There is clearly no God, as he took the life of this preacher and left his wife and 3 children without a father. God sucks.
ELLENDALE, NC – The first reported fatality related to Monday’s severe weather occurred Wednesday after a man was killed by a tree in Alexander County.
Brian Keith Wilmoth, 31, of Wilkes County, was cutting a tree that had fallen on power lines when the lines sprang up and threw the tree back on top of him.
Wilmoth was an employee of Asplundh Tree Expert Co. and Energy United. The incident occurred near the Ellendale community in Alexander County.
The accident occurred just before 4:30 a.m. at an intersection west of Taylorsville, according to an Associated Press report.
Severe storm slams Catawba Valley
Severe weather impacted the area late Monday afternoon causing about 40,000 power outages in Burke, Catawba, Caldwell and Alexander counties.
Gov. Roy Cooper responded to Wilmoth’s death in a press release sent by his office regarding storm damage and recovery efforts.
“We are all saddened by this tragic death, and it reminds us to be thankful to workers who handle difficult cleanup work after storms, especially around downed power lines, trees and other hazards,” Cooper said via the release.
“Communities are still picking up the pieces from these strong storms and our state experts are on the ground to help.”
Local governments are continuing their efforts to assess damage from the storm.
Catawba County Communications and Marketing Director Amy McCauley said in a phone interview that county officials had looked at 63 of the 69 homes where they received reports of damage Wednesday.
“About a dozen secondary roads” were still closed in four counties, including Catawba and Caldwell counties, according the governor’s office release.
Two days after the storms, local organizations are still providing help to those affected.
The Blue Ridge Piedmont Chapter of the American Red Cross has opened a shelter at the Valdese Recreation Center.
Emergency management officials requested the shelter be opened, according to a Red Cross press release.
The shelter that the Blue Ridge Piedmont Chapter of the American Red Cross was running at South Caldwell High School closed Wednesday morning, Red Cross Regional Communications Officer Jerri Jameson said in a phone interview.
Four people stayed at the Caldwell County shelter Monday night and only one stayed Tuesday night, Jameson said via a text message.
The Hickory Foundation YMCA is allowing people to take showers and charge electronics in their facilities through the end of business Friday, YMCA Membership Director Meghan Lawton said in a phone interview.
Many people were still without power heading into Wednesday night, even as the number of outages is decreasing.
There were 12,218 outages in Catawba, Burke, Caldwell and Alexander counties late Wednesday afternoon, with 4,909 outages in Catawba County alone.
Duke Energy projects that power in these counties will be restored by 11:45 p.m. Thursday.
The National Weather Service is working to confirm whether or not a tornado or tornadoes touched down in the area.
Officials have been surveying for “probable tornadoes” in Catawba, Burke, Alexander and Caldwell counties, according to an NWS update Wednesday morning.
The results of that investigation were expected Wednesday night.
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ALEXANDER COUNTY, NC - The wife of a man who was killed after a tree-cutting accident said, her husband “loved climbing trees.”
Brian “Keith” Wilmoth, 31, from Wilkes County, died Wednesday after a tree he was cutting fell on him after it hit power lines.
His wife, Karla said, “I don’t know what we’ll do, I don’t know” as the couple has three young children together.
She said, “He loved our kids equally. All three.”
Family and friends gathered Wednesday night at Charity Hill Baptist Church to remember Keith.
Pastor Brian Cardwell said, “It’s overwhelming you know to find out that it was actually real, it was actually him. The church is in shock.”
Karla said she’s leaning on her faith, “I’ve had an overwhelming amount of grace surrounding me. God has given me that today.”
Wilmoth works for the Asplundh Tree Expert Company and was working in the area of Dover Church and Mountain Ridge Church Roads.
The Alexander County Sheriff’s Office said the tree was resting on power lines and launched upward hitting him after it was cut.
Parts of western North Carolina suffered significant damage Monday from strong storms.
