April 27, 2007/ARCHIVED

Marie Freeman/Watauga Democrat
Bill Morris, executive chef at the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center, brings in a fresh platter of appetizers for those attending A Taste of the High Country fund-raiser for Habitat for Humanity on Tuesday. Also, Morris was one of three chefs who emerged victorious in the Fire on the Rock Chef’s Challenge on April 14. Morris was assisted by executive sous chef Danny Bock and line cook Matt Slezak. They scored 419 out of possible 450 points from a panel of three judges.

Shooting Stars shine for education

The stars were out Friday night at Watauga Education Foundation's Shooting Stars talent showcase and fund raiser, held Appalachian State University's Farthing Auditorium. The show featured 28 acts by more than 175 student performers. The acts were mainly musical in nature, including dance, singing and musical instrument performances.

Boone Council agrees to join WHS public forum

The Boone Town Council unanimously agreed to join the Watauga County Board of Commissioners and Board of Education in a joint public hearing on issues concerning the new Watauga High School. The council agreed to participate in the joint public hearing, and a date was scheduled for Thursday, May 31, at 7 p.m. in the Watauga High School Auditorium. Read more

Students show sustainable options with affordable housing

Talking about a sustainable future is one thing, while building a sustainable future is another. Students from Appalachian State University competed in Raleigh last weekend as part of a statewide sustainable design competition hosted by Advanced Energy. Read more

Bill may yield some advantages for small farmers

The national farm bill is up for a fight in Congress, but it will likely have little effect on the region according to an agricultural industry expert.
Wade Brown, who lives in Watauga County and is a professor of agriculture at N.C. State University, said probably the most significant effect the new farm bill would have is an increased emphasis on specialty crops, which in turn might combine with other factors to help advocates of local-food systems. Read more

Guardian court program seeks volunteers

One tried and true way of thanking someone is to buy them a steak dinner.
A steak lunch works just as well.
The N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts Guardian ad Litem program thanked its High Country volunteers Tuesday, April 17, treating them to a full course meal at Outback Steakhouse in Blowing Rock. Read more

Local Business

Study: Mystery shoppers find dearth of retail gratitude

When Bill Barr commissioned a mystery shopping operation in the High Country, he expected no thanks.
What he didn’t expect was that customers would get no thanks, either.
After the study, Barr, president and founder of The trade mission inC, a consulting firm that helps businesses apply biblical principles, released a summary of his findings, titled “Can’t Even Get a Thank You.”
The mystery shopping was conducted April 2-6 by a group in Winston-Salem that discovered only four out of 10 businesses in the High Country expressed any appreciation for customers’ patronage, such as “Thank you” or “Have a nice day.” Read more

Two killed on parkway

Two Virginia men were killed when their car plunged over a 200-foot embankment off the Blue Ridge Parkway last weekend, but authorities say they don’t yet know exactly when or how the accident happened. Richard Lee Hodges Jr., 59, and Carl Ray Fain, 56, both of Patrick County, Va., were killed when their Lincoln Towncar rolled down a wooded hillside just outside Blowing Rock. John Garrison, Blue Ridge Parkway district chief, said officials were not yet sure when the crash occurred, saying only that it had to be some time before 6:30 a.m. Monday, when a nearby resident noticed the wreckage. The bodies of Hodges and Fain were found inside the vehicle. Story by Jerry Sena/photo by Jerry Burns

Easter weekend freeze damaged several local crops
Watauga County is among 56 counties in the state included in a request made by Gov. Mike Easley for a federal disaster declaration in the aftermath of an Easter freeze. Record low temperatures, combined with a warm late winter that coaxed plants to bud, devastated many fruit crops in the High Country. Read more.

Realtors oppose transfer tax plan
Proposals to give counties an option to enact a “transfer tax” on property sales has drawn opposition from a local realty group. Read more.

Forum tackles more smart-growth issues
The following is part three of a three-part series on smart growth. Last week, officials from the award-winning town of Davidson visited Boone to share smart growth methods and offer insight as to how Boone could adopt some of the measures. The town of Davidson sparked regional interest, when several officials spoke at a forum on smart growth. The event drew government officials from communities spanning western North Carolina, including Watauga, Avery, Ashe and Alleghany counties. Read more.

Zoning change will limit land uses in Boone
The Boone Town Council tackled several zoning text amendments at its regular meeting last Thursday. Under the new language, college, university and community college uses are prohibited in the town’s B-1, B-2 and B-3 business districts, while hospitals, clinics and other medical treatment facilities in excess of 10,000 square feet are prohibited from the town’s R-1 and R-1A residential districts. Read more.

State gets more time to fight rape appeal
Prosecutors have been given another month to file a brief with the N.C. Court of Appeals regarding an attempt to toss out the conviction of an Appalachian State University student on sexual battery last year.

Read more.

Keeping rivers pristine
For Rick Dove, life on the river isn’t always about relaxation, fishing and lazy Sunday afternoons. In fact, Dove made his living on the Neuse River, protecting its waters and resources as the state’s first Riverkeeper. Dove visited the High Country recently, dropping by Boone Town Hall on Thursday, April 12 to suggest that the area could benefit from a Riverkeeper program. Read more.

April 23, 2007

Former Watauga Democrat publisher dies
Local businessman, philanthropist and former newspaper publisher Armfield Coffey, 72, died Friday after a long illness. Coffey, of Boone, started at the Watauga Democrat as a press operator, then became a photographer and reporter before taking the helm of executive editor and, later, publisher. To read more, click here. Photo by Marie Freeman

Appalachian Roots
About 3,000 music lovers attended the inaugural event of the Appalachian Roots Revival on Saturday. which was sponsored by the newspaper and included mainstage visits by Black Cash (above), the Avett Brothers, the everybodyfields, Larry and Jenny Keel with Steve McMurry, Lost Ridge Band and Possum Jenkins. Look for more photos at the Editor's Blog (at the top of this page). Photo by Marie Freeman

Two arrested in Hunan case
Boone Police arrested two men Thursday in connection with an April 7 armed robbery at the Hunan Restaurant in Boone and have alleged one of them may have had a hand in a break-in at a nearby tobacco store a week later. Michael J. Petersen, 28, and Jonathan Charles Roark, 25, both of 112 Summer Drive, have been charged with two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and one count of attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon. Read more.

Sheriff’s reports:
April 2 — A 28-year-old Zionville woman said her ex-boyfriend pointed a gun at her and then slapped, hit and choked her. Read more.

News Briefs: Collision causes injuries in Blowing Rock
Authorities reported multiple injuries in a rear-end collision near Blowing Rock Saturday afternoon but had not released any victims’ names by press time. Read more.

Council grants sewer to Elk Motel
The Boone Town Council may have saved the Elk. In an unprecedented move at Thursday’s regular meeting, the council unanimously agreed to conditionally grant sanitary sewer service to the Elk Motel. Read more.

Davidson offers tips for growth
The following is part two of a three-part series on smart growth. Officials from the award-winning town of Davidson visited Boone to share smart growth methods and offer insight as to how Boone could adopt some of the measures. Attendees to the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce Lunch & Learn April 18 may have found the notion of smart growth easy to swallow. Read more.

Family may contest grave move
The Watauga County Board of Commissioners filed a notice of intent last week to move suspected grave sites on the new high school property and pledged to work with descendants to relocate the cemetery.