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The Randolph County Sheriff’s Office K-9's will be sporting protective vests thanks to a recent donation from a local teenager. Eliana Hancock, a 16-year-old Uwharrie Charter Academy student, was upset when she read an article about a K-9 without a vest that was fatally shot while on duty. “I just don’t think it’s fair that the officers have (vests) and the dogs don’t because they risk as much as the people do,” Hancock said. Hancock asked her grandmother to call RCSO to see whether or not its K-9's had protective vests. When she learned they didn’t, she decided to do something about it. She sold potbellied pigs. “We already had two potbellied pigs and they had babies. I sold those and made money from it and thought, ‘Well, I’ll just breed potbellied pigs until I raise the money.’ ” Recently, Hancock donated the $3,000 she made to the sheriff’s office. “We do appreciate it,” Special Operations Capt. Kevin Walton said. “It means a lot to us and it means a lot to the handlers. “Our K-9 program has been lacking over the last several years and I’ve been tasked with getting it back up to speed. Anything like this helps out tremendously.” Currently, the sheriff’s office is in the process of searching for the best vests to purchase, but once the decision is made, K-9's Red, Bronx and Ripley will be better protected while on duty. The vests will likely cost $600-$700 each. Currently, there are three K-9's at the sheriff’s office. That doesn’t include K-9 Lizzy, who is in the process of retiring. Deputy Cody Jordan is Red’s handler. The bloodhound has been with the sheriff’s office for over a year, while the two newest recruits — Bronx and Ripley — were just recently purchased. Bronx specializes in tracking, narcotics, article searching and aggression. Ripley is trained in narcotics and article searching. They and Red currently have no protection while on duty. Within the first few weeks on duty, Bronx tracked and found a suspect within 10 minutes of his arrival on the scene, and Ripley located drugs during a search. The dogs quickly pay for themselves, according to Walton, so it’s important they’re well protected. A third new K-9 will soon be joining the pack, meaning four vests will be needed to ensure the protection of all of the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office K-9's.

Four years ago, a group of then freshmen told Uwharrie Charter Academy varsity baseball coach Van Hurley they were there to win a state championship. On Saturday at Five County Stadium, those freshmen, now seniors, delivered on their promise. Senior Spencer Lanier led the Eagles to the NCHSAA state 1-A championship with a 10-2 victory over Rosewood in Game 2 of the best-of-three state title series. UCA, the 10th seed, set up the sweep with a 6-4 win over Rosewood in Game 1 earlier in the day. The victories give UCA a final record of 26-5, while No. 2 seeded Rosewood ends the year 23-6. Mason Little threw a one-hitter in Game 2 to clinch the series for the Eagles. He walked three and struck out five. He pitched five hitless innings before giving up a hit in the sixth. Little faced more than four batters in an inning just once in earning the victory. Lanier had four hits in the first game and two more in the second game as the baseball team joins the UCA wrestling team in taking home state championships. Lanier had five RBIs and scored four runs in the two games. After the win in Game 1, the Eagles spotted Rosewood a run in the third inning of Game 2, but the UCA bats responded with two runs in the third and seven in the fourth ining for a 9-1 lead. Lanier had a two-run single in the third, which gave the Eagles the lead for good, and UCA recorded seven hits in the fourth, including an RBI hit from Colt Wilkins, a two-run hit from Colby Hammer and RBI hits from Lanier, Jonathan Weaver and Braylon Hayes. UCA came close to ending the game in five innings. UCA recorded 12 hits in the contest with Wilkins getting three, Hayes three, Lanier two and Hunter Hill two. The opener resumed in the bottom of the second inning Saturday morning with UCA holding a 2-0 lead. Rosewood recorded its first two hits, the second an RBI double by Patrick Jones to cut the UCA lead to 2-1. Rosewood then took the lead with a pair of runs on three hits in the third, but UCA regained the lead with a two-run fifth. Lanier tripled and he scored on a wild pitch. Braylen Hayes doubled in Jonathan Weaver, who had reached on a fielder’s choice. Rosewood threatened a couple of times, but Hamlet recorded some key strikeouts, including one that stranded runners on second and third in the sixth. Hamlet made that one-run lead stand up until he gave the team some needed breathing room with a two-run homer in the seventh inning, Rosewood managed to make things interesting in the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff double by Logan Price. Price came home on an error and Rosewood put the tying runs on base before Hamlet induced a fly ball to end the contest. Hamlet went the distance for Uwharrie Charter on the mound, allowing four runs, three earned, while scattering eight hits and three walks in the outing. He struck out 11 to pick up the complete game win. Tanner McKeel was tagged with the loss for Rosewood, giving up four runs, three earned, while he allowed eight hits, five walks while striking out seven in his six innings of work. Lanier, who is headed to Louisburg, was named the state 1-A championship series most valuable player.

The summer driver's ed book portion classes are now open for registration. You will need to click the link below and this will re-direct you to the page where you will register your child. UCA will not register for you. You will need to signup under ANY Randolph County High School of your preference (please click on the specific high school) then complete the registration. Please read over all the information provided through the Driver's Ed link. Please note that taking a class over the summer will allow your child to complete this portion in less time than taking it in the fall. Also, if your child is planning to play a sport in the fall/winter your child should plan on taking it over the summer. If you chose to wait your child could risk getting their permit/license late as most coaches do not allow their athletes to miss a month of season to take this course. If you have trouble accessing the link please go to Uwharriecharter.org scroll to the bottom and in the "Quick Link" section select Driver's Education option and follow the steps to register.