northwest observer | march 25 - 31, 2016

Joyner to retire from teaching, coaching volleyball After 31 years, Darlene Joyner is retiring from coaching volleyball and teaching health and P.E. at Northwest High School; she will stay on as head coach of varsity girls basketball. Read Joyners story on p. 15

March 25 - 31, 2016

...continued on p. 5

IN THIS ISSUENews in Brief ......................................2Your Questions ..................................4Stokesdale Town Council ................6Youth/School Briefs ........................10Student artist gallery ......................12Cadet prepares for last drill ..........13Student Profi les ...............................14Coach Profi le: Darlene Joyner .......15Crime/Incident Report ...................18Business Notes ................................21Bits & Pieces ....................................21Community Calendar ................... 22Letters/Opinions ............................ 24Grins & Gripes .................................26Classifi eds .......................................27Index of Advertisers .......................31

bringing the local news home to northwest Guilford County since 1996 www.nwobserver.com

Mayor Randy Braswell says he acted in his

towns best interest when he asked

that Stokesdale be taken off the MTS Trail map; Oak Ridgebegins the processof mapping out trailroute in its town

by PATTI STOKES STOKESDALE/OAK RIDGE As word circulates that Stokesdale May-or Randy Braswell contacted Kate Dixon, executive director of Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea (FMTS) Trail, and Carol Tingley, deputy di-rector of N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation, to ask that Stokesdale be taken off the MTS Trail map, reactions have been mixed.

Some people have said they were, at the very least, surprised

at the mayors action. Others have said they were frustrated and dismayed by it. Yet there are some who said the mayor acted appro-priately, and that Oak Ridge, which is taking steps to bring the trail through its town, is welcome to it.

Kate Dixon has worked for FMTS Trail for the last eight years. In the organizations history, she cant remember another town ask-ing to be taken off the trail route.

Towns are usually incred-ibly excited to be on the route, Dixon said. Its a first for me in eight years. Its always hard to know how deep that runs. Is there really widespread opposition? I dont know how to know that.

Dixon confirmed there have been trail support-ers in Stokesdale over the years among them, Sue Lukens, who has since moved away

from Stokesdale, ROADS founder Pam Lemmons and Stokesdale town council member Frank Bruno.

Because of the nice downtown area, we thought it would be a great place for the trail, Dixon said. But, we dont want to push it on anyone.

Before Braswells call, Dixon said Oak Ridge had indicated they would be interested in having the trail come through their town if Stokes-dale decided they didnt want it.

County Commissioner Justin Conrad, whose district includes Stokesdale, said he was approached

teaching, coaching volleyballAfter 31 years, Darlene Joyner is retiring from coaching volleyball and teaching

moved away

MTS Trail, Part 2:No for Stokesdale, Go for Oak Ridge

2 MARCH 25 - 31, 2016 The Northwest Observer Totally local since 1996

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NEWS in brief


Easter Sunday, March 27Sunrise service 6:45am in the cemetery

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Stokesdale ranked No. 2most affordable townNORTH CAROLINA Financial web-site SmartAsset recently released its 2016 list of the most affordable towns in North Carolina, and Stokesdale is ranked No. 2, following closely behind No. 1 Knightdale in Wake County.

The website bases its rankings on an affordability index derived from

factors including average home closing costs, annual property taxes, average mortgage payment, cost of homeown-ers insurance and median income.

Indian Trails, Lewisville, Trinity, Holly Springs, Harrisburg, Gibsonville, King and Cherryville also made the Top 10 list of most affordable towns in the state.

Grants to combat internetcrimes against childrenNORTH CAROLINA Throughout the state, hundreds of sexual preda-tors are using the internet to target and solicit children requesting nude pictures or to meet for sex. To help locate and prosecute these sexual de-viants, Gov. Pat McCrory secured $1.6 million in state grants in his recent budget.

State legislators earmarked $600,000 for the 2015-16 fiscal year and $1 million for 2016-17. Grants will pay for salaries and training of inves-tigators and forensic analysts, and for technology to locate and rescue children.

Priority for the grants is being given to veterans who have received special-ized training through HERO, Human Exploitation Rescue Operative, a na-tional organization of wounded veter-ans committed to finding and arresting child predators.

We must protect the states chil-dren from sexual predators, McCrory said. Arming wounded warriors and law enforcement officers with needed tools and training will help find and prosecute abusers.

The training is highly technical and specialized and the equipment is ex-pensive, but these grants are an impor-tant step in preventing sexual predators from reaching our children, said David Huffman, commission director.

The State Bureau of Investigation, the lead agency in this effort, has 14 agents assigned to the North Carolina chapter of Internet Crimes Against Chil-dren Task Force, ICAC, (pronounced eye-cack).

That small number of agents isnt nearly enough to investigate the mas-sive number of leads referred to the SBI, said Special Agent in Charge Alan Flora who oversees the SBI Computer Crimes Unit. As the number of tips to the SBI increases, the number of SBI agents and local Task Force officers has remained about the same.

Last year, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Childrens Cyber-Tipline, (http://www.missingkids.com/cybertipline) sent more than 2,200 tips on potential cases of child exploitation to the SBI.Five years ago, the number was 683.

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and when its raining, its very hard to see any lines in the road. I would invite a DOT official to make the drive up Strawberry Road from 220 to N.C. 150 at nighttime and while its raining. Im sure youll see what I mean. Are there any plans to re-surface and or re-line this section of road?

Bobby Norris, NCDOT district engineer, said he checked this years resurfacing schedule

and Strawberry Road is not on the list to be resurfaced in 2016. However, Norris said he and Brad Wall, DOT division maintenance engineer, will check the condition of the pavement to see if it is deteriorated enough for resurfacing.

In the meantime, I will have our traffic services group take a look at the striping to try and address this issue, Norris said.

I have seen a Welcome to Oak Ridge sign, and was wondering if Summerfield has

a Welcome to Summerfield sign posted anywhere? I think the corner of Strawberry Road and 220N would be a

nice location for one. The road crew has done a great job improving the looks of this intersection.

