Lottery ticket worth $10K on the loose

Someone in the Boone area may have $10,000 hiding in their pocket, under the mattress, or in the washing machine.

In the latest North Carolina Powerball Lottery drawing, four of five balls matched a ticket sold at the Kangaroo Express on Blowing Road Road in Boone.

The drawing was held April 25, with Joshua Best of Goldsboro winning $1 million the first time he ever played the lottery. Other winning tickets were sold at Nashville, Hickory and Durham, worth $50,000 each. Since the Boone ticket was not “Power Played,” it was only worth $10,000.

A total of 36,133 North Carolina Powerball players won prizes in the Saturday Powerball drawing, ranging from $1 million down to $3 for a total payout in prizes worth $1,530,230. No one matched all five white balls plus the Powerball to win the jackpot, so the jackpot is $65 million for the Wednesday, April 29 drawing.

The North Carolina Education Lottery (NCEL) has paid out more than $5.2 million total in instant scratch-off ticket prizes since Thursday, April 23. Also since Thursday, “Carolina Cash 5” players have won more than $174,000. “Carolina Pick 4” players have won more than $350,000, and 15 tickets were sold that won the top prize of $5,000. “Carolina Pick 3” players have won more than $871,000.

Lottery results are at www.lotterync.net.

—Scott Nicholson

Pay cut coming for state employees

State employees will get a pay cut in May and June following a budget-tightening executive order signed by N.C. Gov. Beverly Perdue on Tuesday.

The cut, estimated to save $65 million over the next two months, will equal one-half percent of employees’ annual salaries.

Perdue said the decision came in an attempt to save $1 billion before the end of the fiscal budget year on June 30.

State employees may take 10 hours of unpaid leave between June 1 and Dec. 31.

As an example: A state employee making $30,000 a year will likely see a total $150 shortfall in May and June.

“The world is not ending,” Perdue said during a morning news conference.

“These are solutions that may be distasteful to our people.”

Although Perdue cannot, under the state constitution, demand elected officials take a pay cut, her executive order directed her salary be cut by the same amount and some lawmakers have stated they will be willing to accept the temporary cut as well.

— Jason Reagan

Middle school students ‘clean up’

Seventh-graders at Blowing Rock School are cleaning up their acts, and started by taking part in a river cleanup along the south fork of the New River on April 22.

As part of the nationwide Earth Day program, the kids started the day doing hands-on activities that teach them about the negative effects of trash and industry waste on the environment.

The fun and games were followed by a field trip to the New River, where the children were able to put their new knowledge to use and participate in a trash pick up.

“They had a great time today and, more importantly, they learned about their environment,” said Wendy Smith, seventh-grade teacher of the cleanup crew.

The classes cleaned up a mile of the Boone Greenway that parallels the New River, filling up 30 trash bags.

This is the first time that Blowing Rock School has participated in a project such as this. They also have a recycling program, run by their own seventh-graders.

The team that is responsible for the execution of this project, under the supervision of Courtney Wait of the National Committee for the New River, includes ASU recreation management majors John Sautter, Taylor Bradley and Billy Hoyle.

Stephanie West, professor of recreation management at ASU, assigned the project as part of the curriculum for a program planning class.

O choose-and-cut, O choose-and-cut

The Watauga County Christmas Tree Association’s Choose and Cut Committee will meet on Monday, May 4, at 5 p.m. at the Agricultural Services Center in Boone.

This planning meeting will be for all farms participating in the 2009 Choose and Cut Guide. Committees will be formed to work on choose-and-cut projects.

For those who have questions about the meeting, or how to enroll in the Choose and Cut Guide, contact the Watauga Cooperative Extension Office at (828) 264-3061 or e-mail meghan_baker@ncsu.edu. The final deadline for participating in the 2009 guide is Friday, May 8.

Fiesta Run

Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk will host Run for the Fiesta, a charity race to benefit programming at the Carol and Glenn Arthur Student Recreation Complex, on May 2.

The entry fee for the race is $20, and it begins at 1 p.m. at the Lees-McRae Mill Pond.

“We will run, walk, jog or stroll through Lees-McRae College’s campus and on the Banner Elk Greenway to get to Los Arcoiris for fantastic Mexican food,” a spokesperson for the event said.

All participants will get a fiesta shirt, a raffle ticket for chances at prizes, a chance at several free giveaways, free food and drink specials.

“The Arthur Student Recreation Complex has become a staple in the Banner Elk community, offering programs to the local community, families and, of course, Lees-McRae College students.

“We’d love to be able to offer even more activities to the community and continue to keep the events at the lowest possible cost … which is usually free,” said Dani Usedom, director of campus recreation at Lees-McRae.

Race registration will run from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Participants may also print and mail an entry form from the Web site, or register online and pay at the event.

Kathryn Gatewood said, “We’re new to the Banner Elk community, and I have appreciated Lees-McRae College so much for opening up the new [Arthur] Student Recreation Complex for Kidz Zone every Monday and Friday. Not only has it been an awesome place for our kids to have fun with other kids, but it’s also been a good place for parents to hang out.”

Kidz Zone is a free program for local children to come and get active in the Carol and Glenn Arthur Student Recreation Complex on Mondays and Fridays from 3-5 p.m.

Kidz Zone is just one of the many programs that will benefit from the proceeds of the race.

Warm weather brings record-breaking weekend to Grandfather

The high temperature reading of 76 degrees recorded at Grandfather Mountain Saturday, April 25, broke the daily high temperature record of 74 degrees set in 1960.

The daily high temperature record was also broken the next day.

A warm 76 degrees recorded Sunday, April 26, surpassed the previous daily high temperature record of 73 degrees set in 1957.

These 76 degree readings also break the record for the highest temperature ever reached at Grandfather Mountain during the month of April.

The previous record was 75 degrees set April 24, 1960.

For more information on the 53 years of weather data from Grandfather Mountain, see the interactive weather database at www.grandfather.com.