1) CCC&TI Announces Summer and Fall Semester Registration for New Students
Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute will begin registering new students for the Summer 2014 semester on April 10 on both the Caldwell and Watauga Campuses. Final registration for summer will be held on Tuesday, May 13. Summer classes begin on Thursday, May 15. Registration for Fall 2014 Semester will be held every Thursday and Tuesday June 3 through July 31. Final registration for Fall 2014 is Thursday, Aug. 14. Fall classes begin on Monday, Aug. 18. A variety of financial aid options are available for students who qualify. In addition to classes for adult students, CCC&TI also offers opportunities for Caldwell and Watauga county high school students to earn free college credit through the Career and College Promise program. CCC&TI offers pathways in business, engineering, math, social sciences, health sciences and more. For more information on how to apply or register for classes at CCC&TI contact Student Services at 828-726-2700 on the Caldwell Campus and 828-297-3811 on the Watauga Campus.
2) Boone Tree Board Meeting April 10
A meeting of the Town of Boone Tree Board will be held on Thursday, April 10 at 6 p.m. in the Upstairs Planning and Inspections Conference Room located at 680 W. King Street.
3) Poetry Reading Event Held April 26 at the Watauga County Library
Poetry-lovers of all ages may present a favorite poem, a poem of their own or be the audience. PLease come early to sign in, if you wish to read a poem. This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Watauga County Public Library and Behind the Stacks, a local poetry group. Light refreshments will be available. For more information please contact Paula at 828-963-1164 or the Library Reference Desk at 828-264-8784 ext. 2.
4) 4-H Fruit Plant Sale Scheduled for April 11
It is not too late to get fruit plants at the 4-H fruit plant sale. Plants will be on hand on Friday, April 11 from 12-6 p.m. and Saturday, April 12 from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the Agricultural Conference Center on 252 Poplar Grove Rd. Blackberry, blueberry, raspberry and strawberry plants are available as well as heritage apple trees. For more information about the varieties, visit www.watauga4h.blogspot.com.
5) Book Signing with Katey Schultz April 10
Katey Schultz, award-winning author of Flashes of War will be holding a reading at Black Bear Books on April 10. Flashes of War was recently awarded the Gold Medal in literary fiction from the Military Writer’s Society of America, the largest Military writers’ organization in the world. Katey has been recognized as an outstanding author – she received the Linda Flowers Literary Award from the North Carolina Humanities Council in 2009 and she was a featured author at this year’s Carolina Mountains Literary Festival. The book continues to get quite a lot of attention from the literary and military world. Katey was recently included in a panel organized by veteran’s literary organization, Words after War and NPR’s Quil Lawrence and she was interviewed on primetime. She will be conducting her signing at Black Bear Books in the Boone Mall at 5:30 p.m.
6) NCDMV Prompts Commercial Drivers to Certify Driving by Next Week
North Carolina has about 35,000 commercial driver license holders who still have not certified their driving to the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles by next week’s deadline. During the past two years, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has required all CDL holders to certify to NCDMV whether they drive interstate or instrastate and for what purpose. If required, they must also provide their current DOT medical card to NCDMV. The final deadline for contacting NCDMV with this information is April 10. In making a final push to reach out to North Carolina CDL drivers, NCDMV’s Commissioner Kelly Thomas was emphatic. “Tell your brothers, your husbands, your cousins, your friends,” he said. “We need your immediate support to complete this Federal requirement and prevent anyone from being at risk for illegally driving a commercial vehicle. It is every driver’s responsibility to ensure their licenses are up to date and qualified and I want to eliminate any possible impact to their livelihoods.” Thomas reminded drivers that they could face a downgrade of their commercial license to non-commercial status if they do not comply with the federal requirement. About 312,000 North Carolina Drivers hold commercial licenses. To date, more than 227,000 drivers have reported their medical status to NCDMV. Commercial drivers must provide medical information that they are certified to operate a commercial motor vehicle or their North Carolina commercial driving privilege will be downgraded, allowing them to drive a Class C regular motor vehicle only. NCDMV supplies information and a special Form CDL-MED-1 on its website to help drivers report and certify their driving. The form should be signed, scanned and emailed to a special DMV address or turned in to any driver license office. Documentation may also be faxed to the following numbers: (919) 861-3915, (919) 861-3990, (919) 861-3535 or (919) 733-0126. Commercial drivers must continue to provide a copy of their medical card to their employer and carry a copy with them at all times. Commercial drivers with questions about complying with the requirement are urged to call (919) 861-3599.
7) High Country Audubon Society Meeting April 15
The High Country Audubon Society (HCAS) will have its next meeting on Tuesday, April 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express in Boone. Jessical Krippel, a graduate student in biology at Western Carolina University and the HCAS Sue Wells recipient will present an update on the progress of her song sparrow research. HCAS invites the public to attend the monthly meetings and field trips. Announcements about meeting and field trips can be found at www.highcountryaudubon.org.
8) Potluck for Creative Writing Transfer Students Held April 17
Current and incoming transfer students interested in creative writing are invited to attend a potluck dinner sponsored by the creative writing concentration faculty and the Department of English. It will be held from 6-7:15 p.m. on April 17 in Plemmons Student Union’s Price Lake Room and will precede a reading by Visiting Writers Series Author Richard Hague. Students attending the potluck are encouraged to attend the reading as a group. Soup will be provided from Cascades Cafe courtesy of the Department of English. Students attending the potluck are asked to bring a salad, bread, butter, dessert or other cold side dish if possible. Students should RSVP to Susan Weinberg at 828-262-2871.