🗞️ New image released in search for a Kernersville man missing 10 years

🗞️ Rain from Hurricane Isaias is headed for the Triad this weekend

🗞️ The N.C. Zoo's new Asia exhibit will open March 1

🗞️ Your Friday in Kernersville: the voter registration deadline, the fair's last weekend and Friday night football

☁️ Mostly cloudy and mild | High: 77°F | Low: 56°F

Friday trades the sunshine for clouds, with a high near 77 and a light northeast breeze. It stays mostly cloudy tonight, with a low around 56 and maybe a stray sprinkle. Saturday turns cool and damp: a 50% chance of rain after 8 a.m., a high near 66 and gusts up to 23 mph. Rain from Hurricane Isaias settles in Saturday night into Sunday, so get your outdoor plans in early.

A decade after he disappeared, the search for James "Martin" Roberts is getting a fresh look. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has released a new age-progression image showing what the Kernersville man might look like today, at 30 years old.

Roberts was a college student in Boone when he went missing. On the morning of April 21, he told his roommates he was heading to the Appalachian State University library to study, and he left their apartment on Old Bristol Road carrying a small backpack. Along the way he ran into his cousin, also an App State student, and the two walked together to a bus stop on Rivers Street outside the Holmes Convocation Center. His cousin got on the bus, and Roberts walked away. Surveillance video from the bus is the last known sighting of him.

Boone police searched and followed leads, but his family still doesn't know what happened after he left that bus stop.

Roberts is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall with brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a black short-sleeve Appalachian State windbreaker, khaki shorts and gray New Balance sneakers. He has two distinctive tattoos: three mountains in red, blue and black on his left forearm, and lyrics from Bob Marley's "Zion Train" on the right side of his rib cage.

"Age progressions are an important tool because they give the public a new way to look at a missing person," said Angeline Hartmann, NCMEC's communications director. "Maybe someone remembers seeing Martin that day. Maybe someone knows something they didn't realize was important at the time."

Anyone with information is asked to call NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or the Boone Police Department at 828-268-6900.

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If you have outdoor plans this weekend, Saturday is your better bet. Hurricane Isaias, the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season, is expected to make landfall on the Gulf Coast Friday night, and its moisture will spread north into central North Carolina.

According to the National Weather Service in Raleigh, rain will overspread the region late Saturday and continue through Sunday. Isolated thunderstorms are possible Sunday afternoon, including the chance of an isolated severe storm. The northwest Piedmont should see a bit less than areas to the east, with about an inch of rain expected.

The wet spell won't last long. A cold front is expected to sweep through in the middle of next week, followed by cooler, drier air for the rest of the week. After a dry start to October, the rain should be welcome news for lawns and gardens around town.

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Here's one for the spring calendar. The long-awaited Asia exhibit at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, about an hour's drive from Kernersville, will open to guests on March 1, the zoo announced Monday.

The 12.5-acre region brings nearly 50 new species to the zoo, including critically endangered Malayan tigers, Visayan warty pigs, white-cheeked gibbons and Chinese alligators. Visitors will also get close-up views of Komodo dragons, king cobras, demoiselle cranes and crocodile monitors, all set in the zoo's most extensive botanical garden, with more than 6,000 new plants.

The exhibit itself is finished, and most of the animals have been at the zoo for weeks. The opening was waiting on state funding for staff, which came through in the budget bill passed in July: $6.2 million in ongoing funding plus $1.3 million in one-time money for new positions and operating costs. "Asia marks an important milestone in the zoo's 52-year history," said Zoo Director and CEO Mark Penning.

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Friday turns cloudier and a little cooler, with a high near 77, before weekend rain moves in. Here's what's happening around town.

Last day to register. Today is the deadline to register to vote in Forsyth County for the November election. Here's what you need to know. Early voting starts Thursday, Oct. 15, including at the Paddison Memorial Branch Library.

The fair's last weekend. The Carolina Classic Fair wraps up Sunday, Oct. 11. Admission is free before 1 p.m. today, gates open at 9 a.m. Saturday, and ticket gates close at 9 p.m. each night. With rain likely Sunday, Saturday may be your best shot.

Friday night lights. Glenn hosts North Davidson and Bishop McGuinness hosts North Stokes, both at 7 p.m. East Forsyth (3-3) hits the road to face Parkland, also at 7 p.m.

Sip for a cause. Grab a drink at KVL Nutrition, 821 S. Main St., between 7:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., and $2 goes to United Way of Forsyth County during Sip for United Way Day.

Corn maze before the rain. Fall on the Farm at Smith Hollow Farm is open Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Heads up for drivers. N.C. 66 at Old Hollow Road in Walkertown closes at 8 p.m. tonight until 6 a.m. Monday for drain work.