That's Rock N Roll For Ya

Bristol Motor Speedway

2009-09-01T17:19:00.001-04:00

Bristol Motor Speedway

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Keith Bilbrey Out At WSM Nashville

2009-03-11T17:56:00.001-04:00

Sorry to hear about his exit, loved his style on the air.

From The Tennessean newspaper

After 34 years with the company, WSM air personality Keith Bilbrey has been relieved of his duties.
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Keith will no longer be on the air, and will no longer serve as a Grand Ole Opry announcer.

“The station assured him he had done nothing to provoke this, it was that they are doing away with the midday show… it will be strictly voice tracked,” wrote Bilbrey’s wife, Emy-Joe Bellenfant-Bilbrey, in an email to music industry friends and associates.

Florida Woman Calls 911 Three Times About Running Out Of McNuggets

2009-03-05T17:51:00.000-05:00

Facebook | FOXNews.com - Florida Woman Calls 911 After McDonald's Runs Out of McNuggets - Local News | News Art

A Florida woman called 911 three times after she paid for a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets at a McDonald's but the fast-food restaurant ran out of them and refused to give her a refund.

Latreasa L. Goodman, 27, made the calls after she tried to get her money back from a Fort Pierce McDonald's and the cashier told her all sales were final. Police released the 911 tapes.

"This is an emergency. If I would have known they didn't have McNuggets, I wouldn't have given my money, and now she wants to give me a McDouble, but I don't want one," police quoted her as saying. "This is an emergency."

The cashier suggested she choose something else off the menu of equal value to the McNuggets, and offered the restaurant's cheeseburger called the McDouble.

"She's trying to force me to eat something off the menu and I don't want it," Goodman told 911.

The first dispatcher, a woman, asks if there's a manager there, but listens to Goodman's complaints and says she's sending someone.

The second, male dispatcher tells her he's aware of the incident and "we've got an officer coming out there to talk to you."

Police say Goodman was cited on a misuse of 911 charge. A current phone listing for Goodman couldn't be found.

A McDonald's spokesman said Goodman should have been given a refund, and she's being sent a gift card for a free meal.

Stranger Hits Dead Man At His Funeral

2009-03-05T17:32:00.001-05:00

Stranger Hits Dead Man:Officials Release Report and Tickets | wltx.com

Laurens County (The Greenville News) - Tammy Fausel said that she and her family were shocked at what happened during her uncle's funeral in Gray Court.

A Candler, N.C., woman danced in front of the service, waved a wand around the casket, opened the lid, laid her hands on the deceased's head and struck the body with a wand, according to an incident report from the Laurens County Sheriff's Office.

Nicole Marie Loretta Leonard, 25, has been charged with disturbing a funeral and public disorderly conduct in Tuesday's incident, according to tickets.

Fausel said she had never before seen the woman and had no idea why she would've been at funeral at Church of God on State 14.

"Everybody was just kind of flabbergasted," she said. "They didn't know what was going on."

The woman took flowers from the top of the casket and threw them at the family before leaving in a burgundy Toyota, according to the report.

Fausel said she called the Sheriff's Office.

A lieutenant intercepted a burgundy Toyota Corolla heading south on Interstate 385, according to the incident report.

When deputies asked the woman why she acted the way she did, the woman said "she felt that it was the right thing to do at the time," according to the report. The woman told deputies she knew no one at the church, according to the report.

Fausel said the deceased's immediate family was in another room at the time of the incident and didn't witness it.

Leonard, of 117 Davis Creek, was released from the Johnson Detention Center Wednesday, according to jail officials and tickets.

More Snow Pictures

2009-03-01T10:48:00.003-05:00

A few more of the snow pictures that I took on Monday (Feb 23)

Why Hair Goes Gray

2009-03-01T10:27:00.001-05:00

Study Blames a Chain Reaction That Makes Hair Bleach Itself From the Inside Out

By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Feb. 25, 2009 -- Scientists may have figured out why hair turns gray, and their finding may open the door to new anti-graying strategies.

New research shows that hair turns gray as a result of a chemical chain reaction that causes hair to bleach itself from the inside out.

The process starts when there is a dip in levels of an enzyme called catalase. That catalase shortfall means that the hydrogen peroxide that naturally occurs in hair can't be broken down. So hydrogen peroxide builds up in the hair, and because other enzymes that would repair hydrogen peroxide's damage are also in short supply, the hair goes gray.

