A Look Back At 2006 January 2006 Despite controversy and opposition, it became apparent that the General Assembly’s vote instituting a state lottery would stand. Some of the controversy stemmed from speaker of the N.C. House Jim Black’s connections with one of the firms vying to win a contract to run the lottery. A handful of organizations, including the conservative North Carolina Family Policy Council, filed a suit against the state, saying the act creating the lottery was unconstitutional because of the controversial manner in which the act was passed. State cuts to the subsidized childcare program threatened to keep parents out of the work force. Watauga County’s director of social services Jim Atkinson said the county’s social services department is one of the few that don’t overspend, and then try to get additional state funds. Watauga County’s practice of trying to spend only what is allocated worked against the county, as the state takes money away from the department if it doesn’t overspend, Atkinson said. Watauga County board of commissioners approved the board of election’s choice for new voting machines for the county. After reviewing four different machines used in other counties, the board favored the optical scan machines because the paper ballots remained available for recounts and reviews, and voters are able to compare their own ballots with what the machine records. Boone-based Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse continued relief efforts in Indonesia, a year after a tsunami devastated the area. The tsunami, triggered by an earthquake, killed more than 200,000 people and left millions across Southeast Asia homeless. Since the tsunami, Samaritan’s Purse has helped with emergency food and housing, as well as helping those affected rebuild their communities and livelihoods. The search committee for the Appalachian State Cultural Museum’s new location decided to install exhibits in several buildings on the ASU campus and put the rest of the museum’s exhibits into storage in the old Belk Library. The committee announced that the museum intends to move to a permanent location, the old Heilig-Myers building on King Street, once funds are raised. The museum had to move from its location in University Hall off Blowing Rock Road after being displaced by the university’s fledgling Institute of Health and Human Services, which offers a number of clinical services to the community and region. The state’s chief medical examiner found that Appalachian State student Stephen William Harrington was most likely suffocated before his killers set his body ablaze in the trunk of a car in November of 2005. Neil Matthew Sargeant, Kyle Quentin Triplett and Matthew Brandon Dalrymple were awaiting trial and a hearing to determine whether they will face a possible death penalty was scheduled for Jan. 26. Boone-based 1451st Transportation Company of the N.C. Army National Guard shipped out to Iraq on Feb. 2. While this mission was the first overseas mobilization since the U.S. troop deployment in Iraq began, approximately 40 of its soldiers had already served in Iraq with other units. About 400 members of the community showed their support at a ceremony for the unit on Jan. 30. The town of Boone showed its pride in Appalachian State University’s NCAA I-AA football national champions by placing “welcome” signs on all major corridors leading into town, which boast of the team’s success. Spots in the area experienced heavy gusts of wind Jan. 24 and 25, causing some damage to real property. Grandfather Mountain recorded winds up to 181-mph earlier that month. Watauga County Sheriff’s deputy Wes Hawkins received minor injuries during a three-hour standoff involving Monteagle Drive resident Gary Stevens Powers and dozens of law enforcement officers on Jan. 30. Sheriff Mark Shook said his officers had dealt with Powers in the past, but nothing that foretold that evenings events. February 2006 County administration opened a new building on Feb. 13. The building holds the county manager’s office, the county finance office and the commissioners’ board room. The building occupies a spot on the corner of King Street and Water Street and has street-level entrance. Watauga County manager Rocky Nelson said the county has long needed this new space and the building opens up expansion space for other departments. The Ginn Company owns nearly 6,000 acres in southeastern Watauga County, a parcel consisting of 3 percent of the count’s total land area. The company proposed to build 1,500 single-family residences and about 1,000 multi-family units and two golf courses. This resort development was to be the largest in Watauga County. Opponents of the development focused on water quality issues. Political season officially opened in February as candidates for election and re-election crowded the office of the Watauga County Board of Elections to toss their hat in the ring. The new political season brought changes in polling-place locations as the board of elections sought to make voting easier for residents. During their Feb. 13 meeting, members of the Watauga County Board of Education voted to temporarily halt the process of designing a new high school facility on the existing Watauga High School property. Earlier in the day the board received a tentative offer to purchase the existing WHS site. The prospect of selling the property allowed the board to revisit the idea of purchasing land for a new WHS site, a plan they had voted against in January of 2005. Amos Patricj Kelso, facing 50-80 years on four felony sex and assault charges, will spend 41 days in jail for the sexual battery of a 21-year-old Appalachain State University student. Kelso was acquitted of three of the felonies, attempted first-degree sex offense, first-degree sex offense and assault by strangulation. In