Patricia Ann “Trish” Gregory Slate Obituary

Patricia Ann “Trish” Gregory Slate, 57, of Pulaski left her earthly home to go to her heavenly home on Saturday, May 18, 2013.  She was born in Pulaski, VA on August 28, 1955 and she was the daughter of the late Clinton Thomas & Annie Turner Gregory.  She was also preceded in death by her husband, Ronald Wayne Slate, a sister, Patsy Bartlett, a brother, Thomas Wayne Gregory, her mother-in-law, father-in-law and a sister-in-law.

Mrs. Slate was a former employee of the Pulaski County School system having 28 years of service.

Surviving are:

Daughter – Robin Slate & Dennis Myers, Pulaski

Son – Christopher S. Slate, Pulaski

Granddaughter – Chelsea Jean Myers, Pulaski

Brothers & Sisters-In-Law – Larry & Brenda Gregory, Pulaski

Clinton & Janet Gregory, Dublin

Hank & Betty Gregory, Pulaski

Jerry Gregory, Pulaski

Bonnie Gregory, Pulaski

Brothers-In-Law & Spouses – Doug Slate, Pulaski

Dickie & Sharon Slate, Martinsville

Graham (Bunky) & Karen Slate, Dublin

Dennis Doyle, Draper

Many Nieces & Nephews

Special Friends – Frances Martin, Pulaski

Jo Ann Hypes, Pulaski

Special Pet – Buddy

Many special thanks go to Carilion Hospice, Dr. McCoy and Blue Ridge Cancer Center.

Funeral services will be held Thursday, May 23, 2013, at 2:00 PM from the Stevens Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Randall Jones and Rev. Jim Linkous officiating.  Burial will follow in Highland Memory Gardens.  Visiting will be Wednesday evening at Stevens Funeral Home where the family will receive friends from 6:00 until 8:00 PM.

Arrangements by Stevens Funeral Home, Pulaski, VA.

Virginia opens ACC baseball tournament Wednesday against Virginia Tech

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Virginia baseball team has earned the No. 3 seed at the 2013 ACC Baseball Championship and will open tournament play at 3 p.m. Wednesday against No. 6 seed Virginia Tech. The tournament will be contested Wednesday through Sunday (May 22-26) at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C.

Virginia will compete in Pool B with No. 2 seed Florida State, No. 6 seed Virginia Tech and No. 7 seed Georgia Tech. UVa will play Georgia Tech at 11 a.m. Thursday and Florida State at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Cavaliers are off on Friday. Virginia and Virginia Tech will be squaring off for the first time in ACC tournament play.

Pool A consists of No. 1 seed North Carolina, No. 4 seed NC State, No. 5 seed Clemson and No. 8 seed Miami. Under the pool-play format, each team will play one game against each of the other three opponents in its pool Wednesday through Saturday. The two teams with the best records within their respective pools will advance to the title game on Sunday, May 26, with the winner earning the ACC’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

Game times Wednesday through Saturday are set for 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. The championship game will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday. All ACC tournament games will be televised and streamed online via ESPN3. The 12 games in pool play will air on the ACC’s Regional Sports Networks, while the championship game will be broadcast by ESPN2.

The seventh-ranked Cavaliers (45-9, 22-8 ACC) finished the regular season on a high note with a series win at No. 2 North Carolina this weekend. Virginia matched the program record for regular-season with 45, tying the 2006, 2010 and 2011 squads. UVa captured eight of its 10 ACC regular-season series.

Virginia swept Florida State in Charlottesville during the regular season (April 20-21) but dropped two of three games in each of their series at Georgia Tech (April 12-14) and Virginia Tech (April 26-27). They were the lone series losses for Virginia this year.

The Cavaliers have won three tournament championships, in 1996, 2009 and 2011. All three tournament titles came in Durham.

