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Catawba County's week ahead

2012-02-03T23:14:01-05:00

A Tuesday seminar will kick off a weekly series on aging at Valley Hills Mall.A Thursday dance in Newton invites senior citizens to gather for three hours of fun at the city's recreation center.For more on these and other events this week in the Catawba Valley, read on. Pick up The O-N-E print edition daily for more on events, the latest area news, advertisements, comics, obituaries and more.TuesdayAging will be the topic of a free weekly workshop series that will begin at 10:30 a.m. at Catawba Valley Medical Center (CVMC)'s Health First Center at Valley Hills Mall in Hickory.Wednesday, ThursdayLibrary locations in Catawba County will teach citizens the basics of computers during free classes at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Conover and 6 p.m. Thursday in Claremont.ThursdayThe Newton Parks ThursdayThe Catawba Valley Community College Small Business Center will present “Doing Business with the Federal and State Government” from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on CVCC’s East Campus.Fridays in FebruaryThe Sherrills Ford library branch will offer activities for all ages from 1-4 p.m. every Friday in February. Board games and books will be provided for all ages, Legos will be available for young children and a variety of fun activities will be offered.SaturdayLibrary staff in Maiden will teach citizens how to use e-book readers at a free 11 a.m. program. Pre-registration is required.OngoingCatawba Science Center's "Dinosaurs" exhibit opened recently and continues daily during center hours. The exhibit features half-sized roaring robotic dinosaurs, including a Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus and more.For more information, visit the science center online at catawbascience.org or call 828-322-1585.

Resident petitions speed on rural road

2012-02-03T23:11:49-05:00

Gerald Bennett takes his hands out of his pockets and takes a few steps toward Grace Church Road. “In 10 minutes, this road will turn into I-40, qualifying for the Daytona 500,” Bennett said.Bennett, a longtime resident of Grace Church Road in the Blackburn area, has watched “speeders” race down his street for 10 years. Friday, he showed The O-N-E first hand. A few cars pass by, tempting the road’s unmarked speed limit of 55 mph. Then, at about 3:08 p.m., they started coming. VROOOOMM!A blue Chevrolet Corvette with a T-topped roof races past in a blur. WHOOOOSH!A 90s-era Honda Civic blazes past, bumping heavy bass. The speeders continue rushing past for nearly 15 minutes. I look over at Bennett. He smiles. “I told you so,” he said. “Now, you think I’m going to cross the road to check my mail box this time of day? No way.”Haven for speed For the past decade, Grace Church Road has been a haven for speeders. Bennett said the road’s combination of narrow lanes and high speeds have led to nearly a half-dozen serious wrecks in recent years, including a flipped car in his front yard about four years ago.Traffic along the road has increased with population growth, and Bennett said high school students are usually the ones zooming down the road. He said students from Fred T. Foard High School use Grace Church Road as a means to bypass slow-moving bus traffic on Plateau Road and N.C. 10 when school releases about 3 p.m. on weekdays. The road, which connects Plateau Road and Hickory-Lincolnton Highway in western Catawba County, does not have a speed limit posted and is by default a 55 mph zone. Neighbors have tried for years to get the speed limit lowered, even signing a petition in hopes of making the change. Residents, including Bennett, have also sat down with area police and N.C. Highway Patrol troopers, trying to promote more speed enforcement along the roads.Little has changed. Now, Bennett is again trying to pressure the N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) into reducing the speed limit. At a recent Catawba County Board of Commissioners meeting, Bennett discussed the issue with county officials. He caught the attention of Commissioner Barbara Beatty, who wrote a letter to NCDOT Division Engineer Mike Holder. “That’s what I usually do with citizens who have issues,” Beatty said. “If anybody has any complaints or concerns, I do request that the DOT take a look at them. When we’ve contacted them, I’ve never had them not come out, take a look and get back to me.”The county has no control over the speed limit or other factors on roads like Grace Church Road. However, area officials' contact to the NCDOT can often help, Beatty said. An engineer from the NCDOT contacted Bennett about the issue Jan. 26. The engineer told Bennett the state would visit the site and “investigate” the matter as quickly as possible, letting Bennett know that Catawba County is one of many areas NCDOT manages. Representatives from the NCDOT did not respond to a phone call from The O-N-E by press time Friday. “I can’t place a call and immediately get something done,” Beatty said. “It has to go through (the NCDOT’s) process.” Bennett is unsure if an engineer will evaluate the road or make a change, but he’s not getting his hopes up. He said there needs to be a change before someone gets killed or there is another serious accident.