its sole conviction, the jury lowered the first-degree rape charge to sexual battery, a misdemeanor. A former physical plant worker at Appalachian State University may have accepted kickbacks for purchasing overpriced cleaning and maintenance supplies for a chemical company linked to similar activities with seven employees of the N.C. Department of Transportation. A state audit determined that the DOT employees allegedly used state funds to purchase supplies prices well above their fair market value from Stone Cold Chemicals, Inc. and received kickbacks, such as various gift cards for doing so. March 2006 A revaluation showed a jump of 38 percent in real property value over the last evaluation in 2002. While many property owners were pleased with the increased value of their land in investment terms, the change meant higher taxes when the county board of commissioners set the new rate in June, a problem for residents on fixed incomes. The board of commissioners asked the North Carolina Department of Transportation to provide a full-service tag office in Watauga County. The county had been without a tag office since a controversial closing of the private office in Boone in September of 2005. Four Banner Elk volunteer firefighters died and two swam to safety after their small boat overturned more than a mile off the North Carolina coast on March 15. The Coast Guard said the boaters got into trouble off Lockwood Folly Inlet near Shallotte and their 18-foot boat capsized, leaving them adrift at nightfall. The boaters had tied themselves to the craft, but about 10 p.m. tried to swim about 1.5 miles to Holden Beach as they drifted in the ocean. The Boone Area Chamber of Commerce held its annual Spelling Bee for Grownups on March 21. About 40 teams turned out, flaunting elaborate themed costumes. Despite the determination and shenanigans of the teams, the Appalachian State University Walker College of Business walked away victorious. All proceeds from the event went to benefit the chamber’s education committee and the Watauga Education Foundation. County administrator Kelvin Byrd told the board of commissioners that the tax rate for the next year should be 31.3 cents per $100 of property value. That rate would bring in the same $23.9 million collected the current fiscal year under a tax rate of 39.5 cents per $100. Total net value of property in the county would rise to $7.5 billion, above the current figure on the books of $5.8 billion. The Watauga County Board of Commissioners discussed the best use of the 75-acre Brookshire Road property, centering their discussion on encroachment o the floodway and 100-year flood plain, which limits or prohibits development in some sections of the property, which the county purchased in 2005 for $2.6 million. Under an agreement with the High Country Soccer Association, the county planned to supply land and possible grading for two full-size soccer fields on the property. March 30 the state launched the controversial education lottery. At least 24 Watauga County retailers planned to market the four games, which featured cash prizes up to $100,000. April 2006 The Watauga Democratic Party held its annual convention on “April Fool’s Day,” but the strategy proved sound as the party members launched momentum that would carry them to successful fall elections. A former ASU police officer, Timmy Gray Williams, received 30 months of probation after pleading guilty to the 2005 theft of money from the trunk of a police car. Neighbor complaints triggered an SBI investigation of Jay Carter’s animal compost operation in Deep Gap and later led to the seizing of his equipment. The county commissioners and school board began looking for a new high school site after receiving purchase offers for the existing 75-acre site in Boone. It marked yet another change in direction, as the school board had solicited plans to build a new structure on the existing site. Burning debris from U.S. 321 construction near Blowing Rock led to a wildfire and the evacuation of 14 homes, though none of the homes were damaged. Construction Control Corporation delivered a report to the county putting the cost of building a new school on the current site at $35 million, $10 more than the estimated cost of renovation. N.C. Wildlife officers euthanized five wild elk belonging to Joey Perdue in a disease-control measure, which Perdue said violated her property rights. The Boone Town Council discussed steep-slope development, a new site for the Appalachian Cultural Museum, and green space conservation at its annual retreat. County officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Watauga County Administration Building in downtown Boone. A federal grant program providing temporary workers for cleaning up damage from Hurricanes Katrina and Ivan wrapped up with a total of 112,000 hours of labor. Wendy Patoprsty, Susan Jones, Jerry Schumacher, Danny Campbell, Brenda Henson and Marlene Crosby won Amazing Customer Service Awards from the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce. Citizens for Children, formed to support construction of a new high school, held public meetings and tours of the existing 1965-era building. Local hotel owners expressed concern about the Town of Boone’s discussion of raising commercial water rates. The Appalachian Cooperative for Progressive Sustainability broke ground on a 1.2-acre tract owned by the Town of Boone, which would be used as a community garden. Watauga voters got their first taste of new electronic voting machines as early voting began for the primaries. Volunteer fire fighters told the county commissioners they needed more funds to provide training, equipment and good response times, fearing the fire tax would be cut after the recent tax revaluation. A survey of local farmers depicted an aging population, with 