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Thursday, September 29, 2016
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• Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Pipeline problem had people scurrying for gas last week By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gamil.com
A petroleum pipeline spill in Alabama had people in our area and elsewhere scrambling for gasoline last week. As is generally been the case time and time again over the years, the mere mention of a gasoline shortage sent many motorists speeding to convenience stores, service stations, and other fueling spots looking to fill up. The cause of the mini-panic was a 300,000+ gallon leak on a Colonial Pipeline tube that supplies five states- Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Colonial has two lines supplying the East Coast and the firm was working to fix the leak on the broken one and while that job was going on trying to divert fuel to the second one. Last week, NC Gov. Pat McCrory issued an executive order setting aside driving hour restrictions for truckers delivering fuel.. The order also prohibited price gouging for fuel. Both orders will remain in effect for 30 days. McCrory also activated the state Emergency Operations Center. Nonetheless, fuel prices in many locations began to rise last week in response to the leak. The average gas price for a gallon of regular in NC rose from $2.05 to around $2.30 in just a few days. NC Attorney General Roy Cooper told consumers to look out for price gouging and to report it. He said his office had received 1,000 such complaints. According to Cooper, price gougers can face fines of up to $5,000 for each violation under North Carolina law. Cooper asks you take photos of gas signs and copy See GAS SHORTAGE page 2 Butch Larson of Belmont was happy to find some gas during the mini-shortage last week.
Photo by Alan Hodge
Bobby Brown makes Guinness Book of Records Hurricane Hugo brought us together
By Alan Hodge
alan.bannernews@gmail.com
The famed Guinness Book of World Records has some interesting stuff including the world's oldest wing walker (90 years old), and the world's record for being an ice cream man (67 years). Now it has another esteemed entry in local resident, writer, and raconteur Bobby Brown. Brown, you see, is proud to have the label and Guinness Book inclusion as “Longest Living Survivor of Double Bypass Surgery”. He received his official notice and certificate from the Guinness folks in August. Brown's bypass operation took place in 1975 at the Sanger Heart Clinic in Charlotte when he was just 37-years-old. This November he will celebrate his 78th birthday- a miracle considering his father and two brothers all died of heart disease in their early 40s. Brown credits his longevity to the amazing doctors, namely Michael Tamberella, MD at CaroMont Heart and the nurses and medical teams who have come to his aide through the years. Brown had to undergo additional surgeries after his first bypass
P LAY T H E
because medicine at the time wasn't as advanced as it is now. Today, the artery that is typically used from the chest wall for bypass can last a lifetime if used correctly. Because of his surgery experience, Brown now volunteers for Mended Hearts Chapter 379 at CaroMont Regional Medical Center in Gastonia. Every week, he meets and talks with patients who have undergone or will be having some kind of heart surgery to remind them that there is life after a heart attack and inspires them to have hope. Brown often compares his surgeries to his car. He owns a 1930 Ford Model A, and every morning he goes down to make sure nothing is leaking and tightens the screws. The same is true for his heart because he says “we're under repair”. Brown says he's telling his story of longevity and survival not because he wants the glory but because he wants his story to be told so that if there's another longer survivor somewhere, he'll be more than happy to give up Local author Bobby Brown is now in the Guinhis title. He says that "nothing would ness Book of World Records for being the lonthrill me more than calling that person gest double bypass surgery survivor. Contributed photo See BOBBY BROWN page 3
By Alan Hodge Alan.bannernews@gmail.com
It’s been 27 years since Hurricane Hugo pounded the Piedmont on Sept. 22, 1989, but the memory of that meteorological mayhem, the weeks of cleanup, and how local folks pulled together to recover from the disaster lives on. After Hugo departed, our entire region was declared a disaster area by President Bush. The first images of Hugo's wrath that folks saw on the front page of the Belmont Banner showed downed power lines, the screen of the Belmont Drive In Theater lying in a twisted heap, homes with shingles torn away, the water tower at Parkdale Mills with its top missing, and the ticket booth at South Point High sans its roof. Hugo caused students at Belmont Abbey to be sent home. The roof of the Haid was torn off. The cross at the top of the Abbey bell tower was blown askew. Belmont’s city manager at the time, Ken York, talked about the mess Hugo left. “Due to the large mass of tree debris on the sides of the streets, it will take a massive effort to achieve total cleanup.” In McAdenville, Police Chief James Swanson had a near miss Hugo-style when a tree hit his patrol car as he was driving through town. “I was coming down Main Street at Mockingbird Lane when the rear end of the car was struck,” Swanson said at the See HUGO page 2
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