January 22, 2021

LUMBERTON A local faith-based group of ministers has begun to include law enforcement in its mission to promote peace, and offer healing and justice for all people.

Members of the Ministers for Justice group met Tuesday with Lumberton police Chief Mike McNeill to offer resources to officers and to victims of crimes, said Brianna Goodwin, executive director of the Robeson County Church and Community Center, whose vision helped lead to the groups formation. The meeting also was used to discuss negative police perception by some members of the public across the nation and how it translates locally.

Chief McNeill said the police department has worked with local pastors before and welcomes the collaboration.

The meeting went real well, he said. I think its gonna benefit the community with support groups like that praying for the officers and the community here. I think its a good thing. Its a good thing for us.

The police chief said he looks forward to meeting again with members of the group.

I just want to be a part of the healing in our community when it comes to law enforcement and the perception of law enforcement and the way that people interact with them, and you know, that involves recognizing the good things they do and connecting them with resources so that they can do some of that, that other work, that community work, Goodwin said.

The group and RCCCC are willing to partner with officers to give items like clothing or comfort items to children in Child Protective Services situations when a social worker is not available immediately. Goodwin also said pastors will provide guidance, prayer and support to police officers when needed, especially in situations when force is used or trauma is involved.

Part of our mission is to actively pursue justice for all citizens of our county. We decided to start by building relationships with our city and county leaders. We chose to start with our law enforcement officers first since its the one area where injustice can result in deadly consequences. It is our desire to be proactive rather than reactive to potential tragedies, said Rev. Leslie Sessoms, minister of youth at Godwin Heights Baptist Church and group member.

The group advocates for all victims of injustice, including victims of police brutality and police officers on the receiving end of injustice in other situations, Goodwin said.

Rev. Derek McNair, pastor of First Missionary Baptist Church in Red Springs, described the meeting with Chief McNeill as wonderful, informative and inspiring.

It was our hope and goal to create a relationship with Chief McNeill and staff to let them know that they do not stand alone, McNair said.

It was encouraging to hear what he and his officers are doing in the city to build positive connections between his officers and the people they serve. Our hope is that this meeting will be the beginning of a relationship built on mutual respect, one in which we can celebrate the positive contributions made by our law enforcement officers and one in which we can work hand-in-hand to resolve any negative issues that currently exist or should arise, Sessoms said.

I think he has a wonderful philosophy on community policing, Goodwin said of the police chief.

The meeting is the first of many to come with law enforcement agencies across the county, she said. The group will also branch out to meet with and serve organizations like the countys public school system.

One of our goals is to meet with every police chief in Robeson County as well as our sheriff, Burnis Wilkins, Sessoms said.

The Ministers for Justice group began holding meetings at RCCCC in July 2020 to discuss racial issues and promote unity in the county. The pastors who attended were to take a better understanding from discussions with others of different races and spread the message of unity to decrease racial tension in the county, McNair told The Robesonian in October.

I believe we are called to be a voice for the voiceless, Sessoms said. If we remain silent in the face of injustice then we are complicit in it.

The group of ministers continues to meet every fourth Thursday of each month. The December meeting was held via Zoom video conference with 11 ministers in attendance, Goodwin said.

For information on how to get involved, contact Sessoms by email at lhsessoms@nc.rr.com.

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Construction work on Fayetteville Outer Loop to cause detours off I-95 - The Robesonian

Charles Winokoor|The Herald News

FALL RIVER The sight of his cancer-stricken mother-in-law sleeping on a floor in Vietnam motivatedDavid Nguyen to go into the bedding business.

That was three decades ago, and since then the owner of US Bedding in Fall River has positioned himself to be one of the major bedding manufacturers on the East Coast.

Nguyen was born in 1962 in Hanoi, capital city of the former North Vietnam.

Nearly 18 years later, in late 1979, after his mother had bribed local police officials to get him phony Chinese identification documents so that Nguyen could board a small boat bound for Hong Kong with 100 other people he had only one thought in mind: making his way to the United States.

It didnt matter that it was less than five years since the last remaining U.S. troops left what was then known as Saigon in South Vietnam after a decade-long military conflict that led to the deaths of 58,000 American soldiers and as many as an estimated 600,000 North and South Vietnamese civilians.

Nguyen, now 58, says he had just graduated high school and planned to go to college.

His father died when he was two years old leaving his mother, who ran a small market, to support him and his six siblings, all of whom helped her run the business after school.

His college plans were dashed after he got word that he would have to serve in the Vietnamese army either in Cambodia where Vietnamese troops were fighting to oust Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge regime -- or on the northern border where Chinese and Vietnamese troops were clashing in what is known as the last Sino-Vietnamese War.

Nguyen says he didnt hesitate to leave Vietnam, despite the fact that he was leaving behind his mother and siblings.

I didnt like the government, he said. It was too dangerous for me to stay there, and anywhere is better than living in the communist country.

Nguyen says that he and his future wife survived their 43-day sea journey to Hong Kong, which at the time was under British control, from the capital city of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam where he had grown up.

It would only take 45 minutes to fly there, he said. But we couldnt go on the open sea. We had to stay close to shore. And we hit the rocks two times.

After living for more than a year in two refugee camps, the young couple, who were allowed to live together and had plans to marry, qualified to travel to the United States.

Nguyen said they had earlier been offered safe passage to other Western nations such as Britain, Australia and Holland. But he said they waited until it became possible to travel by ship to America.

During his time in Hong Kong, Nguyen says he searched for his older brother who had also planned to escape from Hanoi. But he says his sibling was grabbed by police before he could leave and ended up spending a year in a Vietnamese prison.

Nguyen says his two brothers and four sisters all survived and went on to lead what is be considered normal lives in Vietnam.

He attributes the improvement in the quality of life to the communist government adopting a more lenient attitude in regard to free-market capitalism.

After a total of two weeks of English language classes in the second of two Hong Kong refugee camps, Nguyen and his now-pregnant wife arrived in Boston where they were sponsored by an organization affiliated with a Catholic church.

Nguyen says their first residency was a one-bedroom apartment on Main Street in Charlestown where the couple shared space with six other Vietnamese refugees, all of whom were single men.

He said they all slept on pieces of foam mattress. After two months Nguyen and his wife and another couple moved into a two-bedroom multi-family house in Everett.

It was while living there that his wife gave birth to a daughter, the first of five children.

While his wife stayed at home with the baby, Nguyen found a job cleaning a wholesale marketplace where other workers had spent the day cleaning vegetables.

