🗞️ Sheriff's office goes high-tech with heat-seeking drones

🗞️ Kernersville police safely arrest 2 people after finding stolen gun

🗞️ Forsyth's first female superior court judge is sworn in

🗞️ Your Wednesday in Kernersville: sunshine, chili for a cause and early voting

☀️ Sunny and pleasant | High: 72°F | Low: 42°F

The sunny streak rolls on. Expect blue skies all day with a high near 72 and a light north breeze of 2 to 8 mph. Tonight turns clear and crisp with a low around 42, so grab a jacket for the evening. Thursday looks like a repeat with sunshine and a high near 71.

The next time someone goes missing in the woods around Forsyth County, help may come from above. The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office recently tested a new drone that carries a powerful spotlight to light up large areas and infrared cameras that can pick up a person's heat signature, ABC45 reports.

The sheriff's office says those tools could cut search times during rescues, help deputies find at-risk people or those trying to evade law enforcement, and make deputies more efficient in a range of public safety calls. That matters in a county with plenty of wooded land, creeks and back roads, including the unincorporated areas around Kernersville and Walkertown that deputies patrol.

The drone comes from A2Z Drone Delivery Inc., an American aerospace and engineering company that builds commercial unmanned aircraft. A2Z picked the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office to put the technology through its paces, and the office said being chosen reflects its commitment to exploring new tools to serve and protect the community.

"We appreciate A2Z Drone Delivery, Inc., for placing its trust in our team and providing us with the opportunity to evaluate these exciting advancements in drone technology," Sheriff Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr. said. "Innovations like these have the potential to enhance our capabilities, improve response times, and ultimately help us better serve the citizens of Forsyth County from the ground as well as from the air."

The sheriff's office hasn't said whether it plans to add the drones to its fleet after the test or what they would cost.

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Kernersville police arrested a man and a woman from northern Davidson County on Sunday after officers found a stolen handgun in the moving truck they were using, the Kernersville News reports.

It started with a call about a suspicious man and woman in a U-Haul at the Sheetz at 1400 N.C. 66 South. Officers caught up with the pair in the parking lot of Firm Foundations Outreach Ministries. According to court records, the man refused to come over to officers at first, climbed into the truck and wouldn't get out. A police dog alerted on the U-Haul, and a search turned up a SIG Sauer 9mm handgun in the cab that had been reported stolen. Officers also found fentanyl and drug paraphernalia on the man.

The man first gave another man's name and birth date but was identified as Zachary Marshall Lynn, 39, of Plantation Village Drive, who was also wanted in Davidson County. He faces charges including possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a stolen firearm, felony identity theft and felony possession of fentanyl, and he was being held in the Forsyth County jail with no bond allowed. Mary Lynn, 66, of the same address, was charged with felony possession of a stolen firearm and carrying a concealed firearm. She was released on a $2,000 unsecured bond.

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Carrie Vickery made history on Friday, Oct. 16, when she was sworn in as a Resident Superior Court Judge of Forsyth County, becoming the first woman to serve as a superior court judge in the county, the Winston-Salem Journal reports. More than 400 people filled Courtroom 301 at the Forsyth County Courthouse for her investiture.

N.C. Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls administered the oath as Vickery's husband, Phillip Skipper, stood beside her and their 6-year-old daughter, Patty, held the Bible. Patty had a busy day: she helped lead the Pledge of Allegiance with her uncle, U.S. Army Maj. Ray Vickery, helped robe her mother and tapped gavels with her once the new judge was official. Kernersville Mayor Dawn Morgan was among the speakers.

Gov. Josh Stein appointed Vickery in September to the superior court seat in Judicial District 31B left open by the retirement of Judge David Hall, NC Lawyers Weekly reported. She previously served as a district court judge in the district and practiced at Holton Law Firm. She is also an adjunct professor at Wake Forest University School of Law and a graduate of Western Carolina University and Elon University School of Law.

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Here's what's worth knowing today.

The sunshine streak continues. Expect blue skies all day with a high near 72 and a light north breeze. Tonight turns clear and crisp with a low around 42, so bring a jacket if you'll be out late. Thursday looks like a repeat, sunny with a high near 71.

Chili for a cause at lunch. The ACE-HTI Chili Cookoff runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1460 Hampton Plaza Dr., Ste. E, and benefits the Salvation Army of Kernersville.

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 Market for All Seasons, the Bunker Hill Brunswick stew sale and the VFW Fall Fest, plus a Körner's Folly mystery tour that night. See the events calendar above for times and details.