Hickory company connects mobile users during game

2012-02-03T18:24:42-05:00

Corning MobileAccess, which is part of Corning Inc.’s telecommunications segment, recently installed distributed antenna systems (DAS) technology at several major venue sites in Indianapolis, the site of Super Bowl XLVI. The technology will help bring outdoor mobile signals indoors, allowing fans to have less interrupted access to data, voice, pre-game video, messaging and photo sharing at large venues surrounding the event, according to Corning officials. In addition to serving Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Super Bowl will be played, the DAS technology has been deployed at the Indianapolis International Airport, eight hotels, two area medical centers, the Indiana Convention Center and the Colts training facility.“While large sites are great for events, the structures themselves and the massive amount of people within them trying to access cellular networks simultaneously can result in dropped calls and slower data access," said Mike Genovese, Corning Cable Systems’ senior vice president of wireless networks and new business development. "Our solutions distribute cell signals throughout these locations, so that Indianapolis visitors and residents can effortlessly connect via their mobile devices."This isn’t the first time Corning MobileAccess has provided mobile signals for the Super Bowl.Lucas Oil Stadium is the fifth Super Bowl venue to be outfitted with an installed DAS system, with others including Reliant Stadium in Houston for Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004; ALLTEL Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., for Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005; Ford Field in Detroit for Super Bowl XL in 2006; and University of Phoenix Stadium for Super Bowl XLII in 2008.The DAS systems provide indoor mobile signals that are distributed throughout large facilities, such as football stadiums or convention centers. The signals help improve coverage for voice, texting and data services.

Friendship conquers bullying

2012-02-03T23:14:52-05:00

Shuford Elementary School students learned that message all week during programs, contests and lessons that taught them no one has to be a victim of bullies."We learned how to help your friends when there are bullies," said fifth-grader Tamiya Artis. "If you do something good, you get something in return — friends."Daily themes shaped the week's activities. Students wore hats Tuesday to "put a lid on bullying." On another day, students wore tie-dyed shirts and some read quotes about peace on the school's intercom."Some people think it's just elementary school children, so they don't have to worry about bullying, or that it's just something everyone has to go through in school," said Katie Vaughn, who serves as Shuford's guidance counselor and organized anti-bullying week events. "That's just not the case anymore. By teaching them there are skills they can use to stand up against bullying at an early age, it gives them many more tools they can use as they get older."All of Shuford's students and staff gathered in the school cafeteria Friday afternoon to celebrate those tools and recap what they learned.Several students were awarded for winning entries in anti-bullying drawing and writing contests.Suddenly, Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are" started playing on the room's speakers.Students and teachers, many wearing brightly colored Shuford shirts, stepped out of the crowd and danced their way to a stage.A sudden synchronized dance, known as a "flash mob," ensued. The dance was an idea technology teacher Laura Hall received from a friend. Hall saw an anti-bullying "flash mob" video on YouTube and shared the idea with Vaughn."I thought 'we've got to do this,'" Hall said. "This would be perfect for this week."Cassidy Geddes, Caleb Henze, Luke Canrobert and other students and teachers shimmied their bodies, waved their arms and shared a message with the school that being unique is OK and bullying is not.

