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LifeStore Financial Group announces earnings
LifeStore Financial Group (LSFG), the holding company for LifeStore Bank and LifeStore Insurance Services, Inc., announced financial results for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2012. Net income was $188,889 or $0.19 per share for the quarter ending on Dec. 31, 2012, and for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2012 net income was $$416,511 compared to $230,667 for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2011. This follows the June 30, 2012 year end results wher...
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Ashe’s January jobless rate climbs to 13.8
Ashe County’s unemployment rate rose to 13.8 percent for January, up 2.1 over December and 0.8 percent over January 2012, according to the latest report from the N.C. Division of Employment Security (DES). Ashe had an estimated civilian labor force of 11,962 in January, with 1,652 looking for work. The county’s January rate has been above 12 percent for five consecutive years. Annual average unemployement has held above 12 percent since 2...
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Commissioner Gary Roark (left), BOC Vice Chair Judy Porter Poe (middle) and Ashe County Manager Dr. Pat Mitchell (right) read over the mid-year budget review while Ashe County Finance Officer Sandra Long gave her budget presentation.
No surprises on county’s mid-year budget update
With the 2013-2014 budget process in sight, Ashe County Finance Officer Sandra Long presented the Ashe County Board of Commissioners with a mid-year budget review for 2012-2013, and reported spending and collections are on track. According to Long, the mid-year review allows the board of commissioners to see “where they stand,” to help determine next year’s budget. “I just put the figures up there and let them draw their own conclusions,”...
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Avery Brewer, 17, a senior at Ashe County High School, with his photograph "Church in the Shadows." The photo was taken with 35mm fillm, and the print solarized and bleached.
19th Young at Art exhibit on display
The 19th annual Young at Art exhibit, featuring 200 pieces of original work by 130 student artists from all five Ashe County Schools, is on display at the Ashe Arts Center through April 27. Ashe Arts Council Program Director Rebecca Herman said the K-12 non-competitive, non-juried exhibit is “an opportunity for students to hang art work in a professional manner in an art gallery.” The students created their works in school art classes usi...
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Emily Huskins
BRE’s Huskins recognized at Young Authors celebration
Blue Ridge Elementary student, Emily Huskins, was recognized at the 2013 Young Authors celebration held on March 9 at the Raleigh Convention Center. “It felt really good and exciting,” Huskins said of her recognition. “They gave me a medal and a copy of the book the story was published in.” Huskin’s work is entitled “Mr. Mean Fox Plays Twister,” and tells the story of a group of animals who rid themselves of a fox by tricking him into pla...
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Ashe County Free Medical Clinic ranks high in patient outcomes
The Ashe County Free Medical Clinic was ranked high in areas of hypertension control and in all aspects of diabetes control in the latest report compiled by the North Carolina Association of Free Medical Clinics. The Clinic is considered to be an “ELITE Clinic,” or among the top 10 percent, in Diabetes Care Management. Hypertension and diabetes are the most severe chronic conditions in the Clinic’s patient population. Greg Bolac, the Clin...
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The Northwest Trading Post, a favorite Blue Ridge Parkway attraction for 54 years, will likely re-open in the spring.
Parkway ‘confident’ Trading Post will open this spring
The Northwest Trading Post, a Blue Ridge Parkway institution for 54 years, will likely re-open this year after months of uncertainty about the tourist attraction’s future. “We’ve got a bid and we are confident it will open in the spring,” said Blue Ridge Parkway Superintendent Phil Francis. The Trading Post’s previous contract expired in December, Francis said, and the concessioner did not bid on a new contract for 2103. The non-profit bo...
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Ashe Memorial named a top 100 ‘Critical Access Hospital’
Ashe Memorial Hospital (AMH) was listed among 100 top-performing Critical Access Hospitals as determined by iVantage Health Analytic’s latest Hospital Strength Index™ rankings. “It is an honor for Ashe Memorial to be recognized as one of the top 100 Critical Access Hospitals,” said AMH Chief Operating Officer Joe Thore. “We are very proud of the hard work and dedication of our staff and physicians that allowed for such a significant accompl...
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The Ashe County Board of Commissioners and other county officials discussed the ambulance contract during their planning meeting on Monday, March 18. Attending the meeting were (going around the table, clockwise) Ashe County Clerk Ann Clark, Commissioner Gary Roark, Commissioner Judy Porter Poe, Ashe County Manager Dr. Pat Mitchell, BOC Chair Larry Rhodes, Commissioner William Sands, Commissioner Gerald Price, Finance Officer Sandra Long, and Assistant Economic Developer Cory Osborne.
County decides to put ambulance contract out for bid
The Ashe County Board of Commissioners decided to place the county’s ambulance contract up for bid and proposed stipulations to ensure the bidder is local during the board’s planning meeting on Monday, March 18. Since 1994, the county’s ambulance contract has been with Robert Poe, the director of Blue Ridge Medical Transport. The BOC’s first decision was whether to bid out the contract to other companies after its expiration or to renegotia...
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Stephanie Craven (left) and Peggy Bailey (right) were thrilled after the Ashe County BOC approved a proclamation recognizing April 14-19 as the "Week of the Young Child."