Putting the brakes on that chemical chain reaction "could have great implications in the hair graying scenario in humans," write the researchers, who included Karin Schallreuter, a professor clinical and experimental dermatology at England's University of Bradford.

The study appears online in The FASEB Journal; the FASEB is the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

Broadcast Icon Paul Harvey Passes Away Saturday

2009-02-28T22:18:00.001-05:00

58-year broadcast veteran, Paul Harvey, has passed away.

Reports are the-90-year old broadcast legend died surrounded by family at a hospital in Phoenix.

One of the most recognized voices and a fixture in American broadcasting for more than 50 years, passed away Saturday in Phoenix.

ABC Radio Networks announced that Paul Harvey was surrounded by his family at a hospital near where he had a winter home. No cause of death was announced according to the Associated Press.

Harvey had not only been aired locally on 1450 WATA over the years, but had been heard nationally since 1951.

"Stand by for news!" reached 24 million listeners at the peak of Harvey's career according to AP, as the broadcast was carried by more than 1,200 radio stations.

"The Rest Of The Story" began hitting the airwaves in 1976.

Harvey's wife Angel, also a Radio Hall of Fame member, passed away in May 2008.

ABC Radio Network's President, James Robinson, released the following statement Saturday:

"Paul Harvey was one of the most gifted and beloved broadcasters in our nation’s history. As he delivered the news each day with his own unique style and commentary, his voice became a trusted friend in American households. His career in radio spanned more than seven decades, during which time countless millions of listeners were both informed and entertained by his “News & Comment” and “Rest of the Story” features. Even after the passing of his loving wife Angel in May 2008, Paul would not slip quietly into retirement as he continued to take the microphone and reach out to his audience. We will miss our dear friend tremendously and are grateful for the many years we were so fortunate to have known him. Our thoughts and prayers are now with his son Paul Jr. and the rest of the Harvey family."

Paul Harvey's son, Paul Harvey Jr., also released a statement Saturday. Harvey Jr. said:

"My father and mother created from thin air what one day became radio and television news. So in the past year, an industry has lost its godparents and today millions have lost a friend."

To Get In The Snow Mood

2009-02-27T22:39:00.003-05:00

With our forecast in the High Country calling for snow this weekend I thought this would be the perfect time to share pictures that I took on Monday Feb 23 during our last snow event. You can click on the pics for a larger view.

NC Ski Resorts Want To Limit Lawsuits

2009-02-27T21:47:00.001-05:00

From Asheville Citizen-Times reporter Jordan Schrader

Legislation filed at the behest of North Carolina's mountain ski resorts would limit their liability to lawsuits filed by injured skiers.

Under a bill filed Thursday, skiers would assume responsibility for collisions with trees or snowmaking equipment or accidents due to bare spots or terrain variations.

I wrote about this idea last year when Sen. Steve Goss was pushing for it. (Here's a link to the site of a group that posted that story. It's expired on our site.)

This year, Reps. Cullie Tarleton, Bruce Goforth, Phil Frye and Ray Rapp are on board.

Wilkes County's NASCAR track gets new life..for now.

2009-02-27T08:33:00.000-05:00

*Winston-Salem Journal*

Published: February 26, 2009

NORTH WILKESBORO

A developer has signed a short-term lease with the owner of North Wilkesboro Speedway and has plans to start a new racing series and reality show there.

Charles Collins, who says that he is a 43-year-old Georgia native and developer, has set up an office at the speedway and has keys for the locks.

During a tour yesterday, Collins said he has a short-term lease with Bruton Smith, the billionaire owner of the speedway.

"Yes, sir, I believe he does," Smith said in a telephone interview. Smith said he didn't know details of Collins' plans, but that the lease is for about three months.

The speedway is still for sale for $12 million to "whoever comes with the money first," Smith said.

Collins says he plans to produce a reality racing show there called Women So U Think U Can Race? He also said he plans to start a racing series for women called the AWESOME Racing Series. AWESOME stands for for All Women Stockcar Oval Motorsports Event.

"We're seeking women that want to go bumper to bumper," he said.

Collins said he hopes to start production of the show at the speedway in March or April and to have ticketed events for the public. He also plans to promote concerts there, he said.

Burned in the past by people who have announced pie-in-the-sky plans to buy and revitalize the North Wilkesboro Speedway but never did, officials in Wilkes County don't know quite what to make of the latest prospect.