Oak Ridge has three Welcome to Oak Ridge signs, which you see as you approach the town

limits from Summerfield, Greensboro and Kernersville. One sign is on N.C. 150/Oak Ridge Road, one is on N.C. 68 at Peeples Road, and the other is near the Forsyth County line on N.C. 150.

Stokesdale does not have any wel-come signs, and neither does Sum-merfield yet. However, the Summerfield Town Council did discuss welcome signs last June, after Town Manager Scott Whitaker asked them to consider loca-tions for monument-style welcome signs to be put in place after construction on U.S. 220 has been completed.

The council agreed on placing signs at these three locations: the northern inter-change of U.S. 220 and I-73; the southern location of U.S. 220 and Strawberry Road; and a smaller sign (not necessarily a wel-come sign) near U.S. 220 and N.C. 150.

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OUR TEAMPatti Stokes, editor/publisherLaura Reneer, associate publisherL.A. Logan, sports/high school news writer Annette Joyce, marketing managerSean Gentile, art directorYvonne Truhon, page layout Leon Stokes, IT directorLucy Smith, finance managerLinda Schatz, distribution managerHelen Ledford, Annette Joyce & Emily-Sarah Lineback, contributing writers

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Id like to get my concealed carry permit. I took the re-quired class, but that was

about three years ago. Theres no expiration date on the certificate I received for completing the class. Do I need to take the class again?

In North Carolina, before applying for a concealed carry permit, you are required to

take the North Carolina Original Fire-arms Safety Training Course, an eight-hour class with range time. Before being given a certificate, you must pass a written exam and meet certain range shooting requirements.

According to Captain Tony Caliendo of the Guilford County Sheriffs Office, the certificate you receive from successfully completing the class is good indefinitely.

There is nothing in the North Caro-lina statutes that puts an expiration date on the certificate, said Caliendo. How-ever, if youve taken the course in the distant past, I recommend that you go back through it and familiarize yourself if you havent stayed engaged.

Im a lifelong resident of Sum-merfield, currently residing in a neighborhood off Strawberry

Road, just south of N.C. 150. Its clear to me that Strawberry Road and N.C. 150 between U.S. 220 and Lake Brandt Road are in desperate need of resurfacing and or repainting of white and yellow lines.

I have a teenage daughter who fre-quently comments to me Dad, at night

Curious aboutsomething?Submit your questions abouttopics relevant to thenorthwest area

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several months ago by Braswell and Tim Jones, who was a candidate for town council at the time and has since been elected.

They werent thrilled about the trail (coming through Stokesdale), and had a petition with about 360 signatures on it. They expressed a lot of concerns with private property issues and where the trail was penciled in, Conrad said.

I reached out to county staff, and we took those concerns to the MTS Trail folks. Then we asked Oak Ridge, Are you guys interested? They were very receptive to using the Cascades Park and the historic part of Oak Ridge as part of a trail route.

Dixon said that after getting the call from Braswell a few weeks ago, FMTS Trail began developing a new connecting route to take the trail through Oak Ridge instead of Stokesdale. Since then, she has met with Town of Oak Ridge staff members to discuss route possibilities and issues like camping accommodations for hikers.

Our goal is to get the new trail map up on our website within a couple of weeks. Most hikers come through the trail in the spring or fall and we want to get that to them, Dixon said, adding, I really like the Stokesdale route, but I also feel this route through Oak Ridge is wonder-ful, and will work as well for hikers.

What is important is that the trail con-nects at either end; they (Oak Ridge) need to know that Forsyth County is open to connecting it at their end; Oak Ridge will

be asked to develop a more detailed plan as to where they want it to go the state doesnt do that; that all falls to the town.

Regarding the threat of using eminent domain, which was one of the 10 bullet items on the Redress of Grievance Peti-tion which was circulated in Stokesdale last fall in opposition to the trail, Dixon said the states Parks and Recreation De-partment does not use eminent domain.

One, they dont want to use it, she said. Also, they know if eminent domain is used in one place, it scares everybody. Their stance is, if a landown-er is opposed to having the trail come on their property, we look for another way around or we wait. Eventually, that land will change hands.

At the local government level, Dixon said the only time she can recall emi-nent domain being used has been in Raleigh, with the Neuse River Greenway, a 26-mile trail along the Neuse River.

Raleigh started working on it in the 70s and gradually acquired land over a period of 40 years. Around 2010 or so, in that entire stretch, three tracts of needed land had not been acquired and they (the City of Raleigh) used eminent domain. But it was a 40-year process the landowners sold their land, but it wasnt a big, contentious issue, Dixon said. That is the only time in eight years weve got about 150 new miles of trails coming in place right now. Using eminent domain is just not typical at all, and not the way that this happens.

Jane Doggett chairs Summerfields Trails and Open Space Committee, which is currently focused on identifying

open space within the town and extending the A&Y Greenway through Summerfield; the greenway segment would eventually become part of the MTS Trail.

Doggett says her committee has heard all of the same objections that were includ-ed on the petition circulated in Stokesdale.

But there are statistics out there proving that trails improve property value, Doggett said. And studies have been done that prove it is extremely hard to steal a television while on a bicy-cle there are lots of ways to mitigate the concern about crime like putting up a fence. But truly, your average crimi-nal isnt going to walk five miles, or even a mile they want to get away quickly.

Almost 100 percent, trails are an advantage to a community, with very little downside to them. Right now we have an extremely positive environment for getting the trail done.

Oak Ridges Mayor Spencer Sullivan said that though discussions about bring-ing the MTS Trail through his town are in the very early stages, he and the towns

other council members, along with staff, are excited about the possibilities.

We talked about how we could use the Haw River Basin we have right of ways and easements on the map for the Haw River Basin, so there is a lot already in place that we could use as part of the trail, Sullivan said. Also, we are focusing on how we can connect the trail to the town core, park and up to Cascades Park it would leave there and go on to be the western part of the trail.

