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CabarrusNews
www.newsofcabarrus.com
YOUR COMMUNITY
NEWSPAPER
MAY 6, 2012
CONCORD • CONCORD MILLS • HARRISBURG • KANNAPOLIS • MIDLAND • MOUNT PLEASANT • NORTHWEST CABARRUS
CONCORD
Bus fares going up? Apublic hearing on aproposed rate increaseand electronic passoptions for Rider transitwill be 5:30-7:30 p.m.May 7 at 3600 S. RidgeAve., Concord. As pro-posed, base fare wouldgo from $1 to $1.25;reduced fare from 50cents to 60 cents; a10-ride pass from $8 to$10; reduced 10-ridepass from $4 to $5.
KANNAPOLIS
Documentary: Lead-ership Cabarrus Classof 2012 has produced adocumentary honoringthe impact of the textileindustry in CabarrusCounty. The film willpremiere at the GemTheatre, 111 W. 1st St.,at 7 p.m. May 17. Admis-sion is free. cabarrus-chamber.org.
Festival of the Arts:The festival, presentedby Cooperative Chris-tian Ministry and A.L.Brown High School, willbe 5-6:30 p.m. May 11. Itwill have student per-formers and will kick offVillage Fest, a three-daymusic and crafts festi-val. Donations will ben-efit the fight againsthomelessness in Cabar-rus and southern Row-an counties.
Village Fest: The 33rdannual Village FestMusic & Craft Festivalwill be in downtownKannapolis May 11-12. Itstarts at 7 p.m. Fridaywith the gospel groupKaren Peck and NewRiver. It continues at 9a.m. Saturday withdance, Zumba and mu-sic performances.There will be food,crafts and children’sentertainment. Details:704-932-3808.
COUNTYWIDE
Rabies vaccinations:Cabarrus County Ani-mal Control and Cabar-rus Health Alliancehave joined local veteri-narians to offer $10rabies vaccinations forpets May 14 throughMay 19. Details: cabar-rushealth.org.
Train as a volunteer:Those 16 or older in-terested in volunteeringat summer camp atWings of Eagles Thera-peutic Horseback Rid-ing Center for special-needs children andadults must attend oneof two training ses-sions: 5-9 p.m. June 1 or8 a.m.-noon June 2, atWings of Eagles Ranch,4800 Faith Trails Road,Concord. No horse ex-perience is necessary.Application: Visitwww.wingsofeaglesranch.org/id74.html.Details: www.wing-sofeaglesranch.org;704-784-3147.
Briefly
Calendar
1 Spring into Arts FestivalLocal and regional performingand visual artists, children’sart activities, storytelling, apaint-out, musical performanc-es, arts and crafts for sale, andfood offered for sale.
When: 10 a.m. May 12.
Where: Downtown Concord.
2 Brewer and MusicFestivalThis festival is for those with apalate for craft brews made inNorth Carolina. More than threehours of free tasting; a day fullof music and beer education.
When: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. May 12.
Where: Rural Hill, 4431 NeckRoad, Huntersville.
Info: www.ruralhill.net.
Don’t miss these coming events close to home. Sports
TWO TEAMS ANDTWICE THE FUN
2K
Jill Gardiner of Concord High.
By Christina DarnellCorrespondent
With more than 200,000 stu-dents enrolled nationwide, onlinepublic schools are becoming a le-gitimate alternative to the brick-and-mortar schools where most
present-day adults grew up.That number will continue to
grow if the N.C. State Board of Ed-ucation grants approval to theN.C. Virtual Charter Academy’sapplication. But a delay in thatprocess has drawn a lawsuitagainst the state board.
The virtual school, to which theCabarrus County Board of Educa-tion granted preliminary approvalin January, would be based in Ca-barrus County but would enroll
eligible students across the state. The school would provide full-
time public school services on-line, using curriculum and serv-ices from the for-profit companyK12 Inc. It could mean job oppor-tunities for state-certified teach-ers.
N.C. Learns Inc. submitted itsapplication to the N.C. Board ofEducation in February. Accordingto Katie Cornett, attorney for theN.C. Board of Education, N.C.Learns is a nonprofit doing busi-ness as N.C. Virtual Charter Acad-
emy. It will oversee the operationof the virtual school.
