🗞️ Wildfire smoke and dangerous heat hit the Triad today

🗞️ Kernersville Little League All-Stars win the state title

🗞️ Free bus rides to cooling centers today

🗞️ Sheriff: the Tanglewood attack never happened

🌞 Hazy, smoky and dangerously hot | High: 95°F | Low: 73°F

Canadian wildfire smoke plus full heat. Highs of 95 to near 100 across the Triad with a heat index of 102 to 108, and a Code Orange air quality day. If you have asthma or a heart condition, take today seriously.

Two problems are arriving at once today, and together they are worse than either one alone.

Smoke from a Canadian wildfire is expected to be visible across Winston-Salem and Greensboro on Friday. Layer that on top of temperatures in the upper 90s and it becomes hard for a lot of people to breathe normally.

"Heat and smoke are the key weather issues through Friday," said Nick Petro, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Raleigh.

The numbers are serious. Highs will run from 95 to around 100 degrees, with heat index values reaching 102 to 108. A hazardous heat advisory for Forsyth and Guilford counties is likely today and possibly again Saturday.

On the air side, the Forsyth County Office of Environmental Assistance and Protection issued a Code Orange Air Quality Action Day on Thursday. That means ozone levels may approach or exceed unhealthy standards, and that is before you add the wildfire smoke. Code Orange is the level where the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups, which means children, older adults, and anyone with asthma, COPD or heart disease should cut back on outdoor exertion and keep rescue medication close.

The practical version: move anything strenuous to early morning, run the air conditioning on recirculate if the smoke is noticeable, and do not push through it if your chest feels tight.

There is an end in sight. Severe thunderstorms are possible Saturday and Sunday, with the potential for strong winds, and by Sunday the forecast eases to a high near 90.

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Three games. Zero runs allowed.

The Kernersville Little League All-Star Intermediate team, the U13 squad, won the state championship Friday night at the Swaim Complex right here in town, and they did it without letting a single opponent cross the plate all tournament.

They opened with a 15-0 win over South Little League, called after five innings on the 10-run rule. Colton Mclendon pitched a complete-game shutout with four strikeouts, then added two triples and drove in five runs himself. Every other player on the team got a hit.

Game two was a 13-0 win over East Surry, with Max Garber and Austin Allison splitting the mound and giving up exactly one hit between them. Then the All-Stars met East Surry again in the final and took it 8-0.

Coach Andrew Allison said his team took the hard route. "We had the tough road, because one team got a bye, so we had to win both games to go to the championship game."

The title game was the one where the bats went quiet, and they won anyway. "We had Colton on the mound again and he pitched a complete game, had five strikeouts and only gave up three hits. Newcomb threw out eight runners on the base paths. We struggled hitting, and it was the first game where we struggled at the plate, but we got some walks and stole bases and scored runs. When we got somebody on base, we stole bases and actually stole home a few times."

Allison kept coming back to his defense. "If it was a ground ball to anyone in the infield, it was an out. That is a frustrating thing when you are putting the bat on the ball, and with Max, Austin and Colton pitching, it makes for a special team."

Next up is the South Regional, July 23 to 27 in Clarksville, Tennessee, against teams from Florida, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama. Kernersville has a first-round bye and will play Saturday. The regional winner advances to the Intermediate Baseball World Series in Livermore, California, August 2 to 9.

The team: Austin Allison, Chance Hicks, Wyatt Lineberry, Aaron Thompson, Chasin Tarpley, Cole Casale, Colton Mclendon, Max Garber, Owen Allison, Austin Newcomb, Brody Wedrychowics and Tabor Green, coached by Andrew Allison, Barry Newcomb and Lance Casale.

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If the heat is a real problem for you or someone you know, Winston-Salem is making it easier to get somewhere cool. The Winston-Salem Transit Authority is running fare-free buses today to help people reach the city's cooling centers.

The city's recreation centers are open as cooling centers during their normal operating hours. Residents are asked to cool off in the lobby areas so they do not disrupt other programs. The city also made the point that a bus shelter is not a cooling center: "WSTA reminds all riders that bus shelters may offer relief, but during extreme heat, indoor cooling centers are the best option."

City pools are adjusting too. Expect 15-minute breaks every hour and a full closure from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. so lifeguards and staff can rest. Re-entry is free. Concessions and water fountains are available at Waterworks, Bolton and Long Creek, and every city pool has water fountains. Waterworks fills up fast at peak hours, so the city suggests trying another pool. Splash pads are open around the city as well.

For routes, hours and cooling center locations, check wstransit.com or call 336-727-2000.

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The reported June 30 daytime attack on a woman jogging at Tanglewood Park did not happen there, Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough Jr. said Wednesday.

"It did not take place there," Kimbrough said at a news conference. "I know there is a fear factor related to Tanglewood Park, and a fear factor of what allegedly happened out there."

The original report said a runner on a hiking trail near the dog park and overflow parking lot was surprised and attacked by an unknown man around 1 p.m. Cellphone location data did not match that account. In a second interview, the woman confirmed the assault did not occur at the park, said Capt. Justin Sloan.

The sheriff was careful on one point: she is still the victim of an assault. Investigators just do not know where it happened, and they are still looking for a suspect. Asked whether it was a domestic situation, Kimbrough declined to confirm.

District Attorney Jim O'Neill focused on the fallout. A composite sketch had gone out publicly, and innocent men were looked at for a crime that did not happen there. "It is very upsetting to know that people were scared to death to be out over Tanglewood and the Clemmons area," O'Neill said. "To hear that there was an attacker in their midst, and you've come to realize that no such assault or attack ever took place at Tanglewood." He also noted that false reports have a chilling effect on women who are actual victims of sexual assault.

Kimbrough asked news outlets to stop using the AI-generated suspect sketch, since the details came from the victim's account. Whether the woman will face any charge for filing a false report has not been decided. "When detectives complete their investigation, we will sit down and talk through all charging decisions," O'Neill said. "I don't want to rush them through the process."

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