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Serving Belmont, Mount Holly, Stanley, Cramerton, and McAdenville
Volume 78 • Issue 41 • Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Belmont Central Elementary has deep roots . . . 3A
Sports - 7A
Mill closing = 145 fewer jobs By Alan Hodge Alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Another textile mill has closed in Belmont. Jo-Mar Group, LLC d/b/a JoMar Spinning, 101 Plum St., has announced its closure that was effective Sept. 30. The closing impacted 145 workers. A few administrative employees might be onsite for a while but the rank and
file will be gone. Jo-Mar Spinning opened three years ago and was located in the former R.L. Stowe Mills Helms plant. The 130,000 sq. ft factory produced yarn. Jo-Mar was part of the yarn spinning division of Grupo Karims, a Honduras-based textile and real estate company. The firm sent a letter to the NC Dept. of Commerce dated Sept. 17
stating the intent to “Terminate all operations and close its business.� The closing is considered permanent. According to state law, businesses with at least 100 workers are required to file a notice with the state under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires employers to provide 60 days notice of plant closings and mass layoffs.
Businesses must give notice if a business shut down will cause at least 50 employees to lose their jobs for at least 30 days. They also have to give notice if a layoff will cause at least 33 percent of workers to lose their jobs for at least 30 days. In a letter announcing the closing, Jo-Mar’s president Josh Hamilton had this to say. “Jo-Mar’s closing is due to loss
of business that is common in the textile industry,� he wrote. “Jo-Mar believes the closing is based on NAFTA-TAA or TAA as a result of trade with Canada or Mexico and/or as a result of increased imports.� NAFTA is the acronym for the North American Free Trade Act, legislation that most US textile manufacturers feel puts them at a See MILL CLOSING, 11A
Is 4th lane Abernethy finds treasures in trash coming to I-85? ALAN HODGE
alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Photo by Alan Hodge
Plans are being discussed that could see I-85 widened to eight lanes from this exit 26 to exit 10 near Kings Mountain. By Alan Hodge Alan.bannernews@gmail.com
It’s been 50 or so years since I-85 was constructed in Gaston County, and about 15 years since portions of it were widened to three lanes between Belmont and west Gastonia. Now, there’s an effort afoot to have the pike pumped up to four lanes between Exit 10 at 29/74 near Kings Mountain and Exit 27 near Belmont. Making a move in that direction, the Gastonia City Council approved a resolution last week endorsing the potential project saying it will help improve air quality by easing traffic jams that are part and parcel of the daily commute to and from places like Charlotte. If the NCDOT should take up the idea, widening I-85 from three to four lanes in the desired area could take as long as a decade and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. One of the biggest jobs connected with such a project would be rebuilding the overpasses in the widened stretch. There’s also the bridge over the South Fork River to be considered. Right now, rush hour traffic in the stretch between Exit 20 (New Hope Rd.) and Exit 27 (NC273) sees over 100,000 vehicles per day clogging the asphalt artery. Exit 26 at Belmont Abbey and Exit 23 at McAdenville see the most traffic with 118,000 vehicles passing by or getting on and off each day. The I-85 widening project would be competing for state funds with the proposed Garden Parkway toll road project. That job has been placed on the NCDOT backburner for now. The 22-mile Garden Parkway is designed to connect southern Gaston County with areas such as the Intermodal Terminal in Charlotte and would cost around $1 billion to construct. Environmentalists have opposed the Garden Parkway, saying studies done by the state on the impact the road would have were inaccurate. The Southern Environmental Law Center has filed a suit to stop the project even though millions of dollars have already been spent in choosing the path the toll road would take and getting geared up for construction. However, the Gaston Regional Chamber still gives its approval to the Garden Parkway. One factor that will determine what Gaston road project gets done and when, or if at all, is See I-85, 11A
When most folks see a pinecone on the ground or a rotten stump in the woods or even a plastic bleach jug the word that registers is “trash�, but to Vernon Abernethy of 306 Fallingbrook Drive in Belmont, the word that rings in his head is “treasure�. A semi-retired CPA and native of Catawba Heights, Abernethy has created a second career taking bits of this and that and creating striking artworks with a practical purpose such as birdhouses and walking sticks. “Ever since I was a child I’ve always enjoyed creating things,� Abernethy said. “It’s hard for me to throw stuff away.� Abernethy says he got his artistic start helping his mom in her cake decorating and ceramic shop. One of his favorite activities was to take unfinished pieces of ceramic and carve things from them. “I don’t have any formal artistic training,� he said “I learned with a pocket knife.� Since 2007, Abernethy has spent a good deal of his creative time crafting birdhouses. Not your typical plank and nail birdhouses, but creations that are covered with longleaf pine cones and resemble in many
Photo by Alan Hodge
Vernon Abernethy of Belmont can turn things like old sticks, plastic bottles, and pinecones into amazing works of art. His philosophy is to never throw anything away he can use to make something nice out of. ways Black Forest cuckoo clocks. “I build a wooden frame from scrap lumber and then cover it with pine cones,� Abernethy said. “Then I put a waterproof epoxy coating on. The houses last for years.�
Adding to the charm of the birdhouses, Abernethy will also attach pieces of weathered wood to resemble wings or other things. The houses have avian allure. One in his front yard has seen over two-dozen baby bluebirds raised in it.
Another one of Abernethy’s artistic talents involves making walking sticks. To create these works, he uses wood gleaned from a patch of forest behind his home. The sticks feature carvings of flags and other See ABERNATHY, 11A
Whaley grows ‘locks of love’... twice! ALAN HODGE alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Some guys with long hair would shudder at having their mane trimmed. But for 10-year-old Jesse Whaley of Belmont, he not only had his foot-long, golden waves cut once for a worthy cause, he went back months later and got “skinned� a second time for the same charity. A fifth grader at Belmont Central Elementary, Whaley had his hair cut and then donated to the Locks of Love organization. Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. Locks of Love meets a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics. The group’s mission is to return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss by utilizing donated ponytails to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children. The children receive hair prostheses free of charge or on a sliding scale, based on financial need. Locks of Love recipients are financially disadvantaged children, age 21 and under,
Contributed Photo
Photo by Alan Hodge
Here’s Jesse Whaley before he cut his hair and donated it to Locks of Love. Seen with Jesse is former Belmont Central Elementary assistant principal Glenn Cook.
This photo shows 10-year-old Jesse Whaley and his mom Lisa McLean after he had about twelve inches of his hair cut off and donated to the Locks of Love organization.
suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. Most of the children suffer from an autoimmune disorder called alopecia areata, which causes the hair follicles to shut down. In addition to the loss of scalp hair, many also lose their eyelashes, eyebrows and all body hair. This hair loss is permanent in most cases, and there is no
known cause or cure. Other recipients have been victim to severe burns, endured radiation treatment to the brain stem as a treatment for cancer, or suffer from any number of skin disorders that cause permanent hair loss. “Jesse cut his hair for the second time See WHALEY, 11A
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