Archive - Aug 30, 2011 - News Article
Catawba County’s district attorney and his wife say they are thankful to be alive after a boat wreck threw them overboard Sunday evening.
Twenty-fifth Prosecutorial District Attorney Jay Gaither said he was blinded by bright lights before a boat he was driving crashed into another vessel on Lake Hickory on Sunday.
Gaither said he and his wife were celebrating their 17th anniversary on the lake Sunday evening and were driving down river at about 5 mph.
Homelessness and poverty has steadily increased in Catawba County in the past decade, and some area aid organizations said more can be done to help the growing population.
In the past 10 years, poverty has increased 77 percent in Catawba County, with nearby areas like Sherrills Ford being deemed some of the poorest in the region, according to data, released recently, by the Western Piedmont Council of Governments released recently.
Area emergency and public works personnel are helping clean-up efforts after Hurricane Irene ripped through sections of the North Carolina coast during the weekend.
Catawba County’s emergency services director as well as utility workers from Newton are helping restore power, remove debris and organize clean-up efforts in multiple counties near, or along, the N.C. coast.
