JULY 29, 2010 ISSUE
News Watch
A Quick Look at News Across the Region
WCTDA Rocky Knob Trail Kickoff Meeting Thursday
This Thursday, July 29, at 6:00 p.m., the Watauga County Tourism Development Authority (WCTDA) will host the Rocky Knob Trail Kickoff Meeting at the Broyhill Inn & Conference Center. During the meeting, Eric Woolridge, WCTDA outdoor recreation planner, will provide an update on the current development and construction schedule of Rocky Knob Park. Also speaking will be Woody Keen, CEO of Trail Dynamics and president of the Professional Trail Builders Association.
The WCTDA recently awarded Trail Dynamics, LLC of Asheville with a contract to design and construct the trail system at Rocky Knob Park, with the assistance of Boone Area Cyclists.
Boone Area Cyclists will host volunteer trail building workdays on Saturday and Sunday, July 31 and August 1. Details about the workdays will be discussed at the Trail Kickoff Meeting; information is also available by clicking to www.booneareacyclists.com.
Construction of Rocky Knob began on June 1, and thus far Watauga County and the WCTDA have received $515,000 in state and private foundation grant funds for the park. At complete buildout, the 185-acre park will provide seven to nine miles of trails for mountain biking, hiking, trail running and Nordic skiing in the winter. In addition, the park will offer an adventure playground, numerous shelters and picnicking areas and a bike skills area. The WCTDA expects the first phase of trails to be available for public use in October. For more information about Rocky Knob and Boone area outdoor recreation planning efforts, click to www.booneareaoutdoors.com.
Parkway Between MP 288 and MP 291 To Close Temporarily Next Week
According to Blue Ridge Parkway Chief of Maintenance and Engineering Michael Molling, a temporary road closure is coming to the Parkway between Milepost 288 and Milepost 291, or from Aho Gap to Bamboo Gap, starting either Tuesday or Wednesday, August 3 or 4, and lasting until Friday, August 6. A private contractor will utilize the road closure to clean up storm debris and trim the corridor from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each day. “The closure will be for three days, and we’re closing the entire road between those times so the contractor can complete the work as quickly as possible,” explained Molling. “Otherwise, if we didn’t do a closure, it would take twice as long and be twice as expensive.”
Arrival Information for Watauga High School Grand Opening Friday
The completion of the new Watauga High School (WHS) building will be formally celebrated with a dedication, ribbon-cutting ceremony and guided and self-guided tours this Friday, July 30, starting at 10:00 a.m. All activities are open to the general public and are free of charge. For this Friday’s event, attendees are asked to arrive via the entrance located across from the Industrial Park on Highway 421; the Perkinsville entrance to the new high school will be closed. Parking will be available on site Friday, but Watauga County Schools staff encourages attendees to carpool to reduce congestion.
The grand opening will be held rain or shine. Check inside this week’s issue of High Country Press for a 24-page special section on the new Watauga High School. For more information, call Watauga County Schools at 828-264-7190.
ASU Favored to Win SoCon Again
ASU is a near unanimous choice of the Southern Conference’s coaches to win the 2010 Southern Conference (SoCon) football championship, the conference announced this week.
ASU received first-place votes from seven of nine SoCon coaches in the conference’s preseason poll. Coaches are not permitted to vote for their own teams, meaning that only one of eight possible votes was cast for a team other than ASU.
The Mountaineers are in search of their sixth straight SoCon title, which would match the conference record for consecutive championships set by Georgia Southern from 1997 to 2002. ASU return 20 starters (nine on offense, seven on defense and four specialists) from last year’s squad that went 11-3 overall, including a second straight perfect 8-0 SoCon record, and finished ranked No. 3 in the major national polls.
ASU also had a league high 13 representatives on the SoCon’s preseason all-conference squads, nearly twice as many as Samford, which landed the second most players on the squad with seven.
Ten of ASU’s 13 preseason all-conference honorees are first-team selections, led by Walter Payton Award candidate Devon Moore (Mebane/Cedar Ridge) at running back and its trio of Buck Buchanan Award candidates on defense: end Jabari Fletcher (Atlanta, Ga./Grady), linebacker D.J. Smith (Charlotte/Independence) and defensive back Mark LeGree (Columbus, Ga./Pacelli Catholic).