80 percent of them over 50 and fewer than a fourth of them farm as a sole source of income. The county’s long-term capital improvement plan showed about $62 million worth of needs over the next six years, with only two-thirds of that money earmarked for the work. The Boone Service League pursues new equipment and renovation for the Boone Tot Lot, eventually seeking to raise $200,000. The Boone Community Appearance Commission asked the town council to address outdoor storage of merchandise and materials, saying large retail businesses were the biggest offenders. Former Avery County clerk of court Robert “Nub” Taylor pled guilty to a felony and two misdemeanors after facing bond-reduction charges. Taylor also dropped out of the Avery sheriff’s race. The Watauga Democrat launched a “Newspapers in Education” program, using newspapers to boost classroom instruction. A public input session on Boone’s proposed steep-slope rules revealed division between developers and those who believed slope-side development was unsafe and would damage the town’s view sheds. May 2006 An electrical fire destroyed the Best Cellar Restaurant in Blowing Rock. The first Watauga County Tourism Development Authority, with Rob Holton serving as chairman, adopted a $300,000 budget for the coming fiscal year. The Watauga County Health Department practiced outbreak plans for the avian flu, but the health scare proved to be one for the birds. Watauga County commissioner David Blust defeated incumbent John Garwood for the Republican N.C. Senate nomination. Sheriff Mark Shook, Rep. Gene Wilson, and commissioner candidate Mary Moretz also won handily in the primaries. Tweetsie Railroad kicked off its 50th season, with the Wild West theme park’s future still undecided because of expiring leases. Avery County Board of Education and four coaches, defendants in a hazing lawsuit stemming from a 2003 incident, settled with local broadcaster Steve Rondinaro and his family. Ginn Company, developers of the 6,000-acre Laurelmor, defended itself against protests by saying it would provide strong erosion control measures and donate nearly 40 percent of the property for conservation easements. Local elections officials reported no problems with new voting machines after the primary results were reviewed. Stephen Ned Allen was convicted of threatening to kill his Zionville neighbor and received a 120-day suspended sentence. A Brevard man missing for six days was found near Blowing Rock, saying he had run out of gas on the Blue Ridge Parkway and was looking for a phone. The county commissioners approved a grant application that would unite county economic development forces with ASU, AdvantageWest and other entrepreneurial agencies under one roof. A crowd packed a Boone public hearing to support rezoning of the Watauga High School property. The B-3 General Business zoning could make it easier to sell the property, supporters said. Makoto’s Seafood and Steakhouse of Japan was honored as Small Business of the Year by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce. Watauga County commissioners join other counties in supporting legislation that would lift local Medicaid burdens. North Carolina is the last state that requires such local disbursements. The county submitted a conditional zoning request to the town that would enable demolition of the former jail and construction of a courthouse parking lot. ASU announced an all-time record of freshman enrollment for the fall semester, with 2,675 new students expected from an applicant pool that grew by seven percent. Marsha Anderson, a fourth-grade teacher at Blowing Rock School, was named Watauga County’s 2006 Teacher of the Year. A High Country Council of Governments report said Watauga’s poverty rate had risen nearly a half percent and that annual median household income dropped $758 over three years. Vilas farmer and long-time agriculture teacher Robert Shipley was inducted into the Western North Carolina Agriculture Hall of Fame. The Boone Greenway-Alternative Transportation Committee began pursuing a plan to make the town more pedestrian friendly. ASU undertook several major construction projects, most notably a $29 million dining hall, a 302-space parking deck and a pedestrian bridge over Rivers Street. The county commissioners and school board discussed the value of the current 75-acre high school property after receiving two offers of over $30 million each. Alisha Chambers pled guilty to charges in the foster-home abduction of her two children in 2005, losing her parental rights and serving 36 months of probation and drug abuse treatment. Steven Neal Rodriguez was charged with felonies after assaulting a disabled care home resident where Rodriguez worked as an attendant. Ashe County native Callie Birdsell was hired as the county’s new Cooperative Extension Service agent working with farmers and livestock producers. Mike Vannoy, director of Watauga County’s Criminal Justice partnership, received a state Program of Excellence award for his work with young court offenders. June 2006 High Morton, noted photographer, conservationist and founder of Grandfather Mountain, died at 85 and was praised by state leaders for his life of work. James Lee Canter, who along with Alisha Chambers abducted their two children from a foster home at gunpoint, plead guilty to five charges and was sentenced to between 16 and 20 months in jail. Watauga commissioners decided to pursue a county-operated tag office after applicants for a private contract with the state were not selected. Watauga High School graduated 301 seniors, with Isaac Smith serving as class valedictorian. A nationwide hunger study suggested the number of people in the region seeking food assistance had risen 8 percent since 2001 and that one in every 14 people sought food assistance. Tammy Sue Wagner, 