Jul 25, 2008 04:45PM

Share your Quirky Claim to Fame with us

Last summer, I enjoyed getting to know many Union County readers through their QCFs – Quirky Claims to Fame.

You might remember Doug Lynch of Monroe, who shared his story about streaking with rocker Todd Rundgren and eating breakfast with Gene Simmons of the rock band Kiss.

Or Charles Springs of Wesley Chapel, who used to be a chauffeur for Hustler publisher Larry Flynt.

Gene Racine of Indian Trail told me about beating world champion basketball foul-shot shooter Ted St. Martin in a head-to-head foul-shooting contest, and Linda Geer, a Monroe High School teacher, remembered dancing on stage with Chubby Checker. Many others shared their QCFs as well.

Anyone with a QCF knows they can be a real conversation starter with strangers. I'd like to hear more of them – maybe even make QCFs a summertime ritual for Newcomers Network.

Here are a few quirky facts I've learned since last summer:

The Wikipedia entry on Sun Valley High School contains the following: “1976 graduate Terry White is the inventor of the word game, MAD GAB. As a member of the baseball team, he tried out word puzzles on teammates while on bus trips to other schools.”

Popular folk-rockers The Avett Brothers recorded their first album, “Country Was,” in January 2002 in a studio in Marshville, according to their Web site.

Jim Jones of Monroe was good friends with actor Andy Griffin when they were both students at UNC Chapel Hill and worked together in a dining hall.

“When I knew him, he told me his ambition was to be a Moravian minister,” Jones recalled. And, as a Navy recruit in Macon, Ga., Jones became friends with the late U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms and the two used to play cards. Rummy, at the YMCA there, Jones said.

Are you a Union County transplant or native with a quirky claim to fame I could include in a future list? Or, are you someone who can provide interesting or unusual tidbits of information about Union County, its people, places or events? I'd love to talk with you. Please e-mail me at jduckwall@char lotteobserver.com or call 704-358-6060.

Jul 27, 2008 09:33AM

Break's over for thousands

If you go to a year-round school in Union County, your summer is over.

About 3,300 Union County public school students at six schools start classes on Monday.

At Union Academy, the county's only charter school, about 1,000 crack open the books on Tuesday.

Mike Harvey, principal at year-round Benton Heights Elementary in Monroe, says the year-round schedule helps his arts-focused school offer extra enrichment and remedial help during fall, Christmas and spring breaks, which are called intersessions.

“We did an enrichment piece called ‘Visions of China'” during spring intersession, Harvey says. Kids visited a martial-arts school and gardens and a Chinese buffet while studying the country's culture.

Year-round schools don't exactly run all year in Union County.

Classes usually start about the end of July. They let out for summer in early June. Summer vacation is about seven weeks, instead of 10 to 12 for kids in schools with traditional schedules.

The big difference is that regular classes in year-round schools break in fall, Christmas and spring for intersessions that range from about 10 days to three weeks.

While many students are out of school during intersessions, others take remediation or enrichment classes during the break.

Selling parents on year-round schedules isn't always easy, says Lori Cauthen, Union County's director of elementary education. “Either you're a lover of year-round, or you don't like it.”

She and other experts say a big advantage is that kids seem to retain more with a shorter summer break.

Other pluses: Parents and children can travel in fall or spring. Teachers and school staff generally prefer year-round schedules.

The Union County system has no plans to add more year-round schools right now, Cauthen says. “But the ones on it seem to like it, and have no plans to change,” she said.

Benton Heights and the Union Academy charter school, which draw kids from across the county, both have waiting lists.

Besides Benton Heights, year-round Union County Public Schools are: East, Shiloh and Walter Bickett elementaries, Wolfe School and Monroe Middle School.

If you go to a year-round school in Union County, your summer is over.

About 3,300 Union County public school students at six schools start classes on Monday.

At Union Academy, the county's only charter school, about 1,000 crack open the books on Tuesday.

