February 16, 2006 issue
Top Stories
Candidate Filing Brisk in Watauga, Slow in Avery
Even before candidate filing officially began at noon on Monday, February 13, the Watauga County Board of Elections office was packed with candidates and supporters. The first to arrive was incumbent Mark Shook who was accompanied by a large contingent of supportive deputies and Sheriff’s Office workers.
Board of Elections Moves Three Polling Places,
Considers North Fork Closure
The Watauga County Board of Elections met in a special meeting Monday evening, not to discuss the closure of five precincts as High Country News reported last week, but to consider a resolution for closing the North Fork precinct and requests to move five polling places.
Alfred Adams Awards Luncheon Honors Local Businesses, Individuals
On Thursday, February 9, High Country business and community members gathered at the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center to honor outstanding local businesses and one special individual. The event, sponsored by the Watauga County JobLink Career Center and the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, was the Seventh Annual Alfred Adams Leadership Awards Luncheon—part of JobLink Appreciation Week.
Extension Wants Your Responses
Surveys can be effective tools for collecting information—if people fill them out and return them. The Watauga County Cooperative Extension is currently conducting a survey to find out how to better serve their constituents.
States Releases Water Quality Assessment Report
According to the latest North Carolina Water Quality Assessment and Impaired Waters List, 1,600 miles of streams are impaired across North Carolina.
As Watauga’s Teen Pregnancy Rate Rises,
What Can Families and the Community Do?
The news that there has been a marked rise in teen pregnancies has been of great concern to many members of the community.
Park Service Requests Public Comments on Globe Project
The Grandfather Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest is requesting comments on the proposed actions for the Globe Project. The project area includes portions of Caldwell, Avery and Watauga counties.
Have You Plugged into the High Country’s Green Power?
Green power is quickly becoming a household term in the southeast as a way to identify the region’s proactive moves since the turn of this century toward alternative energy sources. Green power alternatives are available through two local electrical cooperatives, Blue Ridge Electric (BREMCO) in Watauga County and Mountain Electric (MEC) in Avery County.
Federal Program Has Avery School Board and Commissioners in Limbo
At the Avery County commissioners’ regular meeting on February 6, Grace Calhoun, superintendent of schools, turned the deed to Avery High School over to the county. The deed turnover was another formality in the process of meeting the guidelines of a federal Quality Zone Academy Bond (QZAB) for the high school’s renovation project. But the story doesn’t end there. The Avery County Board of Education and the county commissioners have very recently found themselves in limbo with a QZAB allocation of $2 million they understood would be no problem for them to procure.
MerleFest Named Event of the Year
MerleFest, the annual festival in celebration of the music of the late Merle Watson and his father Doc Watson, took home four awards at the North Carolina Association of Festivals and Events (NCAF&E) Showfest in Charlotte on February 13. NCAF&E presented MerleFest with its premier accolade, the Kay Saintsing Award for Event of the Year. MerleFest 2005 also won in the annual budget of more than $50,000 category for Best Press Kit, Best Event Photo (by Wilkes Community College’s own Chad Treadway), and Best Miscellaneous Printed Material (for the MerleFest program). Wilkes Community College will present MerleFest 2006 on April 27-30, 2006 on its campus in Wilkesboro
Weather Channel To Broadcast From Grandfather
People across the nation will get a view from the top as the Weather Channel broadcasts live from the summit of Grandfather Mountain this weekend between 7:00 and 11:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, February 18 and 19.
Community Interest
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