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March 2, 2007
Four-legged birthday
In Wednesday's Watauga Democrat, we introduced a week-old foal born at the Gragg family farm on Knollwood Drive. Since that paper was published, a more recent baby has been born. Here is the newest addition to the family, born Wednesday evening. Happy Birthday! Photo by Marie Freeman |
Bomb threat linked to heist
Police are still looking for the man who charged into an east Boone mini-mart with a gun, threatened a 69-year-old clerk, and vanished with $100 out of the cash drawer early Tuesday morning. Video recorded by a store surveillance camera shows a man rushing the counter with a long gun – police have been unable to determine whether it was a rifle or a shotgun – tucked under his right arm at 1:28 a.m. Read more.
U.S. 321 plan veers off schedule
The second phase of U.S. 321 widening has fallen farther behind schedule even as the N.C. Department of Transportation intensifies planning for the widening of King Street in Boone. Read more.
Zoning change would help build ASU facility
The Boone Town Council discussed a change in conditional zoning policy that could make Appalachian State University’s college of education plans feasible. Read more.
Council retreat raises street, Horn in the West updates
The Boone Town Council made headway on several projects at its annual retreat last Friday. Town manager Greg Young briefed council members on project progress, including Wilson Drive design alternatives, Horn in the West and stream bank restoration. Read more.
Sheriff”s Office disputes caller’s delay claim
A deputy with the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office called a claim from a Charlotte man that he waited two hours for deputies to respond to his report of a stolen snowboard earlier this month “totally false.”
Read more.
Sheriff’s reports:
Feb. 15 — Dustin Allen Miller, 18, of 263 Charlie Thompson Rd., Boone, was arrested and charged with three felony counts each of possession of marijuana with intent to sell or distribute and sale or delivery of marijuana. He was also charged with one felony count of conspiracy to sell marijuana. He was placed under a $25,000 secured bond and scheduled to appear March 29 in District Court. Read more.
February 28, 2007
BREAKING NEWS: Convenience Store Robbed
Man brandishes gun, still on the lam
 Boone Police are looking for a man suspected of robbing an east Boone gas station at gunpoint early Tuesday morning. BPD Detective David Osborne said the man entered the
Kangaroo/Pantry Store at U.S. 421 and Bamboo Road carrying a rifle or shotgun just before 1:30 a.m. and threatened the 69-year-old clerk before running off with an undisclosed amount of cash. Video cameras captured the robbery of the Exxon on Bamboo Road. The robber wore a “School of Hard Knocks” denim jacket (shown above). Read more.
Photos courtesy of Boone Police Department
and Marie Freeman |
Local campaign finance: Shook spent most in 2006
State campaign finance reports for local office-seekers are completed and audited, and as in state-level offices, last fall’s biggest spenders didn’t always win. Read more.
Boone Town Council Retreat: Funding options for Howard Street
The Boone Town Council discussed moving forward on Howard Street at the town of Boone’s annual retreat last Friday. Finance methods under consideration are a general obligation bond and installment purchase, and town manager Greg Young indicated the latter might be the wiser. Read more.
Glenda Simmons says goodbye after 25 years
Glenda Simmons is the definition of dependable. Clients love her, coworkers adore her and diners savor her recipes. So, it’s with a heavy heart — for them and her — that she bids farewell to Mountain Times Publications. Read more.
‘Live Out Loud’ conference sounds off March 3 at ASU
Appalachian State University’s Center for Student Involvement and Leadership is encouraging folks to live out loud. Make that “Live Out Loud,” the theme for the 2007 Women’s Leadership Conference on March 3. Read more.
DBDA signs up for a nicer downtown
Welcome to Boone. The Downtown Boone Development Association wishes to convey this message to all those entering town and the Boone Town Council will help make it happen. Read more.
February 26, 2007
 Jade Chambers: Missing for one year
Skeletal remains may provide some answers or closure
As the one-year anniversary of Jade Chambers’ disappearance passed this month, her family found itself caught between a dark hope and an even darker despair. “I just want some kind of resolution to it,” her grandmother said last week. “It’s been a year and we just want it to end,” Ruth Chambers said from her home in Guntersville, Ala. “We need to put her memory to rest.” Read more.
 Thieves lift snowboards
Weldon Weaver spent the Sunday afternoon of President’s Day weekend at Appalachian Ski Mountain teaching his girlfriend’s daughter to snowboard. A little after 3, the 37-year-old Charlotte man and his young student leaned their boards against a rail outside the lodge and waded through the holiday crowd to find a cup of hot cocoa and a warm place to rest up for a last run at the slopes. Read more.
 Watauga Democrat garners three state journalism awards
Mountain Times Publications has done it again. At last Thursday’s N.C. Press Awards ceremony in Raleigh, the Watauga Democrat and Mountain Times picked up five awards in the 2006 competition. Vying in the “community newspapers over 10,000 (circulation)” competition, the Watauga Democrat won three awards, and the Mountain Times won two. Read more.
Sheriff’s reports:
Feb. 12 — Lanny Edmond Hoffman, Jr., 30, of 3906 Woodmont Court, Lenoir, was arrested and charged with failure to appear at a hearing on a charge of obtaining property by false pretenses. He was placed under a $5,000 secured bond and scheduled to appear March 29 in District Court. Read more.
Visitation gets paroled at Watauga County jail
Watauga County jail officials began allowing public visitation at the facility on Hodges Gap Road this weekend, according to Watauga County Sheriff’s Capt. Jeff Virginia. Read more. |
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