The attorney for N.C. Learns,N.C. Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, R-Ca-barrus, said the state school boardwas supposed to respond to theapplication by March 15 but de-clined to do so, pushing theschool’s potential start date backto the fall 2013 semester at the ear-liest. According to Charlotte’sWFAE 90.7, state board chairmanBill Harrison said virtual charterschools present policy issues that
Virtual charter school seeks state response
See Virtual, 6K
Would serve 2,750students across
the state in gradesK-10
Education
By Lukas [email protected]
The race for the District 82seat in the N.C. House of Rep-resentatives will be decided inthe Republican primary May8.
The only two candidates areincumbent Larry Pittman andCabarrus County Commis-sioner Jay White. The Cabar-rus County Republican Partychose Pittman over White toreplace Rep. Jeff Barnhart inOctober, after Barnhart re-signed.
The two candidates an-swered a set of questions viaemail for a chance to tell vot-ers where they stand on usingpublic incentives to attractnew industries and business-es, boosting the local econo-my, enhancing public schoolsand the marriage amendmentto the N.C. Constitution.
On marriage“Our state law protecting
the historical status of mar-riage as ‘only between oneman and one woman’ is underattack,” said Pittman, who saidhe voted in favor of theamendment during early vot-ing. “We do not need to leave itvulnerable to activist judges orthe possibility of legislative at-tack. An amendment to theState Constitution is harder tooverturn.”White didn’t saywhether he had voted on themeasure or how he wouldvote. He said, “Marriage is oneof the bedrock institutions ofour society. Marriage is a sol-emn vow taken before God.
“I am glad my fellow Repub-licans placed this on the ballotfor the people to decide. Thisdecision must be made by thepeople and not politicians.”
District 82
Politiciansopine onmarriage,incentives
Vote May 8 forcounty
commissionerrace, statewide
marriageamendment
See Primary, 3K
By Melinda JohnstonCorrespondent
and Lukas [email protected]
A recent survey by the Amer-ican Pet Products Associationfound that 62 percent of all U.S.households, about 72.9 millionhomes, own a pet.
There are good reasons.Several different studies (from
www.americanpetproducts.org)show dogs and cats can help low-er their owners’ blood pressure,reduce stress, prevent heart dis-ease, fight depression and evenlower health-care costs, as petowners appear to make fewerdoctor visits.
The least we can do is take careof our pets. That’s where “BeKind to Animals Week,” May 6-12,comes in.
The week has been celebratedsince 1915, and the goal is to “com-memorate the role that animalsplay in our lives, promote ways tocontinue to treat them humanely,and encourage others, especially
children, to do the same,” accord-ing to the American Humane As-sociation (www.americanhu-mane.org).
Although, humane education
Pets wait in limbo asanimal shelters swell
Photos by LUKAS JOHNSON - [email protected]
Josh, a red terrier mix, and Jane, a black lab mix, are 12-week-old puppies available for adoptionthrough the local Humane Society.
See Adoption, 3K
Daisy, a full-blooded yellow lab,has been adopted and returnedthree times because eachowner came across unexpectedfinancial or health troubles.
Hundreds ofgroups in the area
do their best tosave pets
BE KIND TO ANIMALS WEEK
Want to adopt?Websites such as www.humane-societyofcharlotte.org havehundreds of local animals wait-ing for adoption. Those groups,and local animal control facil-ities, have some of the bestdeals. The adoptable animals arehealth screened, have up-to-datevaccinations, and most times arespayed or neutered, or arrange-ments will be made at the timeof adoption. All groups charge anadoption fee.Low-cost spay and neuter clinicsare offered in every county. Visityour local Animal Control orHumane Society websites fordetails.These sites also list all animalrescue groups in the area:http://www.petfinder.com/awo/index.cgi?action=state&sta-te=NC&city=&keyword=
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6K Sunday, May 6, 2012 Cabarrus News | newsofcabarrus.com | CB +[ COMMUNITY NEWS ]
the state has yet to address.One issue is funding. Un-
der current law, the schoolwould receive the samefunding per child as a brick-and-mortar public school inCabarrus County, eventhough it doesn’t have thesame expenses. Some peo-ple are concerned that alarge share of the publicfunding will go to the for-profit curriculum provider,K12 Inc.
Hartsell filed a lawsuitasking a judge to force thestate board to respond to theapplication. The lawsuit alsosays the school, if accepted,should open on the original-ly proposed date – as early asthe fall 2012 semester.
Way of the future?K12 Inc. provides online
curriculum for full-timepublic schools, workingwith more than 2,000 schooldistricts nationwide. Thecompany would be the ex-clusive curriculum providerfor the N.C. Virtual Acade-my, and it would hire andtrain the teachers.
A for-profit companycan’t own a public school,however, so a shell nonprofitis created to own the school.Then K12 Inc. is hired tomanage the running of theschool, the curriculum andteachers.