Commissioners approve “Week of the Young Child”
During Monday’s BOC meeting, the Ashe County Board of Commissioners proclaimed April 14-19 as “Week of the Young Child” in conjunction with programs launched by the Ashe County Library and the Ashe Partnership for Children. Week of the Young Child “The purpose is to focus on the need of development for young children,” said Stephanie Craven, the child care and resource referral director with the Ashe County Partnership for Children. C...
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During a presentation on Wednesday, physical therapist Clarence Miller demonstrated how seniors could get up from a seated position and decrease their chances of falling.
How to avoid falls
A local physical therapist visited Ashe Services for Aging on Wednesday to demonstrate techniques to seniors, instructing them how to move in order to prevent falls. “We came here once before, about a month ago, and everybody seemed to be responsive to the presentation,” said Clarence Miller, the director of clinical services at Physical Therapy Services Center in Jefferson. During his last visit, Miller discussed general information abou...
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Randall Scott (left) and Chad Scott (center left) of Scott Brothers Heating and Air, present the 2013 Small Business of the Year award to Denise Woodie (center right) and Keith Woodie (right) of Antiques on Main at the Ashe Chamber of Commerce Small Business Luncheon Tuesday.
Burns addresses 2013 Small Business Luncheon
Eighty small business owners and community officials attended the 2013 Ashe County Chamber of Commerce Small Business Luncheon Tuesday at West Jefferson United Methodist Church, where the Small Business of the Year mantle was passed, and Wilkes Community College President Dr. Gordon Burns spoke on the means and measures of small business success. In keeping with tradition, this year’s Small Business of the Year award was presented by last y...
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Virginia Foxx
Foxx’s SKILLS Act passes House
A workforce investment reform bill introduced by U.S. Congresswoman Virginia Foxx passed the House of Representatives Friday by a narrow margin of 215 to 202 votes, with five Republicans and 10 Democrats abstaining. “People in the 5th District are concerned about being unemployed,” said Foxx, whose constituents in N.C.’s northwest corner continue to see jobless figures well above the national average nearly four years after the official e...
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A motorist who flipped his car into Dog Creek at the intersection of NC 221 and Shatley Road at approximately 11:30 this morning was carried from the scene by emergency responders.
Motorist flips car into Dog Creek
A motorist northbound on N.C. 221 veered off the road and flipped his car into Dog Creek this morning at approximately 11:30 a.m. today. Witness Tony Barker of Laurel Springs, who was driving southbound on N.C. 221 at the time, said the vehicle “drifted off the road,” and hit the concrete bridge over the creek. “The car stood straight up and went over,” he said. The vehicle landed inverted in the creek which, luckily, was only a few inche...
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Fleetwood man faces sexual assault charges
The Ashe County Sheriff’s Office has arrested Aaron Banks Dixon, 28, of Fleetwood, on another charge of rape of a child, two charges of exploitation of a minor, and another charge of first degree sexual offense of a child by an adult. These additional arrests were made on Friday, March 15. Dixon was initially arrested March 11 on the charge of rape of a child and five counts of first degree sexual offense of a child by an adult. According...
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Ashe Criminal Superior Court decisions
The quarterly session of the Ashe County Criminal Superior Court was held the week of March 11, the honorable Edgar B. Gregory presiding. These decisions were handed down by the court: Thomas Absher : (M) assault on a female — cons.; (M) possession of drug paraphernalia — cons.; (F) possession of methamphetamine — cons.; (F) trafficking heroin, (P) not guilty, (J) guilty, 19-23 months suspended, 30 months supervised probation, 6 months …, ...
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William Anthony Fitzpatrick
Local arrests include drug, sexual offense charges
March 11 Aaron Banks Dixon, 28, of Fleetwood was charged with two counts of first degree sexual offense, first degree rape of a child and second degree sexual offense. Bond was set at $100,000 for the first degree sexual offense charge and $1,000,000 for the first degree rape of a child charge. William Anthony Fitzpatrick, 45, of Todd was charged with possession/sell of heroin, trafficking opium/heroin, sell/deliver cocaine, sell/delive...
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Ashe District Court decisions
The weekly session of the Ashe County District Court was held March 14, the honorable Mitch McLean presiding. These decisions were handed down by the court: Eric Daniel Bennett : (T) driving with license revoked, (P) guilty, 45 days suspended, 18 months unsupervised probation, $75 fine plus CC. Katelyn Joyce Brown : (M) simple affray, (P) not guilty, (J) guilty 30 days suspended, 18 months unsupervised probation, CC. Matthew Garret ...
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Father James says a blessing during mass at Saint Francis Church on Sunday morning.
Local priest weighs in on new Pope
A local priest from Ashe County’s only Catholic Church reflected on the selection of a new Pope, who for the first time, comes from Latin America. “It’s nice to see someone represent the Americas,” said Father James from the Saint Francis Church in Jefferson. “We (the Americas) are the new kids on the block. We’ve been around 500 years, but the church has existed for 2,000,” said Father James. When the Vatican announced the Argentina’s Ca...
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