🗞️ A Kernersville grandfather got a new ankle so he could keep up with his grandson

🗞️ Kernersville celebrates its 5th annual Juneteenth at Harmon Park tonight

🗞️ A new Walkertown bookshop wants to be the neighborhood's 'third place'

🗞️ Good news at the pump: gas prices are sliding back below $4

🌡 Morning storms, then clearing | High: 85°F | Low: 60°F

Showers and thunderstorms are likely before 10 a.m., then skies gradually clear to a mostly sunny, less humid afternoon with a high near 85. A comfortable, breezy evening for the Juneteenth celebration and fireworks downtown.

This Father's Day weekend, Chris Conner has an extra reason to celebrate. The 53-year-old Kernersville husband, father and grandfather spent nearly three decades slowly losing the ability to walk after he broke his ankle back in 1995. The pain and swelling cost him moments with his family. "Unless I was walking on something that was a complete flat surface, I had to be extremely careful," he told WXII. "I just couldn't physically get where I was going as quickly as everybody else."

At one point his only option seemed to be fusing the ankle, which would have left the joint unable to move. "I felt I was too young to go through something like that," Conner said. Then Novant Health orthopedic surgeon Dr. Snow Daws offered another path: a total ankle replacement, a procedure for joints worn down by severe arthritis. Surgeons cap the ends of the shin and ankle bones with metal and slide a piece of plastic between them to rebuild the joint.

Conner had the surgery on Sept. 26, 2025, then spent two hard months in physical therapy. The payoff was worth it. "I was able to go to Disney with my grandson," he said. "Keeping up with a 4-year-old, that was something we had to worry about." Now he can take the boy to the field, kick a soccer ball and climb the playground without a second thought. For Father's Day, Conner plans to take the boat out on Belews Lake, grill, and enjoy every minute. "It's a big difference," he said, "between being happy and just living."

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Kernersville marks Juneteenth tonight with its 5th annual celebration at Harmon Park, 152 S. Main St., from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Admission is free and the whole family is welcome. The evening features live music from local artist Alicia Joy Cone, kids crafts and games, and a lineup of food trucks including Blue Skies, Kona Ice, Smokin' BBQ Chateau and Crazy Dog. The night ends with fireworks and a drone show, and the first 100 guests get a free Juneteenth t-shirt.

Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, the day Union soldiers reached Galveston, Texas and told the last enslaved people there that they were free. It became a federal holiday in 2021. The Town's Parks and Recreation Department organizes the Harmon Park event each year.

There is more happening around town, too. The Town has partnered with Triad Cultural Arts this year, with additional Juneteenth programming at Körner's Folly and Founders Park. For families looking to make a full day of it, the celebrations stretch from afternoon tours to the evening fireworks downtown.

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Just down the road from Kernersville, a cozy new bookstore is trying to give people somewhere to go that is not home or work. Jordan Philemon and Brittany King opened the brick-and-mortar Crossroads Bookshop in mid-May at 5190 Reidsville Road in Walkertown, after running pop-ups around the Triad since last September. Dark bookshelves line the walls, two plush couches sit near a sleek coffee counter, and the shelves carry fantasy, romance, mystery, thrillers, young adult and children's books.

King said she wanted introverts like herself to have a "third place" with a welcoming social feel. "I think people need a third place, especially with how the world is right now, to give you somewhere to build community with people that think like you or think differently than you and still be able to find some common ground," she said. The shop also serves coffee, hot chocolate, apple cider and iced refreshers.

Philemon said she hopes the store lives up to its name and connects people to new books and new neighbors. "It's close to my heart when I meet other people who just moved to the area," she said. The owners plan to host book clubs, craft nights, movie nights, and even an audiobook club where members listen while walking at Triad parks.

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There is some relief at the gas station heading into the weekend. For the first time since March, the national average for a gallon of regular has dropped below $4, FOX8 reports, following an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. As of Thursday, AAA had the average under $4 in 28 states, with New Mexico and New Jersey within a few cents of joining them.

If conditions hold, prices are expected to keep easing in the coming weeks. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said the national average could even fall below $3 a gallon later this year, with diesel dropping under $4. He added one big caveat: "if everything goes well and no major hurricane disruptions."

That is the wild card. The U.S. leans heavily on oil and gas from the Gulf, and a strong storm can knock out production and refining and push pump prices up 25 to 30 cents in a hurry. The good news for now is that NOAA is predicting a below-normal Atlantic hurricane season this year, so drivers may get to enjoy the savings for a while.

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