced defensive line leading the way.

Across town, Bishop McGuinness hosts Forbush at 7:30 p.m. at 1725 NC-66 South. If you have never been to a Villains home game, it is a friendly, easy-to-navigate atmosphere and a good option for families.

A few tips if you are going. Arrive early, because opening night at a rivalry game means the lots and the good seats fill fast. Bring cash and a stadium-friendly clear bag if you have one, since many schools have bag policies. Ticketing at most area schools runs through a digital system, so it helps to buy ahead on your phone rather than sorting it out in line. And if you cannot make Friday, East Forsyth's home opener is the following Friday, Aug. 28, against Northern Guilford at 7 p.m.

Whoever you pull for, it is one of the best weeks of the year around here. Go enjoy it.

See the full schedule

Kickoff is at 7, which makes Friday the perfect excuse to eat local first. Here are a few Kernersville spots that will be open late enough to get you fed and to the stadium on time.

For something quick and crowd-pleasing, Blue Rock Pizza & Tap at 210 N. Main St. does gourmet pizza with a deep craft beer list, and it stays open until 10 p.m. on Fridays. Hard to beat for a group that cannot agree on anything.

For a true hometown classic, Doss' Old Fashion Ice Cream & Grill at 406 N. Main St. has been family-owned for close to 40 years. Old-school burgers, footlong hot dogs, and 32 flavors of hand-scooped ice cream, open until 10 p.m. Friday. Get the footlong all the way, then come back for a scoop after the game.

Want to sit down and make a real evening of it? The Gaslight on Main at 126 S. Main St., Suite G, serves new American fare and runs until 9 p.m. on Fridays. Give yourself a little cushion if you are headed to a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Planning an earlier bite instead? Short Street Gastro Pub at 106 Short St. is a good midday option, though it closes at 7 p.m. on Fridays, so it works better for lunch than for a pre-game dinner.

Hours can change without much notice, so a quick call ahead never hurts. Whatever you pick, you are keeping your money right here in town.

Browse more local restaurants

You can live somewhere for years and still not know how it got its name. Here are five bits of Kernersville history worth having in your back pocket.

1. We used to be called Dobson's Crossroads. William Dobson, an Irish emigrant and justice of the peace, built an inn and store where the main roads crossed, and the settlement carried his name for years before it carried anyone else's.

2. George Washington ate breakfast here. The first president was served breakfast at Dobson's tavern on June 2, 1791, during his southern tour. Not a bad claim for a crossroads town.

3. The name comes from Joseph Kerner. He bought the property in 1817 and kept the inn running, and the place became known as Kerner's Crossroads. After the railroad arrived, the town was incorporated as Kernersville in 1873.

4. Körner's Folly is even stranger than it looks. Jule Gilmer Körner built it as a showcase for his design work. It has 22 rooms across three floors and seven different levels, ceilings ranging from about five and a half feet to 25 feet, and 15 fireplaces.

5. It also holds a little piece of theater history. Cupid's Park Theatre, tucked on the Folly's top floor and finished in 1897, is said to be the first private little theatre in America, and it still hosts community productions today.

Not bad for a town that started as a tavern at a crossroads.

Learn more about Körner's Folly

Law enforcement agencies around the Triad say they are seeing more handguns that have been illegally modified to fire like machine guns.

The devices are known in criminal justice circles as "switches," according to Bria Evans, public information officer for the Guilford County Sheriff's Office. A small part obtained through illegal channels can be attached to the rear of a pistol's slide, converting a semiautomatic handgun into one capable of fully automatic fire. Officials say the conversions primarily involve Glock-style pistols.

The numbers are still small but the trend is real. In an April narcotics case in Greensboro, four of the 17 weapons seized were switches, Evans said, and the sheriff's office Street Crimes Unit has recovered a number of them over the past several years. High Point police began tracking automatic conversions last September and have documented four since. Two turned up recently when High Point officers investigated a shooting.

Many of these cases are now being handled in federal court. "With assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Attorney's Office, many of these cases are being prosecuted federally," Evans said, noting the penalties are meant to deter people from possessing the devices. Col. Steven Nunn of the Randolph County Sheriff's Office said combining state and federal resources helps keep communities safe. As always, anyone charged is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

Read more