I spoke no English, but I did a great job, he said. The owner offered me another job, so now I have two jobs, and Im working 16, 17 hours a day, six days a week.

After two years, Nguyen says he began renting a three-family house in a Dorchester neighborhood with a sizable Vietnamese population.

He began learning how to do construction work and repairs and became adept at installing hardwood floors.

Within two years Nguyen had started his own construction company. By then his wife had given birth to her second child.

One day while working a job on Beacon Hill Nguyen says he spotted a full-service laundry business for sale complete with dry cleaning services and clothing alterations.

Not long after buying the business from the elderly female owner who wanted to retire, Nguyen sold his construction firm to a friend and eventually opened five more laundry and dry cleaning locations. He called his new business American Dry Cleaning.

Nguyen says he was able to buy a piece of land in West Roxbury where he built a house for his growing family.

The trajectory of his business life, however, took a detour after he made a return visit to Vietnam in 1989.

Nguyen says it was the first time he had met his mother-in-law, who by then was dying of cancer.

She was a very skinny lady, he said. And she slept on the wooden floor without a mattress like a lot of Vietnamese.

I felt terrible, Nguyen said. I tried to get her a mattress, but I cannot find it anywhere. People dont even know what it is.

He said he finally found a piece of foam in a store.

Nguyen said he paid the equivalent of $150 American dollars for that item, which struck him as absurd: My sister was a doctor, and she made $17 a month. No wonder no one had anything like that, he said.

Returning to Boston, Nguyen says he couldnt stop thinking about that beautiful mattress.

In my spare time I would ask around, Where do they make mattresses in Boston?

One day Nguyen walked into a mattress manufacturing company in Chelsea and asked the general manager for a tour.

I just showed up at the front desk and said, I want to learn how to make the mattresses, because I want to make them in Vietnam, Nguyen said.

The manager declined his request and suggested that Nguyen pick up a copy of Bed Times Magazine.

One of the ads he spotted in the trade magazine was for a Webster company called Jeffco Fibres, Inc. Nguyen said he asked for the founder and owner Alfred Lonstein, who referred him to his son Jeffrey.

Jeff shows me around so I can see fabric panel and quilting. Step by step the whole process, Nguyen said.

During a recent interview in his US Bedding office in Fall River, Nguyen answered a phone call from Jeffrey Lonsteins son Eric, who now works in hisfamily business and sells bedding material to Nguyen.

Returning to his story, Nguyen said, I bought a machine and material and put it in a container and shipped it to Vietnam.

The year was 1994, and he enlisted a brother in Vietnam to help him open what would not only be Nguyens first bedding business, but also what he says was probably the first bedding manufacturing business in the country.

But I got into the market too early, he said.

Three years later, after his wife underwent open heart surgery, and with five kids in high school, Nguyen said he sold his share of the business to his brother in Vietnam.

Nguyen said by the time his brother sold it in 2005 the business had proven to be very successful.

It was amazing to people, he said, adding that there are many others now. If I had hung around I could be a billionaire.

Nguyen said the first mattress made in the Hanoi factory went to his mother, who has since passed away.

She was sleeping on that mattress when she died, he said.

Nguyen, meanwhile, in 2000 sold all six of his dry cleaning stores to his employees in order to open US Bedding.

He began by buying a 25,000-square-foot warehouse in Canton. Five years later Nguyen relocated after purchasing an old mill building on Quarry Street in Fall River.

He recently paid Walmart $5.25 million for the former Sams Club building less than a mile from his Quarry Street site.

Nguyen says the relocation move will allow his business to grow by leaps and bounds and eventually will result in his hiring an additional 100 workers.

He and his wife also plan to move from West Roxbury to Tiverton where Nguyen says he'll build a house on farm land he bought.

Nguyen says despite the recent political turmoil in the country he has no intention of altering the name of his company.

America is the best country in the world, hesaid.

I always tell my friends and kids that if they work hard and are honest they basically can do whatever they want, Nguyensaid.

Originally posted here:
How this Fall River business owner went from Vietnamese refugee to successful entrepreneur - Fall River Herald News

CNA Staff, Jan 24, 2021 / 06:01 am MT (CNA).- A group of Christian leaders who advocate for the Holy Land this week reiterated a call for Israeli and Palestinian authorities to negotiate directly for the sake of peace in the region. They also encouraged Israel to make COVID-19 vaccines accessible to Palestinians.

The Holy Land Coordination group, which was founded by the Catholic BishopsConference of England and Wales, is comprised of bishops from the U.S. and Europe, as well as a bishop of the Church of England. Since 2000, the group has taken an annual trip to the Holy Land, and promotes awareness, action, and prayer for the region.

During the bishops January 2020 trip, they visited Christians in Gaza, East Jerusalem, and Ramallah. The bishops met virtually in January 2021 with Christians in the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel.

Due to the pandemic, this year is the first since the groups founding that the bishops have not been able to meet in the Holy Land.

The Christian community, though small, is an important guarantor of social cohesion and a bearer of hope for a better future. We eagerly await a time when Christians from across the world can once again make pilgrimages to the Holy Land to witness and support this first-hand. Until that point, we encourage our communities to provide any assistance that may be possible and hold all the regions peoples in our prayers, the group wrote in a Jan. 22 communiqu.

The delegation included Bishop David Malloy of Rockford, chairman of the USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace.

The delegation noted that the absence of pilgrims to the Holy Land in the past year has exacerbated unemployment and poverty.

The bishops concluded that these factors, along with continuing political conflict, culminate to mean, there is today less cause for optimism than at any time in recent history.

Security borders have impaired Palestinians ability to work and travel, including travel to Muslim and Christian holy places, while Jewish settlements in the West Bank are a continuing source of tension.

Israel suspended the annexation of some parts of the West Bank during August 2020 as part of its normalization of relations with the United Arab Emirates, but tensions remain.

The lack of political progress, along with relentless expansion of illegal settlements and the impact of Israels Nation-State law, continues to erode any prospect of a peaceful two-state solution, the bishops wrote.

The nation-state law refers to a 2018 measure which defined Israel as the historic homeland of the Jewish people who have a singular right to national self-determination within it. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has criticized the law as discriminatory against Israels Christians.

The bishops also encouraged Israel to make COVID-19 vaccines accessible for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel has one of the highest per-capita rates of COVID-19 vaccination in the world, but until this week was not allowing vaccines into Gaza or the West Bank.

The Vatican recognized the state of Palestine during May 2015. During May 2020, the Holy See reaffirmed its support of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, and respect for the borders internationally recognized before 1967.

