🗞️ Grease lightning: Charlotte duo allegedly tries to slip away with 600 gallons of Smitty's fryer oil

🗞️ Turning pages into progress: Kernersville's Kiwanis Club writes its best chapter yet

🗞️ Run toward the mattresses or head for the hills? High Point Market is back in town

🗞️ Your Saturday in Kernersville: a soggy morning, a sunny afternoon and a cold night

🌧️ Rain, then clearing | High: 55°F | Low: 37°F

That cold front means business. Rain is likely through the morning and should wrap up by about 2 p.m., with a tenth to a quarter inch possible. The afternoon turns partly sunny but stays chilly, topping out near 55 with a north wind gusting to 25 mph. Skies clear tonight and temperatures drop to about 37, so this is the weekend to dig out the heavy jacket. Sunday looks sunny and breezy with a high near 56.

Most people go to Smitty's Grille on South Main Street for the food. Two Charlotte men apparently had their eyes on what was left in the fryers. Kernersville police say they caught the pair behind the restaurant at about 4:30 a.m. Monday, pumping used cooking oil out of the restaurant's storage container, the Kernersville News reports.

According to police and court records, officers spotted a work truck behind the building, then watched two men get around the security measures on the oil tank and drain it with a gasoline-powered pump. When the men finished and started to leave, police stopped them and found they had taken about 600 gallons of oil worth more than $3,100.

If swiping old fryer grease sounds like an odd line of work, it is a real and growing problem. Used cooking oil can be processed and recycled into renewable diesel, biodiesel, animal feed and industrial products, which makes it surprisingly valuable. The North American Renderers Association estimates that up to $500 million worth of used cooking oil is stolen every year.

Joshua Donnell Valle, 25, and Javier Ivan Gonzalez-Espinal, 36, were charged with felony larceny, felony larceny after breaking and entering, and a felony possession charge. Each was released the same day after posting a $25,000 secured bond. The charges are accusations, and neither man has been convicted.

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The Kiwanis Club of Kernersville marked 38 years of service at its annual banquet, and by nearly every measure it just finished the best year in its history, the Kernersville News reports. Over the past 12 months, the club gave more than $62,000 to schools and local nonprofits, doubled its giving to public schools and handed out nearly 4,500 books to local children.

Literacy is the heart of the work. The club keeps custom bookcases stocked at nine area schools, where books reward attendance and good behavior, and it piloted a program that gives two bicycles each quarter to Walkertown Elementary students who log reading time at home. Its "Kiwi" mascot also hands out free books at events like Downtown Trick or Treat and the Kernersville Christmas Parade. WS/FCS named the club's literacy project chair, Fran Little, its district-wide volunteer of the year.

The club added 20 members this year, the fastest growth of any Kiwanis club in North and South Carolina. Kim Krawczyk was named Kiwanian of the Year, Jane Chapman received the President's Award, and outgoing president Cindy Miller, now governor-elect of the Carolinas District, passed the gavel to Cindy Stewart. The club meets for lunch every Wednesday at Monte de Rey and welcomes guests who want to help local kids become readers.

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Twice a year, our neighbor to the south becomes the furniture capital of the planet, and the fall edition has arrived. High Point Market's Fall 2026 show opened Friday and runs through Wednesday, FOX8 reports, bringing tens of thousands of buyers, designers and retailers from around the world to what is billed as the largest home furnishings trade show anywhere.

So which camp are you in? The "run toward the mattresses" crowd should know the showrooms are open to the trade only, so nobody is test-driving a recliner without a badge. You can still catch the buzz at the Market-at-Market pop-up, where Triad and North Carolina vendors sell food, fashion and gifts, and organizers have lined up performances from Circus EVO, Rhythm Arcade and "Honey, I'm Good" singer Andy Grammer.

The "head for the hills" crowd, meanwhile, may want to give High Point a wide berth until Thursday. Expect heavier traffic around the market district, busier restaurants and fuller hotels across the Triad, likely including a few here in Kernersville. Either way, the buyers will be gone after Wednesday, and the sofas will stay behind.

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The cold front showed up right on schedule, and Saturday will feel like a different season from Friday. Here's how to plan around it.

Rain until early afternoon. Expect rain through the morning, ending by about 2 p.m., with a high near 55 and north winds gusting to 25 mph. Skies clear tonight and the low drops to about 37, so bring the heavy jacket to anything after dark.

Morning plans. The VFW 5352 Auxiliary Vendor Event raises money to take local veterans fishing from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 618 Edgewood St., and the Weldon Park Apartments Farmers Market runs during the same hours. With rain in the forecast, check with organizers before you head out.

Afternoon and evening. The rain should be gone in time for the Triad Baptist Church Family Fallfest from 4 to 6 p.m. at 1175 S. Main St., with free candy, food trucks, games and bounce houses. The Holy Cross Columbiettes bake sale follows the 4 p.m. Mass, Worship in the Yard runs from 5 to 9 p.m. at Freedom City Church, and XcentriX plays Folly's Draft & Snack from 8 to 11 p.m.

Good to know. There is no early voting this weekend. Sites in Kernersville and Walkertown reopen Monday at 8 a.m. Friday night football scores from East Forsyth, Glenn and Bishop McGuinness will be in Sunday's issue.