We talked about a lot of options how we could do this while staying on public rights of way and established ease-ments, and we also talked about a lot of the help and partnerships we could form with the state, which would fund a lot of this, Sullivan said. There are already grants in place, and more coming. Obvi-ously there will be some maintenance I dont envision any of the trails that would be put in (Oak Ridge) would be paved, so, there would be minimal maintenance.

Well stay on this trail and continue with more articles in future issues

MTS TRAIL...continued from p. 1






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STOKESDALE town council

March 10 / MEETING HIGHLIGHTSas reported by PATTI STOKES

Stokesdale Town Council

Mayor Randy Braswell called the monthly meeting to order at 7 p.m. Mayor Pro Tem Bill Jones, council mem-bers Frank Bruno, Tim Jones and Vicki White-Lawrence, the town attorney, town clerk, deputy clerk, finance officer and water system administrator were present, as were about 10 citizens.

Municipal records. Continuing last months discussion about the states amendments to municipal records retention and disposition policies, which address both organization and discarding of municipal records, the council voted unanimously to approve and abide by those policy amendments which date back to September 2012 and January 2015.

Annual audit contract. Braswell mo-tioned to renew the contract with Can-non & Company to perform the Towns annual audit, at a cost of $10,400, pending review to ensure the wording of last years contract hasnt changed.

Tim Jones said in the interest of due diligence, he felt the Town should

change the audit company from time to time. Bill Jones said that has been considered in the past, but after learn-ing Cannon & Company has two or three employees reviewing the Towns financials each year, he was less inclined to feel changing accounting firms was necessary.

Town Attorney Bill Trevorrow said if the Town did change auditors, they would likely pay more in the first year, since the new firm would have a lot of homework to do to get up to speed.

Tim Jones asked if the council had ever priced another accounting firm performing the annual audit and Bras-well said he thought the council had issued Requests for Proposals sometime after he and Bill Jones first came on the council (in December 2011); staff could be asked to pull those proposals after things calm down a little.

4 1 to renew the annual audit contract with Cannon & Company (Tim Jones against).

Facility use agreement. Stokesdale

Parks and Rec has requested use of one athletic field at the town park during the spring soccer season, on week-nights from 6 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The association has not paid for facility usage in the past, rather had previously agreed to help with the cost and labor involved in maintaining the field; this season the association will pay the resident rate of $15/hour, based on 60 percent of the participants living within the town limits.

Tim Jones asked how Stokesdale Parks and Rec was invoiced and Braswell said they had not been in-voiced in the past. Bill Jones suggested the association turn in their hours on the honor system and in turn receive a monthly bill.

5 0 to approve application for the use of one athletic field, for the days and times requested, from March 18 to June 4. Stokesdale Parks and Rec will turn usage hours in on the honor system and the town clerk will bill the associa-tion monthly at an hourly rate of $15.

Petty cash. Tim Jones said he had spoken with the new finance officer and town clerk about petty cash, and learned the town does not have a petty cash policy. Instead of us creating something, my thought was for them to present something to us at our May meeting that would cover a weekly rec-onciliation, Jones said. Council agreed (no vote was needed).

Drop box. Tim Jones said he felt a drop box was needed at Town Hall, so did some research on drop box options and places to install a box. Drop box prices range from about $800 to $2,500 and more, and Jones said he thought the $800 box would be adequate.

5 0 for staff to seek bids for a construction company to install an exterior drop box at Town Hall.

Committee procedures and administra-tion. Tim Jones said the towns receipt of several applications for its Land Use Plan Committee had highlighted the

fact that there did not seem to be any written committee policies.

I asked (former town clerk) Carolyn (Joyner) for minutes of the Land Use Plan Committee meetings from back in 2007 and she said there werent any I feel these committees should be keep-ing some minimal level of minutes; we dont have a policy or procedure that Im aware of. I want to keep it as simple as possible, but I dont want to see it happen again where a committee is making plans for every acre of Stokes-dale , (Tim) Jones said.

Also, how many people should be on these committees, and how often should they meet? he asked. I would like to see a cross-section of the com-munity serve on these committees. We just seem to get a core group of people who volunteer if it were possible, Id like to see us broaden that, get business owners and landowners represented; were not doing a very good job of that as a town. Its important that we do that otherwise, we just wind up with a group of people who are already in agreement before they get there.

Council discussed the lack of written committee policies, committee goals, and expectations, and how to move forward.

5 0 to delay appointing any new committee members for a period of 60 days, during which time Bruno will write up committee guidelines and send the proposed guidelines to council members so they can prepare to discuss them during the April council meet-ing; he will also schedule committee applicant interviews. For more on this discussion, see News Briefs.

MTS Trail. In response to Stokesdale resi-dent Natalie Wurtzs comments during the Citizen Comments section earlier in the meeting, Braswell explained he had recently met with someone in Greens-boro Parks and Recreation Department and County Commissioner Justin Conrad.





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Rezoning hearing set for April 13NEWS in brief ...continued from p. 2 Committee appointments on

hold until guidelines established STOKESDALE The Town of Stokes-dale is hitting the pause button on committee appointments for at least 60 days. At the March 10 town council meeting, council member Tim Jones suggested the council postpone com-mittee appointments for 90 to 120 days while it develops committee guide-lines, goals, expectations, and seeks a greater cross-section of the community to serve on all of its committees.

I dont know how many people should be on these committees, Tim Jones said. Also, I would like to see a cross-section of people on these committees, especially the Land Use Plan Committee. Were not do-ing a good job of getting business owners and property owners involved I think its important that we do that.

The council agreed that committees should have defined expectations, and should keep attendance and meeting minutes. Regarding a representative cross-section of community members, Councilman Frank Bruno said, A cross-section would be great, but weve been working on that for four years.

As for waiting up to 120 days before making appointments to the Land Use Plan Committee, Councilman Bill Jones said one reason for reactivating the committee was that the land use plan had not been updated in several years, and there had been at least one rezoning (the Dawn Acres golf course property) in which the town planner

had to recommend against it because, according to the plan, the rezoning wasnt consistent with the town core boundaries.