Mike Harvey, principal at year-round Benton Heights Elementary in Monroe, says the year-round schedule helps his arts-focused school offer extra enrichment and remedial help during fall, Christmas and spring breaks, which are called intersessions.

“We did an enrichment piece called ‘Visions of China'” during spring intersession, Harvey says. Kids visited a martial-arts school and gardens and a Chinese buffet while studying the country's culture.

Year-round schools don't exactly run all year in Union County.

Classes usually start about the end of July. They let out for summer in early June. Summer vacation is about seven weeks, instead of 10 to 12 for kids in schools with traditional schedules.

The big difference is that regular classes in year-round schools break in fall, Christmas and spring for intersessions that range from about 10 days to three weeks.

While many students are out of school during intersessions, others take remediation or enrichment classes during the break.

Selling parents on year-round schedules isn't always easy, says Lori Cauthen, Union County's director of elementary education. “Either you're a lover of year-round, or you don't like it.”

She and other experts say a big advantage is that kids seem to retain more with a shorter summer break.

Other pluses: Parents and children can travel in fall or spring. Teachers and school staff generally prefer year-round schedules.

The Union County system has no plans to add more year-round schools right now, Cauthen says. “But the ones on it seem to like it, and have no plans to change,” she said.

Benton Heights and the Union Academy charter school, which draw kids from across the county, both have waiting lists.

Besides Benton Heights, year-round Union County Public Schools are: East, Shiloh and Walter Bickett elementaries, Wolfe School and Monroe Middle School.

Jul 27, 2008 09:36AM

Union News

Good news for county schools

Union County Public Schools have outscored the state's largest school districts in meeting federal Adequate Yearly Progress goals, part of the No Child Left Behind initiative. See 2U.

Celebration follows passage of law

Local volunteers of the N.C. Coalition for Jessica's Law are celebrating this week following passage in the General Assembly of the Jessica Lunsford Act for N.C. (H-933). The law is expected to be signed by Gov. Mike Easley in coming days.

The Coalition for Jessica's Law was chaired by Jeff Gerber of Monroe and Donna Miller of Fayetteville. The group held rallies in Union County and throughout North Carolina in support of the law, which strengthens penalties against child sex crime offenders.

Gerber began advocating for the law after hearing the effort stalled in committee in 2007.

“I got furious,” Gerber said.

The bill is named for Jessica Lunsford, 9, a former Gaston County resident who was raped and buried alive by a repeat sex offender in Florida in 2005. Esther Robards-Forbes

Hatleys to perform at Lions concert

The Unionville Lions Club will present its last free concert of the summer Thursday at the Unionville Community Center.

The concerts run from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

The Hatleys will perform, and there will be concessions for purchase. Elisabeth Arriero

8th ‘Go for Blood!' event is Saturday

The American Red Cross of Union County will hold its 8th annual Go for Blood! event on Saturday. The day kicks off at Cane Creek Park in Waxhaw with cycling and a 5K road race, and ends with a cookout, music, and silent auction by the lake.

Information: 704-283-7402 for Union County, 704-694-3514 for Anson County, or log on to www.unioncountyredcross.org.

Public service banquet slated

Stallings will host its first Public Service Appreciation Banquet at South Piedmont Community College at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Creative Food Concepts will provide the food, and the event will feature a drawing for police, firefighters and emergency personnel.

Elisabeth Arriero

Economic strategy to be discussed

Wingate town officials will meet with the town of Marshville and the Union County Partnership for Progress at 7 p.m. Thursday to discuss a unified strategic economic development plan with residents. The meeting will be in the Forest Hills High School auditorium. Information: Karen Wingo at 704-233-4411. Elisabeth Arriero

Master Gardeners set kids' program

The Union County Master Gardeners will hold a summer program for children 5th grade and younger at 9 a.m. Thursday at Wingate Park. The program of about two hours will focus on children's gardening. The event is free. Information: 704-233- 4411.

