Jeff Davis photo

But luckily for these two, they won’t be on any dinner table. These two birds were spotted in nearby Pittsboro and owned by a family. And you can bet your bottom dollar the two turkeys above are sure glad that they are pets.

A small contingent of Siler City residents took a road trip to Asheboro’s YMCA last week to get a better picture of what a mature facility might look like.

The Asheboro Y is host to some 4,000 members, most of whom use the facility on a regular basis.

Donald Matthews, Tommy Emerson, Holly Kozelski and Pam Pearson toured the Asheboro facility on Wednesday afternoon with staffer Barbara Owens.

Local YMCA supporters don’t expect to erect anything on the scope of Asheboro’s YMCA right away, but the tour of the Asheboro facility was designed to see what kinds of programming could be offered and what facilities would be required to host those programs.

Asheboro’s current facility is crammed full of activity spaces, ranging from a swimming pool and basketball courts to a library and chapel.

Visitors to the Asheboro YMCA pass their hands through an identification machine that matches their handprint to those on file at the Y.

That saves staff time and ensures that those people using the YMCA have paid their dues and are entitled to make use of the facility.

The Sheriff’s Office made four arrests after two major drug searches last week, resulting in the discovery of 176 pounds of marijuana.

Casey Jim Matthews, David Hal Holmes Jr., Michael Lee Drake, and Duncan Eric Kimbrell were arrested on numerous drug counts after the Chatham County Special Incident Response Team conducted the searches in the late evening of November 19 and the early morning hours of November 20.

The searches took place at 221 Rock Hill Drive in Chapel Hill and 5808 Bonlee-Bennett Road in Bear Creek.

Drug agents discovered the following combined items in the searches: 176 pounds of marijuana, $20,202 in cash, two 12 gauge pump shotguns, one .223 semi-automatic rifle, one .45 colt/410 gauge rifle/shotgun, one .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle, and one .22 caliber revolver.

The street value of the marijuana was estimated as $528,000.

Matthews, a 26-year-old white male who lives at the Rock Hill Drive address was charged with: felonious trafficking marijuana, maintaining a dwelling to store, sell of use controlled substances, possession with intent to manufacture, sell, and deliver marijuana, felony possession marijuana, felonious possession marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

In September, when the Town of Cary announced its intent to update an old land use plan and to include in its plan a large chunk of eastern Chatham County, the announcement took many Chatham residents by surprise and they quickly organized a resistance.

Within a few weeks, the Cary Town Council backed away from its original intent, eliminating, for the time being, all of Chatham County from their planning efforts.

But Cary, nevertheless, has spilled over into Chatham County and the town continues to receive annexation requests from Chatham County property owners.

While an agenda hasn’t been established, nor has a date been set, Chatham County commissioners plan to meet soon with the Cary Town Council to discuss matters of mutual interest.