43, pleaded guilty to attempted child abuse after her 15-year-old daughter had sex with a man who later served nine months for the crime. A third bridge for the Boone Greenway Trail opened nearly two years after the previous bridge was destroyed by the hurricanes of 2004. Controversy over wheel locking in downtown Boone led to discussions, but no significant changes, to the policy of allowing owners of private lots to detain illegally parked vehicles. Former chief deputy Paula Townsend filed a lawsuit against Sheriff Mark Shook, alleging sexual harassment. The Watauga Board of Education approved a Career and Technical Education program, in which nearly two-thirds of all high school students receive some form of vocational training. The Boone Town Council approved a 120-day moratorium on steep-slope development following a heated public hearing on the issue. The annual Relay for Life was held at Watauga High School, raising over $232,000 for cancer research. Alisha Chambers, convicted of abducting her two children, disappeared from an Asheville-area facility where she was undergoing court-ordered drug treatment. She turned herself in to authorities several weeks later. Gospel recording artist Michael Combs was the keynote speaker for the 82nd annual Singing on the Mountain at Grandfather Mountain. The Boone Town Council adopted a $17.9 million budget, though the property tax rate dropped three cents due to a recent revaluation. Former Sheriff’s Office communications chief Patricia E. Shook filed a lawsuit against Sheriff Mark Shook, saying he’d fired her because she gave an unfavorable rating to a male employee. Banner Elk Winery opened as the latest in a growing trend toward developing an identity for mountain vineyards. An ASU study suggests the federal Blue Ridge Natural Heritage Area designation will help draw $2 billion in tourism to the 25-county mountain region. Watauga County commissioners approved a $39.5 million budget, dropping the tax rate to a revenue-neutral 31.3 cents in the wake of revaluation but kept the fire tax rates the same. The Watauga Board of Education changed its policy to allow grades 3 through 8 to be shown PG movies in the classroom with parental permission. July 2006 After three-year process, the Boone Town council adopted the 2006 Comprehensive Plan Update in late June. The update involved intensive work from the Boone Area Planning Commission and public input to provide policy-foundation for governmental decisions related to town growth and development. The original plan was adopted in 1993. The Appalachian Skatepark celebrated its grand opening July 8 after months of organizing and fund-raising. The Watauga County commissioners and town of Boone aided the Appalachian Skatepark Council in its efforts, with the county offering use of park space and the town financing paving of the area. The 50th Grandfather Mountain Highland Games commenced, honoring the late Hugh Morton, owner of Grandfather Mountain, who died June 1. Area chambers of commerce opposed a potential bylaw change from the High Country Host, a 26-year-old organization that advocates and promotes tourism in the High Country. The change would have omitted a prerequisite of Host membership that requires an applicant to be a participating member of an area chamber of commerce. A budget tentatively approved by the N.C. General Assembly brightened the day of Appalachian State University, when $1.8 million was earmarked for capital planning of a new college of education building, the Reich College of Education Living and Learning Academic Building. Johnson City, Tenn. resident Jeffrey Brown man admitted to helping two convicted methamphetamine users abduct their children from a Valle Crucis home last year. The case sparked a nationwide Amber Alert, as suspects Alisha Chambers and James Canter of Zionville were pursued by law enforcement agencies throughout the region. Brown pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact in the abduction of Chambers and Canter’s son and daughter and was sentenced to 36 months of probation, in lieu of an eight to ten month suspended sentence. Appalachian State University astronomer Dan Caton proposed to mount a Web camera at Wiseman’s View overlook to record sightings of the legendary Brown Mountain Lights. The camera would stream video back to the university for analysis. Hugh Morton was honored at the 133rd annual N.C. Press Convention by the N.C. Press Association’s announcement of the establishment of the Hugh Morton Press Photographer of the Year Award. Two awards, one for daily and another for community newspapers, will be presented each year to photographers who present the best overall body of published work in North Carolina newspapers. Discussions continued on the fate of the Appalachian Cultural Museum, which was displaced from its former home of University Hall to make room for ASU’s Institute for Health and Human Services. At its annual retreat earlier in the year, the Boone Town Council discussed moving the museum to a new facility at the Horn in the West grounds, where it could share space with the Southern Appalachian Historical Association and other nonprofit organizations. Alisha Chambers, sentenced to two years in a drug treatment program for the abduction of her son and daughter from a foster home, violated her probation by fleeing the treatment program. She was subsequently sentenced to 32 to 40 months in a state Department of Corrections prison, with the Superior Court judge telling her she’d left him “no choice.” The Boone Town Council unanimously agreed to send the Boone Steep Slope and Multi-Family Task Forces final recommendations to a September public hearing. Meanwhile, an influx of complaints regarding the wheel-locking of vehicles in downtown Boone continued to flood town hall, causing the council