High Country Press

Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05

January 2007

• WAR: The soldiers of the 1451st Transportation Unit of the North Carolina National Guard learned that their tour of duty had been extended.
• PEACE: Peace advocates gathered at the Jones House on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, to advocate for an end to the war in Iraq and reading the names, ranks and hometowns of the 70 North Carolina soldiers killed in Iraq.
• LAWSUIT: Plaintiffs Jeff and Amy Templeton, Jeff Templeton Rentals, Elizabeth Colonna, Neil and Audrey Harley, James and Iva Hartley and Lewis and Frances Phillip announced that they filed suit against the Town of Boone, seeking injunctions against the town’s steep slope and viewshed protection regulations.
• GOOGLE: Google announced plans to establish a data technology facility in Lenoir, accepting the state’s offer of a $4.8 million Jobs Development Incentive Grant and additional incentives from the City of Lenoir and Caldwell County.
• GARBAGE: Watauga County residents recycled more than 4,000 tons of recyclable materials in 2006, but dumped almost 50,000 tons of solid waste. The county paid $2,045,331.34 to process and haul the solid waste away.
• POLITICS: Newly elected State Senator Steve Goss and State Representative Cullie Tarleton took their oaths of office.
• FORECLOSURES: In Watauga County, the increase in foreclosures was more than double the state average at 12.6 percent. In 2006, 107 properties were foreclosed, compared to 95 in 200.
• DESTRUCTION: The $2 million unoccupied Blowing Rock home of Leo Balestrieri, owner of Mulberry Street Trattoria on Howard Street in Boone, burned on January 12.
• WELCOME: Dr. Daniel Barron accepted the position as director of the Avery, Mitchell and Yancey Regional Library system effective January 1, replacing former director Patti Bowers.
• UPWARD TREND: Although work on the Watauga County Courthouse addition was slightly ahead of schedule, unanticipated problems put the project about $252,000 over budget, bringing the total cost of the job up to about $3 million.
• GLOBAL WARMING: After two weeks of temperatures in the mid-50s and low 60s, six inches of snow fell on January 9 to the relief of ski resort operators apprehensive about conditions for the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
• GLOBAL WARMING: Unseasonably warm temperatures broke daily high temperature records at Grandfather Mountain four times during January.
• MILESTONE: BZB Productions’ Sqrambled Scuares taped its 200th episode on Thursday, January 18.
• ASU: Anna Eschbach, a junior vocal performance major at ASU, sang the national anthem for the NC General Assembly’s opening session on January 24 at the invitation of Senator Steve Goss.
• POLITICS: House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.) selected North Carolina Congressman Patrick McHenry to be a Deputy Republican Whip for the 110th Congress.
• POLITICS: U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole was named the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities.
• WIND: At a public hearing on a 25- to 28-unit wind generating facility proposed for the Creston community, 30 people spoke in favor of the project and 15 in opposition. One week latter, the Utilities Commission public staff issued a statement of position maintaining that the proposed wind farm would violate North Carolina’s Mountain Ridge Protection Act of 1983, commonly known as the Ridge Law.
• DISCOVERY: Surveyors checked 40 squirrel boxes on Grandfather Mountain’s Daniel Boone Scout Trail and found five Northern flying squirrels, an animal on the state’s endangered species list.

