Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
January 4, 2007 issue
Numbers of the Year
January 5, 2006
$766,000
The amount of state funding provided to Watauga County for daycare subsidies administered by the Department of Social Services in fiscal year 2005-06.
January 12, 2006
$19,166
Amount of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area grant awarded to ASU for creating a Web-based museum exhibit of Western North Carolina traditional songs from the years 1825 to 1945.
January 19, 2006
1955
The year ASU’s Broome-Kirk Gymnasium was built. The building will be demolished in February.
January 26, 2006
4¢
The cost of producing one kilowatt hour of electricity with wind energy.
February 2, 2006
160
The total number of avian (bird) flu cases reported worldwide since the virus emerged in 2003, according to the World Health Organization.
February 9, 2006
67
According to Watauga County Schools Superintendent Dr. Bobbie Short, the number of outside doors at Watauga High School.
February 16, 2006
$1,039,390,739
In 2002, the cost to North Carolina taxpapers of teen pregnancies, according to the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Coalition of North Carolina.
February 23, 2006
$75,000,000
Suggested asking price for the Watauga County High School site proposed by Allen Trivette, Board of Education candidate and former county commissioner.
March 2, 2006
106
The number of inmate beds available in the new Watauga County Detention Center, 95 for males and 11 for females.
March 9, 2006
$8.3 billion
The current gross value of real property in Watauga County.
March 23, 2006
31.3¢
The revenue-neutral ad valorem tax rate in Watauga County, after adjusting for average annual growth. The county’s current tax rate is 39.5 cents per $100 of value.
March 30, 2006
26,670
The number of confirmed child abuse victims in North Carolina in fiscal year 2004-05.
April 6, 2006
$34.9 million
The estimated cost of renovating Watauga High School according to Construction Control Corporation, a construction management company based in South Carolina and Virginia.
April 13, 2006
$251,000
The amount of federal money Avery County has spent on new voting equipment: 22 ballot-counting machines and 20 handicapped-accessible voting machines.
April 20, 2006
$624,100
The total amount of bonuses paid to 162 NC lottery staffers as a reward for launching the state lottery operation by the target date.
April 27, 2006
$60
The cost of having a boot removed from an illegally parked vehicle in downtown Boone.
May 4, 2006
600
The number of square miles of West Virginia’s mountains that have been leveled by mountaintop removal coal mining.
May 11, 2006
8,700
The number of pounds of non-perishable food that the Watauga County Food Bank collected during last year’s Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.
May 18, 2006
$75,000
The amount of money presented to the Boone Collaborative Biodiesel Project on May 10 in Washington D.C. after the local team built a $10,000 biodiesel processor and won one of six prizes through the EPA’s P3 Sustainable Design Competition.
May 25, 2006
12 million
The number of barrels of oil needed to produce a year’s supply of grocery bags for the world
June 2, 2006
85
The number of teams participating in this year’s Relay For Life campaign. Participants are hoping to make this the sixth year in a row in which Watauga County has led the nation in fundraising for counties its size.
June 8, 2006
10 million
The number of individuals in America who are estimated to be suffering from Osteoporosis.
June 22, 2006
20.4%
The percentage of overweight children in Watauga County; the statewide percentage is 17%.
June 29, 2006
135 feet
The maximum height permitted for a small wind energy system turbine in the proposed Watauga County Ordinance to Regulate Wind Energy Systems.
July 6, 2006
95 percent
The percentage of hemlock trees the hemlock wooly adelgid has killed in northern Virginia.
July 13, 2006
65
The number of professional musicians in the North Carolina Symphony. The orchestra will give four concerts in the High Country in the coming week.
July 20, 2006
$50
The fine for violating the Ordinance to Regulate Hazardous Recreation Parks in Watauga County. The ordinance requires skaters to wear helmets and pads at the new Appalachian Skatepark.
July 27, 2006
63 miles
The trout stream length that will be protected by conservation easements and homesite buffers at Laurelmor
August 3, 2006
231 acres
The number of acres that the Forest Service is planning to harvest in the Globe area.
August 10, 2006
$8,261,758
The anticipated two-year DOT allocation for paving and maintaining secondary roads in Watauga County.
August 17, 2006
70,000
The annual cost of maintaining the Valle Crucis Community Park. On Saturday, August 26, the park will host an auction fundraiser to offset this cost.
August 24, 2006
150,000
The maximum square footage permitted for large-scale retail buildings in Boone. The Boone Town Council approved the limitation last week.
September 7, 2006
54
Number of disc jockeys at WASU, the university’s radio station at 90.5 FM.
September 14, 2006
1,400
The approximate number of properties whose owners have filed protest petitions related to Boone’s proposed steep slope development regulations.
September 21, 2006
5
Number of methamphetamine lab responses by law enforcement in Watauga County from January 1 through August 30, 2006.
September 28, 2006
1,000
Number of cyclists on High Country highways this Sunday when participants in Cycle NC, a cross-state bike ride, leave Banner Elk.
October 5, 2006
715
Number of reference books—dictionaries, atlases and thesauruses—distributed to Watauga County school children by the Rotary and Kiwanis clubs in Boone.
October 12, 2006
110
Number of students enrolled in ASU’s Community Music School. Four are adults; the rest are children.
October 19, 2006
$1.2 million
The purchase price of a 14.8-acre tract in the Perkinsville area, part of the land acquisition for the new Watauga High School.
October 26, 2006
603
Number of acres in a proposed residential and commercial development off Old John’s River Road, five miles south of Blowing Rock.
November 2, 2006
$1,200
Average annual credit card interest payment in the United States.
November 9, 2006
98
Number of votes that separate Watauga County Sheriff candidates Len Hagaman and Mark Shook. Hagaman has the lead in the race.
November 16, 2006
$5,000
The annual amount to be awarded to the Watauga County high school grad selected to receive the just-announced John and Ruth Blue Scholarship.
November 22, 2006
$14 million
The estimated economic impact of the choose and cut Christmas tree industry in Watauga County.
November 30, 2006
118
Number of votes that gave L.D. Hagaman victory over incumbent Mark Shook in the Watauga County sheriff’s race. Both candidates received 50 percent of the vote.
December 7, 2006
$133,213
The cost to replace and install the conveyor belt and track for the bailer at the Watauga County Recycling Center.
December 14, 2006
0
Number of tickets available for the NCAA Division 1-AA national championship game in Chattanooga Friday when ASU plays the University of Massachusetts.
December 21, 2006
$7.95 million
The estimated cost of right-of-way acquisition on Highway 321 from Blackberry Road to US 221 in Blowing Rock, a process scheduled to begin in 2008.