to raise the question, “Is wheel-locking worth the bad publicity?” Appalachian State University opened the Appalachian State University Center with the Faye A. Broyhill Building of Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute in Hudson. The new building established ASU’s presence in Caldwell County, while strengthening the relationship between both institutions. Housing CCC&TI’s corporate and continuing education offices, 19 “smart” classrooms and the Appalachian Center, the building represents what ASU chancellor Ken Peacock and CCC&TI president Ken Boham called an “innovative state and national model.” The cost to the town of Boone of renovating Howard Street downtown became half a million dollars cheaper, when the town council accepted an amendment to the Howard Street streetscape project design that incorporated a design change from New River Light and Power. Up until then, the project cost was set at $4.3 million. The Boone Town Council denied a request from the Downtown Boone Development Association to be exempt from an ordinance barring the allowance of alcohol at community events, which, in this case, was the Kraut Creek Festival. DBDA director Tuesdae Rice had wanted to feature vendors of North Carolina wine at the festival for wine-tasting and bottle sales, rather than sell it by the glass. The council shot down the request, saying the sale of wine would create a bad impression of the community. The Watauga County commissioners and school board announced the location for a new Watauga High School, which would be located on 85 acres in the Perkinsville area off Daniel Boone Drive. Appalachian State University entered into a contract with the county to sell the 59-acre piece of land formerly known as the “Edmisten Property” to use for the high school. The Ginn Company, developers of the 6,000-acre Laurelmor resort in southeastern Watauga County, announced an agreement with the Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust to preserve at least a third, and maybe significantly more, of the natural habitat on the property. August 2006 Watauga County Sheriff Mark Shook responded to a lawsuit filed by former chief deputy Paula Townsend, who claimed she was sexually harassed and wrongfully fired in 2005. Shook, in turn, filed suit against Townsend, accusing her of slander. Watauga Medical Center celebrated its 75th anniversary. Appalachian Regional Healthcare president Richard Sparks delivered a bright prognosis, saying that Watauga Medical Center and Cannon Memorial Hospital, both members of the system, were reaccredited for three-year terms. The Boone Area Chamber of Commerce awarded the Alfred Adams Award for Economic Development to Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff, during its annual meeting. The chamber also presented the Wade E. Brown Award for Community Development to Faye Cooper, wife of John Cooper, owner of Mast General Store. Watauga County adopted the state’s first ordinance on regulating wind energy systems, which could serve as a model for such ordinances in other counties. Planning director Joe Furman said large wind energy systems that were the sole use of the site would fall under the high-impact land-use ordinance. Watauga County purchased an additional tract of land for the new Watauga High School project. The Miller Meadows property had been zoned R-1 for single-family residential use to be developed by Clyde Burleson and Ralph Leonard. The county commissioners agreed to pay $675,000 for the property. The county agreed to open its own license tag office on King Street in downtown Boone with approval from the state Division of Motor Vehicles. The previous tag office that was located on the N.C. 105 Extension was closed by the DMV when an employee was suspected of embezzling. Hundreds of Blowing Rock residents, mostly retirees, filled Blowing Rock Town Hall to voice disapproval over a government proposal to cut timber over 231 acres in the Pisgah Natural Forest in an area known as the Globe, located about one mile south of downtown Blowing Rock. Staff members of the displaced Appalachian Cultural Museum were reassigned to other university positions. University officials retained the ability to bring the staff members back to work with the museum, should a new location be established. The Boone Town Council moved to regulate large-scale, or big-box, retailers. Originally drafted to limit large-scale retail stores from exceeding a gross floor area of 150,000 square feet, the regulations also require such retailers to provide an economic and community impact analysis. Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation announced a long-term partnership with Duke Energy Carolinas. Under the agreement, Duke would provide Blue Ridge with 25 percent of its power beginning in 2007, expanding to 70 percent by 2016. Appalachian State University ranked fifth place in the south’s top public master’s universities and was listed 12th in the best universities master’s in the south category in U.S. News and World Report. The Avery County Sheriff’s Office issued arrest warrants for Derrick Palmer, 16, who was alleged to have fatally shot his stepfather, Dana Blankenship, six times in the Cranberry community. Palmer surrendered and told investigators the shooting was an attempt to protect his pregnant mother. The Watauga County commissioners approved preliminary work and possible funding flexibility for the new high school. The Boone Town Council adopted regulations to address wheel-locking in downtown Boone, a situation council members described as “volatile.” The new regulations set standards for signage in parking lots and enhanced current penalties for wrongful wheel-locking. