July 29 - Aug. 4, 2021
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Board delays vote on whether to Catalytic converters – recommend amendment to UDO a ‘hot item’ among crooks Rising thefts of the devices are grounding church vans and daycare buses and costing owners hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to replace by CHRIS BURRITT Photo by Chris Burritt/NWO
Victor Dover, 1a designer working for developer David Couch, shares renderings and sketches of ideas for building higher-density housing, including apartments, while preserving open space in the proposed expansion of Summerfield Farms. “Show us the density,” said Summerfield resident Priscilla Olinick, one of more than 50 people who attended the informational meeting at Revolution Academy on July 15. The meeting was organized by Couch.
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IN THIS ISSUE
Community Calendar .............................. 14
News in brief .............................................................3
Youth sync: 12U champs, Eagle Scout ......... 19
Your Questions .........................................................4
NWO Kids’ Korner .........................................20, 22
Summerfield Town Council meeting ....................6
That’s something to cheer about! ..................... 21
Veterans site fundraising kicks off ......................10
Grins and Gripes ...............................................24
Taking the fitness challenge – virtually .............. 11
Classifieds ...............................................27
The games we played, and the joys of recess...12
Index of Advertisers ........... 31
...continued on p. 2
Crime/Incident Report ................................. 16
IS T SU HI E S
by CHRIS BURRITT
SUMMERFIELD – Two hours of divergent, sometimes tense viewpoints centering on developer David Couch’s proposal to expand Summerfield Farms ended with the Planning Board’s decision to delay recommending whether to
IN
After two hours of clashing viewpoints, town’s Planning Board decides to wait two months to resume consideration of an amendment to UDO
NW GUILFORD – When youngsters at the Laugh & Learn Child Care Center in Stokesdale were heading out on a recent field trip, they thought they were riding in a race car, not a bus. “It was so loud,” recalled Amanda Swearingen, the center’s director. It turns out that a thief had slid underneath the bus and removed the catalytic converter, an increasingly popular target among crooks. Next door at Morris Dentistry, the owner of a Dodge Ram truck reported the
theft of the device from his vehicle. “It is a hot item,” said Lt. Jeremy Fuller of Guilford County Sheriff’s District 1 office, which is investigating a growing number of catalytic converter thefts in Stokesdale, Summerfield and Oak Ridge. Local incidents mirror national trends showing that converter thefts have risen during the COVID-19 pandemic as the shutdown of mining operations overseas led to a shortage of precious metals which are found in the devices. In turn, thieves can pocket several hundred dollars selling stolen converters to unscrupulous and sometimes unknowing metal processors.