We at least need to get the land use plan changed so were expanding that area out far enough to allow for development. Its not good for us to be going against the recommendation of our planner, Bill Jones said. Are we go-ing to wait four months before we even start a process that may take six or eight more months to do? I dont have any problem with keeping minutes, but we do have seven applicants and thats the most applications I remember getting for any committee.

Im curious as to why were telling citizens we dont want them to serve, Bruno said. Youve got citizens who want to serve and youre saying, We like your application, now we want to hold your application. I think that sends a bad message to the citizens.

After further discussion, Bruno volunteered to draft a set of commit-tee guidelines and expectations and send it to the rest of the council so they could prepare to discuss/approve it at the April council meeting. Bruno also volunteered to schedule interviews with committee applicants over the coming weeks, with the goal being to have a list of recommended members to appoint to the Land Use Committee at the June council meeting.

Neighbors oppose a re-quested zoning change for 70.37 acres at end of Ram-bling Road, off Alcorn Road

NORTHWEST GREENSBORO Prop-erty owners in and near an 82-home neighborhood in northwest Greensboro are opposing a request to rezone 70.37 acres at the end of Rambling Road. The developer is requesting the propertys current zoning of RS-40 (residential, minimum lot sizes of 40,000 square feet, or .92 acres) be changed to CZ-RS-30, which would allow houses to be built on 30,000-square-foot, or .69-acre lots; the developer placed a condition on the zoning that there would be no more than 50 houses built on the property.

Property owners argue that the zon-ing change would be inconsistent with the neighbor-hood, as existing homes are on average lot sizes of 1.874 acres. Additionally, they have concerns about the impact of up to 50 new homes that would be accessed by Rambling Road, a two-lane

residential street off Alcorn Road, on traffic, safety, health and water quality, and potential home value depreciation; the owners have hired Greensboro-based attorney Don Vaughn to represent them in opposing the rezoning request.

Based on a preliminary review of the rezoning request, Guilford County plan-ning staff is recommending approval.

The applicant for the rezoning,LD Rambling Road LLC, which was formed in December, is represented by Greensboro-based Attorney Marc Isaacson. Representatives of the company

agreed to meet with con-cerned property owners on March 23 at 6 p.m. to present their develop-ment plan and to discuss

neighbors concerns.

The rezoning case, which will go before the Guilford County Plan-ning Board, was initially scheduled for March 9; at the request of property owners and the consent of the develop-ers, it has been re-sched-uled for April 13.

Look for a follow-up on the March 23 meeting between the developer

and neighboring property owners in next weeks issue.

condition on the zoning that there would be no more than 50 houses neighbors concerns.

of up to 50 new homes that would be two-lane

and neighboring property owners in next weeks issue.

between the developer

Property owners

LD Rambling Road LLC is requesting to rezone 70.37

acres at the end of Rambling Road in

northwest Greens-boro from RS-40 to

CZ-RS-30.





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My question to them was about the maps of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and any trail coming through Stokesdale, Braswell said. I showed him (Conrad) and he agreed that those maps showed that (MTS) trail being on the highway and on private property. Those maps have been posted on the internet and in different publications, and those maps have to disappear with that trail marked on these highways (U.S. 158, N.C. 65, etc.).

It has been no secret that my inten-tion was to steer the trail away from Stokesdale and either straight north to Rockingham County, or to Oak Ridge. They have the want, No. 1, and the infrastructure, No. 2, and it seems like the fi nancial will to make it happen, Braswell said.

See more on this discussion in last weeks and this weeks Northwest Observer articles about the MTS Trail.

Water system. Council scheduled a workshop on March 15 to set fees for construction inspections.

5 0 to approve a certification form for Northwest Meadows Phase II, off Eversfield Road, and authorize the mayor to sign off on the waterline exten-sion to Phase II.

Tim Jones said the town has a chunk of money in delinquent water bills, which at one time was $100,000. I cant see going into another budget year without us figuring out how much money is owed, Jones said before asking for a printout of all water bills that are 90 or more days delinquent.

Braswell said after Bruno, Bill Jones and himself were elected in November 2011, they insisted on serving on the Finance Committee. For the last few years the council has been working with an attorney to collect on delinquent bills, and it has been a work in progress, Braswell said. We have worked on our policies and upped our deposits significantly to protect the town for the short-term. What we do have to do is get on top of it so they (water system customers) dont run away from it.

An updated water system accounts receivable report will be available soon, Braswell said, after which the council can go through the list of delinquent ac-counts and check off those it should write off at this point. He also noted the Towns former town clerk and finance officer, Carolyn Joyner, communicated regularly with the attorney who was hired to collect on the delinquent accounts.

Pressing the issue further, Tim Jones said he was very concerned about what was owed to the town and wanted to deal with it before the next budget year.

We felt concerned five years ago also, and we took action, Braswell said. I think Mr. Trevorrow will agree we have spent many hours as far as the legal approach to that. We inherited that (list of delinquent accounts) and the three of us jumped on it and did the best we can. Id like to see it cleaned up by the end of my term (two more years).

Braswell also said he did not want to ask any more of the new staff at this time, and then added that the town attorney was working on an ordinance that will protect the town in the future. We have to protect the people on the water system who are paying their bill, he said.

Tim Jones did not seem satisfied with Braswells

TOWN COUNCIL ...continued from p. 6





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answer, but let the issue die after be-ing reminded there would be a budget meeting the following day at 2:30 p.m.

Public records request. A public re-cords FOI (Freedom of Information) request has been received and Bruno said he would check into this.

Community Day. Bruno said the semi-annual event is on track for May 7 and he is trying to coordinate a Red Cross blood drive for the same day.

COMMITTEE REPORTSProperty. Bill Jones said the committee has gotten estimates for fertilizer and will be writing a work order. The cost will be within the committees budget of $2,000.

