Archive - Sep 2011 - News Article
September 28th
Itâs a duct tape revolution.
The days of simple, silver duct tape are over, and the colors are in. An influx of âFunky Flamingoâ pink, âZig-Zag Zebraâ and âTotally Tie Dyeâ tape designs are popping up at hardware and retail stores across the nation, and tape officials say they are selling fast.
More colors, designs and prints have led to more uses as well. There are duct tape sandals, duct tape flowers and even duct tape artwork.
The uses, styles and reputation of duct tape have definitely changed.Â
But what makes colorful duct tape so popular? What makes it different?
State cuts have caused the local district attorneyâs office to cut staff, programs and hours that directly benefit the public.
The state approved funding reductions this summer for departments across the board, but the court systems, and thus district attorneyâs offices, have felt the brunt of cuts approved in the stateâs $19.7 billion budget.
Henry Helton said 16 years ago he asked Claremont's city council for $250 to hire a band for a community gathering.
Helton, the special events coordinator for the city, said the council granted the money, a fair amount of people showed up to the event and what became Claremont Day has grown each year since.
This year's festival on Main Street begins Saturday at 9 a.m., with comments from Mayor David Morrow and Oxford Elementary School students singing the national anthem.
September 27th
Catawba County and the Southeast region are remembering a âlegend of Southern gospel musicâ today that you might have known for different reasons.
Charles Ray Burke was an area businessman who friends and family say devoted countless hours to the Southern gospel music industry. He was most known for his behind-the-scenes leadership that launched the careers of notable quartets and singers, but Burke tuned a long list of business ventures throughout his lifetime that continue to be felt today.
Burke died unexpectedly Friday, Sept. 23, in Maiden. He was 75.
Gas prices are dropping â for now.
Area gas prices have fallen below the national average, but they still soar nearly $1 per gallon higher than in September of last year.
In the past two months, gas prices across the nation and Catawba County have decreased about 20 cents. On Tuesday, gas stations around Newton, Conover and Claremont sold fuel for about $3.40 per gallon. In Maiden, the prices were higher in places like the Valero gas station on U.S. 321 Business, which sold gas for $3.48 per gallon.
The national average for fuel hovers around $3.51 per gallon.
In an effort to improve safety and meet building code requirements, Catawba County Schools plans to replace bleachers at several of its high school football stadiums.
The board of education approved an agreement Monday night to hire an architect to create design concepts and cost estimates for the replacements.
Assistant Superintendent Steve Demiter said the school system is exploring work on the home and visitor bleachers at St. Stephens and Bandys high schools, the home side at Fred T. Foard High School and the visitor side at Bunker Hill High School.
This Dollar goes a long way.
A new Dollar General will open in Catawba this week, giving town residents quick and easy access to basic grocery store needs. There is no grocery store in Catawba, and many residents have to drive outside town lines currently to get food or a general item quickly.
The store is located at the intersection of U.S. 70 and Oxford School Road.
A Conover man faces a charge of driving while impaired after he wrecked his moped Tuesday morning on N.C. 16.
Gregory Eugene Shook, 51, was impaired by medication, not alcohol, when he lost control of his scooter just before 5 a.m., said Trooper B.K. Perkins of the N.C. Highway Patrol.
Perkins said the first person to arrive after Shook's accident was Keith Cranor of Roan Mountain, Tenn.
"He found him across the center line of the road, called 911 and waited," Perkins said of Cranor.
Shook was transported to Catawba Valley Medical Center.
Alcohol was involved in a Sunday crash on U.S. 321 that killed a woman, according to the N.C. Highway Patrol.
Tyler Harold Shull, 27, of Hickory, is charged with driving while impaired and felony death by vehicle after a crash that killed 21-year-old Jessica Justice of Stanley.
Shull, with Justice in the passenger seat, was driving his 2008 Volkswagen Passat north on 321 when he hit a 1996 Jeep SUV driven by Brooke Nicole Shipman of Clyde.
September 26th
Pieces of a recreation trail in Newton and Conover were in the spotlight on Sunday, even as dark rain clouds threatened.
Leaders in both cities dedicated segments of the Carolina Thread Trail â a planned 126-mile pathway that will meander through 15 counties in North and South Carolina. The trail is named for the countiesâ rich fabric manufacturing heritage.
Just after 2:30 p.m., members of Conoverâs city council lifted a white sheet off a sign that marks the Thread Trail on a stretch of the Gateway Trail off 1st Street.