Contact us

Address: 10810 Independence Pointe Parkway, Suite D, Matthews, NC 28105.

Newsroom: 704-358-6060.

E-mail news to union@charlotteobserver.com.

Jul 25, 2008 04:45PM

Schools shine in goals achievement

Union County Public Schools have posted strong results in their efforts to close the performance gap among students.

School officials announced on their Web site last week that Union ranks first among the state's nine largest school systems in the percentage of schools meeting 100 percent of Adequate Yearly Progress goals.

Twenty four of Union's 47 schools (51 percent) met all goals.

Other large school systems in the area were Charlotte-Mecklenburg (23 percent) and Gaston (25 percent).

A school must meet 100 percent of goals to be considered successful. The Adequate Yearly Progress goals are used to measure success under the federal No Child Left Behind legislation.

“We've kept the focus on making sure each student is making growth and we've done a good job,” said Carolyn White, director of student services and testing for Union County Public Schools.

The standards measure performance of nine groups: white, African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander, multiracial, economically disadvantaged, limited English proficient and students with disabilities. Progress is measured on the school, district and state levels in reading/language arts and mathematics.

Every three years the target goals are raised. The aim is to reach 100 percent proficiency by 2013-14. This year target goals in mathematics were reset for grades 3-8, from 65.8 percent of students proficient to 77.2 percent.

Seven Union County schools met 90 percent of goals and 14 others posted higher than 50 percent. The schools with less than 50 percent are South Providence and Wolfe schools. Both are classified as special purpose schools.

“The goal of 100 percent on grade level by 2013 will continue to be a daunting challenge for some schools, especially for limited English proficiency and exceptional children subgroups,” said Dr. Ed Davis, school superintendent. “Some might say that it is not realistic, but that does not mean we are going to stop trying. We will continue to provide resources and seek ways to improve the achievement of all students.”

Based on 2008 preliminary results, Union County Public Schools came in ahead of Wake County (24 percent), Charlotte-Mecklenburg (23 percent), Guilford (40 percent), Cumberland (34 percent), Forsyth (24 percent), Gaston (25 percent), Durham (17 percent) and Johnston (50 percent) counties.

Jul 27, 2008 09:32AM

Build Chestnut Connector?

An N.C. Department of Transportation representative is shopping an idea for a new road around Stallings and Indian Trail that he says could relieve traffic on both towns' main streets.

But town officials, who usually welcome new roads and road money, are worried their dreams for their downtowns may suffer.

Barry Moose's idea is to use about $17 million now set aside for widening Stallings Road and Indian Trail Road – two main streets through the towns' centers – to build the new Chestnut Connector.

That's a road Indian Trail officials have discussed that would connect U.S. 74 to Old Monroe Road and run parallel to Stallings and Indian Trail roads. The Chestnut Connector would be at least four lanes and have few driveway cuts, making it easy to travel. And it would relieve the other two clogged roads.

With this plan, the towns could preserve their downtown main streets that otherwise likely will be widened into four-lane roads with large medians, Moose said. Both roads are now two lanes.

Building the Chestnut Connector would leave no money for Stallings and Indian Trail roads. But Moose said Thursday that he could help the towns find money to “enhance” and beautify the roads.

Moose told the Indian Trail town council several weeks ago that the plan would address concerns he's heard that widening Stallings and Indian Trail roads would “destroy the character of the towns.” The roads now are lined by the two town halls, a park, a school and shops.

The idea didn't go over well with some Indian Trail council members. Stallings officials will hear Moose's idea at their Monday meeting. Some Stallings council members already have expressed concerns that the Chestnut Connector would be in Indian Trail rather than in Stallings.

While neither town may like Moose's idea, they also haven't been pleased with recent information they've received about what widened Indian Trail and Stallings roads could look like.

Indian Trail and Stallings have plans for their main roads to be integral parts of defining the downtowns. Stallings council members have talked about a pricey streetscape for Stallings Road, and Indian Trail agreed to pay 20 percent of the cost of widening Indian Trail Road so that they could have input into the road's design.