Library. Bruno said that since recently upgrading the computers at Town Hall and installing a secure password system for employees to access the wireless in-ternet, there is no longer an open wire-less network for Town Hall and library visitors. We are getting complaints, he said, explaining the Town needs to purchase a separate, inexpensive router so that citizens wishing to access the wireless network can do so. It was agreed that this will be done as soon as all the kinks in the towns new network system have been worked out.

Economic Development Committee. Tim Jones said he thought this commit-tee had already been eliminated, but he noticed it was still on the committee list.

5 0 to remove the Economic Development Committee from the Towns list of committees.

Tim Jones next asked if there was any reason to keep the Budget & Finance Committee, saying that every committee was one that staff had to keep up with. He motioned to re-move this committee also, but Braswell and Bruno pointed out that council members all serve on this committee and it is a vital one. Since Jones had not been appointed to the committee, the council unanimously approved his appointment to serve on it.

Safety Committee. Braswell said this committee has been working hard, but will probably be quiet for about 30 days or so while the new staff contin-ues to settle in.

FINANCE REPORTFinance Officer Philip Pulliam pre-

sented the financials for the month. A budget meeting for fiscal year 2016-2017 was on the schedule for the fol-lowing day.

ADMINISTRATIVE Town Clerk Kim Hemric said she had

received warm welcomes from the com-munity and a couple of key people in neighboring towns had offered their sup-port. Her main projects are working on codification of the towns development ordinance with Municode and getting up to speed with the water system software. It requires daily data entry, troubleshoot-ing and phone time, Hemric said.

Now that the town has more team members, Hemric said she feels it is important to create an employee hand-book. In day-to-day working behind the scenes, she said staff members are each others sounding board, and they are working together as a team to an-swer councils and citizens questions.

I have heard good things about the Town of Stokesdale and consider it an honor to work here, Hemric said.

Braswell told the towns four employ-ees, who were all present, that they had done a good job and uncovered a lot.

COUNCIL COMMENTS Tim Jones said NCDOT had workers

picking up trash along roadsides earlier in the day, then thanked the new staff members for the good job they were do-ing, and Braswell and Bill Jones for orga-nizing the mayors luncheon on March 8.

Bill Jones also thanked the towns four new staff members, noting deputy clerk Diana Marcus had been a big help with the mayors luncheon. Besides Stokesdale, seven towns were repre-sented at the luncheon, where repre-sentatives discussed trying to get county commissioners to change the sales tax distribution method back to per capita.

Its an uphill battle, but other towns are interested, Jones said. If the method of sales tax distribution were changed, Stokesdale could get as much as $970,000 back in sales tax revenue. We could do a lot with that money, even if we only get a fourth of it, Jones said. He then thanked Braswell for all

the time he had spent helping the new staff members get settled in.

White-Lawrence commended the new staff for jumping in there, reminded them that council members were available to help when needed, and thanked those who worked on planning Carolyn Joyners retirement party on Feb. 29.

Bruno welcomed the new staff, and said they had put up with a lot while the new computer system was being installed. He also said that canned food for Good Samaritan Ministries will be collected on Community Day.

Braswell said he couldnt brag enough on the new staff, thanked the Northwest Observer for its coverage of the town, and thanked Bill Jones for the time he put into compiling packets for county commissioners with information about the sales tax distribution issue.

With no further business, the meet-ing adjourned at 9:32 p.m.

NEXT MEETINGThursday, April 14 7pmStokesdale Town Hall

CONTACT YOUR TOWN(336) [email protected]





A weekly section in the Northwest Observer focused on our local youth and the adults who positively impact them.

Welcome to

Youth/School News

youth / school NEWS


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Northwest girls soccer team defeats Northern, 3-1

Northwest High Schools Rachel Rouse scored the games first goal on March 18, but Northern tied it up early in the second half. Madisyn Spagnola and Maddie Lawson scored two more

goals for Northwest later in the second half to put the game away.

Beth Ann Alcorn, Northwests first-year girls head soccer coach, credited her team for starting to implement the funda-

Photo by L.A. Logan/NWO

Northern Guilford sophomore Christina Cano (center) tries to dribble through two North-west Guilford defenders on March 18. Northwestdefeated North-ern in that matchup, 3-1.

mentals that they work on in practice.

For the most part, my team was disciplined and executed the little things well, Alcorn said. There were a couple of times when we did not have that discipline and allowed Northern to

have chances at scoring. I have been preaching to the girls that every second counts when playing soccer, and all it takes is one breakdown, one mistake or one time of lacking discipline to allow all your hard work to go down the drain.





Northwest girls lacrossefalls to East ForsythCoach says team is young, will work on playing smarter

Northwest High School girls lacrosse team (3-3, 1-2) suffered a tough loss on March 18 to rival East Forsyth. Ahead 9-6 in the second half, Northwest ap-peared to have the win within its grasp. East Forsyth, however, ran off four unan-swered goals in the final four minutes of the contest and won the game 10-9.

Its tough, said head girls lacrosse coach Kaitlin Brown. Were a young team, and we have to be smarter. Our skills are there, but we have to know when to hold the ball, when to pressure the ball, when to pass the ball and when not to pass the ball. Right now, that is what were lacking.

Sophomore Maya Flake acknowl-edged everyone on the team needs to step up their game.

Winning is a team effort, she said. We cant win unless the whole team is working together and connecting on defense.

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Northwest High Schools We the People team (aka, the peeps), consisting of 33 students enrolled in a Constitution-based class, won rst runner-up in the state WTP competition on March 18. Their knowledge and teamwork earned them a wild card spot to the national com-petition in Washington, DC, on April 23-25. Look for upcoming info about fundraisers for the teams trip to Washington, which will include a dinner and silent auction on April 9.

Photo by L.A. Logan/NWO

Sophomore Maya Flake (left) challenges an East Forsyth player for control of a loose ball in the teams lacrosse game on March 18. East Forsyth scored the win, 10-9.