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) visited Boone during his recess from Senate to tour the town’s water intake facility and hear concerns from town officials. He encouraged the town to continue writing grant applications to expand its current water system. The N.C. Center for Public Policy Research released a report, saying the governance of the state’s public universities needs a tune-up. Referring to the University of North Carolina Board of Governors-initiated tuition increases in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002, as well as a state legislature-initiated increase in 2003, the center concluded the modifications resulted in a 71 percent increase in in-state tuition from 1999 to 2004 and said the surge of increases could prompt a lawsuit. The report alluded to the state constitution, which says the General Assembly is required to extend higher education to the people of the state free of expense, as far as practicable. A Watauga County magistrate was killed in a traffic accident on N.C. 105. Walter Gwen Greene, 52, died from injuries after he was ejected from his vehicle on what is commonly known as “Rock Crusher Hill.” The Committee for Responsible Environmental Regulation became involved in the fight against the town of Boone’s then-proposed regulations for steep-slope development and view-shed protection. The ad-hoc organization mailed 3,656 copies of a protest petition to property owners in Boone and its extraterritorial jurisdiction. The petitions were later deemed valid by the town. September 2006 The man who shot an Appalachian State University student to death two years ago was sentenced to 18 to 23 years for the killing. Marty Lee Thompson pled guilty to second-degree murder, admitting to shooting ASU senior Joseph “Joey” McClure in the head at close range in October 2004 and leaving his body at the side of Crocker Road. The U.S. Forest Service said a new plan would be devised for a logging proposal near Blowing Rock’s Globe area in the Pisgah National Forest, after receiving more than 1,200 comments from the public with most of them opposed to the plan. First Baptist Church on King Street in Boone declined an offer from Appalachian State University to purchase its parking lot property to build a new college of education building. Laurette Leagon, then vice president of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, announced her resignation from the Boone chamber to assume the position of president of the Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce in Elkin. Three sisters were killed in an apartment fire on Clyde Townsend Road, just west of Boone. Clarita “Clara” Cid Flores, 5; Anadacy “Dacy” Cid Flores, 6; and Lilianna Cid Flores, 8, perished in the blaze. Their parents, Lorena Flores and Lazaro Rodriguez, survived, though Rodriguez suffered from severe burns to his face and smoke inhalation, which he sustained while attempting to rescue his children, who were in a back bedroom. The cause of the fire was undetermined. The Boone Town Council faced a standing-room-only crowd at a public hearing on the then-proposed regulations for steep-slope development and view-shed protection. Held in the large courtroom that seats 380 at the Watauga County Courthouse, the council and Boone Area Planning Commission faced an ornery crowd of property owners that opposed the regulations. Only a few spoke in favor of the regulations, and the council decided to postpone voting on the matter until the regulations could be modified to meet a compromise. Mayor Loretta Clawson joined approximately 300 mayors in signing the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. The agreement originated in Seattle, Wash., and is promoted by the Sierra Club’s Cool Cities program. Boone and other participating cities pledged to reduce global warming and carbon dioxide pollution citywide to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. The Boone Area Planning Commission opted not to recommend approval of the proposed steep-slope development and view-shed protection regulations, essentially recommending denial of the proposals to the Boone Town Council. October 2006 More than 1,200 recreational cyclists began a week-long ride from the mountains to the coast as part of the Cycle North Carolina Mountains to the Sea bicycle trek. ASU Chancellor Ken Peacock gave the keynote speech at the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce-sponsored “Wake Up Watauga” breakfast. He addressed the university’s expected growth and suggested ASU would never be a 40,000-student campus, but would most likely grow by approximately 55 students per year. A water quality study by the N.C. Division of Water Quality found the Watauga River Basin in “generally good” condition, but might be challenged by development in Watauga and Avery counties over the next few years. The intersection of N.C. 105 and Broadstone Road saw its second injury accident in less than a week when a motorist struck a tow-truck driver in the parking lot of the Ham Shoppe. The first accident, five days prior, involved the broadside crash between one motorist who’d reportedly turned left into the path of an oncoming vehicle. Twenty-one-year-old Charles Melton Flanagan, III, of Beech Mountain, was killed when the motorcycle he was riding struck a guardrail on Wilson Ridge Road. The Boone Town Council adopted a revised proposal for steep slope development and view-shed protection by a 4-1 vote. Councilman Dempsey Wilcox cast the lone dissenting vote. The Watauga County Board of Commissioners voted to engage the Charlotte-based law firm Parker Poe Adams & Berns to oversee financing for a proposed new High School in Perkinsville. The state’s Employment Security Commission reported that Watauga County had the state’s fifth lowest unemployment rate for August, at 3 percent. The Watauga County Health Department said a new vaccine, Gardasil, developed to help prevent cervical cancer likely