Conover mom faces abuse charges

2012-02-03T13:15:12-05:00

The Charlotte Observer reports Charlotte-Mecklenburg police responded to Carolinas Medical Center (CMC) after hospital staff saw Ladonna Kaye Parlier, 26, injecting a substance into her 5-month-old daughter's IV line.Police said they caught Parlier on surveillance video abusing her child.Detectives said she pulled a syringe from her daughter, Naomi's, IV line, then injected an "unknown substance" into the IV.Police are testing the IV line and the bag.Police told the Observer that a joint investigation with the Department of Social Services revealed that Parlier had previously abused her daughter "on several occasions."Parlier is charged with five counts each of felony child abuse and misdemeanor child neglect. She was arrested and jailed Thursday with her bail set at $137,500.

The O-N-E Morning Read: Friday, Feb. 3

2012-02-03T09:09:26-05:00

More details on next year’s school calendar in the Friday edition of The O-N-E.Newton-Conover High School received remains from the World Trade Center, and the 110-pound piece of 9/11 history will be unveiled during a community ceremony later this month.High school dropouts hit an all time low statewide. How are Catawba County Schools and Newton-Conover City Schools faring? More information in the print and online editions of The O-N-E.SPORTS• A pair of Lenoir-Rhyne Bears are in Sunday’s Super Bowl.• Conference wrestling titles are on the line Saturday.• It is time to sign up for spring sports. Get details on registration for recreation department and club youth sports in The O-N-E.ONLINE ONLY:• Did you see signing day pictures from area high schools? Check out photos Fred T. Foard, Bandys and Maiden, and see football athletes committing to their next level of education on The O-N-E’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/pages/The-Observer-News-Enterprise/73539327933.• Have you decided which candidate will get your vote for North Carolina governor? Share your thoughts in the online poll.PRINT EXCLUSIVE• Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter yesterday. See his photo in Friday’s edition of The O-N-E.• A pair of Catawba County schools students have good horse sense - and they proved it during a nationwide conference recently.• Find out how to protect your financial health online on the HEALTH page. Family Builders of the Catawba Valley are holding a information session for parents hoping to adopt or foster a child.• Heath Shuler announced he won’t seek re-election.

Favorite for N.C. governor? Vote now

2012-02-03T05:16:48-05:00

Former Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory — a Republican who lost to Perdue in the 2008 race for governor — and Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, a Democrat, are in the race.Current Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx and former UNC system president Erskine Bowles said they won't run for the state's top government position.Have you picked a candidate to support in the governor race?Vote now at observernewsonline.com, and pick up the weekend edition of The O-N-E for results from last week's poll.

