Today’s Weather
INSIDE TODAY 2010 High School Football Preview.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
THOMASVILLE
Times
Scat’d T-storms, 88/69
119th Year - No. 126 50 Cents
www.tvilletimes.com
Summer of 2010 one of hottest on record
Uptown Thomasville sets city on new path
BY ERIN WILTGEN
BY ELIOT DUKE
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
Despite the slight reprieve in August, summer 2010 has certainly marked its name in the temperature history books. Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, the closest long-term weather observation in the area, has the weather since June 1, 2010, as the warmest on record. The next closest is the summer of 1925. “It’s been warmer than normal, much warmer than normal,” said Ryan Boyles, state climatologist and director of the State Climate Office of North Carolina. “For June and July, in many locations in the state, it’s been the warmest on record.” Measurements such as the warmest month or the warmest summer look at average temperatures. Boyles said the minimum temperatures have been extremely warm while the maximum temperatures measure only the sixth warmest. Across the country, Delaware and New Jersey also recorded the hottest June ever, but other areas saw cooler temperatures and nationwide June clocked in as the eighth warmest. The Tar Heel State’s heat wave came hard on the heels of one of the coldest winters on record. Summer and fall of 2009 averaged on the cooler side, and given the extreme winter weather, Boyles says he wouldn’t have expected such a quick turnaround. “North Carolina has one of the most variable and complex climates in the Eastern U.S.,” he said. “In some regard, it’s not unusual for us to go from cold to warm. That being said, to go from very cold to very warm so quickly,
53,000 farms recover from the recession. Under the program, five state and federal programs have come together to offer grant money focused on lowering energy costs, launching renewable energy projects, implementing value-added production and developing other sources of farm income.
A local non-profit organization is hoping a new logo and a fresh approach towards opening lines of communication within the city will be just what downtown Thomasville needs. It all starts with a name change. Uptown Thomasville, Inc. is a locally-funded organization comprised of residents, professionals and property and business owners committed to developing partnerships and implementing plans that encourages revitalization, community involvement and business growth. The purpose is to re-establish the Uptown Business District into a thriving, diverse and economically vibrant city center, according to the organization’s mission statement. “This is not strictly for Thomasville businesses,” Joe Hedgpeth, co-chairman of Uptown Thomasville, Inc. and owner of Best in Show on Salem Street, said. “This is for anybody who wants to join and be part of what we’re trying to do. We want this to be a new change so everyone will recognize it. We don’t want people thinking this is just the same old thing. We’re doing this to bring a positive slant to uptown Thomasville. It’s time for us, as a community, to step up. I think we’re
See PROGRAM, Page 12
See PATH, Page 12
See SUMMER, Page 6
INDEX Weather Focus Opinion Obituaries Sports Crossword Business
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TIMES PHOTO/ERIN WILTEN
Members of the Koontz family stand in front of their small family farm in Midway Wednesday. The family grows hay, feed corn and garden products.
Program to assist N.C. farmers BY ERIN WILTGEN
‘They had a bad couple years of the drought. They finally started to get their feet under them ... and then here we go right into the recession. It’s been a tough last five years for farmers.’
Staff Writer The difficulty of farm life is nothing new to Diane Koontz. Residing on a small, family-run farm in Midway with a splattering of extended family, Koontz is well-accustomed to the ups and downs of a life dependent on the forces of nature. After all, the drought of 2007-08 didn’t exactly make growing crops easy. But the recent downturn of the economy has dug farmers in an even deeper hole. “When we try to sell things, we don’t make as much off of it,” said Koontz, whose farm grows hay, feed corn and garden vegetables. “It costs more to plant, and then when you go to sell, you
— Garnet Bass N.C. Rural Economic Development Center don’t always recoup your money. We plod along as best we can.” The state has hopefully come up with an answer — or at least temporary relief to farmers’ burdens. Gov. Beverly Perdue announced the implementation of the Family Farm Innovation Fund on Aug. 2, an $18.4 million package of programs to help North Carolina’s approximately
‘Bluegrass and BBQ’ to collect school supplies for students BY ELIOT DUKE Staff Writer With school starting in less than a week, parents and students are making final preparations to get ready for classes. For some families, the new school year is a financial burden that often leads to students going to class without everything they need. Communities In School of Thomasville is holding a fundraiser this weekend in an effort to ensure no Chair City student goes without a bookbag, colored pencil or notebook. “Back to School, Bluegrass & BBQ” will be held this Saturday from 5-8 p.m. at Pace Park off Memorial Park Drive where all proceeds will go toward providing students with needed school supplies. Tickets cost $15 and people are asked to bring school supply items as donations. “We’re trying to provide the chil-
dren with whatever they need to be successful,” Judy Younts, director of CIS of Thomasville, said. “The children are coming in next Wednesday and we want to make sure they have what they need for the job. We’re all about making taxpayers and not tax-takers. It all starts when they enter first grade or that first kindergarten class.” This is the first year CIS of Thomasville has held such an event. Cook’s Barbeque is sponsoring the food and local musicians Mitch Snow, Scott Huffman and Robert Sprye will be providing the entertainment. The Thomasville High School marching band also will be performing its latest halftime show. “This is a combination of a fundraiser and an opportunity for us to do a back-to-school supplies drive so we can have supplies available when kids come back,” said Mary Jane Akerman, Thomasville City
See SUPPLIES, Page 6
PHOTO/DON DAVIS/HPE
FINGER-LICKING GOOD
A young boy indulges in some of the many treats at Hospice of the Piedmont’s annual ‘Taste of the Town’ Tuesday at Showplace in High Point.
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