February 2007

• WAR: The NC National Guard released the following casualty information: “Four North Carolina Army National Guard Soldiers from the 1451st Transportation Company were wounded by an Improvised Explosive Device, (IED) in December of 2006 while conducting a Combat Logistical Patrol. Three soldiers have returned to duty and one soldier is currently listed as an outpatient receiving treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.”
• GOOGLE: Dr. Ken Boham, president of Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute, announced that he had met with Google representatives to the college’s role in training and recruitment.
• CONSERVATION: Governor Mike Easley announced that the state agreed to purchase Chimney Rock for $24 million.
• EDUCATION: In Watauga, the dropout rate in 2005-06 showed a sharp rise over the rate from 2004-05, increasing from 3.33 to 4.84 percent. Avery showed a decrease, with a dropout rate in 2005-06 of 5.21 percent, compared to 5.63 percent in 2004-05.
• NEW FACES: A spokesperson for H.L. Libby, the Pennsylvania-based company that purchased the Boone Mall in June 2005, announced that Panera Bread Company was coming to the mall.
• MONEY: Watauga County Board of Commissioners Chair Jim Deal reported that the county had spent $6,936,000 on land for the new high school. At the beginning of the land acquisition process, the board estimated the cost at $7 million.
• NEW SCOUTS: Cub Scout Pack 194 reorganized and once again became active in the High Country.
• WEATHER: Neither Sugar Grove Slim’s groundhog nor Garreth the groundhog saw their shadows on February 2, unanimously agreeing on an early spring.
• GREAT IDEA: The Hunger and Health Coalition announced plans to produce a holiday CD featuring Christmas and holiday favorites performed by local musicians and choral groups.
• GENESIS: The inaugural High Country Disc Golf Charity ICE BOWL Tournament raised $933 for the Ashe County Partnership for Children.
• ASU: ASU’s music industry studies program entered the record business by establishing the student-run Split Rail Records label.
• ASU: Representatives of the university were on the agenda for the Town of Boone Quarterly Public Hearing to request the rezoning of four tracts of land totaling .99 acres located between College Street, Howard Street and Hamby Alley for the proposed College of Education building, but withdrew its request prior to the hearing.
• ASU: Mountaineers football announced that the team’s opening game would be against Michigan State.
• WIND: Northwest Wind Developers, the Ashe County firm proposing a 25- to 28-unit wind farm in Creston, petitioned the North Carolina Utilities Commission for an additional 120 days to amend its application and file expert testimony. The commission approved the extension.
• PLANNING: The Watauga County Board of Commissioners gave the go-ahead for a new county comprehensive plan.
• CRIME: In a burglary at Hickory Ridge Homestead, log cabins were damaged and ransacked and artifacts were stolen from the museum store and the blacksmith shop.
• MONEY: The commissioners heard the preliminary estimate for grading the two 90- by 120-foot soccer fields at Brookshire Park: $521,770.
• APPEAL: Floyd Garrison asked the Boone Town Council to extend water and sewer service to his 30-room Elk Motel, saying that he would otherwise be forced to close the hotel that provides low-income housing. The council denied Garrison’s request.
• RECOVERY: Kelly Azzaro’s horse Taz, stolen in July 2006, was recovered on Valentine’s Day.
• REQUIEM: William McRae “Bill” Matheson, longtime library volunteer, died on February 11.
• FACELIFT: Lees-McRae College announced that renovations would soon begin on the William N. Reynolds Gymnasium.
• UPWARD TREND: Nearly 300 people jumped into ASU’s frigid Duck Pond for the ninth annual Polar Plunge, raising more than $13,000 for special Olympians in Watauga County.
• CONSERVATION: High Country Conservancy purchased the 65-acre Rittle Knob summit.
• WIND: A new anemometer was installed on the Mile High Swinging Bridge at Grandfather Mountain.

March 2007

• HISTORY: An archeological survey determines no Native American artifacts at the proposed site of the new high school in Watauga County, but a geological survey finds the old Hartley Family cemetery.
• EDUCATION: The Department of Public Instruction released the first-ever report of the four-year cohort graduation rate. In 2006, Watauga County graduated 78.5 percent of the students who entered high school in 2002; Avery County graduated 70.2 percent
• MONEY: At an estimated cost of $4.5 million, the Howard Street Restoration project would require a tax increase for Boone residents of $0.0375 cents per $100 of valuation if the town were to borrow the entire amount.
• DIRT: Grandfather Mountain begins selling Grandfather Grit, bottles of 750 million-year-old bore dust.
• RESPONSE: NC DOT officials listened to the residents of the Amantha Community in the Cove Creek area and chose the Old Highway 421 bridge replacement alternative with the least impact.
• SUNLIGHT: Daylight Saving Time began on March 11, three weeks earlier than usual.
• COMMUNITY: ASU announced that the 2007 summer reading selection for freshmen—and the community-wide Watauga Reads selection—is A Home on the Field: How One Championship Team Inspires Hope for the Revival of Small Town America by Paul Cuadros.
• GENESIS: Watauga commissioners approved a plan to renovate the Appalachian Enterprise Center as a business incubator and small business resource center.
• ASU: The Turchin Center received an unrestricted $500,000 gift from anonymous donors in honor of Dr. Peter Petschauer, retired professor from the Department of History.
• GENESIS: Avery commissioners plan to build a new elementary school in Banner Elk.
• PROTEST: Dr. Roger Powell, a zoology professor at North Carolina State University, criticized the U.S. Forest Service’s wildlife habitat analysis of the Globe timber sale.
• HEALTH: The Avery County YMCA unveiled its new Wellness Center.
• TRANSPORTATION: DOT held an information session and public hearing on the King Street widening project that will impact 25 businesses and 63 residences.
• GENESIS: Boone Town Council established the Affordable Housing Committee.
• MOVING ON: Mountain Television news anchor and owner Steve Rondinaro accepted a job as the main anchor and managing editor at WWAY-TV3, the ABC affiliate in Wilmington.
• HIGH SCHOOL: Watauga commissioners approved the additional purchase of approximately 2.6 acres of undeveloped land for $80,000 per acre at the new Watauga high school site.
• UPWARD TREND: Watauga Commissioners approved the increased estimate of $800,000 for grading the two soccer fields at Brookshire Park.
• HEALTH: Boone Drug goes smoke-free.
• GENESIS: Boone Town Council established the Historic Preservation Commission.
• GENESIS: OASIS and W.A.M.Y announced plans to establish a Family Resource Center.
• PEACE: An anti-war demonstration in front of Rep. Virginia Foxx’s Boone office marked the fourth anniversary of the Iraq invasion.
• GLOBAL WARMING: Record daily high temperatures were broken March 23, 24, 25 and 27 at the official US Weather Service reporting station located next to the Mile High Swinging Bridge on Grandfather Mountain.
• ASU: The Belk Group commissioned Brenda Mauney Councill to paint a mural in the ASU library.