The following press release about a local abduction attempt was sent out by the Southern Pines Police Department.  Please review it and contact the police if you have any information concerning the incident.

PRESS RELEASE 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
 
April 2, 2008 

The Southern Pines Police Department Announces An Attempted Abduction / Indecent Exposure 

The Southern Pines Police Department needs your assistance in locating a suspect involved in an Attempted Abduction / Indecent Exposure investigation.  On April 1, 2008 at approximately 10:00am a female driver was followed by another vehicle from the area of Airport Road to Turnberry Way located just off Hwy 15-501 in Southern Pines.  The suspect was operating a small, royal blue, four-door sedan and was attempting to get the female to pull over by blowing the horn and switching lanes.  As the female turned the suspect was exposing himself to her.  The suspect followed her into a parking lot and then grabbed her by the sleeve.  The female was not injured and got away from the suspect.  The suspect is described as a white male, bald, brown eye brows and approximately 510-600 hgt, about 200lbs.  
 
If you have any information on this case please contact the Southern Pines Police Department at 910-692-7031.
 
The Southern Pines Police Department would like to remind the community of some personal safety steps that can be taken to reduce the potential of being victimized:
 
- Never pull over for anyone that attempts to flag you down on the highway.  Pull to a well lit, highly populated area or drive to the nearest Police or Sheriffs Office.
- Keep your cellular phone handy and call 911 immediately.  Be ready to give a description of the vehicle and plate number if possible, and a description of the suspicious person as well as the direction of travel.
- Remember to drive safely.
- If someone exposes themselves to you contact the police and give a thorough description of the person and vehicle. 
- BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS and report anything suspicious, unusual or that makes you uncomfortable to the police.
 
Log on to the Southern Pines Police Department website at www.southernpines.net/police or contact the Community Services Unit for additional information on this topic or to schedule a presentation on Personal Safety.  

Point of Contact: Lieutenant Rodney Hardy at (910) 692-2732
 

• Read More »

  THREE BLOOD TYPES AT LESS THAN A DAY'S SUPPLY

Red Cross Asks Donors to Donate Now

(Southern Pines) - Two weeks into the new year, the American Red Cross faces a severe shortage of several blood types.  Locally, supplies of type O negative, B negative and A negative blood are at less than a day's supply despite repeated calls to donors to give blood over the past month.

The Red Cross is asking blood donors to donate immediately to prevent supply levels from dropping even further in the coming days and weeks. 

While all blood types are needed, the low supply of type O blood is of particular concern.  Type O is the most commonly used blood type.  O negative blood can be used for all patients, but it is often essential to the treatment of trauma patients, newborns and women who are pregnant.

Blood drives are scheduled at various times and locations across the area. 

Wednesday, Jan. 16th, 10am - 3 pm - Sandhills Communtiy College @ Blue Hall

Tuesday, Jan. 22nd, 1:30pm - 6pm - Moore Co. Red Cross Office @ 244 SW Broad St.

Thursday, Jan. 24th, 10am - 2:30pm - FirstHealth Center for Health & Fitness

 Wednesday, Jan. 30th, 1:30pm - 6pm - Emmanuel Episcopal Church @ Corner of E. Mass. Ave. & So. Ridge St.          

Donors are asked to call the Moore County Chapter at 910-692-8571 to schedule an appointment. The Carolinas Blood Services Region needs 1,600 blood donations a day in order to adequately supply the 103 hospitals it serves.  Donors must be age 17 or older and weigh at least 110 pounds.

• Read More »

Want to raise well-behaved children? Teach them a virtually fail-safe formula for success in school? Family psychologist, author and popular parenting speaker John K. Rosemond is coming to the Sandhills area Jan. 25 and 26 to present lectures on those topics and more. "Assuming the Power of Parenthood" is scheduled for 7 p.m., Friday, Jan. 25; "Bringing Out the Best in Your Child" is the topic at 10 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 26. Sandhills MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) is sponsoring his appearances.

