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NASCAR DAYS: Annual festival returns to Randleman. 1B
October 20, 2010 127th year No. 293
BROKER HIRED: Company one step closer to Showplace sale. 2A
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POWER FAILURE: Giants pitchers silence Phillies. 1C
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Trinity OKs garbage service contract BY DARRICK IGNASIAK ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
TRINITY – The Trinity City Council on Tuesday night awarded a contract to one of the city’s garbage haulers to implement a mandatory trash and recycling service next year. The City Council voted 7-1 in favor of granting Handy’s Garbage Service a five-year contract, with the hope of implementing the service in January. Councilwoman Linda Gantt voted against the contract. City Manager Ann Bailie said it was the third time the city had considered the service since 2004. She said the emphasis behind the implementation of the service is because the state
banned plastic bottles from landfills. The city previously had discussed providing the service by contracting with a corporation formed by three of Trinity’s haul-
The city’s target date for implementation of the service is Jan. 1. ers – Roadside Trash, Smith Disposal and Handy’s Garbage Service. Roadside Trash and Smith Disposal, however, decided not to join the effort. City officials said Handy’s Garbage Service has worked out a deal where the city will not have to pay displacement fees to Road-
side Trash and Smith Disposal. Bailie told the City Council that the city’s target date for implementation of the service is Jan. 1. She said if the city can’t start it then, the service will begin the first day of the month after residents receive their cart. Bailie said she learned Friday that the city will not be eligible for a grant from the state to purchase garbage carts. The City Council decided Tuesday night to set aside a one-time expenditure of $211,050 for purchase of the carts. City officials will use money that had been budgeted in Trinity’s 2010-11 fiscal year budget to fund the construction of the proposed Center City Park. The cost of the trash and re-
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cycling service will be $15 each month, which will include weekly trash pickup and recyclable pickup every other week. The service will be mandatory except in certain situations that require trucks to drive on private roads. In other business, the City Council gave the green light for staff to prepare a grant application for development of a city park. City officials will make their second attempt to apply for the grant through the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund. In July, the N.C. Parks and Recreation Authority ruled that Trinity would not be a recipient of a $500,000 grant to develop the proposed Center City Park.
Dana Moore, a junior at High Point University, won third place in the Chegg 12-second Video Contest. The requirements for the contest were to make a video advertisement for Chegg, an online textbook rental company.
dignasiak@hpe.com | 888-3657
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MADE USA IN THE
HELPING HABITAT: Furniture company partners with nonprofit. 1B
Manufacturers say demand for domestic furniture is up BY PAM HAYNES ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
HIGH POINT – It’s no longer the norm for any consumer product to be made in the United States, especially furniture. Companies that continue to manufacture their product domestically, however, often use that fact as a selling point. Some exhibitors at the High Point Market say the number of buyers looking for American-made furniture is growing. “People are asking us more and more where our furniture is made,” said Meredith Younger Spell, a spokesperson for Thomasville-based Younger Furniture. “It’s become one of their first questions when it used to not be a question at all. When we tell them our furniture is made here, they really, really like it.” Younger Furniture, which has a showroom in the 220 Elm building, produces all of its upholstered living room pieces at a factory in Thomasville as it has since the company’s inception in 1989. The trend of buyers looking for such furniture has surfaced in recent years, Spell said. “Over the past three to threeand-a-half years, people have started asking us that question,” she said. When it comes to why the “buy local” – or at least domestic – concept has somewhat returned, some of it is probably linked to supporting the local economy
and jobs, said Bob Timberlake, a renowned Lexington artist who designs a furniture line made by local Linwood Furniture Inc. Timberlake visited the furniture market on Saturday when it opened. “I can see it in our line,” he said about retailers and consumers seeking American-made products. “We’ve had a nice (sales) increase. It’s way up. And it’s just a personal decision that people make to buy furniture made here. I know there are people all over market looking for things made right here.” Spell points out that there are business advantages for U.S. retailers to buy domestically produced furniture as well. “I think (buyers) want quality, something that isn’t going to be broken by the time it gets to their customers. We make that here (in the states),” she said. Spell said the selling points also include “delivery and customizing.” “Our (shipping) time is about one month. And everything made in our factories can be custom, unlike things that come out of China,” she said. “Any fabric can be put on any couch or chair.” Timberlake said he believes the demand for furniture produced in the Triad and other places in the U.S. will continue to grow. “I think it’s coming back, and I think it will stay,” he said. phaynes@hpe.com | 888-3617
OBITUARIES
---- Joseree Ashworth, 89 George Brown, 84 B. Bumgarner, 64 Claudine Causey, 64 Linwood Ivery Jr., 58 Alden Mahler, 66 Carl Manning, 52 Luther Marsh Sr., 83 Stephanie Springer, 24 Jeff Tysinger, 37 Obituaries, 2-3B
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PAM HAYNES | HPE
Meredith Younger Spell, a spokesperson for Younger furniture, shows a chair made in the company’s Thomasville factory.
City prepares for upcoming e-waste ban BY PAT KIMBROUGH ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
HIGH POINT – The City Council on Monday gave its blessing to an upcoming state law that will ban discarded electronic equipment from landfills, but the measure left some questioning whether the city should do more to handle the local e-waste stream. The law will ban computer equipment, such as desktop computers, laptops, keyboards, video monitors, printers, scanners, fax machines, and TVs from landfills in an effort to keep toxic mate-
rials out of waste sites. “All of these products – basically anything that has a microchip in it – are becoming more recyclable. That’s what the state is trying to move to,” said Richard McMillan, the city’s assistant director of Public Services. The ban becomes effective July 1. The city will no longer collect these materials for landfill disposal after that date. Local governments are required to endorse the ban and amend their solid waste management plans by the end of the year to be eligible for state funding. The council passed a resolution
that satisfied the requirement. McMillan said there are several options for residents to recycle e-waste, including possible periodic collection days similar to one held in the city at Mendenhall Station last year that drew a strong response from the public. The city plans to hold more events like this, but some questioned whether this will be adequate. “We’ve got to get more active in this,” said Councilman Latimer Alexander. “I think once a year is going to be inadequate. We need to look at once a month.” Alexander asked if it would be possible for drop-off sites for discarded
electronics to be established at city facilities. The idea probably would not work because the sites would have to be manned by city personnel, which isn’t feasible, McMillan said. Another option for recycling ewaste is Guilford County’s Household Hazardous Waste Program operated by EcoFlo Inc., 2750 Patterson St., Greensboro, which is open to residents Wednesday through Saturday. In addition, area Goodwill Industries operate an electronics recycling program for residents and collect computer equipment for recycling. pkimbrough@hpe.com | 888-3531
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