🗞️ Dry conditions mean extra care with backyard fireworks

🗞️ Next Step Ministries safe house needs emergency repairs

🗞️ Winston-Salem/Forsyth schools to ban metal drink containers

🗞️ Northeast Forsyth man arrested on child pornography charges

🌞 Sunny and dangerously hot | High: 101°F | Low: 75°F

The hottest day of the stretch, with full sun and a high near 101. Serious heat: limit time outdoors midday, hydrate, and check on older neighbors and pets. Dry conditions also raise the fire risk, so be careful with anything that sparks.

The safest way to enjoy fireworks this year, officials say, is to catch an organized show or watch from home, especially with drought conditions and extreme heat raising the fire risk for any backyard pyrotechnics. Nationally, an estimated 13,000 fireworks-related injuries were treated in emergency rooms last year and 15 deaths were reported, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

If you do use legal fireworks at home, take precautions. Be careful with sparklers, which look harmless but burn at nearly 1,200 degrees and account for over a quarter of ER fireworks injuries; drop them in a bucket of water to cool. Launch home fireworks only from a concrete pad or hard surface, keep a water bucket or garden hose close by, and never try to relight or pick up a firework that did not fully go off.

The Fourth is also prime grilling time, and unsafe grills start plenty of fires. Never leave a lit grill unattended or let children play near it, skip loose clothing that can catch, and never use gasoline to start charcoal. Keep the grill at least 10 feet from the house and off wooden decks and porches, keep an extinguisher or hose handy, and make sure coals are completely out before you toss them in a metal container of water.

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A Kernersville nonprofit that shelters people fleeing danger is asking the community for help. Next Step Ministries says its emergency safe house, used by survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, suffered major damage when plumbing in an upstairs restroom failed and flooded the home. The house now needs plumbing repairs, new flooring, and rebuilt walls and ceilings, and essential household items and supplies must be replaced before survivors can safely return.

The organization estimates it faces about $30,000 in remaining repair and recovery costs. In the meantime, survivors needing emergency shelter are being helped through hotel placements and partnerships with neighboring agencies, and Next Step hopes to reopen the safe house by mid-July.

There is a way to make your gift go further. The Kernersville Foundation has pledged to match every dollar donated to the Safe House Recovery Fund, up to $5,000. Donations are tax-deductible and can be made online at nextstepdv.org by selecting the Safe House Recovery designation so the gift is matched.

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Students heading back to Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools this fall will need to rethink their water bottles. Beginning in the 2026-27 school year, the district will no longer allow metal drink containers on campus. That includes popular brands like Yeti, Owala and Stanley, along with all other metal cups and bottles.

District officials say the change is about safety. Metal containers are rigid and heavy, and the district says they have been used to injure students and staff in the past. Going forward, students may bring drinks only in completely clear plastic bottles or tumblers, with no tinting.

It is a notable shift for families used to the stainless-steel bottles that have become an everyday accessory, and something for Kernersville-area parents to keep in mind as they shop for the coming year.

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A northeast Forsyth County man has been arrested on charges related to child pornography, the multi-county Invictus Task Force said. Investigators say the task force opened the case in March after a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

On July 1, the task force executed a search warrant at the Davis Road home, west of Walkertown, of Robert Evoy Hushbeck, 44. He was subsequently charged with 10 counts of felony second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office and its Invictus Task Force representatives.

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