In a July 2020 statement, released in response to possible Israeli action to annex Palestinian territories, the Holy See reiterated that Israel and the State of Palestine have the right to exist and to live in peace and security, within internationally recognized borders.

Then-US president Donald Trump and Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu in January 2020 proposed a two-state peace plan for Israel and Palestine, which included an independent Palestinian state with a capital in East Jerusalem.

Trump insisted that Jerusalem would also remain Israels undivided very important undivided capital. The United States moved its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem in 2017.

Under the plan, none of Jerusalems Old City or territory within the current security wall would be ceded to the Palestinian state. The agreement also preserves the status quo policy regarding control of various religious sites, including the site of the Temple Mount and Al Aqsa Mosque, and, under the proposal, Muslims would still have access to the site.

Trump's proposal for peace called for the creation of a Palestinian state, but gave Israel sovereignty over 30% of the West Bank. The Palestinians reject this.

Palestinian leaders, the United Nations, and European and Arab countries oppose unilateral action from Israel and consider Israeli settlements on land captured in 1967 to be illegal, Reuters reports. Israelis who back annexation cite biblical, historical, and political roots in the West Bank territory.

The plan also proposes the construction of a West Bank-Gaza Tunnel to connect the two halves of Palestine, and that a third of the Gaza Strip be designated as a high-tech manufacturing industrial zone.

As part of the plan, Trump also pledged money to the Palestinian state for job creation and poverty reduction. Trump said that if Abbas and the Palestinian Authority choose the path to peace, that the United States and other countries will be there, we will be there to help you in so many different ways.

Newly-inaugurated President Joe Biden is likely to reverse some of Trumps policies in the Middle East, pledging as a candidate to restore humanitarian aid to Palestinians and opposing Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, NPR reports.

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Bishops reiterate need for direct Israel-Palestine negotiations if there is to be peace - Catholic News Agency

A church at Malappuram district in Kerala has initiated a novel way of raising funds to complete a new building under construction.

Unlike the usual practice of collecting donations from believers, members of the parish are being initiated to various types of farming activities and the revenue earned out of it would be used for completing the construction work.

The St Mary's Orthodox Church at Edakkara, about 50 kilometres from Malappuram town, has initiated the novel method. Financial hardships owing to the back-to-back calamities as well as Covid-19 had prompted the church authorities to come out with the fresh initiative.

The church has initiated organic farming in about two acres of paddy field and plantain farming. Fish farming is being carried out at four places with the support of parish members. Goats, cows and hens are being distributed among the parish members for farming purpose.

Convener of the church construction committee Babu K Paul told DH that though the church did not expect a huge revenue from these farming initiatives, the initiatives would help the new generation members of the parish attracted towards the farming sector. The parish members participated enthusiastically in the farming initiatives of the church.

The new church construction was initiated a couple of years ago with an estimated cost of Rs 1.5 crore. The work began with the funds available with the church. The members of the parish are not generally financially sound enough to make huge contributions. But the church hoped of getting donations from nearby churches as well as well-wishers.

As Covid-19 and calamities stopped the church from going for fund collection drives considering the financial constraints of the people, the farming initiatives were launched, he said.

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Kerala church initiatives farming activities by believers for church construction - Deccan Herald

The COVID-19 pandemic created both opportunities and challenges for builders in Wilkes County in 2020.

Wilkes County Inspections Department records show new single family home construction and other types of building activity increased in 2020.

The department issued 96 permits for construction of new single family residences in 2020, up 14% from 84 in 2019. Eighty such permits were issued in 2018, 109 in 2017 and 78 in 2016 in Wilkes.

The Wilkes Building Inspections Department covers all of the county except North Wilkesboro. Additions and renovations accounted for most of the construction activity in North Wilkesboro in 2020, said Curt Hayes, the towns building inspector.

By far the biggest factor driving this (increase in construction) is low interest rates for borrowing money, said Gary Hayes, president of the Wilkes & Yadkin Home Builders Association.

Next to this I would say, or am told, is the low supply of existing houses on the market for sale in Wilkes, said Hayes, adding that people moving to rural areas also increased construction.

Eric Huffman, a builder and Realtor in Wilkes, agreed about low interest rates being the single biggest factor driving construction and real estate activity in Wilkes in 2020.

There are also a lot of people moving here from out of town and out of state because COVID-19 is so bad in big cities and they want to get away from it, said Huffman. The impact is countywide, he added.

The average U.S. mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed loan dropped to multiple record lows in 2020, including 2.67% in December. Interest rates continued to fall after the U.S. Federal Reserve's cut in its key interest rate to near zero in March to help buttress the economy amid the pandemic.

Interest rates are expected to rise in 2021.

Builders were challenged by shortages of building materials and resulting higher prices in 2020. In many cases, these shortages resulted from supply chain problems. COVID-19 surges worsened a shortage of construction workers.

The combined value of single family construction in Wilkes was $22.3 million in 2020, $18.8 million in 2019, $18.9 million in 2018, $22.6 million in 2017 and $17.6 million in 2016, according to permits issued by the Wilkes Inspections Department.

Square footage of this construction totaled 183,084 in 2020, 164,572 in 2019, 152,231 in 2018, 201,505 in 2017 and 154,363 in 2016.

Among the four largest (dollar-wise) construction projects the Wilkes Inspections Department issued permits for in 2020, three wont generate property taxes because the owners are nonprofit organizations.

The most expensive is a new 18,680-square-foot place of worship under construction on N.C. 115 for Cherry Grove Baptist Church, with a current church building off Vannoy Ridge Road in the Brushy Mountain community. Permit records list the one-story, wood-frame facility with a value of $5.13 million. This includes a sanctuary, kitchen and more. The general contractor is Brushy Mountain Builders Inc.

The 17,883-square-foot Planet Fitness building on Two Rivers Drive (off Curtis Bridge Road) in Wilkesboro was recently completed and is open for business. This structural steel building is listed with a value of $4.97 million.

A building permit also was issued for a 21,000-square-foot aircraft hangar for nonprofit Samaritans Purse at the Wilkes County Airport, listed with a value of $2.51 million. James R. Vannoy Sons Construction Co., the projects general contractor, has started construction. Samaritans Purse recently completed a three-story, 47,000-square-foot office building on its 21-acre N.C. 268 East campus in North Wilkesboro.

Another of the four is the Town of Wilkesboros new ABC store, nearly complete along U.S. 421 near the Browns Road intersection. This 5,207-square-foot, wood-frame building is listed with a value of $1.21 million. Luray Construction Services Inc. is the general contractor.