...more Youth/School News on p. 20

student artist gallery Food for Thought

Senior Sharon Slakter is in the AP studio art: 2D Design class

at Northwest High School. My piece is constructed of cut paint

samples, which creates a colorful, vibrant atmosphere, Sharon says.

I chose to depict the beauty of choosing to eat right and be

healthy, which is a challenge for most teenagers. I think that by respecting your body, you canfeel beautiful outside and in.

White Stone Senior Noah McCormick is in the AP studio art class at Northwest High School. I was inspired to create this piece because of the beauty found between my mother and grand-mother; as my grandmother fell ill, they re ected upon the everlasting love they had forone another, Noah says.

Caroline Farrell is a senior in AP art at Northern Guildford High School, where she has taken art all four years, participates in Visual Arts Club and serves as secretary of the National Art Honor Society. My concentration for AP art includes well known landmarks scattered around downtown Greensboro. The art technique I use for my pieces is a wax batik process on watercolor paper, Caroline says. Art is very important to me, so I hope to keep studying art in college, wherever I go.





The Northwest Observer Totally local since 1996

ORMA cadet to compete for third consecutive year at National JROTC Drill Competition

by LAURA PULLINS/ORMA

Pacavira Manuel was a shy, scrawny boy who weighed no more than 100 pounds when he came to Oak Ridge Military Academy six years ago from his home of Luanda, Angola. Despite his size, Pakito (as the kids like to call him), quickly found his niche among the spinning rifles and carefully ex-ecuted movements of the academys drill team.

The sport initially proved to be more challenging than Manuel expected. In fact, he didnt compete the first two years he was on the team because he simply wasnt good enough. It wasnt for a lack of trying, though.

ORMAs drill team instructor, 1st Sgt. Sallie McCullough, fondly remem-bers how dedicated Manuel was from the very beginning.

The first day of practice he asked me where to purchase a drill team weapon, and once it arrived in the mail you never saw him without it, McCullough said.

Despite the cuts and bruises along the way, Manuel stuck with it and became one of the best armed exhibitioners Oak Ridge Military Acad-emy has ever seen.

During his six years on the team, Manuel has won 10 first place trophies for solo armed exhibition and hes helped his team win 15 first place overall tro-phies. In 2012, he was named drill team commander and took it upon himself to

The road to nationals

start choreographing the routines.

Now having finished the regular season of his senior year, Manuel is preparing for his last solo exhibition of his high school career the national championships.

After coming to Oak Ridge

Military Acade-my six years ago

from his home of Luanda, Angola, Pacavira Manuel found his place

on the academys drill team.

The National High School Drill Team Championship is the most famous JROTC drill and ceremony competition in the world. The finest schools from across the nation will travel to Daytona, Florida to compete against each other in the categories of inspection, regulation, color guard and

solo or team exhibition.

During his first year at nationals, Manuel competed as a solo armed exhibitioner; out of the 80 other competitors, he scored ninth in the masters level division and 13th place overall. During last years national championship, Manuel and another teammate competed in the dual armed exhibition event and scored ninth place overall.

As he prepares for his final drill competition, Manuel hopes the last six years of hard work and practice will have paid off.

My goal for nationals is to score in the top five and if I dont, then Ill just keep practicing to be the best that I can be, he said. Who knows, maybe someday Ill be the world drill cham-pion!

In the meantime, Manuel is prepar-ing to graduate from ORMA this May and will attend High Point University this fall.

Want to watch? Unfortunately, the National High School Drill Team Cham-pionships isnt televised. However, Man-uels final ranking will be posted on the schools Facebook page, www.facebook.com/OakRidgeMilitaryAcademy/, as well as a video of his performance.

Friday, May 13 (6p10p) & Saturday, May 14 (10a4p)this years event is back at 73007400 Summerfield Road near fire station #9 with Saturdays parade along Summerfield Road

application forms and more info available at www.summerfieldgov.comph: 336-643-8655 | email: [email protected]

currently seeking vendors, sponsors, & parade entrantssponsor deadline: April 1 vendor deadline: April 13 parade deadline: May 5

Photo courtesy of ORMA

Pacavira Manuel (center, front) prepares for the National JROTC Drill Competition in Daytona, Florida, which will be his last competition before graduating from the academy in May.





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STUDENT PROFILES

Thanks to the coaches and teachers at Northern and Northwest High Schools for their student recommendations and input, which make it pos-sible to recognize these talented, dedicated students for their accomplish-ments in academics, athletics and cultural arts.

Student Pro les

NORTHWEST ChorusANISHA KHANNA, junior

Hometown: I have lived in New York, Indiana and here in Greensboro now. Toughest class: AP PhysicsPlans after high school: Attending a seven-year medicine program or becom-ing a biology major at UNC-Chapel Hill Extracurricular activities: Reading, listening to music, singing and more singingMost admired singer: Sia, because of

her message that looks and outward beauty shouldnt be required to be suc-cessful in the music industry. Favorite sports team: Carolina Tar HeelsFavorite food: Pasta and Thai Favorite musicians: Adele, Sia, Beyonc Favorite movie: Any Harry Potter movieAny siblings? A younger brotherBest vacation ever: Going to visit my extended family in India again.Years lived in the Northwest area: SixDream job: Anything in the medical field Interesting/fun fact about yourself: I am a first-generation American. My

family is from India and I speak fluent Hindi. Nickname: Nish NishPre-performance ritual: To work out nerves before a performance, I press with all my strength against a wall. It works.Chorus teacher James Wards com-ments on Anisha: When Anisha was a freshman, I immediately observed her natural musicality. She has a passion for choral music that shows in her live performance expression and her com-mitment during rehearsal. I am proud to have had the opportunity to teach her.

