🌱 Painter Leo Rucker On New Mural + Man Pleads Guilty To Assault

Hello again, everybody! I'm back in your inbox this warm morning with your fresh edition of the Winston-Salem Patch newsletter.

But first, your local weather:

• Wednesday: Partly sunny. High: 91 Low: 71.
• Thursday: Sunshine and some clouds. High: 92 Low: 73.

Here are the top three stories in Winston-Salem today:

1. Local artist Leo Rucker has painted several murals across Winston-Salem, but his most recent work, across from Atkins High School, will be a mural featuring prominent alumni from the school. Rucker, who grew up in the vicinity of Atkins High and began his career in portraiture, considers the work a labor of love, which he's been doing for more than 30 years.(WGHP FOX8 Greensboro)
2. Jose Angel Rios has pled guilty to statutory rape of a child, second-degree forcible rape, and four counts of indecent liberties with a child in connection to a sexual assault that occurred at a Winston-Salem apartment in July of 2021. Winston-Salem Police Department officers were called to an apartment complex on Jul. 20, 2021 in connection to a sexual assault, and an investigation led to charges being pressed against Rios for an assault against a 15-year-old girl living at the complex. Rios, who worked at the apartment complex as a maintenance worker, entered the apartment under the pretense of replacing countertops and committed the assault shortly after. (WGHP FOX8 Greensboro)
3. Winston-Salem-based nonprofit Senior Services is reprising its Christmas in July item drive for the 12th year so far. Senior Services will be accepting donations from now through to Jul. 31, with an eye on items listed on the organization's online wish list. Donations can be made at Forsyth County branches of Piedmont Federal Savings Back, or delivered to Senior Services, at 2895 Shorefair Drive. (WXII12 Winston-Salem)

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Today and tomorrow in Winston-Salem:

Wednesday, July 12

• Youth Sports Camp At The Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center (7:30 AM)
• Book Club At The Miller Park Community Center (10:00 AM)
• Preschool Discovery At Kaleideum North (11:30 AM)

Thursday, July 13

• Alzheimer’s & Dementia Support Group At Forest Heights Senior Living (12:30 PM)
• Old Town 80s Horror Summer Series At The Old Town Neighborhood Center (7:00 PM)

From my notebook:

• Kaleideum, our local experiential learning museum, is participating in a program called Museums for All, which offers visitors receiving food assistance benefits reduced admission pricing of $3, instead of $10. As of this July, Kaleideum has expanded the reduced rate offering to recipients of Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, and Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina Link2Feed cardholders. (WFDD)
• Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools will be holding hiring events in the next week, with an online seminar, The Alternative Pathways to Teaching Webinar, held on Tuesday, Jul. 11, and next Tuesday, Jul. 18, a career fair will be held at the Reynolds High School Gymnasium from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (WXLV)
• Texas Roadhouse, Camel City BBQ Factory, East Of Texas, Little Richard's Bar-N-Que, Mr. Barbecue, Hawgfish Shack BBQ & Seafood, and Real Q have been honored as exceptional Winston-Salem area BBQ joints, with Real Q coming in at no. 1 on the list! (WGHP FOX8 Greensboro)

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Featured events:

• Prime Day Is Happening Now — Shop & Save! (Jul. 12)
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Now you're in the loop and ready to head out the door on this Wednesday.

— Amy Mayo

About me: Amy Mayo is a writer, visual artist, and political scientist, living in the NC Research Triangle. She graduated from the University of North Carolina Asheville with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and has worked in a variety of fields outside of copywriting including policy advocacy, the healthcare industry and pharmaceuticals, and education. She hopes one day to live up to the stringent expectations of her cat, Morty.