Monday, January 30, 2012

Quick hits: People stealing Venus fly traps, and Sierra Nevada chooses our state

3 poachers arrested for uprooting rare N.C. Venus fly traps
"The Venus flytrap's precarious survival in the wild along the coast of the Carolinas faces an added threat from poachers looking to cash in by uprooting and selling them," says the AP.

"Three people were arrested this week and charged with uprooting an endangered species without permission, a misdemeanor. North Carolina wildlife enforcement officer Matt Criscoe says they took about 200 of the bug-eating plants, which they expected to sell for about 10 cents apiece. ..."


Sierra Nevada choose N.C. for East Coast expansion

"West Coast craft beer-maker Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is opening a production site in North Carolina to expand its East Coast reach," says reports.

"The Chico, Calif.-based company said Wednesday it chose a site along the French Broad River 12 miles south of Asheville as the home of its East Coast brewery.

"Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman says the mountain region's beer culture, water quality and quality of life were right for his company...."


Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/25/4214752/sierra-nevada-chooses-nc-for-east.html#storylink=cpy

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Sports Hall of Fame to hit the road

I'm fortunate that I can walk just a few blocks (either from home or work) to spend my lunch hour marveling at the wonderful exhibits in the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame, which is housed in the N.C. Museum of History. Not everyone is as lucky. The good news is that very soon there will be a mobile version of the sports museum. Not a mobile app, mind you, but a real, honest-to-goodness mobile unit that will take the story of the state's sports heritage out and about.

From WECT:
While the Hall of Fame itself remains in Raleigh, a small version of it will be on the road, hopefully by the spring of next year.

"It is a mobile unit that we are very excited about," said [Museum Executive Director Don] Fish. "It will offer us the opportunity to expose the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame throughout the state and encourage people to come back here, to Raleigh, for the full view of the museum."

Hall of Fame officials hope the new mobile unit will be up and running by May 2012, just in time for the next induction ceremony and the 50th anniversary of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.

If you have never made it to the Sports Hall of Fame, I highly recommend it. As WECT describes it, you'll find "the story of NASCAR legend Richard Petty, who emerged from the small town of Randleman, to become one of the most famous sports figures in the country's history" to Jimmy V's warm-up suit to Choo-Choo Justice's jersey and much more.