NORTHERN LacrosseCOLLIN MCPARTLAN, junior

Position/role on the team: Captain and starting defenseman Hometown: SummerfieldToughest class: AP ChemistryPlans after high school: Hope to at-tend my dream college, Johns Hopkins UniversityExtracurricular activities: Cross country and Beta ClubMost admired person: My dadFavorite sports team: Boston Bruins (of the National Hockey League)Favorite food: Chicken AlfredoFavorite band: Shinedown (American hard rock band)Favorite movie: The Longest YardBest vacation ever: Skiing in Utah Years lived in the Northern area: 17Dream job: Athletic trainerInteresting/fun fact about yourself: Im scared of snakes.One thing you would change about school: More time in between classesNickname: McPartlandPre-performance ritual: Listen to music

Head Coach Anthony Meleys com-ments on Collin: Collin is the anchor of our defense. He is a second-year starter and a true leader on our defense. I look to Collin when I need something done. Theres a reason he was named team captain this year.

NORTHERN LacrosseMICHAEL MELEY, junior

Position/role on the team: Captain and starting attackman Hometown: Born in High Point, live in SummerfieldToughest class: ChemistryPlans after high school: Attend Syra-cuse and then become a lawyerExtracurricular activities: BasketballMost admired person: DadFavorite sports team: New York GiantsFavorite food: SpaghettiFavorite band/musician: Wiz KhalifaFavorite movie: Straight Outta Comp-tonAny siblings? Two brothers, a step-sister and a step-brotherBest vacation ever: Cruise to the Carib-bean Years lived in the Northern area: Whole lifeDream job: LawyerInteresting/fun fact about yourself: I hate spiders.One thing you would change about school: Use of cellphones in schoolNickname: MikeyPre-performance ritual: Listen to musicHead Coach Anthony Meleys com-ments on Michael: Michael is a second-year starter for us at attack. Hes one of the top attackmen in the state. Hes a smart, shifty player who sees the field and is a great student of the game.




Start content here if using a new section barA regular feature of Youth Sync that introduces our readers to some of the teachers, coaches, volunteers, administrators and other staff members who are positively impacting our youth in northwest Guilford County.

Meet Coach Darlene JoynerA Northwest High School alumna,

Joyner has taught and coached at her alma mater since 1987. Last week, NWHS athletic director John Hughes announced that Joyner will retire from teaching health and P.E. and from coaching volleyball at the end of this year; she will, however, stay on as the girls head basketball coach.

Hometown: SummerfieldCollege alma mater: Guilford CollegeHow long have you coached at North-west High School? Since 1987Sport(s) played in high school and/or college: Volleyball, basketball and track in high school and volleyball and basketball at Guilford CollegeWhat is your favorite sport to watch? I love watching a variety of sports, includ-ing high school and college volleyball and basketball. I loved watching my kids play soccer, and I love watching Olympic gymnastics. Most admired athlete/coach, and why? My most admired athlete is Michael Jor-dan. I loved watching him play basketball at Carolina, even though I am a Duke fan. His athleticism, grace, coordination and the way he played above the rim was so entertaining. In my opinion, he is still the greatest athlete of all time.

As for a coach, the legendary John Wooden. I attended some of his clinics and have read a lot of his books; he set quite the example. His character, wisdom and commitment to the teacher-coach model are an inspiration to all coaches.Favorite athletic team(s): Northwest Guil-ford High School teams (of course)How do you like to spend your free time? I enjoy spending time with my family, traveling and photography.Whats something most people dont

know about you? I enjoy decorating and event planning.If your teams had one motto, what would it be? Tradition never graduates.Over the past two years, your basketball team has recorded 58 wins with only two losses. What does that record mean to you and your seniors? The past two sea-sons in basketball have been unique and special. It has been exciting to be a part of this historical record and its a tribute to the success of these young ladies in this program. They have dedicated a lot of personal time to training and developing their individual fundamentals on a daily basis for the past four years. They prac-ticed and played basketball year-round, trying to develop into the players and team that they demonstrated on the Northwest court these past two years. They made personal sacrifices and showed a strong commitment to their training to strive to be the best. Their record is a testament to their hard work, dedication, commitment and passion for the game of basketball.This year youve experienced coaching your teams in both the volleyball and basketball state championships. What did you enjoy most about those experi-ences? I have been very blessed here at Northwest to have had the opportunity to coach some of the best student-athletes in the state in volleyball and basketball.

We traditionally get to the third or fourth round of the state playoffs in vol-leyball every year. We always seem to lose to one of the powerhouse Charlotte schools in that fourth round every year in a very competitive match. I am very proud of these girls for being the first volleyball team in the history of the school to get to the state championship round. I loved talking to all the alumni and hearing the

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A regular feature of Youth Sync that introduces our readers to some of the teachers, coaches, volunteers, administrators and other staff members who are

From the frontlines to the sidelinesexcitement in their voices about Northwest finally advancing to the finals. It was as if this team was representing all the alumni and they all finally made it to the big dance.

Basketball is a little different, in the fact that this group of seniors advanced to the final four games for the first time in the history of the school last year. We returned a lot of seasoned players from last years team, and they set their goals this year to do better than last year. We added some young talent to mix with the returning players, which was just the right combina-tion of talent that we needed to pursue those goals. It was impressive to watch this team play every game this season; they played like they were on a mission. I loved watching the team get excited to play ev-ery opponent in the playoffs and celebrate their victory, while never losing sight of the final mission to get to the state final. To finally see a Northwest basketball team on that championship floor was a very proud moment. These girls are champions in every aspect of the word. You recently decided to retire from teaching and from coaching volleyball. Why now? First of all, I love teaching and coaching. I am and will always be a proud Viking.

I think there comes a time in every-ones life when their passion changes and they cant find enough time to do what they really love. For me, that is spending

more time with family. I recently became a new grandmother of two of the most precious grandchildren in the world. I want to be available for them if they need me or just to hang out with them at any time of the day. I want to be able to have lunch with my daughters. I want to travel and take trips with my husband in any sea-son. I want to have time to work out and remodel my home.

So why now? Ive had a great job do-ing exactly what I loved to do at the best school for 31 years. I love coaching volley-ball, and I love my volleyball girls. For me, giving up volleyball was a timing issue.Why continue to coach basketball? I was presented with the opportunity to continue to coach basketball in November, and I got excited about the opportunity. I can still enjoy time with my family and coach basketball in November. Coaching is a passion, and I am thrilled to have an op-portunity to do two things that I really love spend time with my family and coach.