wouldn’t be available through the county agency until the end of the year. Federal, state, and local law enforcement officers arrested a Wake County man they said had traveled to Boone to have sex with a woman and her 10-year-old daughter. Frederick Stephen Klee, 41, of Holly Springs, just south of Raleigh, was served with an indictment from a federal grand jury charging him with attempting to persuade a person he believed to be under the age of 18 to engage in sexual activity. Republican incumbent County Board of Commissioner candidate Keith Honeycutt denied claims that the school system’s funding had been cut during his tenure, arguing that local school funding had actually increased over 29 percent over his four years in office. UNC system president Erskine Bowles released a plan to cap tuition increases at its 16 campuses at 6.5 percent over the next four years, a decision that would affect ASU students as well. Bowles attended ASU’s Walker College of Business CEO Executive Luncheon Oct. 4. A local healthcare official warned that Medicare and Medicaid funding changes might put the squeeze on community hospitals and raise the costs of services for most patients. Local artist Jody Servon was selected for an $8,000 North Carolina Arts Council grant, a windfall she hoped would help her expand the equipment used in creating her multimedia works. David Blust, Steve Goss and Cullie Tarleton, all candidates for spots in the N.C. General Assembly, debated local issues at a gathering in the Boone Town Council chambers. The three compared ideas on such issues as voting rights for residents of extraterritorial jurisdictions, student voting rights and tougher ethical standards for state office holders. Todd planned for its 13th annual New River Festival, scheduled for Oct. 14. Proceeds from the festival – which includes craft booths, music, dancing and good food – go to the Todd Ruritan Club. A 20-year-old Boone woman suspected of involvement in an April kidnapping and robbery was arrested on charges of first-degree felony kidnapping and robbery with a dangerous weapon. Stephanie-Ann Trice was jailed under a $50,000 bond. Following a public hearing, the Watauga County Board of Commissioners agreed by a vote of 4-1 to borrow up to $7 million for land acquisition for a new high school site. The vote effectively rejected a call by some to place a referendum on the November ballot allowing voters to decide the best route toward a new high school. Commissioner David Blust cast the dissenting vote. Shortly after approving the funds, the Board of Commissioners voted to spend $1.7 million to purchase four parcels totaling about 22 acres as part of the proposed 89-acre high school site. The N.C. Department of Transportation released the final environmental impact statement on the widening of U.S. 321 through blowing rock. Officials expected to begin property acquisition next year for the final 4.3-mile section between Blackberry Road and the existing four-lane highway between Blowing Rock and Boone. A Creston-based developer announced plans to build a mixed use development along West King Street on a 2.2 acre section of land bordered by the Poplar Grove Connector and Rivers Street. Street-level retailers were expected to include a Starbucks Café, FedEx/Kinkos printing store, a restaurant, and parking structure. The upstairs section would include two levels of residential units. A federal judge sentenced convicted sex offender George Clayton Trivette, Jr., to five years in federal prison for his attempt to entice what he thought was a 13-year-old girl to have sex with him. Trivette was snared by an Internet sting after he entered a Yahoo chat room and engaged in a sexually explicit exchange with a woman who claimed to be 13. Fire officials declared as “officially undetermined,” an apartment fire that killed three sisters, aged 5, 6, and 8, on Sept. 14. The girls were all students at Cove Creek Elementary School. The N.C. Institute for Medicine and Action for Children North Carolina gave Watauga County generally high marks among a series of social measurements, despite a statewide rise in child poverty. The Institute found a statewide poverty rate of 21 percent for children 17 and under, while the rate within Watauga County was 16 percent. November 2006 The Watauga County Board of Commissioners discussed the possibility of a community center for the eastern end of the county to provide services for seniors and other age groups in the area. The plan would include a kitchen for cooking meals for portions of the county that currently can’t be served by existing facilities because of health issues caused by transporting the meals long distances. Released in September after a brief prison term for his role in the Jan. 2005 abduction of two children from a Valle Crucis foster home, James Lee Canter faced extradition to Virginia on drug charges related to his 2005 arrest. Hospital officials reported improvement in the condition of a Watauga County High School student, struck by a car while crossing U.S. 321 in Blowing Rock on Halloween night. The 14-year-old victim had been transported to the Johnson City Medical Center’s pediatric intensive care ward in critical condition. A third-quarter Watauga County Board of Commissions report showed incumbent sheriff Mark Shook as the top campaign contribution recipient in local elections with $33,000 earned as of Oct. 21. Shook’s Democratic opponent, Len Hagaman, had raised $6,700 as of the same date. Democratic county commission candidate John Cooper owned the next highest total with $28,300. The director of the Appalachian Cultural Museum expressed hope that a possible grant from the •Golden LEAF Foundation would help the museum in its planned move to a new home at the Horn in the West grounds in Boone. The museum was tossed in March