By Staff

According to the WSPD officers responded to approximately 90 motor vehicle accidents on Sunday, between 7 and 11pm. As a reminder motorists should travel at reduced speeds and allow for additional braking distance. Drivers should avoid rapid acceleration or quick braking.

The Winston-Salem Police Department is requesting that all motorists use caution when traveling during this winter weather storm. Most secondary roadways and some primary roadways are still covered with ice and snow making for hazardous traveling conditions.

A traffic accident occurred in the 800 block of South Stratford Road this morning. All travel lanes of South Stratford Road are closed between Bethesda Road and Stark Street. S. Stratford Road between Executive Park Blvd and Stark Street will be down to one lane.

S. Stratford Road is expected to be closed until later this afternoon due to downed power poles and lines being repaired.

Motorist traveling in this area should expect congestion and delays. Alternate routes should be used around this area until this section of S. Stratford Road is opened.

Motorists that must travel through this area will be able to use Harvey Street from Executive Park Blvd to Ricks Drive, and Bethesda Road to Trenwest Drive as detours around the closed area.

Please use caution in this area and avoid it if at all possible until the road is reopened. CCD will update this story when the WSPD have reopened the road.

UPDATE, 1:10pm:

Authorities have reopened the 800 block of Stratford Road.  Utility crews are still at work and motorists are asked to use caution whil;e traveling through the area.  The area will remain heavily conhested for the early afternoon hours and motorists are encouraged to continue to use alternate routes.  Vehicular traffic will continue to be periodically stopped while utility crews move equipment to restore service.

On August 5, 2015 Governor Pat McCrory signed House Bill 562, Amend Firearm Laws, into law. This bill makes a number of changes to North Carolina’s firearms laws, to include changes in the way sheriffs evaluate and process pistol purchase permits. As sheriffs, we have attempted to implement these changes mandated by the General Assembly in such a way as to minimize the inconvenience to pistol purchase permit applicants. However these new requirements do result in some additional steps that applicants for pistol purchase permits must comply with.

A summary of these new pistol purchase permit requirements enacted by the General Assembly are below.

1. Effective December 1, 2015 for all pistol purchase permits issued on or after that date, a uniform application for a pistol purchase permit and a uniform pistol purchase permit certificate must be used by all sheriffs. This new application and certificate was created by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).  Pistol purchase permits issued before this date remain valid until their expiration date. Any person with such a permit can exchange it for an updated permit from the sheriff with no further application being required. Any permit issued in exchange will expire on the same date as the original permit. The SBI is required to make reasonable efforts to notify federally licensed firearms dealers in North Carolina of the new permit’s appearance.

2. Effective December 1, 2015 for all pistol purchase permits issued on or after that date, for purposes of determining an applicant’s good moral character to receive a pistol purchase permit, the sheriff is only able to consider an applicant’s conduct and criminal history for the five year period immediately preceding the date of the application. This five-year period only applies to a sheriff’s evaluation of an applicant’s good moral character. If a crime or condition occurred prior to this five-year period, the sheriff must consider it if the crime or condition is independently a disqualifier for a pistol purchase permit (for example, a felony conviction or involuntary commitment).

3. Effective December 1, 2015, if a pistol purchase permit is denied and the applicant wants to appeal that decision, the denied applicant has to take his/her appeal to the superior court, as opposed to district court as was previously required.