Fans can still purchase tickets to next week’s competition. Complete books to all 13 games are available, as well as individual game tickets that can be purchased by calling the Durham Bulls ticket office at 919-956-BULL or by ordering on-line at: http://theacc.co/13Basetix.

All 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. games will be broadcast via satellite radio on Sirius XM 85. The 7 p.m. Wednesday (May 22) and Thursday (May 23) games will be broadcast on Sirius 93/XM 190. The Friday (May 24) 7 p.m. game will be carried on Sirius 111/XM 190, and the Saturday 7 p.m. game will be carried on Sirius 158/XM 190. Sunday afternoon’s championship game will be carried by Sirius XM 91 (College SportsNation).

 

2013 ACC Baseball Championship Schedule
Wednesday, May 22

11 a.m. – No. 2 Florida State vs. No. 7 Georgia Tech (RSN)
3 p.m. – No. 3 Virginia vs. No. 6 Virginia Tech (RSN)
7 p.m. – No. 4 NC State vs. No. 5 Clemson (RSN)

Thursday, May 23
11 a.m. – No. 3 Virginia vs. No. 7 Georgia Tech (RSN)
3 p.m. – No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 8 Miami (RSN)
7 p.m. – No. 2 Florida State vs. No. 6 Virginia Tech (RSN)

Friday, May 24
11 a.m. – No. 4 NC State vs. No. 8 Miami (RSN)
3 p.m. – No. 6 Virginia Tech vs. No. 7 Georgia Tech (RSN)
7 p.m. – No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 5 Clemson (RSN)

Saturday, May 25
11 a.m. – No. 2 Florida State vs. No. 3 Virginia (RSN)
3 p.m. – No. 5 Clemson vs. No. 8 Miami (RSN)
7 p.m. – No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 4 NC State (RSN)

Sunday, May 26
1 p.m. – ACC Championship (ESPN2)

10 Things to Know for Monday

The Associated Press

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Monday:

1. OBAMA OFFERS STARK VIEW, AND ENCOURAGING WORDS, FOR BLACK GRADS

As an African-American man, he tells Morehouse’s Class of ’13, ‘I might have been in prison. I might have been unemployed. I might not have been able to support a family. And that motivates me.’

2. AT LEAST ONE SOMEONE IN FLORIDA MAY BE FEELING EXTRA SUNNY

The single winning ticket for the $590.5 million Powerball, sold in Zephyrhills, can be redeemed as soon as Monday morning.

3. TEA PARTY’S ‘I TOLD YOU SO’ MOMENT ARRIVES

Shouts of vindication could become a recruitment tool for those who fear an overreaching US government.

4. HOW 2,000 FEET OF WRECKED TRACK IS WRECKING COMMUTES

The Connecticut collision knocks out Amtrak between New York and Boston, along with service for 30,000 Metro-North riders.

5. SYRIA REGIME’S ADVANCES IN BATTLE COMPLICATE PEACE-TALK PLANS

The US and Russia now face an even tougher task persuading Assad and opponents to sit down.

7. WHY THE PALESTINIANS STILL REJECT TEMPORARY BORDERS

The option has re-emerged but the fate of east Jerusalem remains a major sticking point.

8. SEVERE STORMS HIT PLAINS, UPPER MIDWEST

Tornado causes major damage at trailer park near Oklahoma City; spotter says earth has been ‘scoured.’

9. 2 FBI AGENTS DIE IN TRAINING ACCIDENT

The men, who were on the agency’s elite Hostage Rescue Team, were killed during training off the coast of Virginia Beach, officials said.

10. PARKER, SPURS SCHOOL GRIZZLIES

San Antonio opens Western Conference finals with 105-83 win over Memphis.

‘Trek’ does $70.6M but falls short of studio hopes

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Star Trek: Into Darkness” has warped its way to a $70.6 million domestic launch from Friday to Sunday, though it’s not setting any light-speed records with a debut that’s lower than the studio’s expectations.

The latest voyage of the starship Enterprise fell short of its predecessor, 2009′s “Star Trek,” which opened with $75.2 million.