The Wilkes Inspections Department issued permits for additions, renovations and other improvements valued at $44.95 million in 2020, up 21.8% from permits for similar work worth $36.90 million in 2019.

Permits were issued for placing 89 mobile homes in 2019 and 91 in 2020. They were issued for six modular homes in 2019 and 11 in 2020.

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Low rates, in-migration drive construction increase - Wilkes Journal Patriot

James Malachi (Jimmy) Brown Jr.

NORWAY -- The Rev. James Malachi "Jimmy" Brown Jr., 74, of Norway, passed away on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021.

Graveside services will be held at 3 p.m., Monday, Jan. 4, 2021, at Beaver Creek Baptist Church with the Rev. Wilton Gleaton officiating. The family will receive friends from 2:30 to 3 p.m. at the graveside prior to the funeral.

Rev. Brown was born in Orangeburg County, a son of the late James M. Brown Sr. and Mateland Baltzegar Brown. Rev. Brown was a retired builder. He loved people and never met a stranger. After retiring from construction work, he pastored Beaver Creek Baptist Church in Neeses for nearly 14 years. He loved the Lord and always desired to work for Him. He was a loving husband, father, and grandfather, and was fondly referred to as Jimbo by his grandchildren. There are no words to express how much he will be missed.

Survivors include his loving wife of 53 years, Candy Morehead Brown; one daughter, Tammy (Mike) Whetstone; one son, Robert (Joni) Brown; grandchildren, Mitch Whetstone, Brandon (Lacey) Whetstone, Kristen (Landon) Sandifer, Chandler Brown, and Brantley Brown; two great-grandchildren, Garrett Whetstone and Owen Sandifer; three sisters, Ann Griffith, Myree (Bob) Steele, Joyce (Tom) Bochette; one brother, Charlie (Billie); and a number of nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks memorials be made to Beaver Creek Baptist Church Sound System, P.O. Box 340, Neeses, SC 29107.

A message of condolence may be sent to the family by visiting http://www.mcalhanyfuneralhome.com.

Culler-McAlhany Funeral Home is assisting the family.

Published by The Times and Democrat on Jan. 3, 2021.

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James Malachi Brown Jr. Obituary - North, SC | The Times and Democrat - Legacy.com

In the blue-collar suburb of Mejorada del Campo, Spain, a 94-year-old ex-monk named Justo Gallego has been building a cathedral with his bare hands since 1961. He has no formal training as an architect, no construction permit, no endorsement by the Church, and no government fundingand yet, against all odds, he has erected a monumental temple that receives thousands of visitors each year.

The scale of the building is jaw-dropping: Picture a nave the size of two basketball courts surrounded by arcaded walkways and colorful frescoes. Portals on either side lead to two cloisters and four living quarters, presumably for monks. Twelve brick turrets tower above the roof. There are courtyards, chapels, stained glass windows, a crypt, and a cupola that reaches 130 feet. Gallego built all of this, virtually alone, brick by brick.

The thing is, its nowhere near finished. There are building materials and scrap metal everywhere, and the central dome is nothing more than a metal skeleton, exposing the interior to the elements. With Gallegos health ailing, his lifes work stands to be lost: Who, in his absence, will step up to finish the job? Will the government or Church intervene to protect the cathedral, or will it be bulldozed to make way for chain stores or shiny new condos for commuters?

The more I learned about Gallegos cathedral, the more enthralled I became. This, I thought, was a tale that needed tellingbefore it was too late. So I tracked down ngel Lpez, Gallegos right-hand man, and shot him a text to schedule an interview. His response caught me off guard: How much are you willing to donate?

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Mejorada del Campo is situated 15 miles east of Madrid. Cathedral aside, its like any other Spanish suburb built in the postwar era. Low-rise apartments spoke out from a plain central square, where kids kick soccer balls and abuelos chit-chat on park benches. Laundry dangles from clothes lines above narrow, treeless sidewalks overgrown with weeds.

Gallego was a schoolboy here when the Spanish Civil War broke out. He watched in horror as the Republican forces razed religious buildings, their ruthless acts solidifying his Christian faith from an early age. At 26, he left Mejorada to become a Cistercian monk, only to be expelled eight years later due to a bout of tuberculosis. (Its worth noting that one monk who studied with Gallego claims that he was dismissed because he fasted and worked too hard, adding that the other brothers were worried about his healthabove all, his mental health.)

Back in Mejorada, with monastic life behind him, Gallego resolved to honor God in the only other way he knew, by building. He had inherited a plot of land on the outskirts of town, and there, he decided, he would erect a temple to the Virgin Mary. People in the village thought he was insane: How could a man with so little education and so few means construct a cathedral from scratch? El loco de la catedral, they called him, convinced that hed fail.

But Gallego was undeterred. He toiled day and night, hoisting bags of concrete and hauling truckloads of assorted scraps. Long before the term sustainable construction was coined, Gallego was fashioning battlements out of hairspray canisters and archways out of industrial springs. Tomato cans, water bottles, tires, soda cansyou name it, he found a place for it. Purportedly, some 90 percent of the building materials are recycled or reused.

As Gallego worked, he prayed constantly, remained celibate, and ate a sparse vegetarian diet. The asceticism ingrained in him at the monastery never left him. He devised his building plans not through physics or mathematics but rather through visions that came to him in prayer supplemented by tips from rudimentary architecture manuals.

What slowly rose from the rubble surprised everyone. The cathedral had a whiff of Gaud to itall rounded arches, brightly painted columns, and stained glass with pagan motifs. It was a window into a rich imagination. Orbs painted in gold and cobalt led the way to the entrance. I love circles, Gallego told the Spanish news network Telecinco. It reminds me of planet Earth.

By the early 2000s, with much of the buildings framework in place, it was clear that Gallegos cathedral was no folly. People wanted to know more about the hermit builder of Mejoradahow he worked, what made him tick. Spanish reporters started showing up with camera crews, and international institutions took notice, too: MoMA highlighted the building in a 2003-2004 exhibition. More fame came in 2005 with a far-reaching commercial for the soft drink Aquarius that spotlighted the cathedral. Suddenly, Gallego was a household name in Spain.

It was around that time that Lpez (the guy who asked me to pay up) arrived on the scene. Lpez, a Mejorada native, had long been fascinated by the cathedral and, on a whim, wandered over to the construction site. Gallego promptly put him to work. Fast-forward to the present, and Lpez is Gallegos trusty sidekick, the Sancho Panza to Gallegos Don Quixote. They forged such a close bond over the years that Lpez stands to inherit Gallegos estate.

