🗞️ Kernersville's Betty Jane Beck celebrates her 100th birthday today

🗞️ Carolina University installs its first woman president Friday

🗞️ WSSU gets $500,000 to teach future teachers and health care workers about AI safety

🗞️ Your Thursday in Kernersville: sunshine, a centenarian and a busy weekend ahead

☀️ Sunny and mild | High: 70°F | Low: 41°F

Another picture-perfect fall day. Expect sunshine from start to finish with a high near 70 and a light north breeze up to 7 mph. Tonight stays clear and gets chilly, dipping to around 41, so have a jacket handy for evening plans. Friday stays sunny and a touch cooler, with a high near 66.

Betty Jane Beck turns 100, and the folks at The Shepherd's Center of Kernersville are throwing her a party. The center will celebrate her milestone birthday today, Thursday, Oct. 22, at 1 p.m., the Kernersville News reports.

For more than a decade, Beck has relied on The Shepherd's Center for rides, personal shopping, friendly visits, daily phone calls and minor home repairs, said Asheley Cooper, the center's executive director. Those services have helped her stay independent and connected to the community she calls home. She still lives in her own home, with plenty of help from her family, too.

"We take her to doctor's appointments, we have people that visit with her several hours a week and we give her a call every day. It is all a way to keep up the social interaction," Cooper said. "I am really excited to have her here on Thursday and she will be here with her family and all of the volunteers that have worked with her over the years."

Kernersville Mayor Dawn Morgan will present Beck with a certificate recognizing her centenarian milestone. Happy 100th birthday, Betty Jane, from all of us at Hey Kernersville!

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Heather C. Burkard will be installed Friday, Oct. 23, as the first woman to lead Carolina University in the school's 80-year history, the Winston-Salem Journal reports. The inauguration is at 11 a.m. at Salem Baptist Church, 419 S. Broad St., in Winston-Salem.

Burkard succeeds Charles Petitt, who led the university for 23 years before his death in 2025. She brings an extensive background in criminal justice and served as Carolina University's provost and interim president before being named to the top job. The Winston-Salem school was formerly known as Piedmont Bible College.

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Winston-Salem State University has received a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to build a new curriculum on artificial intelligence safeguards, WXII reports. Students will learn how AI systems can be manipulated and attacked, along with the laws that govern AI use.

NC State and NC Central offer similar programs in their computer science departments, but WSSU's version is aimed at students headed into health care management and education. Project leader Debzani Deb, founding director of the university's Center for Applied Data Science, said WSSU graduates mostly go into health care, K-12 education, social services and state and local government, where AI tools are showing up more and more. "AI tools are very, very vulnerable," Deb said. "So those people that are going to those workforces need to know how those tools are being used, how they can be manipulated, how they can be attacked, so that all of us become safe and fair and secure."

The curriculum is being developed with partners at Novant Health, Atrium Health, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and Cisco. Two pilot modules will be added to existing courses this spring, and the full curriculum is set to launch in fall 2027. Deb expects about 200 students a year to take the courses, and the grant funds the project through at least August 2029.

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Here's what's worth knowing today.

Another gorgeous fall day. Expect sunshine from start to finish with a high near 70 and a light north breeze. Tonight turns clear and chilly with a low around 41, so keep a jacket in the car. Friday stays sunny and a little cooler, with a high near 66.

A birthday worth celebrating. Betty Jane Beck turns 100 today, and The Shepherd's Center of Kernersville is hosting her party at 1 p.m. Read all about her in our lead story above.

Your ballot, your schedule. Early voting continues from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Kernersville Recreation and Event Center, Paddison Memorial Branch Library and the Walkertown Branch Library through Oct. 31. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Plan your weekend now. Saturday is packed with the VFW Fall Fest Craft & Vendor Show, the Market for All Seasons at First Presbyterian and the Bunker Hill Brunswick stew sale (pickup starts at noon), plus Mystery After Dark tours at Körner's Folly that night. See the events calendar above for times and details.