Darlene JoynerNorthwest Guilford teacher, girls volleyball and basketball coach

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Charlie, we are thrilled with our new car-peting! The installers did a superb job and stayed until 8:30 p.m. to complete the job because they knew we were headed out of town the next day. They are dedicated, took their time and did it right!

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We are the only authorized Stainmaster

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More words from our happy customers

Dear Cynthia,The carpet is all done and looks beautiful! We are so pleased! The guys were fan-tastic and did a great job laying the carpet, cleaning up and putting everything back to where it was originally. We just love it. Thank you for all your help and thank you to Carpet Super Mart!

Jan CollinsGreensboro

Dear Arthur,We are pleased with the lovely carpet and commend the two young men who installed it. They were efficient, coopera-tive and careful.

Barbara WhitenerGreensboro

Dear Mr. Jordan,Im writing to tell you about the very positive experience my family had buying carpet from Carpet Super Mart. I took over two months to research carpet and to check out four local carpet sellers. The first time I came in to Carpet Super Mart, I was impressed with the friendliness and more importantly, the expertise of your staff. The installers were professional, hard-working and careful. They did an excellent installation job. We are definitely coming back to Carpet Super Mart.

Terry L. AustinGreensboro

Thank you so much for working with us! The installation crew couldnt have been nicer. We are very pleased with our carpet and have gotten so many compliments! We will pass along our recommendations when we get a chance.

Irving Park United Methodist ChurchGreensboro

Dear Dean,I would like to say a well deserved thank you for your assistance with my purchase of new vinyl for my condo. The crew who installed it did an outstanding job. They were a joy to have in my home. I am very pleased. My experience with Carpet Super Mart was outstanding and I will be happy to recommend you.

Rubie HamiltonGreensboro

Arthur, Im pleased as punch! We love our new floors! We appreciate the expertise of the two men who installed them. They were both very particular and professional. Thank you for another beautiful job!

Jack & Nancy VanstoryGreensboro

Charlie, we are thrilled with our new car-peting! The installers did a superb job and stayed until 8:30 p.m. to complete the job because they knew we were headed out of town the next day. They are dedicated, took their time and did it right!

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The District 1 Sheriffs Offi cehas recently responded to the following incidentsin northwest Guilford County.

CRIME / INCIDENT report

Unlocked cars make easy target

SUMMERFIELD While residents were sleeping in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday, March 20, someone was wide awake and rummaging through their vehicles. Five residents in the Wilson Farms neighborhood off N.C. 150 woke up to find that their vehicles, all of which had been unlocked, had been broken into sometime during the night. Miscellaneous items including sunglasses, jewelry and book bags were stolen.

The sheriffs department urges residents to always remove valuables and lock their vehicles.

BREAKING & ENTERINGMarch 17 | A resident of Brynwood Drive in Colfax reported an unknown person broke the drivers side window of his truck, which was parked in his driveway, sometime between 10 p.m. on March 16 and 7 a.m. on March 17. The suspect stole an air compressor, miter saw, fram-ing gun, trim nail gun and air gun, with a total value of $550; additionally, damage to the window was estimated at $150.

March 18 | A resident of Cedar Spring Drive in Colfax reported that sometime between 6:30 p.m. on March 17 and 7:15 a.m. on March 18, an unknown suspect entered two unlocked vehicles

parked in her driveway and stole a pair of Oakley sunglasses and two GPS sys-tems with a total value of $362.

DRUGS/ALCOHOLMarch 1 | The manager of Uptown Charlies on Church Street in northern Greensboro reported an intoxicated patron causing a disturbance at the business. The offender was arrested and charged with being intoxicated and disruptive. He was also found to be in possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

March 19 | A traffic stop was made on N.C. 68 for erratic driving. The driver was subsequently arrested for DWI.

FRAUD March 17 | A resident of Polo Farms Drive in Summerfield reported being the victim of credit card fraud after the residents card was used to withdraw $600 from an ATM in Concord, North Carolina.

MISCELLANEOUS March 17 | A resident of Moutline Drive was the victim of cyberbullying when an unknown individual sent inappropriate messages to her via Twitter; the Twitter account was closed after the messages were sent.

THEFTMarch 14 | A resident of Bunch Road in Oak Ridge reported her 2016 Toyota Camry had been stolen by a known person of the same address sometime between March 13 at 11 p.m. and March 14 at 12 a.m.; it was discovered the key to the vehicle had been taken from a place where the resident had hidden it. The State Highway Patrol recovered the vehicle on March 14 after it had been wrecked and totaled; the cars estimated value was $23,070.

March 16 | A site superintendent for Lane Construction reported that sometime between Dec. 1, 2015, and March 16, someone stole the New York registration trailer tag, AD22721, from the companys flatbed trailer. The trailer was parked at a construction site near 2149 Fleming Road between the dates of the incident.

March 18 | An employee of Hertz Rental Car near Piedmont Triad In-ternational Airport reported someone stole a white 2015 Chrysler 200 off the companys lot.

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Northwest Middle School students read to Fairview Elementary students on March 15. For the last cou-ple of months, under the direction of teacher Carol True, sixth-graders at the middle school had been collecting books for the Title 1 elementary school in High Point. Twenty- ve NWMS students traveled to the elementary school last week to present the books, and enjoyed stay-ing and reading to their younger counterparts.

Photo courtesy of Angie Linn

Northern Elementary students and teachers Barbara Farrell, Amy Pugh and Karen Shelton celebrate after Northerns team won the Elementary Battle of the Books all-day competition held at UNCG on March 19. To prepare for the competition, the students read 18 books. As district EBOB champs, the Northern Elementary team will compete at the regional championships on May 4; this is the rst time a GCS elementary school team will participate in this regional event.

YOUTH NEWS ...continued from p. 11





BUSINESS notes

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