All of this I gleaned from scouring newspapers and watching old TV segments, not from speaking with Gallego face to face: Ultimately, Lpez wouldnt let me near Gallego after I refused his pay-for-play proposal. (My subsequent interview requests went unanswered.) Lpezs contrariness left a bad taste in my mouth, since pay up or shut up didnt strike me as a particularly Christian attitude. No matter, I took the R-3 freeway to Mejorada, eager to immerse myself in Gallegos fantasy world.

Churches are often the tallest buildings in small-town Spain, but Gallegos cathedral looms over Mejorada like a ragtag Notre-Dame, its naked metal spires jutting high above the one-story houses below. As I got closer, the faade came into view, a jumble of bricks of all shapes and sizes stacked willy-nilly around an enormous blue rose window. Rounded red-painted steps slicked with moss curved lazily up to the entrance, which was, happily, open.

I stepped inside behind a family of four. Nobody greeted usjust a donation box beside a sign that read, DO NOT ASK JUSTO ANYTHING. HE CANT TALK. ASK NGEL ANY QUESTIONS. Neither Gallego nor Lpez were anywhere to be found. When I looked up and around, I had to blink a few times to believe what I was seeingbeyond the sheer magnitude of the space, which echoed with every footstep, there were bizarre bits and bobs everywhere. To my right, a chapel contained spray-painted busts of the Apostles. Behind me, mauve spheres adorned an altar bearing a motley crew of idols and crucifixes hung as if in a hurry. Then I noticed odder things: a rusting water boiler, yellowed mattresses, gilded mirrors, defunct TVs...

At first I was dumbstruckits sobering to stand in such a sprawling building and realize that nearly every column, every stone, every brick, was put there by one sole person. But the more I explored, the more my admiration turned to concern. In one of the chapels, a gaggle of kids roughhoused unsupervisedmere inches from a mountain of broken glass and pointy rusted springs. Out in the cloister, a girl juggled a soccer ball beside a skein of electrical wires that passed through a puddle. In the second-story choir, I spotted a pothole-size gap in the floor covered only with chicken wire. Piles of dog shit sat decaying in the corners.

This is a fantasy land for our kids, a mother told me, gesturing toward her two boys inspecting a rock pile beneath the Disney-esque turrets. Its our third visit. When I cracked a joke about forgetting my helmet, she laughed. Its a little scary, sure, but nobodys ever gotten hurt here that I know of. Just then, a chestnut fell through the open roof onto the floor behind us. Both of us jumped.

Though the cathedral receives scores of visitors each day, its still private property under Spanish lawwhich means it doesnt have to abide by the same safety codes as, say, a public museum. In fact, the cathedral has never been formally evaluated by a surveyor and is illegal by todays standards, since no building license for the structure exists.

But Gallegos defenders maintain that such permits werent required when he broke ground in 1961, and therefore shouldnt apply today. A local official, who asked to remain anonymous, told me over the phone that Mejoradas city hall cannot prevent people from visiting the cathedral, just as it cannot prevent people from visiting anyone elses private residence in Mejorada. He added that, while the local government sees no real danger in allowing people to tour the cathedral, it would obviously be preferable that the building be adapted to current safety standards. Sadly theres no budget for such a massive undertaking.

The lack of documentationfrom blueprints to safety certifications to other necessary licensesalso precludes the cathedral from becoming, well, a cathedralor even a church, for that matter, in the eyes of the local bishopric of Alcal de Henares. Gallegos dream, that his creation be an active place of worship (as opposed to a tourist attraction), is out of reach.

If the bishopric doesnt want the cathedral and the town cant afford to modernize it, what will happen when Gallego passes? Thats up to Lpez, who has made vague promises about not allowing the cathedral to perish yet avoids the particulars of what that would entail. According to the town official, Mejorada has been in talks with a UNESCO affiliate about granting the building special status, which would ensure its survival and conservation. Whatever the cathedrals fate, Gallegos legacy will endure. This spring, he will be named Mejoradas favorite son in a first-of-its-kind ceremony celebrating his contributions to the town. In the end, el loco de la catedral will go down as a local hero.

In the cathedral, in front of the main altar, a staircase winds down to a dank, unlit crypt. Beyond a sea of cement bags, tools, and paint buckets, theres a long, deep hole cut into the earth. A modest wooden crucifix hangs above it and a shovel rests beside itthis is Gallegos grave, which he dug himself. Ever a builder, he built his way into the afterlife, too.

See the original post here:
One Man Spent 60 Years Building a Mysterious and Sketchy Cathedral - The Daily Beast

While no one can deny COVID-19 overtook 2020, there were other stories of note during this most unusual year that bear mention.

Here are our Top 10 non-COVID stories in no particular order:

Stanwood High School

Scenes from construction work at the Stanwood High School campus on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019.

The largest construction job in city history is nearly complete.The $147.5 million Stanwood High School campus project remained on schedule and on budget in 2020. The 44,000-square-foot Church Creek Campus building opened in early September home of Lincoln Hill High School, Lincoln Academy and Saratoga School, a parent partnership homeschool program. To the east, crews are working on the new artificial turf baseball and softball fields. Continuing east, the new Stanwood High School is largely complete. Crews began the move-in process in December, and the building is ready to host students when allowed. Next is demolition of the old high school to make way for a parking lot and a new practice field.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view outside the main entrance on the north side.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view inside looking north out at the main entrance.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view of the common area.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view of hallways.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view of hallways.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view inside the gym.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view inside the performing arts center.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view inside the performing arts center.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view inside.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view at the maintenance building.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view of the common area.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view outside the south side.

Scenes from the Church Creek Campus construction. A view outside the Saratoga School wing.

Scenes from the Church Creek Campus construction. A view inside the Saratoga School wing.

Scenes from the Church Creek Campus construction. A view of the south side of the Lincoln Hill wing.

Scenes from the Church Creek Campus construction. A view inside the gym.

Scenes from the Church Creek Campus construction. A view outside the gym.

Scenes from the Church Creek Campus construction. A view inside the Lincoln Hill commons.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view outside the main entrance on the north side.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view inside looking north out at the main entrance.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view of the common area.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view of hallways.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view of hallways.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view inside the gym.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view inside the performing arts center.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view inside the performing arts center.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view inside.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view at the maintenance building.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view of the common area.

Scenes from the Stanwood High School building construction. A view outside the south side.

Scenes from the Church Creek Campus construction. A view outside the Saratoga School wing.

Scenes from the Church Creek Campus construction. A view inside the Saratoga School wing.

