🗞️ Phoenix Alert: Caudill's Electric is Rebuilding in Kernersville

🗞️ Kernersville's Luke Cope sings "Tennessee Whiskey" in his Voice battle round

🗞️ Forsyth County and Winston-Salem are writing a plan to keep services running in a crisis

🗞️ Your Thursday in Kernersville: early voting opens and summer heat hangs on

🌤 Mostly Sunny | High: 86°F | Low: 63°F

Summer just won't quit. Thursday brings mostly sunny skies and a high near 86 with barely a breeze. Tonight turns partly cloudy with a mild low around 63, and Friday stays sunny near 84 before a front brings a slight chance of showers and much cooler air Friday night, with a low near 52.

A year and a half after fire destroyed its longtime home, a historic former mill building on East Bodenhamer Street, Caudill's Electric is building again. Construction on the company's new building began about a month ago, WFMY reports, a major milestone for a Kernersville business that has been part of the community for more than 50 years.

The fire broke out in May 2025 after a deadly crash sparked the blaze, and it took Caudill's inventory and business records along with the building. "We lost all of our inventory. We lost all of our paper copies. We really had nothing," said Caudill's President Dana Jones. "We had no paper clips, we had no breakers, electrical product, so we were really starting over."

Even so, Jones says the company has not missed a day of business. The team has kept working out of two smaller buildings since the fire, and she credits Kernersville neighbors for carrying them through. "People were reaching out, 'How can we help? What can we do to support you all?' Especially, they kept our phone ringing," she said.

The new building will have two stories instead of the old structure's three, but it is designed to echo the look of the old mill. It will also double as a showcase for the products and equipment Caudill's installs. "I think the community will look at the new building and see that we're trying to pay some reference to how the old mill building used to look," Jones said. After more than five decades in the old building, the Caudill's team hopes the new one will serve the business and the community for the next 50 years.

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Kernersville's own Luke Cope was back on NBC's "The Voice" Tuesday night, this time in the Battle Rounds, the Kernersville News reports. Cope, who joined Team Queen Latifah after his blind audition, was paired with fellow country singer Big Country on "Tennessee Whiskey," and the coaches raved about their harmonies. Riley Green said he probably would have picked Cope for his high harmonies, but the call belonged to Latifah, who chose Big Country after what she called an extremely difficult decision. Each coach gets to steal one performer from another team, and Green hinted he might use his on Cope, which would send him on to Cut Week.

Whatever happens next, Cope says he wouldn't trade the experience. The 33-year-old husband and father of three plays in a band called The Travelers and recently sold his lawn care business, a move Adam Lambert predicted back at the blind auditions. He calls his hometown "small but mighty in spirit."

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Forsyth County and the City of Winston-Salem are working on a long-term plan to keep government and emergency services running during major disruptions, ABC45 reports. Called the Continuity of Operations Plan, or COOP, the effort involves more than 60 agencies across the city and county and has been pushed by the county's Office of Emergency Management since January. "The COOP is the plan that allows us to continue to function, and we're in the middle of that project right now," said Emergency Management Director August Vernon.

Vernon pointed to July's major water main break as an example of when the plan would have helped. Caroline Vann Wagner, a business owner affected by the break, said she would like the plan to include emergency phone alerts for boil advisories. Winston-Salem City Manager William Pate added that the city is also working to secure a standalone "plug and play" emergency response center that could be activated quickly in a crisis. The plan is set to be put in place in April 2027.

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Early voting starts today, and summer still isn't ready to leave. Here's what's happening today and over the next few days.

Early voting opens today. Polls open at 8 a.m. at the Kernersville Recreation and Event Center, 1020 Shields Rd., and Paddison Memorial Branch Library, 248 Harmon Ln., plus the Walkertown Branch Library. Weekday hours run until 7:30 p.m. through Oct. 31, and registered voters can use any early voting site in Forsyth County.

One more warm one. Expect a mostly sunny Thursday with a high near 86 and a mild night around 63. Friday stays sunny near 84, then cooler air moves in Friday night with a low near 52 and a slight chance of showers.

Tonight and tomorrow night. Comedian Chonda Pierce brings Girls Night to Triad Baptist Church tonight at 7 p.m. On Friday, Next Stop Comedy takes the stage at Breathe Cocktail Lounge at 7 p.m., and karaoke at The Kettle starts at 8 p.m.

Weekend preview. Saturday is packed: the Weldon Park Apartments Farmers Market runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Triad Baptist Church Family Fallfest goes from 4 to 6 p.m. and Worship in the Yard fills Freedom City Church from 5 to 9 p.m. On Sunday, Union Cross Baptist Church celebrates its 70th homecoming at 11 a.m., and the Welden Village Picnic at the Park runs from 1 to 5 p.m.