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Life Legacy
Preacher Brian Keith Wilmoth, age 31, passed away Monday, October 25, 2017. Keith was born August 4, 1986 in Surry County to Alvin Eugene and Mary Candance Groce Wilmoth.
Preacher Wilmoth was a member of Charity Hill Baptist Church, previously he served as pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church and was a past member of Gid Branch Baptist Church.
Keith was preceded in death by his paternal grandfather, Eugene Wilmoth; and his maternal grandparents, Ben and Mary Groce.
Survivors include: wife, Karla Wilmoth; two sons, Alan Wilmoth and Benjamin Wilmoth; daughter, Merriam Wilmoth all of the home; parents, Alvin and Candy Wilmoth of Thurmond; paternal grandmother, Betty Wilmoth of Thurmond; special loving extended family members and many special friends.
A funeral service will be conducted Saturday, October 28, 2017 at Charity Hill Baptist Church at 11:00 a.m. with Pastor Brian Cardwell, Preacher Scott Sherrod and Preacher Bobby Lyles officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends Friday night from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at the church.
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Asplundh Tree Experts Company Pleads Guilty to Hiring Illegal Aliens, Will Pay Massive Fines
Asplundh Tree Experts is one of the largest privately held companies in the United States. The company specializes in removing tree branches to make way for power and gas lines, and in clearing downed trees that have destroyed those lines. This big company had a dirty little secret though, and they were just forced to pay the consequences for it.
The company, headquartered in Philadelphia, has pleaded guilty to hiring illegal aliens who were not authorized to work in the United States, and for maintaining a willfully-blind structure of hierarchy to create plausible deniability. Unfortunately for them, the top executives were unable to wriggle their way out, and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced the guilty plea on Thursday.
Following the guilty plea hearing today, the Honorable John R. Padova sentenced the company to pay a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $80,000,000.00 and abide by an Administrative Compliance Agreement, as set forth by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Philadelphia. Pursuant to a separate Civil Settlement Agreement, Asplundh will pay an additional $15,000,000.00 to satisfy civil claims arising out of their failure to comply with immigration law.
The $95,000,000.00 recovery, including $80,000,000.00 criminal forfeiture money judgment and $15,000,000.00 in civil payment, represents the largest payment ever levied in an immigration case.
According to court documents, from 2010 until December 2014, Asplundh, an industry leader in tree trimming and brush clearance for power and gas lines, hired and rehired employees in many regions in the United States accepting identification documents it knew to be false and fraudulent. A six-year HSI audit and investigation revealed that the company decentralized its hiring so Sponsors (the highest levels of management) could remain willfully blind while Supervisors and General Foremen (2nd and 3rd level supervisors) hired ineligible workers, including unauthorized aliens, in the field. Hiring was by word of mouth referrals rather than through any systematic application process. This manner of hiring enabled Supervisors and General Foremen to hire a work force that was readily available and at their disposal.
By using a highly decentralized system, the company was able to find and exploit those here illegally, hiring and rehiring them over a period of about 4 years according to the investigation. The tactic enabled the company to get a leg-up on the competition, and that advantage enabled them to dominate the market.
While using a decentralized process is usually a good thing for a large company or for a government (especially a government), using that process to violate immigration and employment law is not something we should accept. The laws must be equally applied and not created in such a way that wealthy and/or well-connected individuals or companies can exploit the process at the expense of everyone else.
There’s nothing wrong with hiring immigrants to work for one’s company, but there are immigration laws that need to be respected. When companies engage in this kind of illicit hiring, it attracts people to come to the States illicitly (that, along with the welfare state, and the unduly burdensome process of legal migration).
ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan stated that “Today’s judgment sends a strong, clear message to employers who scheme to hire and retain a workforce of illegal immigrants: we will find you and hold you accountable. Violators who manipulate hiring laws are a pull factor for illegal immigration, and we will continue to take action to remove this magnet.”
This is one good step, but in order to further curb illicit entry, many other reforms in the immigration system are needed, and that goes way beyond just a border wall.