Scenes from the Church Creek Campus construction. A view of the south side of the Lincoln Hill wing.

Scenes from the Church Creek Campus construction. A view inside the gym.

Scenes from the Church Creek Campus construction. A view outside the gym.

Scenes from the Church Creek Campus construction. A view inside the Lincoln Hill commons.

New mayor, police chief

Stanwood Mayor Leonard Kelley speaks at theState of City event on Jan. 9, 2020.

In January, Rob Martin became Stanwoods new police chief, as Chief Norm Link became bureau chief of administration services for the Snohomish County Sheriffs Office. Then in July, longtime Stanwood Mayor Leonard Kelley abruptly resigned due to health reasons. The councilchose councilwoman Elizabeth Callaghan to replace him. Kelley, who had served as mayor since 2013, wrote in his resignation letter: "This decision comes with a heavy heart, but I am grateful for the time I got to serve the city of Stanwood. Callaghan, 33, became the youngest mayor in city history and Stanwoods second woman to be mayor. Current council member Dianne White was the first.

Stanwood-Camano growth

Aerial photos of the Stanwood-Camano area on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019.

Our coverage of the areas steady growth ranks among our most-read articles of the year at SCnews.com. The area has seen signs of new development for several years running, but in 2020 many large housing developments started construction. Housing tracts of 91 homes and 97 homes are underway, featuring a mix of single-family detached, duplex and multifamily housing. Additionally, a smattering of smaller housing development plans dot the Stanwood area, collectively adding up to more than 100 new homes. It isn't just houses being built. At least 126 apartment units are going into the Stanwood Camano Village shopping uptown complex at 72nd Avenue and Highway 532. More are planned in years to come. The city progressed on many infrastructure projects to support exponential growth. A new water tower was installed, and the wastewater treatment facility got a monitoring system. The city has worked on overall sewer improvements, including a large sewer main down 72nd Avenue that reroutes effluent using gravity and removes a lift station. Recreation and flood protection double up as Irvine Slough Stormwater Separation project protects downtown with a berm and water controls with Port Susan Trail on top.

Park plans moved from design into contracts and construction this year with drainage and field improvements for Heritage Park. Church Creek Park got new playground equipment. Hamilton Park plans are underway, although the boat launch was postponed for 2021. Viking Way adds a new east-west route between business centers. Snohomish County PUD is building a new, updated electrical substation with increased capacity out of the floodplain southwest of Pioneer Highway and 72nd Avenue. On Camano, officials recently cut the ribbon on the new $5.6 million Island County Administration Building. Meanwhile, the real estate market in the area remains hot with low inventory, high demand and rising prices.

Flooding

Scenes from Silvana on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020, after the Stillaguamish River flooded.

Some of the worst flooding in several years happened in January 2020. The Stillaguamish River crested above flood stage several times in winter, cutting off parts of the lower valley for a few days. The Stillaguamish spilled its banks three separate times in January cresting at 17 feet, 14.5 feet and 19.44 feet. Flood stage in Arlington, the nearest flood gauge, is 14 feet. By Feb. 1, after the river reached 19.44 feet the 10th highest mark on record, according to the National Weather Service flood waters slowly crept through the lower valley, covering farmland from Silvana to the mouth of the river. Many roads were submerged and a few cars were swept off the road. FEMA had threatened to put all of Island County on probation because out of 130 property owners cited, 14 remained out of compliance with National Flood Insurance program standards. The county got an extension and helped more residents comply. Separately, the Washington Coastal Resilience Project and a Sea Level Rise Strategy Study have worked with Island County on new strategic planning tools to help shoreline property owners manage rising sea levels. Just a few weeks ago, king tides surged around seaside homes in several areas on Camano Island, littering yards with logs and seaweed. Seawater coveredparts of Maple GroveRoad and made its wayinto several homes.

Black Lives Matter

Scenes from the Black Lives Matter silent march on Friday, June 12, 2020, through downtown Stanwood. It was part of a statewide day of action Friday to "honor and mourn the lives lost to police brutality and institutional racism." The quiet and peaceful march was capped with speeches at Heritage Park.

The national movement to push for racial justice and equality, spurred by killings of Black men and women by police, spread to Stanwood in late spring. Similar demonstrations popped up in all 50 states. In Stanwood, the movement started with one person: Mercedes Gonzales, a high school student who wanted to speak out against inequality. Were such a small town; we could make a difference and inspire other small towns to do so, Gonzales said in early June. When I first moved here, I was afraid of backlash. Now I see that there are a lot of good people in this town.

Soon, about 30 to 50 peaceful protesters gathered regularly at the corner of Highway 532 and 92nd Avenue in Stanwood to wave signs. In late June, about 240 people quietly walked through downtown Stanwood as part of a statewide day of action. Im thankful for everyone who played a part and came out to show that we could do something to make Stanwood a safe place for people of color. I had no idea it would get so big, but Im grateful, Gonzales said after the march.

Stanwood athletes win state awards

Chanel Siva reacts after winning the girls 235-pound title match during the Mat Classic state wrestling championships Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020, at the Tacoma Dome.

Stanwood High School wrestlers brought home state hardware. Chanel Siva, who also advanced to the state wrestling tournament all four years, won her second consecutive state title in February. She is always mentally prepared, physically prepared, Spartan girls wrestling coach Todd Freeman said. She has within her that drive that desire that shes not going to let anyone beat her. The Spartan boys wrestling team placed fourth in state as a team the highest placing in school history.Siva was the second Spartan to win back-to-back state titles during last school year; swimmer Jetlynn Hau had claimeda second consecutive state title in the 100 yard breaststrokein November 2019. Both Siva and Hau shared the SpartanFemale Athlete of the Year award, given in a virtual ceremony in June.

Environmental developments

Scenes from the Kristoferson Farm on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020.

Several acres of land around the Stanwood-Camano area were preserved and restored in 2020, many with the goal of helping endangered wild salmon species. In Port Susan Bay, the mouth of Martha Creek was transformed into a more habitable area for young salmon. The Nature Conservancy plans to invest $450,000 to continue its restoration efforts on 150 acres of its 4,122 acre Port Susan Bay Preserve at the mouth of the Stillaguamish River. In October, Leque Island restoration celebrated one year since breaching its aging dikes. The preliminary results show native grasses are returning, many more bird species are visiting and new channels are being formed, helping to unlock more fish habitat.

A Bellingham company recently moved into the former Twin City Foods building (at right) in Stanwood, bringing a handful of jobs with the potential for many more.

