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A female suspect has been charged after allegedly allowing a man to molest three girls. Mary Louise Blanton, 52, of Loris, was taken into custody Monday night on three counts of felony child sexual abuse. Detention Center reports show she was held without bond. Warrants show Blanton allegedly allowed Jeromy Blanton, 45, to perform sex acts on three underaged girls over an extended period in 2019. Blanton...
UPDATED July 8 at 11:35 a.m. The Highway Patrol has identified the motorcyclist who died while trying to escape Columbus County deputies Monday evening. Colton Michael Newman, 20, of Fort Bragg, rammed into another vehicle at N.C. 87 and Kennedy Store Road at East Arcadia, just across the street the Bladen-Columbus line. The driver in the other vehicle was injured, and was transported to New Hanover Regional with...
Fireworks weren’t the only flames in the sky over the July 4 weekend in Columbus County. Firefighters in Riegelwood, Nakina and Tabor City responded to brush fires in several areas. Columbus County Fire Marshall Shannon Blackman said Tabor City firefighters were called to a particularly stubborn blaze at South Columbus High School that required the assistance of the Forest Service. That fire smoldered in a mulched area until...