The nonprofit N.C. Learnswill hire the administrativestaff and board, but K12 willhire and train the teachers
and provide the materials.Lynn Shue, chairman of
the Cabarrus County Boardof Education, believes thepotential benefits outweighhis concerns.
As host county, Cabarruswould receive 4 percent ofthe money paid to theschool.
“It could be very lucrativeto the school system,” hesaid. “It certainly feels it’s theway of the future.”
Concerns ariseBut Shue still has some
concerns, such as the lack ofathletics and social opportu-nities for the students. Also,while he has been assuredthat virtual school studentswill be held to the same test-ing requirements as tradi-tional public school stu-dents, he does not like thatthey will be required to trav-el to rented facilities, wher-ever the proctored testing isbeing given.
Last, Shue is uncomfort-able with the possible stu-dent-teacher ratio. Theschool proposed hiring 66teachers, which averages outto 42 students per teacher.
Cabarrus County prefersto maintain a ratio of nomore than 25 students perteacher.
Jeff Kwitowsky, seniorvice president of public af-fairs for K12 Inc., said teach-ers in traditional school set-tings spend a lot of time onlesson plans. For teachers
working in online schools,however, those plans havealready been developed,which frees more time forthem to focus on the uniqueneeds of individual students.
Cabarrus school boardmember Carolyn Carpentersaid she weighed that outthoroughly before voting toapprove the application.
She presented her con-cerns to K12 Inc. representa-tives at a school board meet-ing in December. K12 repre-sentatives assured her thatstruggling students wouldreceive support and mentor-ing.
Also, a variety of AP andhonors classes would beavailable to students. Cabar-rus County has been forcedto eliminate a number ofthose classes in recent yearsas the bad economy forcedbudget cuts.
In addition, Carpenterconcluded that the schoolwould be available to stu-dents with long-term sus-pension records.
“This is going to helpdropouts across the state,”she said. Carpenter said theCabarrus board made surethat a performance measurewould be included in anycontract with the virtualacademy, so that CabarrusCounty could escape theagreement if the schooldoesn’t meet performancegoals.
The proposed N.C. VirtualCharter Academy may stillhave some kinks to work outand might not be the answerto all education woes, theysaid, but it would provideanother option for familieswith the commitment andmotivation to give it a shot.
>> Christina Darnell is a free-lance writer for University CityNews. Have a story idea forChristina? Email her at [email protected].
Suit filed over virtual school[ from 1K ]
Crickets are a preferredbait for catching panfish,particularly bluegills andother members of the sun-fish family. While they’rebest used alive, squeamish
anglersmight find ita little un-nerving tohandle thecrawlingbugs.
Crickets onsome dayswill out-fish
worms or minnows. Theyhave a universal appeal tomost freshwater fish, sodon’t be surprised if youhook a bass, perch or catfishwhile fishing for sunfish.
Crickets are available atmost area tackle shops thatsell live minnows. All that’sneeded to contain and trans-port them is a small and in-expensive cricket cage. Sur-prisingly, a tube of about fifty
crickets sells for about $3.50– about the same price as acarton of red wigglers ornight crawlers. Crickets staylively throughout a day’sfishing, as long as they’rekept out of heat and directsunlight.
Fishing with crickets issimple with a cane pole or alight spinning rod and reel.Six-pound test line worksfine when tied to a longshank wire hook (No. 6),whit a split-shot weightand a small float added on.Position the split shot a fewinches above the hook andthe float a few feet higher.Add the cricket to the hook.While there are severalways to hook crickets, atime-proven method is tosimply hook it behind thehead, taking care not tohook it too deeply.
Gently cast the baited riginto the water. Don’t besurprised if the float goes
down immediately. Sunfishreact quickly to objects hit-ting the water. Once thefloat is pulled underwater,a slight hook set is all that’sneeded and the fight is on.
For those too squeamishto handle live crickets,there is an artificial baitavailable that not only re-sembles a cricket in ap-pearance but emits a scentsimilar to that of a live one.
EventsA free safe-boating class
on “How to Navigate LakeNorman Day or Night” willbe held 6:30-8 p.m. May 9 atNorth Point Watersports,Exit 36, Mooresville.704-617-6812 or [email protected].
>> Gus Gustafson is a free-lance writer and fishing guideon Lake Norman. Have a storyidea for Gus? Email him [email protected]
Fishing
Keep it simple: Cricketsmake great bait
FISHINGTIMEGusGustafson
Reprinted with permission from The Charlotte Observer