Since premiering Wednesday in huge-screen IMAX theaters and expanding Thursday to general cinemas, “Into Darkness” has pulled in $84.1 million, well below distributor Paramount’s initial forecast of $100 million. The film added $40 million overseas, pushing its total to $80.5 million since it began rolling out internationally a week earlier.

The “Star Trek” sequel bumped “Iron Man 3″ down to second place after two weekends on top. Robert Downey Jr.’s superhero saga took in $35.2 million domestically to lift its receipts to $337.1 million. Overseas, “Iron Man 3″ added $40.2 million, raising its international total to $736.2 million and its worldwide tally to nearly $1.1 billion.

While “Iron Man 3″ and “Into Darkness” did well overseas, they were outmatched by the debut of Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby,” which followed its domestic debut a week earlier with a wide rollout internationally. “Gatsby” pulled in $42.1 million overseas, coming in a bit ahead of both “Iron Man 3″ and “Into Darkness.”

Domestically, “Gatsby” held up well at No. 3 with $23.4 million, lifting its total to $90.2 million.

In today’s Hollywood of bigger, better sequels, follow-up films often outdo the box office of their predecessors, as each “Iron Man” sequel has done. While “Into Darkness” earned good reviews and is getting strong word-of-mouth from fans, the film did not quite measure up to the opening weekend of director J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” reboot from four years ago, at least domestically.

“‘Star Trek’ remains a fan-boy movie. It doesn’t seem to have the same kind of cross-over appeal as say an ‘Iron Man’ or some of these others,” said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com. “It’s a very specific brand, but I think the general public would love this movie, because it’s such an action movie. But to get a hundred-million-plus opening weekend, unless you’re ‘Twilight,’ you really have to cross over to all audiences.”

Paramount points out that overseas business is up in many markets, though, so worldwide, the sequel is off to a better start.

“Because of the nature of the franchise, because of how many movies have been made and the various forms of the TV shows, I’m not sure that ‘Star Trek’ goes by the rules of normal sequels. I think each movie stands on its own, because it’s a unique franchise,” said Don Harris, Paramount’s head of distribution. “My goal was always that we grow the franchise. We’re clearly seeing by today’s numbers that the movie is being embraced on a worldwide basis in a way we’ve never seen before.”

Harris said that domestically, “Into Darkness” finished its first weekend 6 percent ahead of revenues for 2009′s “Star Trek,” which got a head-start with $4 million in Thursday night previews to give it a $79.2 million haul through the first Sunday.

But “Into Darkness” had a full day of screenings Thursday plus its Wednesday IMAX business. Unlike the first movie, which played only in 2-D, the sequel also had the benefit of 3-D screenings that cost a few dollars more. Yet even with the 3-D upcharge and the earlier debut, it came away with just $4.9 million more than its predecessor through Sunday.

Still, it’s a solid starting place for the movie to live long and prosper at theaters, with Paramount hoping “Into Darkness” can surpass the $385 million worldwide total of “Star Trek.”

“I think we’re well along on that road,” Harris said.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “Star Trek: Into Darkness,” $70.6 million ($40 million international).

2. “Iron Man 3,” $35.2 million ($40.2 million international).

3. “The Great Gatsby,” $23.4 million ($42.1 million international)

4. “Pain & Gain,” $3.1 million.

5. “The Croods,” $2.75 million.

6. “42,” $2.73 million.

7. “Oblivion,” $2.2 million.

8. “Mud,” $2.16 million.

9. “Peeples,” $2.15 million.

10. “The Big Wedding,” $1.1 million.

Small Fla. city wonders who won Powerball jackpot

ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. (AP) — Some lucky person walked into a Publix supermarket in suburban Florida over the past few days and bought a ticket now worth an estimated $590.5 million — the highest Powerball jackpot in history.

But it wasn’t Matthew Bogel. On Sunday, he loaded groceries into his car after shopping at the Publix. He shook his head when asked about the jackpot.

