Web Run

Chatham actions rethought
[Dec. 11, 2004] A newly sworn Chatham County school board decided Monday to reconsider last month's action to expand its membership. At a work session in November, the board voted to expand its ranks from five to seven by reconfiguring current districts and adding two at-large seats. But the board acted against its own policy by voting during a work session instead of at a regular board meeting, board member Ronald Collins said. By WEB RUN - N&O

New concern raised on Booth Mountain
[Dec. 11, 2004] Chatham County's planning board wants the developer of the proposed Booth Mountain subdivision to alter the plan in several ways, including one that would add to the project's buffers to addresses the worries of some neighboring landowners. But now concern has shifted to whether the board's Tuesday night vote to recommend approval of the 180-home subdivision came too soon. By the time of the vote at about 10:30 p.m., three of nine board members had left, and some questions still weren't answered, said board member Chris Walker, who voted against the recommendation. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

High quality talent in Dance Company
[Dec. 9, 2004] On the polished hardwood floor of Amy Salter's 8 a.m. Dance Company classroom at Northwood High, an ensemble of eight works through a sequence of turns, points and leaps, checking form and line in the floor-to-ceiling mirrors that make up one wall. By turns, dancers step forward to demonstrate or refine particular movements drawn from jazz and modern dance. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

Planners approve Booth Mountain
[Dec. 9, 2004] By the time the Chatham County Planning Board voted on the largest proposed development on its agenda Tuesday, three of the nine members present had left. The remaining members, the minimum necessary for a vote, voted 4-2 to recommend approval of the 180-home Booth Mountain subdivision. Now the county commissioners will decide the fate of the 294-acre project, which lies between Lystra Church Road and Jack Bennett Road, just east of U.S. 15-501. By WEB RUN - N&O

Commissioners seated in Chatham County
[Dec. 7, 2004] Pittsboro - Bunkey Morgan, who was elected to the Chatham County Board of Commissioners in November 2002, has been elected chairman of the board. Morgan, the District 4 representative, was unanimously chosen by the board at Monday's meeting. He succeeds District 5 representative Tommy Emerson, who was unanimously selected as the board's vice chairman. By WEB RUN - Sanford Herald

Yellow ribbon magnets raise money to help troops
[Dec. 5, 2004] Bennett -- When Chatham County resident Dwain Gullion bought his first bundle of yellow, ribbon-shaped magnets, he imagined sales would be slow. Boy, was he was wrong. In the last year, Gullion has stirred up a car magnet fad millions are following. On a whim in April 2003, he bought 1,000 "Support Our Troops" car magnets from a Forsyth County businessman as a quick way to raise money for troops. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun
Also: Magnet America

Two names touted to fill superior court judge seat
[Dec. 5, 2004] Asheboro - North Carolina legal statutes assign to the governor the replacement of a superior court judge who leaves the bench before his term has expired. Two local men - a sitting judge and a trial attorney - have each requested that Gov. Mike Easley consider them to replace Judge Russell Walker Jr., the senior resident superior court judge for Judicial District 19-B. Walker is retiring this month. Judge Brad Long, one of six District 19-B district court judges, and attorney Pierre "Pete" Oldham both say they think sitting on the bench in superior court would offer a professional challenge they would enjoy. By WEB RUN - Courier-Tribune

Adore your old décor anew
[Dec. 3, 2004] Now, you don't even have to deck your own halls with holly. You can hire someone to. That's what Pittsboro business owner Jeannie Grubbs did for her open house today, and she's can't stop driving by it to adore the décor. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

Body found in car off U.S. 64
[Nov. 30, 2004] Authorities said Tuesday they may have found the body of a man wanted for killing a Pittsboro man and wounding the man's wife during a domestic dispute in October. A member of a crew cutting grass along U.S. Highway 64 Bypass north of Pittsboro noticed the top of a vehicle as he mowed the embankment on the south side of the highway Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. When the man walked through the woods towards the vehicle, he saw the body of a man inside and notified authorities. The body is believed to be Brian Keith Marshall, 32, of Durham. By WEB RUN - NBC17

Two die in murder-suicide
[Nov. 29, 2004] Chapel Hill -- Shennel McKendall's smiling face was a common sight at Northwood High School in Chatham County, where her daughter is a senior heavily involved in athletics. But McKendall was shot and killed in a parking lot Monday morning as she walked towards her office at a UNC Health Care administrative building located off campus. Police said the man responsible was her estranged husband, Randy Leverne McKendall, who shot and killed himself, too. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

Celebrity Dairy puts goats at center stage
[Nov. 28, 2004] Siler City -- Tallulah was busy Sunday afternoon, nipping at a tea bag and a notepad, getting a hug from a 4-year-old, and being petted by several other strangers as she roamed around her home at Celebrity Dairy. Nicknamed "Lulah" by handler Whitney May, Tallulah was the center of attention as the dairy outside Siler City hosted its annual fall open barn to commemorate the end of the season. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

Chatham to set criteria for loans to aid small firms
[Nov. 27, 2004] It may not be the millions the state offered Dell for its business recently, but by next year Chatham County could have a revolving loan fund to aid small and minority-owned businesses. Last week, Chatham County commissioners voted unanimously to direct $228,000 to the county's economic development corporation. The money comes from a federal Community Development Block Grant loan the county originally administered in 1987 to help Performance Bicycle build its shop in the county. By WEB RUN - N&O

Artists open their doors to share their creations
[Nov. 26, 2004] At first glance, Sally Resnik Rockriver's creations seem like they should be moving on their own. The ceramic glaze infused in glass seems like it's slithering from end to end, and other sculptures look like they're covered in colorful goo that's slowly dripping down, or like treasure chests yawning underwater. Rockriver, along with her mother Janet Resnik and brother Dmitri Resnik, are participating in the Chatham Studio Tour on Dec. 4, 5, 11 and 12. On the two Saturdays, it lasts from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; on Sundays it will go from noon to 5 p.m. The public is welcome, and volunteers will be available Dec. 4 and 5 to answer questions at the Central Carolina Community College gallery on the Pittsboro campus. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

A small team brings moral victory to a divided town
[Nov. 23, 2004] Cary, N.C. – The Devil Pups from Camp Lejeune - the sons of marines and sailors, traveling to games in a bus painted with sword-toting troops in full regalia - are an athletic powerhouse among the small-town teams of rural North Carolina. The Jordan-Matthews High School Jets of Siler City turn heads, too: Mexican boys who tumbled out of white vans on Saturday, arriving at the small-school Class 1-A championship to face the Devil Pups. The Devil Pups outspent and towered over their opponents. But they lost the hardscrabble 2-0 match, making the Jets the first Hispanic high school team to win a North Carolina championship. By WEB RUN - Christian Science Monitor