Twin City Foods

A new tenantmoved into Stanwoods largest empty building, bringing a handful of jobs with a potential for many more. Bellingham Cold Storage leased the 200,000-square-foot warehouse and packaging facility with plans to store millions of pounds of frozen and refrigerated food, company officials announced. While BCS already employs a few warehouse workers in Stanwood, the company plans to lease up to three spaces in the building to separate food-processing businesses, which could employ between 20 and 200 workers depending on the product. The facility had been shuttered since Twin City Foods closed in June 2018.

A barred owl sits on a power line on Camano Island in fall 2019.

Natural hazards

Meanwhile, scientists say that oceans are rising and shoreline homes are threatened with more storms pushing waves further inland, beaches disappearing and bluffs eroding. On the anniversary of the Mount St. Helens May 1980 eruption, filmmaker Michael Lienau of Camano Island described how he was on the mountain immediately after the eruption when it blew a second time. He survived and made a living of documenting disasters. He said our biggest threat here is the 700-mile Cascadia Subduction Zone, where the oceanic plate is forced with great pressure under the continental plate just off the coast from Vancouver Island, B.C., to northern California. Scientists found evidence that giant earthquakes have ripped along the entire subduction zone simultaneously, from one end to the other, causing land to buckle and sink or rise every few hundred years. The last one in 1700 sent a huge tidal wave to Japan. We are in the window of a time when a major earthquake could be unleashed at any minute, he said. Its not a matter of if; its a matter of when.

Election enthusiasm

Lots and lots and lots of people cast ballots in the 2020 General Election. In total, 54,289 of Island Countys 63,212 registered voters participated, setting record voter turnout at 85.88%. In Snohomish County, 441,921 of the 518,878 registered voters cast a ballot second only to the 2016 general election. Despite the massive turnout, several area races had extremely close finishes. All of the state 10th Legislative District races and an Island County Commissioner race were decided by just a few hundred votes.

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2020 in review: In a year dominated by pandemic, many other events unfolded - goskagit.com

Valerie Myers|Erie Times-News

Crystals installed on Times Square New Year's ball

Workers have installed nearly 200 glittering Waterford crystal triangles on Times Square's New Year's Eve ball in preparation for a pandemic-limited celebration. (Dec. 28)

AP

"It doesn't require liquor, after all, to assure the success of a New Year's celebration, as thousands of Erieites proved Friday night."

The pronouncement by the Erie Dispatch Herald on Jan. 1, 1921, after the first New Year's Eve ofProhibitionseemed half-hearted.

But for Erieites in that new year, the continuing prohibition against alcohol was one of just a few clouds on the horizon.

The city was in the midst of abuilding boom.

Women had voted for the first timein the November presidential election,helping to elect Warren Harding.

Army aviators had flown 9,000 miles from New York to Nome, Alaska, in 111 hours over three months and one week, blazingthe way for morepostal air service routes.

And the first World War and the even more lethal influenza pandemic were memories.

For construction workers, postal customers and the city's first female election clerks and inspectors, at least,prospects for the new year were bright.

On New Year's Eve 1920 and New Year's Day 1921, Erie residents celebrated, kicking up their heels in "8,000 square feet of dancing space" at Harden's Dancing Academy at 114 East 10th St., according to the Erie Daily Times.

They also took in midnight matinees, including"Peaceful Valley" at the originalStrand theater at Ninth and State streets, and playedcheckers, card games and dominoes at the Erie Board of Commerce rooms in the Penn Buildingat Eighth and State streets.

Some splurged on "oyster on half shell mignonette, supreme of salmon trout leopold, plum pudding with English sauce" and more for $1.75 at the Reed House hotel on Perry Square.

And almost everywhere, "eagle eyed enforcers of the laws," according to the Dispatch, looked for demon rum, and mostly found "a rushing business in coca cola and grape juice highballs."

All in all, "by the statements of police and hotel proprietors and the revelers themselves, it was the most dry and good humored New Year's Eve that Erie has known since its village days."

Others greeted the new year at church, many at marathon services.Pastors of Erie's six Methodist churches exchanged pulpits, "which permitted each of the six ministers to give a fifteen or twenty minute address at the church of each of his colleagues" in services that began at 9 p.m. and continued untilone minute past midnight.

"Interspersed between the speeches were music, social features and devotional services," the Dispatchreported.

Services at Erie's Scandinavian churches weren't so long and maybe weren'tso social, by the tone of their advertisementin the Erie Daily Times:

"Suppose that this should be your last New Year season, how would you spend it? We suggest attendance at a good church service," including the "union services" of the Swedish Evangelical Mission Church and Swedish Baptist Church, at the Mission Church at East 10th and German streets.

At the city's half-dozen theaters, plots were heading toward a denouementwhen churches let out just after midnight:

"At most downtown movie houses, the operator was on the fourth reel of the feature film when 1921 rolled in," said the Dispatch, "and at Park Opera House, Mutt and Jeff had not quite gotten through their experiences at the race track."

The newspaper described what New Year's Eve looked like downtown:

"There was little action during the early hours of the evening. Streets were traveled by no more than ordinary traffic. But after 8:30 pedestrians increased in number. An hour later most of them were in church or in restaurants or in theaters, and State Street was lonesome again.

"At midnight, it livened up, and taxi cabs, private machines and extra streetcars appeared in increased numbers to serve the merry makers. When during the next hour the theater crowds streamed out," traffic increased again for a time and "restaurant proprietors rubbed their hands in satisfaction.

"And after that the lights went out and the people went home and no one bothered about the New Year anymore until long after dawn."

Ongoing construction and improving public health were good reasons for New Year's cheer.

Building permits issued in 1920 were for projects valued at $3.7 million, or the equivalent of $48.1 million today, for the construction of properties that would become city landmarks: Lovell Manufacturing Company, built for $375,000; the original East High School, $228,760; the Lawrence Hotel, $226,000; and the Boston Store, $225,000.

Other construction ongoing in 1921 would include the completion of the Pennsylvania National Guard Armory at East Sixth and Parade streets.The building's cornerstone had been laid in a public ceremony on Dec. 18, 1920.

City Bureau of Highways and Engineering chief Theodore Eichhorn, in his annual report, also looked forward to completion of the Mill Creek Tube, construction of the new and long-awaited Union depot, and lower State Street paving.

As the construction projects continued and construction jobs increased, public health improved.

The 1918-19 Spanish influenza pandemic was over, but scarlet fever and diphtheria had followed. By New Year's 1921, the number of cases was dropping.

