On May 12, 2026, at 10:36 PM, Martinsville Police officers responded to a shooting in the 300 block of Hairston Street. On arrival, it was discovered that two people had been shot. 53-year-old Marcie Hunt of Martinsville was transported to the SOVAH Martinsville Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries. Another adult male victim was taken to the hospital and treated for gunshot wounds. He was later transported to another hospital, where he remains in serious condition.
Investigators are processing the scene and interviewing witnesses. We will provide updates as the case develops.
If you have any information about this incident, please contact Sergeant Jason Vaughan at 276- 403-5247 or Crime Stoppers at 276-63CRIME (276-632-7463) Crime Stoppers is an anonymous tip line and you could receive an award up to $2,500.00.
Heart shaped boxes of chocolate are displayed for sale in Key West. (Jen Golbeck/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Valentine’s Day shoppers may feel jilted by runaway chocolate prices.
Chocolate prices soared 14.4% over the initial weeks of 2026 when compared to the same period a year earlier, nearly doubling the pace of price increases at the start of 2025, according to findings shared with ABC News by intelligence firm Datasembly.
The sharp rise in chocolate prices owes to a cocoa shortage caused primarily by adverse weather and crop disease in West Africa, which accounts for about 70% of the world’s cocoa, some analysts told ABC News.
The dearth of cocoa, analysts said, has ratcheted up input costs for chocolate makers and vaulted retail prices, leading to sticker shock in grocery and candy store aisles.
“There is a record gap between supply and demand,” David Branch, sector manager at the Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute, told ABC News.
Raw cocoa bean prices have risen dramatically in recent years due to the choke in supply. A metric ton of cocoa beans cost as much $12,000 last year, Branch said. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, cocoa bean prices hovered between $2,000 and $2,500 per metric ton, International Monetary Fund data shows.
In recent months, supply problems have begun to ease, bringing cocoa bean costs down significantly from last year’s peak. A metric ton of cocoa beans now runs about $3,700.
Still, chocolate prices remain highly elevated as chocolate makers sell through candy made with cocoa beans bought earlier, analysts said.
“A lot of manufacturers bought cocoa when prices were high and that’s still very much moving through the supply chain,” David Ortega, a food economist at Michigan State University, told ABC News.
In November, the White House announced framework trade agreements with some Latin American countries in an attempt to ease surging prices for grocery staples such as cocoa. While the U.S. imports a significant share of cocoa from West Africa, supply also comes from Latin American countries like Ecuador, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says.
“Today’s announcements underscore the Administration’s unwavering commitment to fair and balanced trade at every opportunity to protect and strengthen our economic and national security,” the White House said when it unveiled the framework agreements.
Prices remain high for some other imported food items, such as coffee and beef.
Coffee prices surged about 18% in January compared to a year earlier, while ground beef prices climbed more than 17% over that span, Bureau of Labor Statistics data on Friday showed.
Grocery prices are rising at a faster pace than prices overall, climbing 2.9% over the year ending in January, according to BLS data.
Chocolate price hikes will likely ease over the coming months, some analysts said, noting the eventual pass through of lower cocoa prices into the cost of chocolate bought at stores. Analysts emphasized, however, the uncertainty surrounding the outlook due to the chance of weather-related challenges for growers.
Branch, of Wells Fargo, said chocolate prices could even fall by the latter part of this year as manufacturers find cost relief and pass it along to shoppers.
“If market trends stay where they are, we’ll see lower prices for Halloween,” Branch said.
(NEW YORK) — Another winter storm will be affecting tens of millions of Americans this weekend, adding more snow to the harsh weather that has already caused the deaths of over 100 people since last week, according to officials.
Snow began falling in parts of eastern Tennessee, the Carolinas, and southern Virginia on Friday. Parts of northeastern Tennessee have already gotten up to three inches of fresh snow.
Through Saturday, this storm will begin to rapidly intensify over the Atlantic Ocean and offshore of the Mid-Atlantic, with winds quickly increasing as snow continues to fall over the Southeast.
With strong gusts between 35 and 60 mph and heavy snow, blizzard conditions are possible for millions late Saturday afternoon into the evening from eastern Georgia to Maryland.
Both South Carolina and North Carolina are under the Winter Storm Warning for up to a foot of snow and strong winds that will lead to whiteout conditions and dangerous travel.
The snow forecast shows a widespread 6-12 inches across the Carolinas, into western Tennessee and southeastern Virginia. Snow will start tapering off early Sunday morning.
“Major” winter storm impacts are expected for much of the Carolinas into southeastern Virginia.
Dangerous travel conditions leading to major travel disruptions, blizzard conditions, gusts up to 70 mph, coastal flooding, and beach erosion will all be possible with the peak of the storm on Saturday.
As of Saturday morning, more than 1,500 flights have been cancelled.
The storm moves out to sea on Sunday, with models continuing to keep it well off the coast and not bringing any significant snowfall to the Northeast, which was hit with heavy snow last week.
While the snow may be out of the way by Sunday, the freezing temperatures will remain.
A wide swath of America from the Upper Midwest down to the Deep South and out to the east are waking up with dangerously cold temperatures, which will linger into early next week for most.
Cities like Washington, D.C., Detroit and Green Bay had wind chills at zero Saturday morning, while New York City, Nashville and Little Rock had wind chills down into the single digits.
Through the weekend, places like Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Syracuse, New York, are under a Cold Weather Advisory until Sunday for wind chills between -15 and -25.
The New York City area remains under a cold weather advisory this morning for wind chills as low as -10 possible just before sunrise.
The bitter, and in some cases extreme, cold extends all the way to the Gulf Coast this weekend.
In Florida, an Extreme Cold Warning is in place for Sunday morning, where wind chills could reach the upper-teens in West Palm Beach, and Orlando could reach as low as 12. Jacksonville could also see wind chills on Sunday morning down to 9 and Tallahassee down to 10.