Joining Moore, Fletcher, LeGree and Smith on the first team are offensive linemen Brett Irvin (Gaffney, S.C./Gaffney) and Pat Mills (Charlotte/Providence), tight end Ben Jorden (Weddington/Charlotte Latin), wide receiver Brian Quick (Columbia, S.C./Ridge View), defensive end Lanston Tanyi (Shelby/Shelby) and place kicker Jason Vitaris (Seneca, S.C./Seneca). ASU’s second-team selections include offensive linemen Daniel Kilgore (Kingsport, Tenn./Dobyns-Bennett) and Matt Ruff (Charlotte/Providence) and defensive back Ed Gainey (Winston-Salem/Mt. Tabor).
ASU officially begins preparations for the 2010 campaign on Friday, August 6, when it opens fall practices. The season opener is September 4 at SoCon rival Chattanooga. The opener will be televised regionally on SportSouth and kicks off at 3:00 p.m.
Seven Apps Tabbed Preseason All-America
Headlined by first-team honorees D.J. Smith (Charlotte/Independence) and Mark LeGree (Columbus, Ga./Pacelli Catholic), ASU football led all programs with seven representatives on The Sports Network’s 2010 preseason all-America teams, which were announced this week.
In addition to Smith and LeGree, ASU was represented by running back Devon Moore (Mebane/Cedar Ridge), wide receiver Brian Quick (Columbia, S.C./Ridge View), tight end Ben Jorden (Weddington/Charlotte Latin) and defensive end Jabari Fletcher (Atlanta, Ga./Grady) on the second team and defensive end Lanston Tanyi (Shelby/Shelby) on the third team.
All seven of the Mountaineers’ preseason all-Americans also earned first-team preseason all-conference accolades from the Southern Conference’s coaches earlier in the day.
Southern Illinois was second behind ASU with five preseason all-Americans. Thanks in large part to the Mountaineers’ seven honorees, the SoCon led all conferences with 15 selections.
North Carolina Sales Tax Holiday August 6 to 8
North Carolinians may want to hold off on big purchases for the home, family and school until the first full weekend of August, when the state waves sales tax on many often-purchased items. The North Carolina Sales Tax Holiday takes place from 12:01 a.m. on Friday, August 6, until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, August 8. During the holiday, the North Carolina Department of Revenue provides sales tax exemption for certain items of tangible personal property. Residents will not have to pay sales tax on clothing, footwear and school supplies or $100 or less per item; school instructional materials of $300 or less per item; sports and recreational equipment of $50 or less per item; computers of $3,500 or less per item; and computer supplies or $250 or less per item. For more info, click to www.dornc.com/taxes/sales/salestax_holiday.html.
Local Poet Wins First Prize in International Poetry Contest
Earl E. LeClaire of Sugar Grove recently won first prize in an international poetry contest sponsored by Aquillrelle of Brussels, Belgium, for his poem, “Beyond the Mayonnaise Factory.” Among the final 10, another of Le Claire’s poems won honorable mention, “The Ride Out.”
Aquillrelle is run by poets of different nationalities, and was created to support free thought, free art and free thinking when applied to poetry, thus not presenting any pre-requisites or binding frames to the participants.
LeClaire has worked as a lobsterman, nuclear piping engineer, seaweed harvester, taxi cab driver, historical researcher, performance artist, chef and is currently on the advisory board of Cove Creek Farm, Inc., a residential addiction treatment center for young men.
LeClaire’s winning poems appear in his book called, Beyond the Mayonnaise Factory. He has also published two cookbooks and Night Taxi, a collection of short stories, all available by clicking to www.amazon.com. His fiction and non-fiction has been published in literary magazines in Europe and the United States.
Born in Rhode Island in 1941, LeClaire has been in and out of Vietnam, Iran, Mississippi and Los Angeles and has lived in many other regions of the United States. He has lived in the mountains of North Carolina for six years.