Indian Trail already has hired a consultant to design the Indian Trail Road widening, which they envisioned as a three-lane road.

But Moose said the N.C. DOT will ultimately choose a widening design that will carry enough traffic to relieve congestion. He said that likely will be four-lane roads with wide medians and bridges over the railroad tracks that cross both roads.

“I just want to raise a flag of caution to you that whatever is designed will adequately handle the traffic and congestion for the next 25 and 30 years,” Moose told the Indian Trail council. “It's not just something where you can take the money and build a main street. It's got to be able to handle the traffic as well.”

Those widenings could wipe out houses and buildings along the roads. A bridge over the railroad tracks on Indian Trail Road could make getting into Town Hall and a planned downtown development almost impossible.

“I'm almost sorry we put the Chestnut Connector back on the map there,” said Indian Trail council member Shirley Howe. “I thought we raised taxes two cents so we could raise the money to do our own design and have it in concert with our comprehensive plan. A bridge would ruin that.”

Moose said Thursday that sometimes new ideas like this one aren't received well at first.

“It takes awhile for people to digest it and give it thought,” he said.

If the towns do come around and formally endorse the Chestnut Connector idea, Moose said an alignment would be mapped out and he would commission a feasibility study.

Otherwise, the N.C. DOT could look for other ideas or the money will stay with the original widening plans for Indian Trail and Stallings roads, Moose said.

Moose will present his idea Monday at the Stallings Town Council meeting. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Stallings Town Hall on Stallings Road.

Jul 29, 2008 12:30PM

Matthews police set up online alerts

The Matthews Police Department has a new web based program that will give citizens up to the minute reports on traffic alerts, public safety alerts and other information.

That information will enable citizens and the police to work more closely together to make the town even safer.

Says Matthews Police Chief Rob Hunter, “This program gives us another way to instantly communicate with the public. Another benefit is that if the public receives timely information, they can help us by providing information back to us on people who are suspects in crimes.”

It’s easy to join Citizen Observer. Log on to www.matthewspolice.org and link to the Citizen Observer registration page. From there, you can sign up to receive emails, text messages, or even faxes whenever the police department has information it needs to communicate.

You can even sign up for different groups or different geographic areas of town depending on what sort of information you are interested in.

Each alert sent also has a “submit a tip” function where you can enter information anonymously to help police in their investigations.

Matthews Community Resource Officer Stason Tyrrell says the more citizens that sign up for the new program, the bigger difference it can make.

“We have tremendous potential in reducing crime with public assistance. To do that we have to give the public the information they need to know, and tell them what to look for and what to report,” said Tyrrell.

Jul 28, 2008 03:08PM

Guardrail repairs postponed 1 night

Updated at 6:07 p.m.

The N.C. Department of Transportation announced late Monday afternoon that it has postponed guardrail work that had been planned for tonight on West Trade Street and on Lancaster Highway.

This guardrail repair work had been announced earlier today by the N.C. DOT, but it will take place instead on Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.

From 9 p.m. until midnight Tuesday, work is planned on Trade Street westbound, approaching Interstate 77. Work will be taking place in the right lane.

And from midnight until 3 a.m. Wednesday, work is scheduled for northbound Lancaster Highway, approaching Ardrey Kell Road. The northbound lane of Lancaster Highway will be closed during that time.

Jul 25, 2008 05:00PM

School's new leader says sky's the limit

Mint Hill's Bain Elementary School has a new principal. When school starts on Aug. 25, Mike Drye, 41, will welcome about 90 teachers and other staff members as well as about 1,050 kindergarten through fifth-grade students.

Drye, who has worked as a teacher and principal in Union County for the past 18 years, says he's both excited and humbled about his new job at Bain.

“I feel a large sense of stewardship. This is a high-achieving school in a community with very deep roots and a lot of pride. I'm excited about the energy that I'm getting from the community and the teachers. That energy, when channeled, can do powerful things. I can already tell that people love being here,” said Drye.