"Contagious diseases showed a remarkable decline when the health office opened this morning compared with the number of diseases in the city last week," the Times reported Jan. 3, 1921. "Last week there were 66 cases of diphtheria under quarantine, while this morning there were only 36. ... At the same time there were 26 cases of scarlet fever under quarantine last week, while this morning there were only 19."

It was reason for optimism, but there also was controversy ahead.

If Erieites were mainly "dry and good humored"on New Year's Eve 1920, they weren't well pleased with Prohibition, which had begun that year.

A headline in the Erie Daily Times on New Year's Eve groused, Happy New Year,says dry boss. How can it be happy?

"Dry boss" John Kramer pledged to step up enforcement of federal liquor laws in the new year.

"It's going to be a long, lean year for the booze hounds," Kramer said.

It also would be an uphill fight.

While thousands of Erieites were dry that New Year's Eve, as the Dispatch reported, the paper conceded that alcohol was still available "to add to the festivity of such an occasion, as conclusively demonstrated by at least a few hundred of other Erieites."

Some even operated thriving bootlegging businesses until Prohibition's repeal in 1933.

And when it came to law and order in the city, there were more issues.Erie residents and Erienewspapers were clamoring for aninvestigation and shakeup of the city police department.

"Opinion of those familiar with police affairs indicates conditions in the department are rotten ... Ugly stories regarding neglect of duty, loafing, protection of crime and grafting are being told ... A disinterested tribunal must sit in judgement and go to the bottom of this nasty mess," according to a whopping headline in the Erie Daily Times on Dec. 1, 1920.

And after the headline: "Clean house in the police department.

"If half of the rumors whichare heard on the street are true, the police department is in such a sorry mess of disorganization, double-crossing, incompetency, inattention to duty, loafing and grafting" that an investigation isrequired for taxpayers to have confidence in the department.

An investigation, the paper said, also would determine who would run the department, Chief Bill Detzel or Mayor Miles Kitts. The paper cast its vote in describing the mayor as "playingpolitics 365 days a year."

The Dispatch may have had a different view. The paper on Jan. 2, 1921, reported on a "shoot to kill" order issued by Detzel, to be obeyed by his officers "if a crook attempts to get away from them." Some Erie City Council members, the newspaper reported, felt that "crime epidemic" or not, firing shots should be a last resort.

The police department made changes, Detzel continued as chiefand Kitts served out his term, not stepping down until 1924.

Even with those issues, optimism tipped the scales as 1921 began and as a 1920 favorite continued. The serialized "When a Girl Marries," chapter 685, resumed in the Erie Daily Times on Jan. 3.

Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@timesnews.com.

More: Its an Erie County history mystery

More: Abandoned as newborn, Corry man traces his parents

More: Forgotten Corry hospital served unwed mothers

See more here:
100 years ago: Revisiting a Roaring '20s-, Prohibition-style New Year's Eve in Erie - GoErie.com

SALISBURY A public hearing will be held during the Rowan County Board of Commissioners meeting on Monday regarding plans to create a consolidated human services agency.

The move would give the board of commissioners and the county manager more authority over both the Health Department and the Department of Veterans Services.

All were doing is bringing the Health Department and Veterans Services consolidated underneath the county managers purview, County Commissioner Judy Klusman said.

The move to explore consolidating human service agencies came after a request from Vice Chairman Jim Greene, who expressed concern months ago about a lack of communication between commissioners and the Environmental Health Department, which is housed under the Health Department.

At a meeting in September, County Manager Aaron Church presented commissioners with several plans to consolidate human service agencies.

Currently, the Health Department is governed primarily by the Board of Health, of which Klusman is a current member. Under the proposed new structure, the Health Department and Department of Veterans Services would be combined and would be under the direct control of a newly-created position: human services director.

The human services director would be appointed by and report directly to Church. Klusman said that the new position would likely be filled by a current county employee.

Even though the Board of Health would lose governing power under the potential change in structure, Klusman said that the board would still be an integral part of the process and would continue to advise the Board of Commissioners and Church on health-related matters.

Klusman said that more details about the consolidation will be ironed out after the public hearing and commissioners will likely take action on the proposal at its second meeting in January.

The Rowan County Board of Commissioners meeting will take place on Monday at 3 p.m. in the J. Newton Cohen Sr. Room on the second floor of the Rowan County Administration Building. The meeting can be joined virtually at https://bit.ly/rowanboc0104 with password 010421 or by phone at: 602-753-0140, 720-928-9299, 213-338-8477.

In other meeting business:

A public hearing will be held regarding Eric Dixon Sr. and Leona F. Dixons property at the 8200 block of Statesville Boulevard. On behalf of Rowan Clearing Partners LLC, Mitch Wilson is requesting a rezoning of the property from rural residential to commercial, business and industrial to allow the placement of Gupton Land Clearings company office, workshop and storage area.

A public hearing will be held regarding a request from Nengtou Vue for the rezoning of approximately 21.07 acres of his 68.9-acre parcel located at 5900 block of Wildwood Road from manufactured home park to rural agricultural.

A public hearing will be held to consider a request from Steinman Storage to amend its existing 7.78 acre-conditional zoning district, which is currently zoned commercial, business and industrial. Steinman Storage wishes to add two additional storage buildings totaling 22,000 square-feet and additional outdoor storage behind its existing structures. The property is located at 4290 Long Ferry Road.

Commissioners will consider authorizing County Manager Aaron Church to sign the application for approval of engineering plans to build a chemical booster station. The chemical booster station is set to be installed on Long Ferry Road and will improve lead levels in the drinking water for residents in the northeastern part of the county. Hazen and Sawyer is the engineering firm that is being contracted to build the booster station.

The Board of Commissioners will consider scheduling a public hearing for Jan. 19 to consider a request from the countys animal services staff to create an ordinance prohibiting feeding animal carcasses to domestic animals in public view.

Commissioners will consider awarding a bid to J.D. Goodrum, a Cornelius-based general contractor, for the construction phase of the glideslope replacement project at the Mid-Carolina Regional Airport. The project was approved and a grant was awarded by the North Carolina Department of Transportation in 2018. The project will cost $491,001.28.

Commissioners will receive an update on Coronavirus Relief Funds spending and will consider approving the CRF expenditure report to be filed with the state by Jan. 8.

The board will consider a request to grant an easement to Duke Energy for the installation and required servicing of utility equipment associated with the proposed construction project to build a dog wing at the Rowan County Animal Services Facility.

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Public hearing on consolidation of human services to be held during commissioners meeting - Salisbury Post - Salisbury Post