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Thursday, February 26, 2015
COMING SOON!
LOTTERY! Volume 80 • Iss Issue 8
Serving Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Vietnam MIA coming home
Mason Mitchell and Alyssa Hyde enjoyed some sled runs last week. The icy mix they wasn't that deep but plenty slick. Photo by Alan Hodge
Cold weather hit us hard
A Vietnam War MIA will be buried with full military honors in Belmont's Greenwood Cemetery in early March. At the time the BannerNews went to press this week, final arrangements for the service were still not complete but will be published as soon as possible. Jean Culbreth with the GI Joe Interactive Living History Museum in Kinston shared the following information concerning the soldier. Bunyan Durant Price, Jr. was born in Monroe, NC on Feb 9, 1950. He was raised in Belmont and joined the United States Army in 1969. He was assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor, 25th Infantry Division. On May 2, 1970, the Huey helicopter in which he was flying departed Tay Ninh, South Vietnam on a logistics mission to Fire Support Base Bruiser, Kontum Provence, Vietnam, which was close to the border of Cambodia. During the flight, the crew encountered a heavy rainstorm, and, flying in zero visibility, the Huey crossed into Cambodian airspace, encountering anti-aircraft machine gun fire. The Huey was hit by gunfire, causing a fire within the aircraft, forcing a landing inside Cambodia. Immediately, the crew came under attack by other North Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge fighters. Four of the crew were captured, three were missing and one evaded capture. Of the four captured, two died in captivity and two were released in 1973. See more VIETNAM MIA page 2
By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
After watching Boston and other areas of the nation get slammed over the past month by snow, ice, and arctic air, last week was Gaston County's turn to get a taste, no, a belly full of winter weather. The week-long duel with Jack Frost began last Monday when weather forecasters began broadcasting warnings of impending ice and snow. The result was predictable as the first pellets of sleet began peppering down. Folks headed to the grocery stores in droves. The Bi-Lo in Belmont was stormed by shoppers with desperate expressions who jostled for parking spots and banged buggies as they sped down the aisles where life or death items such as bread, milk, toilet tissue were located. The sleet continued during the afternoon and evening and eventually covered everything with a whitish glaze. Folks lay in bed with fingers crossed hoping the power would not go out- and for most places in Eastern Gaston, that was the case.
By Tuesday morning Duke Energy reported just a few hundred outages in our area. The company had over 4,800 personnel assigned across the state to deal with the bad weather. Icy roads were the biggest hazard on Tuesday. Secondary roads were in especially bad shape with many of them being sheets of ice. Hickory Grove Rd. was especially tricky. In preparation for the ice, NCDOT had put down brine on major roads in all of its division 12 counties, which includes Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, Alexander, Catawba and Iredell. Jordan-Ashley B. Walker, NCDOT communications officer, said brine is used as a preemptive measure to prevent slick roads. When laying brine down on roads, NCDOT focused on roads like interstates, four lane divided highways and roads important to emergency services. By later in the day on Tuesday, roads were improving somewhat thanks to the sun which made a chilly yet See more COLD WEATHER page 3
Belmont growth plotted in annual report By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
According to a new report issued by the City of Belmont Planning Department, residential housing growth is back on track after taking a hit during the so-called Great Recession. The Planning and Zoning Annual Report 2014 shows 182 single fam-
ily home permits issued by the city in 2007, followed by a plunge to just 84 permits in 2008. In 2009, the number was even lower at just 46 permits. In 2010, the number crept up to 52 permits, followed by 62 permits in 2011, 97 in 2012, 105 in 2013 as the economy
clawed its way back upward, and 140 permits last year. 'The market is returning,” says Planning and Zoning staffer Shelley DeHart. “The rise in new home starts is up 33 percent from last year.” See more REPORT page 5
This chair at the GI Joe Living History Museum in Kinston lists the names of MIAs including that of Bunyan Price of Belmont. Contributed Photo
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