“It’s crazy, isn’t it?” he said. “That’s so much money.”

It’s an amount too high for many to imagine. Compare it to the budget for the city of Zephyrhills: This year’s figure is just more than $49 million. The winning Powerball jackpot is 12 times that.

Whoever has the ticket hadn’t come forward as of Sunday morning.

“This would be the sixth Florida Powerball winner and right now, it’s the sole winner of the largest ever Powerball jackpot,” Florida Lottery executive Cindy O’Connell told The Associated Press. “We’re delighted right now that we have the sole winner.”

Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous said that there are a lot of rumors about who won, but the store doesn’t know. “We’re excited for the winner or winners,” she said.

O’Connell said Florida has had more Powerball winners than any other state but did not give any indication whether anyone had stepped forward with the winning ticket in Saturday’s drawing.

But plenty of people in Zephyrhills — population 13,337 — are wondering whether it’s someone they know.

Joan Albertson drove to the Publix early Sunday morning with her camera in hand, in case the winner emerged. She said she had bought a ticket at a store across the street, and the idea of winning that much money was still something of a shock.

“Oh, there’s so much good that you could do with that amount of money.” Albertson said. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

Zephyrhills is a small city in Pasco County, about 30 miles northeast of downtown Tampa. Once a rural farming town, it’s now known as a hotbed for skydiving activity, and the home to large retiree mobile home parks and Zephyrhills bottled water.

And now, one lucky lottery ticket.

“I’m getting text messages and messages from Facebook going, ‘uh, did you win the lottery?’” Sandra Lewis said. “No, I didn’t win, guys. Sorry.”

Sara Jeltis said her parents in Michigan texted her with the news Sunday morning.

“Well, it didn’t click till I came here,” she said, gesturing to the half-dozen TV live trucks humming in the Publix parking lot. “And I’m like, wow I can’t believe it, it’s shocking! Out of the whole country, this Publix, in little Zephyrhills would be the winner.”

With four out of every five possible combinations of Powerball numbers in play, lottery executives said Saturday that someone was almost certain to win the game’s highest jackpot, a windfall of hundreds of millions of dollars — and that’s after taxes.

The winning numbers were 10, 13, 14, 22 and 52, with a Powerball of 11.

Estimates had earlier put the jackpot at around $600 million. But Powerball’s online site said Sunday that the jackpot had reached an estimated $590.5 million.

The world’s largest jackpot was a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot in March 2012.

Terry Rich, CEO of the Iowa Lottery, initially confirmed that one Florida winning ticket had been sold. He told AP that following the Florida winner, the Powerball grand prize was being reset at an estimated jackpot of $40 million, or about $25.1 million cash value.

The chances of winning the prize were astronomically low: 1 in 175.2 million. That’s how many different ways you can combine the numbers when you play. But lottery officials estimated that about 80 percent of those possible combinations had been purchased recently.

While the odds are low for any one individual or individuals, O’Connell said, the chance that one hits paydirt is what makes Powerball exciting.

“There is just the chance that you will have the opportunity, and Florida is a huge Powerball state,” O’Connell said. “We have had more winners than any other state that participates in Powerball.”

The longshot odds didn’t deter people across Powerball-playing states — 43 plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands — from lining up at gas stations and convenience stores Saturday.

Clyde Barrow, a public policy professor at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, specializes in the gaming industry. He said one of the key factors behind the ticket-buying frenzy is the size of the jackpot — people are interested in the easy investment.

“Even though the odds are very low, the investment is very small,” he said. “Two dollars gets you a chance.”

Lewis, who went to the Publix on Sunday to buy water, said she didn’t play — and she isn’t upset about it.

“Life goes on,” she said, shrugging. “I’m good.”