CCS calendar shortens summer

2012-02-02T23:22:09-05:00

Some of the system's teachers say they don’t mind the change and are praising the “early-start” calendar that’s more similar to schedules used in previous years.The CCS Board of Education unanimously approved a new 185-day calendar this week that will start teachers Aug. 2 and students Aug. 7 for the 2012-13 school year. The last day of student classes will be May 23, 2013.The school system will start classes nearly two weeks earlier than many districts across the state that begin classes at the end of August, as required by state law. However, CCS qualifies for a special “winter waiver,” which allows the system to start earlier because of its susceptibility to winter weather delays and cancellations. With the state’s anticipated approval of the waiver, CCS schools will start about two weeks earlier than usual and cut out a significant portion of summer break. CCS Superintendent Glenn Barger said the shorter summer is one of many options the board and officials discussed prior to approving the calendar. “It’s a one-summer deal that will be short,” Barger said. “Any time you make a change, you’re going to make that shortened time.”Barger said despite other lingering issues, the “early-start” schedule will fix some of the problems the state’s calendar creates. Since being approved in 2011, the state’s mandated schedule has been criticized by school districts statewide. Superintendents and school officials say it creates planning, financial and “frustrating” issues that could have been avoided.Some of the problems discussed include the following: • In the “late-start” schedule, students do not complete enough days prior to winter break to take their exams before the Christmas holidays. Instead, they take finals after a two-week winter break from the classroom — almost a week into the “second semester.” • By starting Aug. 25, teachers are paid significantly less for the first month of work, putting a financial strain on educators working on 10-month payment plans. Many of those educators go most of the summer without a paycheck.• Switching to a 185-day calendar, the state turned five days that were previously teacher workdays into student days — taking away planning time and costing thousands more in operating costs. By approving an “early-start” calendar, CCS can avoid at least two of those issues — something area teachers favor. The new calendar will allow high schoolers to take exams before winter break. “Demonstrating to me a mastery of a course, it makes more sense to go ahead and have those exams attached to the end of your instruction opposed to having a break for a week and half, coming back for a week, and then taking the exams,” said Andy Blevins, a geometry and AP statistics instructor at Fred T. Foard High School. Blevins said he thinks CCS' approved calendar is better than a late-start schedule.“Particularly from being in high school, I think early start is better. It gives you more flexibility and more planning time and days throughout the school year,” he said. The new schedule will also allow teachers to be paid for the full month of August, which sounds good to Elizabeth Farris, a fourth-grade teacher at Startown Elementary. “It’s especially reassuring because my husband is also a teacher,” she said. “That will definitely help with budgeting.”Farris said the early start will also allow her elementary students to have more time outside. “Thinking about it starting earlier, it’s kind of nice. August is so sweltering hot, and it’s hard for students to go out and play. It’s nice for the kids,” Farris said. More days remain, for nowThough the approved CCS calendar will fix exam scheduling and payment issues, it doesn’t address the problems of a 185-day term.The state now requires all calendars to include 185 instructional days, but state officials are expected to discuss the issue in May. CCS has also prepared a 180-day calendar if the state decides to revert to its traditional format, but Barger said the start and finish dates will not change. Teachers hope the state will change to a shorter term, giving teachers back their work days that provide valuable time for planning. “We are hoping the state will change its stance on the 185-day calendar,” said Rhonda Pawlik, a sixth-grade teacher at Startown Elementary. “I’m already working until 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. and when you take out the work days, I don’t have the time I need to take to prepare.”No matter what, everyone will lose two weeks in the summer, including students. Pawlik said her students will have to adjust.

110 pounds of history

2012-02-02T23:22:47-05:00

UPS recently delivered a tightly stuffed box to Newton-Conover High School. Tom Mentzer, senior Naval science instructor and Navy JROTC commander, retrieved the heavy box at the school's office."When I opened it, my heart was beating so fast," Mentzer said, "because I knew what was inside."The box housed 110 pounds of history — a piece of one of the two World Trade Center (WTC) towers that collapsed after planes hit them in 2001.A long process brought the piece from the Port Authority of New York's control to NCHS, where it will be officially celebrated later this month and then showcased in the school's library in a cabinet built in the school's shop class.Mentzer started working with the Port Authority in June 2011 to obtain the piece, which he hoped would arrive in time for the 10th anniversary of 9/11 in September. The long transfer process — which included the signing of legal documents to take custody of the artifact — eventually resulted in the piece's arrival this year.Alexiss Yanez, a NCHS senior and NJROTC student, said he hopes the artifact brings the community together, much as 9/11 united the nation a decade ago. Yanez was 6 on Sept. 11, 2001, when hijackers flew planes into the WTC north and south towers."I, quite frankly, remember that day clearly, coming home from school to tell my mom happy birthday," Yanez said. "She was sitting in front of the TV, crying. It became very real for me."Hopefully, this piece and ceremony instill a connection between people as it did that day, and it will stay engraved in our minds and on our hearts forever," he continued.Nicole Jenkins said she doesn't remember 9/11 well because of her age at the time. She said NCHS' WTC piece will help conjure memories for everyone in the community."What I'm hoping is they'll remember lives we lost and this will inspire students to be better people," said Jenkins, a NCHS senior.Melinda Wagner's older brother joined the U.S. Army Rangers after 9/11. He's now served almost four years and deployed multiple times to Afghanistan. Wagner, also a NCHS senior, said members of the Newton-Conover community continue to fight a battle that did not end in 2001."You still have all these people who are committed to fight," she said, "even after events where people have died."Community ceremony

