From Staff Reports

HENDERSONVILLE — A Hendersonville man was stabbed to death on the night of Dec. 23 at or near J&J’s Little Store just off the Seventh Avenue and Robinson Terrace area in Hendersonville, just a few blocks away from a busy stretch of businesses, Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) reported on Dec. 27.

The victim, identified as 50-year-old Kevin Deran Copelin of Hendersonville, managed to get back up and make it across Seventh Avenue after the knife attack. 

Police said the victim then was rushed to the hospital where he later died.

Seventh Avenue Depot District is a national historic district that is the focus of Hendersonville’s ongoing Streetscape Project. 

From Staff Reports

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Hendersonville is one of two North Carolina cities that recently made Southern Living magazine’s list of the 18 Cutest Christmas Towns in the South. 

More specifically, Hendersonville finished at No. 12, just nipping Cary, N.C., which was listed at No. 13 on the list.

Southern Living magazine, based in Birmingham, praised several North Carolina locations on a recent list of 18 cutest Christmas towns.

Hendersonville and Cary were among the “holiday havens that go all out for the season, breaking out their festive best with thousands upon thousands of twinkling lights, impressive window displays, and garland galore,” according to the magazine.

Despite being hit hard by tropical Storm Helene on Sept. 27, Hendersonville carried on with its Christmas traditions, including its annual Christmas tree lighting (with carols, carriage rides, and cocoa), which launched the holiday season on Nov. 29 at the historic former courthouse.

The city also hosted an Old-Fashioned Christmas with an open house of local businesses, a farmers market holiday market, and the 4th Annual Historic 7th Avenue District Pup Crawl, where dog-owners and pet-lovers came together for a fun experience and raised funds for the Blue Ridge Humane Society. 

From Staff Reports

GREENVILLE COUNTY — A bomb threat made by a tractor-trailer driver —  during a traffic stop due to a missing license plate on the trailer — about 2;45 p.m. Jan. 2 caused a stretch of Interstate 85 to be shutdown in Greenville County for nearly five hours — and traffic to back up for miles in both directions.

The threat was investigated by the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, SLED and the FBI.

No explosive devices were located. At 7:30 p.m., after the investigation concluded there is no bomb on the truck, the traffic was allowed to resume.

Law enforcement officials later said the driver, Ahmad Jamal Khamees Alhendi, is in custody and the situation eventually was deemed safe..Alhendi is a Jordanian national who lives in Oak Lawn, Illinois.

Alhendi was charged with breach of peace of a high and aggravated nature, conveying false information about a bomb threat and no vehicle license.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a detainer on Alhendi following his arrest.

His bond was set at $20,238 cash on Jan. 6 morning.

Earlier, during the traffic dtop, “The officer asked the individual, ‘Do you have anything illegal in here? Like marijuana? Cocaine?’ And Alhendi said, ‘I have a small bomb,’ and then, she said, ‘What?’ And then he said, ‘I have a small bomb.’ This is on her body camera and in-car camera,” 13th Circuit Solicitor Walt Wilkins later told Greenville-based television station WYFF News 4.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation “first called the incident a hazardous materials spill, but later called it a crash.” WYFF also noted.

From Staff Reports

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Grammy-winning gospel singer Le’Andria Johnson issued an apology Dec. 18 after her arrest Dec. 16 in Greenville on intoxication charges, the Greenville News reported on Dec. 18.

In a video posted to Larry Reid Live on YouTube, Johnson stated the following:. 

“To all of my family, my friends and my supporters, I just want to say thank you for your continued prayers and love. 

“I do see all of the text messages and all of the phone calls.

“I’m just taking this time now to really just ‘woosah.’

“This (alcoholism) is a daily walk, and this has been a daily walk for me for some time, I’m yet still growing.”

The Greenville News added, “The 41-year-old singer has been a topic of discussion on social media since her arrest. Comedian and radio host Rickey Smiley posted a video in defense of Johnson.

“Greenville Police were called to BrickTop’s restaurant on reports that Johnson was ‘causing a disturbance,’ screaming at other customers. She was arrested and charged with public intoxication and having an open alcohol container on a public street after police reported seeing her with a styrofoam cup that she attempted to conceal when an officer approached. She was released from the Greenville County Detention Center Tuesday (Dec. 17) after posting bond.”

From Staff Reports

SIMPSONVILLE — Following highly publicized escapes of monkeys and then emus, “now, in the latest twist, it’s wallabies on the run,” following a late-night escape here, Greenville television station FOX Carolina reported on Dec. 27.

However,  “they were loose only briefly, as officials said the search for two missing wallabies in Simpsonville is over, after the second one was located” on Dec. 27, the TV station reported later Dec. 27.

Simpsonville officials said the wallabies, Creed and Sylvester, escaped the Nights of Lights petting zoo at Heritage Park on Dev. 26. Nights of Lights is billed as a walk-through Christmas event, with rides and ice-skating, in addition to the petting zoo.

A spokesperson for Simpsonville soon confirmed that Creed was recaptured, but the search continued for Sylvester, as area residents reported sightings.

On Dec. 27, police said Sylvester was located on Fowler Road, sometime after 10:30 a.m. after they received a tip.

“Sylvester was given medication to minimize stress, recaptured and returned back to his facility,” FOX Carolina noted.

Payton and Alex Fowler captured Sylvester, a wallaby on the loose, outside a home on Fowler Road in Simpsonville. 

“Sylvester is alert, in excellent condition, with his mate, awake and eating right now,” Chris Sharpe, manager of Eudora Farms Safari Park, told FOX Carolina.

The TV station added, “It’s not yet known how exactly the enclosure was breached. Mark Nesbit, the owner of Eudora Farms, said a manager making his morning rounds found their cage door open and the lock was off.

“Wallabies are marsupials in the same taxonomic family as kangaroos. The pair are both males, about 4 to 5 years old.”