Michael Garnett Williams Obituary

Michael Garnett Williams, 57, of Pulaski, passed away Friday May 17th 2013 at his home. Born in Montgomery County October 5, 1955 he was the son of the late Garnett K. and Virginia Nofsinger Williams. Mike was an employee of the New River Valley Workshop in Radford. VA, for 40 years. He was a special Olympian and member of the Belmont Ruritan Club. Mike had two church families, Edgemont Christian Church in Christiansburg, where he served as a deacon and First United Methodist Church in Pulaski where he served as the “official greeter”.

WilliamsMike is survived by his sister and husband, Judy and Ed Belcher. Nieces and their husbands, Michele and Robert Hundley, Lisa and Michael Middleton. Great nieces and nephews, Rob Hundley, Jacqueline Hundley, Virginia Middleton, John Middleton and many, many friends.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday May 22nd at 10am from the First United Methodist Church, Pulaski, with the Rev. Hugh Kilgore officiating. Burial will follow in the Belmont Cemetery, Montgomery County. Visiting will be at the church Tuesday evening from 6-8pm. For those wishing to make a memorial gift the family wishes that you consider Mike’s churches. Edgemont Christian Church, 2289 Edgemont Rd. Christiansburg, VA 24073 or the First United Methodist Church, 135 4th St. NW, Pulaski, VA 24301. Arrangements by Stevens Funeral Home, Pulaski.

Marvin Douglas McCambridge Obituary

Marvin Douglas McCambridge, age 66 of Hiwassee passed away Saturday, May 18, 2013 at his home.

Born July 15, 1946 in Pulaski County, he was the son of the late Luther Douglas McCambridge and Fannie Bell Quesenberry  McCambridge. He was also preceded in death by his brothers, Leroy, Everett and Donald McCambridge.

He was a veteran of the United States Army.

Surviving-

Brother and Sister-in-law-

Ronald and Frances McCambridge- Collinsville.

Sisters and Brothers-in-law

Irene and Dave Mabry-Hiwassee

Brenda and Buford Looney-Hiwassee

Kay and Bill Phillips-Pulaski

Sisters-in-law-

Elizabeth McCambridge- Hiwassee

Opal McCambridge-Hiwassee

Many Nieces and Nephews

Graveside funeral services will be held Monday, 11:00 a.m.  May 20, 2013, at the McCambridge Family Cemetery, Hiwassee   with Pastor Mike Coleman officiating.

Per Marvin’s request, there will be no visitation and his wishes were to have his services at the family cemetery.

To sign the online guestbook, please visit www.bowerfuneralhome.com

Bower Funeral Home,Pulaski is handling the arrangements for the McCambridge family.

 

Up to 60 injured after car drives into Va. parade

DAMASCUS, Va. (AP) — About 50 to 60 people were injured Saturday when a driver described by witnesses as an elderly man drove his car into a group of hikers marching in a parade in a small Virginia mountain town.

It happened around 2:10 p.m. during the Hikers Parade at the Trail Days festival, an annual celebration of the Appalachian Trail in Damascus, near the Tennessee state line about a half-hour drive east of Bristol.

Washington County director of emergency management Pokey Harris said no fatalities had been reported.

The injuries ranged from critical to superficial, he said. Three of the victims were flown by helicopters to regional hospitals. Another 12 to 15 were taken by ambulance. The rest were treated at the scene.

At a news conference, Damascus Police Chief Bill Nunley didn’t release the driver’s name or age but said he was participating in the parade. Multiple witnesses described him as an elderly man.

Nunley said the man’s 1997 Cadillac was one of the last vehicles in the parade and the driver might have suffered an unspecified medical problem when his car accelerated to about 25 mph and struck the crowd on a two-lane bridge along the town’s main road. The driver was among those taken to hospitals.

“It is under investigation and charges may be placed,” Nunley said.

There were ambulances in the parade ahead of the hikers and paramedics on board immediately responded to the crash.

Nunley cited the “quick action” by police, firefighters, paramedics and hikers to tend to the victims, including a Damascus volunteer firefighter who dove into the car to turn off the ignition. The firefighter, whose name wasn’t released, suffered minor injuries.