ASU To Test Siren System August 4
ASU will test its campus-wide siren warning system on Wednesday, August 4, at 11:55 a.m. Tests normally are conducted on the first Wednesday of the month.
For more information about the warning system, click to www.emergency.appstate.edu/appstate-alert/siren-warning-system.php.
Local Police Investigation Leads to Two Suspended Medical Licenses
An investigation by the Boone Police Department Narcotics Unit, the Watauga County Special Investigations Unit, the State Bureau Investigations Unit and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) led to the suspension of medical licenses of Dr. Benjamin Bradley Fann and Dr. Juan De Virgiilis of Total Health Integrated Services by the North Carolina Medical Board. During the investigation it was discovered that Dr. De Virgiilis with the assistance of Dr. Fann was authorizing controlled substance for patients without proper DEA privileges.
As of July 2, Dr. De Virgiilis’ medical license is suspended indefinitely; however he may apply for reinstatement in one year. Fann’s license will be suspended for six months beginning October 1. For more details on the case, click to www.ncmedboard.org.
Watauga Commissioners Host Public Hearing August 2
The Watauga County Board of Commissioners will host a public hearing during its regular meeting in the Commissioners’ Boardroom in the Watauga County Administration Building, located at 814 West King Street, at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, August 2, to allow citizen comment on AppalCART’s application to the North Carolina Department of Transportation for funding through the Rural Operating Assistance Program (ROAP).
ROAP funds have been used in the past to extend public transportation to individuals in Watauga County that might not have had access to transportation services or to increase the frequency of public transportation availability. For more information, call 828-265-8000.
Move In Day Volunteers Needed
Area residents are invited to help new students move in to their ASU residence hall during Move In on Friday, August 20. Volunteers are needed to “tote and carry” students' items to their room and/or greet students and their parents at the residence halls.
Register for “tote and carry” duties by clicking to www.housing.appstate.edu and scrolling down to “Announcements.” Volunteers are asked to sign up for a two-hour (minimum) commitment at the following times: 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. and 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Volunteers also can assist Staff Council with its water tents by signing up after clicking to www.staffcouncil.appstate.edu. The time allotments are 1.75 hours, which will give volunteers 15 minutes to walk to and from the tents. For questions, contact Alice Gryder at gryderae@appstate.edu or Jenny Primm at primmjw@appstate.edu.
Area residents are reminded that traffic will be congested at times coming in to Boone and around campus, and that area businesses may be more crowded than usual.
Grandfather Mountain’s Wilma the Eagle Passes Away
Wilma the Bald Eagle was humanely put to sleep last weekend after a battle with arthritis and declining health. Wilma had recently been showing signs of getting older and her bad arthritis was taking a physical toll on her body causing her to lie down frequently.
Wilma was at least 34 years old. She came to Grandfather Mountain in 1981 after sustaining a gunshot wound in the Western United States.
Of the animals currently at Grandfather Mountain, Wilma had called the Animal Habitats home the longest. Her habitat neighbor, Morely the Golden Eagle, came to Grandfather in 1984.
The Grandfather Mountain Habitat staff remembers Wilma as an independent and outspoken animal.
“Wilma wasn't able to fly because of her injury,” said Animal Habitat Manager Christie Tipton. “She's in a better place now where she'll always be able to fly.”
Barefoot Runner Halfway Through North Carolina
After running 108.4 miles to benefit the Western Youth Network (WYN) in August 2009, Matt Jenkins, known to many as the “barefoot runner,” is now roughly halfway through his 760-mile across North Carolina to help raise awareness about WYN and other programs that have recently lost funding due to statewide budget cuts. Jenkins, a former Marine and current WYN employee, started his run on July 15 in Manteo. He runs approximately 26 to 30 miles each day, stopping in various counties along the way.
Residents can follow Jenkins’ progress on Twitter by clicking to www.twitter.com/barefootncrun. For more information and/or to donate to Jenkins, click to www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=387296419528&ref=ts. For more information about WYN or to donate, call 828-264-5174 or click to www.westernyouthnetwork.org.
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