CCS calendar shortens summer

2012-02-03T04:00:03-05:00

Some of the system's teachers say they don’t mind the change and are praising the “early-start” calendar that’s more similar to schedules used in previous years.The CCS Board of Education unanimously approved a new 185-day calendar this week that will start teachers Aug. 2 and students Aug. 7 for the 2012-13 school year. The last day of student classes will be May 23, 2013.The school system will start classes nearly two weeks earlier than many districts across the state that begin classes at the end of August, as required by state law. However, CCS qualifies for a special “winter waiver,” which allows the system to start earlier because of its susceptibility to winter weather delays and cancellations. With the state’s anticipated approval of the waiver, CCS schools will start about two weeks earlier than usual and cut out a significant portion of summer break. CCS Superintendent Glenn Barger said the shorter summer is one of many options the board and officials discussed prior to approving the calendar. “It’s a one-summer deal that will be short,” Barger said. “Any time you make a change, you’re going to make that shortened time.”Barger said despite other lingering issues, the “early-start” schedule will fix some of the problems the state’s calendar creates. Since being approved in 2011, the state’s mandated schedule has been criticized by school districts statewide. Superintendents and school officials say it creates planning, financial and “frustrating” issues that could have been avoided.Some of the problems discussed include the following: n In the “late-start” schedule, students do not complete enough days prior to winter break to take their exams before the Christmas holidays. Instead, they take finals after a two-week winter break from the classroom — almost a week into the “second semester.” n By starting Aug. 25, teachers are paid significantly less for the first month of work, putting a financial strain on educators working on 10-month payment plans. Many of those educators go most of the summer without a paycheck.n Switching to a 185-day calendar, the state turned five days that were previously teacher workdays into student days — taking away planning time and costing thousands more in operating costs. By approving an “early-start” calendar, CCS can avoid at least two of those issues — something area teachers favor. The new calendar will allow high schoolers to take exams before winter break. “Demonstrating to me a mastery of a course, it makes more sense to go ahead and have those exams attached to the end of your instruction opposed to having a break for a week and half, coming back for a week, and then taking the exams,” said Andy Blevins, a geometry and AP statistics instructor at Fred T. Foard High School. Blevins said he thinks CCS' approved calendar is better than a late-start schedule.“Particularly from being in high school, I think early start is better. It gives you more flexibility and more planning time and days throughout the school year,” he said. The new schedule will also allow teachers to be paid for the full month of August, which sounds good to Elizabeth Farris, a fourth-grade teacher at Startown Elementary. “It’s especially reassuring because my husband is also a teacher,” she said. “That will definitely help with budgeting.”Farris said the early start will also allow her elementary students to have more time outside. “Thinking about it starting earlier, it’s kind of nice. August is so sweltering hot, and it’s hard for students to go out and play. It’s nice for the kids,” Farris said. More days remain, for nowThough the approved CCS calendar will fix exam scheduling and payment issues, it doesn’t address the problems of a 185-day term.The state now requires all calendars to include 185 instructional days, but state officials are expected to discuss the issue in May. CCS has also prepared a 180-day calendar if the state decides to revert to its traditional format, but Barger said the start and finish dates will not change. Teachers hope the state will change to a shorter term, giving teachers back their work days that provide valuable time for planning. “We are hoping the state will change its stance on the 185-day calendar,” said Rhonda Pawlik, a sixth-grade teacher at Startown Elementary. “I’m already working until 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. and when you take out the work days, I don’t have the time I need to take to prepare.”No matter what, everyone will lose two weeks in the summer, including students. Pawlik said her students will have to adjust.