VOLUME 148 ISSUE 48 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2026
CHATHAMNEWSRECORD.COM
THE CHATHAM COUNTY EDITION OF NORTH STATE JOURNAL
PJ WARD-BROWN / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Icing over The water fountain outside the Asheboro Public Library was turned into an ice sculpture last Friday morning as temperatures dropped as low as 19 degrees. Far more ice and snow could be in the forecast for this weekend.
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BRIEF this week
100 vehicles pile up in Michigan crash as snowstorm moves across country More than 100 vehicles smashed into each other or slid off the interstate in Michigan as snow fueled by the Great Lakes blanketed the state. The massive pileup Monday prompted the Michigan State Police to close both directions of Interstate 196 just southwest of Grand Rapids. The State Police say there were numerous injuries but no deaths reported. The crash is just the latest impact of the major winter storm moving across the country. The National Weather Service issued warnings about either extremely cold temperatures or the potential for storms across several states.
Netflix intensifies bid for Warner Bros., makes $72B offer in all cash Netflix is now offering to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming business in an all-cash deal. This move aims to win over Warner’s shareholders for a $72 billion merger and counter a bid from Paramount. On Tuesday, Netflix and Warner announced a revised transaction to simplify the structure and speed up a shareholder vote. The all-cash offer is valued at $27.75 per Warner share. Warner’s leadership supports the merger with Netflix. Meanwhile, Paramount has made a $77.9 billion offer and plans a proxy fight. The sale could face antitrust scrutiny and political influence.
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Siler City could be spot for Memorial Day 5K The community run would give residents a chance to honor veterans By Ryan Henkel Chatham News & Record SILER CITY — The Town of Siler City looks to be in line to host a new 5K run this year.
At the Siler City Board of Commissioners’ Jan. 12 meeting, the board gave its approval for a Memorial Day 5K run to be held in the town. The event would be hosted on May 23 and orchestrated by American Legion Snow Camp Post 305. “Siler City was the best location because there’s a national
guard as well as a veterans memorial,” said Snow Camp Post 305 Commander Christopher King. The community run would start and end at the Chatham Rabbit, loop through Bray Park and pass by the West Chatham Veterans Memorial. “We want to make sure that we make it possible for ev-
erybody to attend,” King said. This also wouldn’t be a competitive run, as no medals will be handed out, but will instead be dedicated to a “memorialization for someone that you hold dear.” Now that the town board has given its blessing, the next steps, per King, are to form a planning committee, secure sponsors and partners, launch marketing and registration campaigns, and coordinate logistics with public safety and local services. “We need all the support that we can get for everything that we’ve been through for our See 5K, page A3
Forecasters warn of ‘potentially catastrophic’ winter storm from Texas to Carolinas Significant amounts of snow and ice could be in store By Jeff Martin and Haya Panjwani The Associated Press ATLANTA — With many Americans still recovering from multiple blasts of snow and un-
relenting freezing temperatures in the nation’s northern tier, a new storm is set to emerge this weekend that could coat roads, trees and power lines with devastating ice across a wide expanse of the South. The storm arriving late this week and into the weekend is shaping up to be a “widespread potentially catastrophic event from Texas to the Carolinas,” said
Ryan Maue, a former chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “I don’t know how people are going to deal with it,” he said. Forecasters on Tuesday warned that the ice could weigh down trees and power lines, triggering widespread outages. “If you get a half of an inch of ice — or heaven forbid an inch of ice — that could be catastroph-
NASCAR community mourns Biffle, 6 others killed in plane crash at memorial service “It means being generous whenever you can and helping other humans when they’re down. That is what it means to be like Biff.” Garrett Mitchell
His friends and family urged people to give back “like Biff” did By Steve Reed The Associated Press CHARLOTTE — Hundreds in the NASCAR community gathered for a memorial service at Charlotte’s Bojangles Coliseum on Friday for former driver Greg Biffle, his family and others who were killed in a plane crash last month. Biffle was among seven killed along with his wife, Cris-
tina, and children Ryder, 5, and Emma, 14, when the plane crashed as it returned to the airport in Statesville, according to authorities. Others on the plane were identified as Dennis Dutton, his son Jack, and Craig Wadsworth. Driver/influencer Garrett Mitchell, known as “Cleetus McFarland” in his YouTube videos and a close friend of Biffle’s, was among those who spoke at the service. “We have all been saying, ‘Be like Biff,’ since we lost our hero,” See BIFFLE, page A2
ic,” said Keith Avery, CEO of the Newberry Electric Cooperative in South Carolina. “Great swaths” of heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain expected The National Weather Service warned of “great swaths of See STORM, page A3