He grew up in Union County and attended Marshville Elementary, East Union Middle and Forest Hills High.

Drye says his call to education came early.

“I loved history, and I had some astounding teachers growing up. I also loved football and I looked at my teachers and coaches and thought, ‘This is a pretty good life,' ” Drye said.

He started his college career at Wingate and finished at Appalachian State University, where he met his future wife, Brenda, in a history class. She now teaches at Forest Hills High School, and the two have four children ages 16, 15, 12 and 10.

After college graduation, he taught middle school and high school social studies for a few years before being accepted into the Principal Fellows program, which helped pay for his principal certification.

Since then, he's worked on elementary, middle and high school levels and says he loves them all.

As a history major, he's particularly excited to be at a school that dates back more than 100 years, in a community that's more than twice that old.

Though leaving Union County was a tough decision, he says he already feels at home at Bain.

Said Drye, “This was an opportunity too good to pass up. Bain is a great school we want to see grow to even greater heights. We can only accomplish that by working together. With our staff and our parents and kids, the sky's the limit.”

Jul 27, 2008 10:47AM

Around the Belt

Ballantyne area

Thursday is the registration deadline for co-ed youth soccer and co-ed youth flag football at 521 Recreation Center on Ardrey Kell Road.

Cost for either sport is $55 per person, which includes trophy and uniform. Practice for both sports is usually once a week, with games on Saturday mornings.

Age groups are 6-and-under, 8-and-under, 10-and-under, and 12-and-under. Both programs emphasize teamwork, sportsmanship and fundamentals of the sport.

For details or to register, e-mail chris.hunter@mecklenburgcountync.gov, call 704-540-2426, or find either program under Eparks at www.parkandrec.com.

Matthews

The Town Board will hold its regular meeting 7 p.m. Monday in Matthews Town Hall. For a complete agenda, visit www.matthewsnc.com.

Mint Hill

The town's Park and Recreation Committee's next regular meeting is scheduled for 8 a.m. Aug. 12 at Town Hall, located at 7151 Matthews-Mint Hill Road.

Pineville

The Pineville Art Guild will meet at 7 p.m. Aug. 7 at The Hut, 413 Johnston Drive.

The meeting features photographer Glen Ostel, whose photos and articles have appeared in trade publications as well as dive and travel magazines, according to the guild.

Arboretum area

Cedarwood Country Club, 4100 Pineville-Matthews Road, is the site for Charlotte's first annual MetLife Toys for Tots Golf Tournament on Sept. 29. Organizers are seeking corporate sponsors, hole sponsors and silent-auction donations to help support the event, which is a fundraiser for Toys for Tots. The national charity is run by the Marine Corps.

Sponsorship information and registration are available at toysfortotsgolf.org or by calling the event organizer, Burke Communications, at 704-377-2600.

South Charlotte

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education has approved a new construction project for Carmel Middle School.

Lee Morgan Inc. of Charlotte won a contract of $456,189 to renovate athletic fields, which housed temporary mobile units during a major construction project completed in December 2007.

The contractor will remove the asphalt used for temporary parking, grading and construction.

The project, to be completed in November, also includes construction of a baseball field, two multi-use athletic fields, and upgrades of dugouts and the scoreboard.

Money from the 1997 and 2002 bonds will be used for construction.

Steele Creek

“Two-Time” at the Steele Creek Library happens Monday at 9:30 a.m.

Two-year-olds enjoy books, music, rhymes and dancing. Call 704-588-4345 to register.

Saving on gas?

For an upcoming story, we'd like to hear how gas prices are affecting your back-to-school transportation plans.

Do you know a teen working an after-school or weekend job to help pay for gas?

Are you delaying buying a car for your high school-age child because of high gas prices?

Have you decided to use school bus transportation for your child, or organize larger carpools, to save gas money?

Know a student who has decided to park the car and get back on the school bus instead?

