Public Safety

HILLSVILLE — Carroll County residents who receive a supposed “deed processing notice” from a company called Property Transfer Service should throw it in the trash, says the circuit court clerk.
Two citizens who received such a notice — one at the cost of $83  — brought the matter to the attention of Circuit Court Clerk Carolyn Honeycutt, wondering if they actually owed any money.

The Galax Police Department is looking for information to help solve a vandalism at Galax Auto Sales. The incident is believed to have occurred either Saturday night, February 23 or early Sunday.
If anyone has helpful information that could assist the department in solving this case, call 236-8101 or text "Galax" followed by the information to TIP411 (847411)

Two Independence women were injured, one seriously, in a Feb. 19 accident on Virginia Route 274 near Virginia 94, according to a Virginia State Police report.
The incident occurred at about 10 a.m. when 36-year-old Joy Hawks lost control of a 2002 Chevy Cavalier, went off the road to the right and struck a tree, according to a report by Trooper C.W. Keesling.
Both Hawks and a passenger, Destina Upchurch, were transported to Twin County Regional Hospital for treatment.
Hawks was transferred to another hospital by helicopter.
Charges are pending.

The general trend of applications for concealed handgun permits has been increasing for years in Carroll and Grayson counties, with large spikes from 2011 to 2012 and on track to be even higher in 2013.
Grayson expects a 300 percent increase in requests over last year, while Carroll is on track to have triple the requests of 2005.
While the sudden spike in 2013 has occurred after the mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Ct., there’s evidently more to the story given the general increase over the last few years.