April 8 - 14, 2016
bringing the local news home to northwest Guilford County since 1996
nwobserver.com
Blazing the trails Town implementing plans to manage, maintain 130-acre preserve by JOE DEXTER OAK RIDGE – Town officials in Oak Ridge have been working hard to unveil a hidden gem in the very western part of Guilford County. Cascades Nature Preserve, a 130-acre parcel of undeveloped land located north of Oak Ridge, was originally purchased as two separate parcels by Guilford County in 2007 and 2008. Now, the property that had primarily been used for forestry purposes is being enjoyed by
local residents.
“Within the last couple years, we’ve taken a more active hands-on role in maintaining and improving some (of the preserve’s) trails and putting some of the amenities into it,” said Terry Lannon, Oak Ridge’s director of Parks and Recreation. The preserve has been a collaborative effort between several local Eagle Scouts, Guilford County, and the town’s P&R staff to install various bridges, benches and trail crossings; the town will continue focusing on areas in need of crossings and brush cleanup. Since January of 2012, Oak Ridge and Guilford County have
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Photo by Joe Dexter/NWO
A rope bridge is one of the amenities that have been added along the newly cut trail at Cascades Nature Preserve on Goodwill Church Road in Oak Ridge.
What’s your take on HB2? Survey responses compiled by ANNETTE JOYCE House Bill 2 (HB2). It all started with the Charlotte City Council passing what was described as an anti-discrimination law. Dubbed the ‘Bathroom Bill,’ this ordinance would have allowed people to use bathroom and changing facilities based not on their biological gender at birth, but the gender they most closely identify with. City council members felt such an ordinance was needed to protect the rights of those in the gay, lesbian and transgender community. The law was scheduled to go into effect in Charlotte on April 1.
On March 23, however, the North Carolina General Assembly passed HB2, a law overriding this ordinance, and Gov. Pat McCrory signed it into law. Although the bill deals with aspects of employment discrimination and transfers the power from local governments to the state government to make these laws, a primary focus on HB2 has been on the bathroom issue. HB2 reads that it’s “an act to provide for single-sex multiple occupancy bathroom and changing facilities in schools and public agencies and to create statewide consistency in regulation of employment and public accommodations.”
While some see the “bathroom” portion of HB2 as a common sense step to protect privacy rights, others believe the bill, in part or in whole, is blatantly discriminatory. We invited our readers to share their thoughts on any or all of HB2’s components, and as always, we thank those who agreed to do so. ••••• “The governor and legislature absolutely made the right call for North Carolina values in enacting HB2. This bizarre social experiment may play well in
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IN THIS ISSUE News in Brief ..................................2 Your Questions..............................4 Youth/School News .....................8 Frontlines to the Sidelines..........10 Student Profiles ...........................12 High School Sports .....................15 Crime/Incident Report ..............18 Stop, Drop & Roll photos............19 NWHS alumna’s debut novel ...20 Community Calendar...............22 Letters/Opinions .........................24 Grins & Gripes .............................25 Classifieds ...................................27 Index of Advertisers ...................31