Rosemond, a nationally syndicated columnist in more than 175 newspapers, advocates a return to parent-centered families where children are raised to become responsible adults. He teaches logical, proven approaches for the most significant challenges parents face today.
 
Straightforward guidance covers issues such as self-esteem and discipline to television and chores.
Following each presentation, Rosemond will sign books, including his latest, Parenting by The Book, published in fall 2007. The author of over 10 best-selling books on parenting and family issues, he is writing several more, including "one that will liberate parents from the psychobabble surrounding toilet training, babble that has transformed something simple and straightforward into something unnecessarily stressful and complicated." Other books include A Family of Value, Because I Said So! and The NEW Six-Point Plan for Raising Happy, Healthy Children.

The lecture series will be held at Pinecrest High School Auditorium, Southern Pines, NC. Rosemond, one of America's most in-demand public speakers, is the busiest by far in the parenting field. In a typical year, he gives more than 200 presentations to parent, teacher and helping-professional groups nationwide. His talks and workshops, which are filled with humor, factual information and practical advice, receive consistently superlative ratings.  Additionally, Moore County teachers will receive Continuing Education Units for attending.

In addition, Rosemond directs the Center for Affirmative Parenting, in Gastonia, NC, which provides "skillshops" and other educational presentations for parents and professions who work with children and families. The center also provides print and audio materials on parenting and child development.
"All that aside," Rosemond says, with a smile, "my real qualifications are that I have been married to the same wonderful woman, Willie, for 37 years-a rich marriage that has produced two children and seven well-behaved grandchildren."

On Friday, Jan. 25, Rosemond will speak on "Assuming the Power of Parenthood," his centerpiece presentation. After illustrating the differences between traditional and modern parenting styles and discussing the failures of the latter, Rosemond outlines an equally clear solution: Parents need but conform their behavior to each of the "Three Seasons of Child Rearing" as they naturally and logically unfold over the term of a child's dependency. Attendees regularly use such terms as "uplifting," "liberating" and "empowering" to describe this powerful yet immensely entertaining presentation.

Saturday, Jan. 26, he will speak about "Bringing Out the Best in Your Child." Rosemond advocates a return to a style of parenting which fosters the "Three R's: Respect for legitimate adult authority, a willingness to accept Responsibility and a Resourceful attitude toward challenge."

In that presentation, Rosemond shares the nuts and bolts of a traditional child-rearing formula with today's parents, empowering them to go home and empower their children for life-long achievement.
Advance tickets are $15 and are available online at the MOPS Web site www.sandhillsmops.com and at the Moore County Chamber of Commerce. Group sales are available. Tickets at the door will be $18.

Sponsors assisting MOPS in bringing Rosemond to the Sandhills include Lil Branch's Children's Shop, Drug-Free Moore County, Bill Smith Ford, First Health, Harris Teeter, SandhillsKids.com and Sandhills Sports Center.

ABOUT MOPS - Sandhills MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), a charter of MOPS International, exists to meet the needs of every mom in the North Carolina Sandhills area - moms from all different lifestyles who all share a similar desire to be the very best moms they can be!  MOPS' primary tools for encouragement are regular local meetings where moms of all ages and from all backgrounds gather to build friendships, share practical parenting strategies, and meet with mentors.
Sandhills MOPS is one of 4,000 MOPS groups that meet every month throughout the U.S. and in 29 other countries. More than 110,000 women are currently registered in MOPS groups.  For more information, please visit www.SandhillsMOPS.com or www.MOPS.org.

• Read More »

If you're looking for local farms or pumpkin patches for fall festivities, then check out our newest section under Kids Outdoor for area Farms.

Here's the link - http://www.sandhillskids.com/directory/Farms/

There you'll fine Moore County Farms as well as several links to NC Farm Directories as well as a Pick Your Own Produce Website.

Enjoy!