Nunley said about 1,000 people participated in the parade. Nunley said the driver was a hiker, too — someone who had traversed the Appalachian Trail in the past.

What caused the car to drive into the crowd wasn’t immediately known. A thud could be heard, people yelled stop, and at some point, the car finally stopped.

Witnesses said the car had a handicapped parking sticker and it went more than 100 feet before coming to a stop.

“He was hitting hikers,” said Vickie Harmon, a witness from Damascus. “I saw hikers just go everywhere.”

Damascus resident Amanda Puckett, who was watching the parade with her children, ran to the car, where she and others lifted the car off those pinned underneath.

“Everybody just threw our hands up on the car and we just lifted the car up,” she said.

Keith Neumann, a hiker from South Carolina, said he was part of the group that scrambled around the car. They pushed the car backward to free a woman trapped underneath and lifted it off the ground to make sure no one else was trapped. Another person jumped inside to put it in park.

“There’s no single heroes. We’re talking about a group effort of everybody jumping in,” he said.

Mayor Jack McCrady encouraged people to attend the festival on Sunday, its final day.

“In 27 years of this, we’ve never had anything of this magnitude, and is it our job to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.

McCrady said a donation fund was being set up to assist the injured, some of whom don’t have medical insurance.

“We want to make sure they don’t suffer any greater loss than they already have,” he said.

Pulaski County Relay for Life

Pulaski County Relay for Life 2013 Survivors Celebrating LifePulaski County Relay for Life 2013 Cass Long and The Country DancersThe Pulaski County Relay for Life was held Friday at Randolph Park in Dublin.  Brenda Eanes and Cass Long of The Country Dancers provided these photos of (top) Pulaski County Cancer Survivors celebrating life and (bottom) Cass Long and The Country Dancers who performed for the 10th year at the relay.

Powerball jackpot closing in on another record

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A little more than a year after three tickets split a world-record lottery prize, the jackpot for Saturday’s Powerball drawing was nearing historic territory once again.

Should nobody pick the correct six numbers, the prize money will roll over to next week’s drawing and almost certainly eclipse the $656 million doled out to winners in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland in the Mega Millions game in March 2012.

But the record could fall Saturday night too if a flurry of last-minute ticket purchases pushes the jackpot much above its current $600 million level. Since the previous drawing on Wednesday, it had grown by at least $236 million.

“If there was no chance, you wouldn’t do it,” said New Jersey attorney Rubin Sinins, who represented five construction workers who claimed a colleague cheated them out of a share of a multimillion-dollar lottery jackpot.

It seems simple enough: Just correctly pick five white balls out of a drum of 59 and one red one out of a drum of 35.

However, the odds of a single $2 ticket hitting the correct combination are about 1 in 175.2 million. That’s slightly less likely than randomly drawing the name of one specific female in the United States: 1 in 157 million, according to the last census.

With such an astronomic payoff available for the lucky ticket holder, some buyers are content to settle for just a share of the winnings.

In Houston, city firefighter John Paetow and a dozen of his colleagues kicked in $10 each for the drawing, as they do occasionally when a the stakes soar into the lottery stratosphere.

“With firemen it’s a camaraderie thing,” said Paetow, 59. “It just makes sense to pool our money; it buys more tickets, gives us a better chance of winning.”

Even if Saturday’s drawing doesn’t top last year’s Mega Millions jackpot, it’s already the highest in Powerball history, surpassing that game’s $587.5 million record set in November 2012.

A major reason for the sales surge is that last month, Powerball landed the nation’s most populous state as California joined 42 others that offer the game. California lottery director Robert O’Neill said the state had brought “sunshine and good fortune” to Powerball.

The Multi-State Lottery Association conducts the drawing live Saturday night from Tallahassee, Fla. The balls are weighed and X-rayed, and there are practice runs before the official televised version.