Archive - Aug 2011
August 12th
With piano-playing hogs, a horse-naming competition and a star-studded music lineup, this yearâs Hickory American Legion Fair is all about the kids, fair officials announced Friday.
The 98th edition of the annual fair is going âhog wildâ in 2011, and officials said they are putting an emphasis on promoting agriculture this year. The fair will last from Aug. 31 to Sept. 5.
Part of the âhog wildâ theme includes actual hogs as well. This year, the fair has booked performing pigs that dance and play music.
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) â Carolina Panthers quarterback Jimmy Clausen said he has been told by coach Ron Rivera that he'll start Saturday night's preseason home opener against the New York Giants.
Cam Newton, the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft, will likely be the first quarterback off the bench.
That's not a big surprise considering Clausen has been getting all of the reps with the first-team offense.
August 11th
One day after shutting out Kannapolis on the diamond, the Hickory Crawdads were blanked by the visiting Intimidators on Wednesday.
Kannapolis pitchers allowed three Hickory hits, and the Intimidators (63-49, 26-18) scored three runs â one in the second, seventh and eighth â on their way to the victory on the baseball diamond.
A home run by first basemen Dan Black to left field off of Hickory Crawdadsâ starter Ben Henry (4-2, 2.66) gave the Intimidators a lead they held for a majority of the baseball game.
Two coaching vacancies in the area have been filled.
Brad Mangum has been hired to coach the Fred T. Foard girls basketball team, while Denise Mullins takes over the St. Stephensâ volleyball program. Both hirings were officially approved Thursday.
Mangum, a 2001 graduate of South Caldwell High School, is a teacher assistant at Fred T. Foard.
He brings coaching experience from girls and boys basketball, including assisting the girls basketball program at South Caldwell from 2002-08 under coach Jeff Parham.
As high school football scrimmages continue in the area, St. Stephens welcomed Crest High School on the football field Wednesday.
The Indians and Trojans participated in a few drills, including 7-on-7 offensive and defensive drills, inside drills, 1-on-1 drills with wide receivers and defensive backs, a team session and a 20-minute varsity game situation.
For the first time, The Observer News Enterprise is hitting the links, but you donât have to own expensive golf equipment or be an experienced duffer to join in the fun.
With the inaugural edition of The O-N-E Classic on Saturday, Catawba Countyâs community newspaper is inviting area residents to join in a fun afternoon of mini-golf at Pin Station, and in the process, they can help a good cause â education.
As Nathan Miller showed off his newly built robot, he didnât miss a beat. âšDisplaying the ins and outs of his small machine made of tiny bits of Lego, he explained precisely why his creation is superior to the competition.
âšâOur robot is flat, so if someone elseâs ultrasonic sensor is taller, it will go right over ours,â he said. âWe made a wall shield in the front that will scoop up their robot and take it away, too.â
Virginia Marie Shook Gilbert, 87, of Conover passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011 at Carillon Assisted Living of Newton. The Gilbert family has entrusted funeral arrangements to Drum Funeral Home & Cremation in Conover.
William “Bill” Louis Wray, 77, of Claremont passed away on Thursday, August 11, 2011 at Palliative CareCenter and Hospice of Catawba Valley. The Wray family has entrusted funeral arrangements to Drum Funeral Home & Cremation in Conover.
Police arrested two Newton residents who were hiding powder cocaine in a infantâs bedroom.
Authorities seized 186 grams of powder cocaine and $9,000 in cash from 911 S. Brady Ave. in Newton on Wednesday afternoon after Newton Police Department, the Catawba County Sheriffâs Office and Hickory Police Department served a search warrant at the residence.
Newton Police Chief Don Brown said the suspects were hiding the cocaine inside an infantâs bedroom.
A Catawba County Schools middle school teacher was fired Thursday for an "inappropriate" relationship with a high school student.
Catawba County Schools Board of Education voted Thursday to terminate Mill Creek Middle School teacher Charles "Chuck" Settlemyre for six stated reasons, according to CCS Superintendent Glenn Barger. All of those reasons were related to "inappropriate conversation and contact with a student," he said. The contact occurred during the spring semester of the 2010 school year, he said.