Tell us your stories and strategies. Contact us at mynews@charlotteobserver.com, and include your full name, and day and evening telephone numbers

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Jul 27, 2008 05:16AM

How long will mall be delayed?

Shop till you drop? Or not?

Developers told town officials last week that construction plans are on hold for at least five months on The Bridges at Mint Hill, the much-discussed retail center first announced in 2005.

And as word got out late last week, some Mint Hill residents and leaders wondered whether the upscale shopping center – planned with an open-air design and featuring a hotel and movie theater – may be on long-term hold, given the difficult economy. Retailers around the country are closing or putting expansion plans on hold as shoppers spend less.

Town Mayor Ted Biggers said developers told him they need more time to complete planning work before continuing construction at the site, at the intersection of Lawyers Road and Interstate 485.

Extensive clearing and grading is the only construction work done so far. Developers have halted grading, saying roadway design and right-of-way acquisition is lagging behind construction.

Biggers is confident the complex will be built. But the developers, Chicago-based General Growth Properties and Charlotte's Childress Klein Properties, aren't talking.

Nicole Spreck, spokeswoman for General Growth Properties, said the company won't discuss the project until after its earnings call at the end of July, when the publicly owned company discusses its financial results for the reporting period.

“Being a public company, it would be a breach of policy for us to discuss The Bridges at Mint Hill right now,” Spreck said.

Design, or finances?

But that didn't stop others from talking.

Billy Kiser, owner of Penny's Place restaurant in Mint Hill, says he expects it will be a while until the mall is built and that a large part of that time frame depends on November's election.

“In this economy, where retail is down…I think it will be a couple more years down the road until anything is done,” Kiser said. “I think the developers will wait until after the election to see what happens.”

The 215-acre project, Mint Hill's biggest retail development, has faced delays before. The center would be built on both banks of Goose Creek – home to the Carolina heelsplitter, an endangered mussel. Developers had planned a design with bridges spanning the creek to control stormwater and protect the waters, but environmentalists have been unconvinced.

Another design glitch is linked to the widening of Lawyers Road, according to the N.C. Department of Transportation.

A culvert under Lawyers Road needs to be extended as part of the road widening but developers want to build a bridge instead, according to Jen Thompson, spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation. Both the developers and the transportation department are still negotiating, Thompson said.

Thompson said a bridge would require more expensive state maintenance. And developers haven't proved that a bridge is safe for the creek.

“They have to show us a good-faith effort that they would work with resource agencies to show that it would be environmentally safe,” Thompson said Friday.

It was unclear Friday if that proposed bridge is part of the original design of the shopping center.

Seeking silver linings

Many say this latest delay may be good for Mint Hill.

Kiser, the restaurant owner, said the holdup may help redirect more development downtown instead. “I think this is really going to help the downtown (N.C.) 51 corridor,” he said.

Town manager Brian Welch said Mint Hill wasn't banking on revenue from the mall right away to pay for other planned projects around town, such as the new town hall the board of commissioners recently approved. The board already set aside $3 million of the town's fund balance for the new town hall, Welch said.

“Based on current estimates, we should be able to service the debt for four years, and that should be more than enough to get past this delay” with the shopping center, Welch said.

Since the shopping center was announced three years ago, other developers have launched their own projects, including several high-end residential developments with homes in the million-dollar range. But Welch doesn't expect these projects to stop with word of the shopping center delay.

“I'm not a real estate guy, but I've always been told that it's the rooftops that drive the demand for commercial services and not the other way around,” Welch said. “Those guys wait on the housing before adding retail.”

Belk, one of three planned anchors, is still committed to be a part of the retail center, spokesman Steve Pernotto said last week.

In the meantime, Welch said developers have told him that grass will be planted over the graded area to stabilize the soil and prevent runoff until grading resumes.

Mint Hill resident Lela Martin says she's a little disappointed in the delay but has faith that the mall will still come.

“I'm excited about it coming. … Bring it on!”