The year's top hits from NewsArgus.com
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on January 1, 2014 1:46 PM
The following stories were the most viewed of 2013 on www.NewsArgus.com:
1. Doctor charged with DWI -- Goldsboro Pediatrics physician Dr. Michael Shane Hoover, 37, was charged by Goldsboro police in January with driving while impaired, hit and run driving and assault after he was involved in a wreck while responding to an emergency call at Wayne Memorial Hospital.
2. Funeral director loses license -- The North Carolina Board of Funeral Services forced E.M. Matthews Funeral Home to close for alleged misuse of pre-need funeral planning funds. The North Carolina Department of Insurance Criminal Investigations Division finds sufficient evidence to charge Eric Matthews with embezzlement and obtaining property by false pretense.
3. One dies in morning crash -- A wreck on U.S. 13 North, just north of George's Grill near Hood Swamp Road, resulted in a fatality in April. Paula Divers, 39, of Greenville, died when her four-door Lexus hydroplaned into the path of an 18-wheeler.
4. Girl, 5, grandfather die when truck hits tractor -- A Wayne County man and his 5-year-old granddaughter were killed in May when the tractor he was driving was struck from behind by a pickup truck on Baker Chapel Church Road in Mount Olive. The driver of the tractor, 48-year-old Terry Glenn Lee, of 489 Baker Chapel Church Road, died at the scene and his 5-year-old granddaughter, Kelsey Renee Davidson, died the next day at Wayne Memorial Hospital.
5. One dead in single car crash -- A Goldsboro woman was killed in a single-vehicle accident on Mark Edwards Road in July. Tammy McCaskill, 36, of 1345 N.C. 111 N., was driving south on Mark Edwards Road when her vehicle went off the road into a ditch and struck a driveway culvert, according to the N.C. State Highway Patrol.
6. Three killed in Friday evening crash -- A Seven Springs woman and her two children were killed in a two-vehicle accident on the outskirts of Mount Olive in October. Carmen Rosa Lopez Franqui, 42, of 1641 Camp Jubilee Road, Seven Springs, and her two sons, Wilber, 11, and Anthony, 9, died when the woman's 2001 Honda Accord crossed the center line and was struck in the right passenger door by a 2011 Dodge truck.
7. Police arrest eight in city sting -- A sting operation conducted by the Goldsboro and Mount Olive police departments netted eight arrests for soliciting prostitution in the 300 block of Royall Avenue in July. Arrests were made throughout the night and the suspects brought before a magistrate to set bond, according to records in the Clerk of Courts Office. Each of the eight women arrested, except for one, was given either a $2,000 or $4,000 secured bond and placed in the Wayne County Jail pending a first appearance, according to reports. In one instance, a deal was struck between an undercover officer and an alleged prostitute for sex in exchange for $40, reports showed.
8. Minister charged with child porn -- A Mount Olive minister was charged in July with 10 federal counts of second-degree exploitation of minors. Timothy Jack Strickland, 41, was taken into custody at his home at 107 E. James St. on federally secured warrants after allegedly using the Internet to obtain photos of children involved in sex acts, which is a federal crime, Mount Olive police Chief Brian Rhodes said. The FBI, which investigates child pornography on the Internet, had been investigating the case for a year, Rhodes said.
9. Airman charged in son's death -- A Seymour Johnson Air Force Base airman was taken into custody in connection with the death of his 15-month-old son in March. Senior Airman Matthew Theurer would later be charged with the child's murder after the toddler's body was found in a wooded area off a Columbus County road.
10. Truck goes off bridge -- A man driving a Dodge Ram 2500 with a trailer in tow died in December when his vehicle went off the overpass on U.S. 117 Bypass and fell 23 feet onto N.C. Highway 55 in the eastbound lane, the state Highway Patrol said. Craig Moore, 30, of Shallotte, was alone in his vehicle and was not wearing his seat belt at the time of the accident.