from its home on the campus of Appalachian State University when the university opened its new Institute for Health and Human Services wing in its place. Campaign finance figures released by the state’s Board of Elections revealed that the state Democratic Party had bet big on challenger Cullie Tarleton to unseat longtime incumbent Republican Gene Wilson in the upcoming November election. The party had contributed $96,000 to Tarleton’s total campaign fund to date of $155,000, much of it in the third quarter. Fire officials suspected an electrical cable as the cause of a mid-afternoon forest fire that burned two acres of steep, rocky terrain on Howard’s Knob. The flames came within 50 feet of one home and 150 feet of a neighboring dwelling. The Watauga County jobless rate was fourth lowest in the state as the state’s Employment Security Commission released figures for September. The 2.9 percent county rate was down .1 percent from August’s reported rate of 3 percent. Democrats swept into power in local elections that saw the Watauga County Board of Commissioners go completely Democratic, Republican incumbent sheriff Mark Shook defeated by Democratic challenger Len Hagaman, and outgoing county commissioner David Blust bested in his run for the District 45 N.C. Senate race. County Republican Party leaders blamed a sparse turnout by area Republicans on poor organization from the grassroots up. Sheriff Mark Shook requested a recount of the Nov. 7 election results that saw him fall 99 votes short of earning a second term. The recount was to include scrutiny of 262 provisional ballots, which are defined as those cast despite some question about the voter’s eligibility or polling place. A one-day auction of lots at the new, 6,200-acre Laurelmor development in southeast Watauga and northeast Wilkes counties drew bids of $150 million from potential buyers. The Watauga High School Pioneers football team won a squeaker, 20-19, against North Forsyth High to advance to the second round of the state 4-A playoffs at Jack Groce Field. The game-winner came off the foot of Savva Kostis who kicked a 20-yard field field goal with 10.2 seconds left in the game. Fresh off a 59 percent victory in her November bid for re-election to the U.S. House, Rep. Virginia Foxx prepared to return to Washington as a member of a newly established Republican minority contingent. “I had 10 years in the minority in Raleigh and I was able to get things done,” Foxx said of the change. A decline in donations to the annual Watauga County Relay for Life campaign cost the county the nation’s top fund raising spot. The annual event raised $286,553 compared to $333,518 in 2005. The top county in the nation, Tift County, Ga., raised $327,088 from its 2006 campaign. A count of 170 approved provisional ballots widened Democratic sheriff candidate Len Hagaman’s lead by 33 votes to 121. The difference was .8 percent, 7,845 to 7,724, leaving incumbent Mark Shook eligible to continue his request for a recount. N.C. Senate candidate David Blust said he’d sent a letter to the state Board of Elections requesting a recount of his race with Democrat Steve Goss. The difference between the two stood at 323 votes after a count of the district’s provisional ballots. The 11-2 Watauga Pioneers beat Greenesboro-Page 15-14 to earn a shot at perennial powerhouse A.C. Reynolds in the third round of the state 4-A football playoffs. An Alabama man, sought by police since he became a suspect in a 2003 Boone bank robbery, was arrested and returned to stand trial in Watauga County. John Joseph Tillery is charged with felony robbery. The Watauga County Board of Elections certified Len Hagaman as the county’s new sheriff after a recount shifted three votes to incumbent Mark Shook, who nonetheless remained 118 votes behind. North Carolinians prepared for a quarter-percent dip in the state sales tax, set to take effect Dec. 1. The decrease was expected to save the average consumer $12.75 per year. Watauga beat nemesis A. C. Reynolds in the third round of the state 4-A football playoffs, advancing the Pioneers deeper into the post season than they’d been since the 1978 team won the 3-A championship. Watauga had suffered six straight lopsided losses to the Rockets before the win. ASU rolled over Coastal Carolina 45-28 in the first round of the FCS/Division-1football playoffs. December 2006 Newly sworn county officials included new county commissioners John Cooper and Mary Moretz as well as the returning Billy Ralph Winkler. Also taking his oath was new sheriff Len Hagaman. School board members included Ron Henries, Lee Warren, and Lowell Younce. ASU earned a ticket back to Chattanooga by crushing the Youngstown Penguins 49-24 in front of a Kidd Brewer playoff record crowd of 18,040. The win was Appalachian’s school record 13th straight this year, its 27th straight at The Rock and improved its record to 13-1. The Mountaineers had also won seven straight playoff games. The Appalachian Board of Trustees approved a 6 percent tuition hike during its quarterly meeting. I also approved a 5 percent increase in general fees. A group of Blowing Rock residents sought to block proposed changes to U.S. 321 by filing a complaint with the N.C. Department of Transportation asking it to review alternatives. A rock slide struck a section of U.S. 321 just south of Blowing Rock closing the highway to a single lane until engineers could determine how to repair it. A local activist group calling itself the Committee for Responsible Environmental Regulation began a legal challenge to recently passed Boone ordinances limiting development of steep slopes and designated view-shed areas. ASU beat the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 28-17, in the FCS/1-AA Football Championship in Chattanooga, for their second National Championship in two years.