Linda Cheek, the president of the Wilkes County Chamber of Commerce and the point person for the county's Blue Ridge National Heritage Area's priority initiative to revamp the speedway, said she doesn't know what to think. She has heard a lot of people talking about Collins but has never spoken to him.

"I don't know if he's for real or not," she said.

Don Alexander, the director of the Wilkes Economic Development Corp., wouldn't answer any questions about Collins but issued a two-sentence statement that was approved by the county attorney.

"Mr. Collins has informed the Wilkes Economic Development Corporation of his plans for the North Wilkesboro Speedway, and has continually updated our office with regard to his efforts and progress," the statement said. "His vision for the North Wilkesboro Speedway, if realized, would be a very major development for Wilkes County, one which would have a significant and positive impact on the economy here."

Collins, who said he has been working on the project for the past year and has been in town for about four months, wouldn't say exactly where he had come from. He wouldn't answer specific questions about his past experience but said that he is a property developer who has built houses and had done some shopping-center renovations.

He talked about needing sponsors for the new efforts.

He said he can understand why people are skeptical about plans for the speedway.

"They had so many people come in and say, ‘We're going to do this,' and ‘I got a dream,'" he said. "I'm a reality man. I work to make it happen. I push to make it happen and don't give up. I'm a seeker for success. I can make it work."

He said he hopes to eventually buy the speedway.

In a 2002 interview, Smith said that the track is worn out and needs to be repaved, and that there are sewer problems there. Yesterday, Smith said that for what Collins is going to do right now, those improvements won't be necessary.

Collins said that the track is still in good shape. He said that the sewer is fine, and they can use portable toilets until eventually bringing in a main sewer line.

"I got big plans for this place, and that's about as far as I'm going to go," Collins said. "We're getting ready to crank this place up."

What does Duke's Nolan Smith and the movie Friday have in common?

2009-02-27T08:21:00.000-05:00

To quote the most famous line from the movie Friday "You just got knocked the **** out!". It however was a legal screen.

Colleges Warning Spring Breakers About Mexica

2009-02-27T08:12:00.000-05:00

*from Asheville Citzen Times*

The U.S. State Department and universities around the country are warning college students headed for Mexico for some spring-break partying of a surge in drug-related murder and mayhem south of the border.

“We're not necessarily telling students not to go, but we're going to certainly alert them,” said Tom Dougan, vice president for student affairs at the University of Rhode Island. “There have been Americans kidnapped, and if you go, you need to be very aware and very alert to this fact.”

More than 100,000 high school- and college-age Americans travel to Mexican resort areas during spring break each year. Much of the drug violence is happening in border towns, and tourists have generally not been targeted, though there have been killings in the big spring-break resorts of Acapulco and Cancun, well away from the border.

At Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, it's standard operating procedure to advise students to use caution wherever they go during spring break, whether it's home, to the beach, out of the country or on an alternative spring break service-learning activity, Jane Adams-Dunford, WCU's assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, wrote in an e-mail.

WCU's spring break is next week.

High Country Pic

2009-02-21T19:55:00.002-05:00

I admit full well that I am no where near the league of Blue Ridge Blog when it comes to pictures, but then again if you put her in a radio station then well I win LOL.

But I have become interested in taking better pictures. So with a new camera and a lot of learning to do I present some of my first pictures of the area with a "real" camera.

At least someone on TV has a clue

2009-02-19T15:18:00.002-05:00

Kudos to CNBC's Rick Santelli for setting it straight on a cable news show

Ante Up! S.C. Judge Rules Texas Hold 'Em Is A Skill

2009-02-19T15:04:00.000-05:00

Ante Up! S.C. Judge Rules Texas Hold 'Em Is A Skill - Charlotte News Story

Ante Up! S.C. Judge Rules Texas Hold 'Em Is A Skill

Thursday, February 19, 2009
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. -- A South Carolina judge has ruled that Texas Hold 'em poker is a game of skill, a ruling that could prevent police from arresting people taking part in a friendly game of poker.

Mount Pleasant Municipal Judge Larry Duffy on Thursday wrote that there is "overwhelming" evidence that the card game is one of skill, not chance. State law outlaws gambling on games of chance with cards or dice.

In the past several years, police in South Carolina have raided homes to break up poker games.

Still, Duffy's order doesn't help the case of five men he found guilty of operating a gambling house, who must now pay fines.

About 20 people were arrested in that raid almost three years ago. The others settled their cases by payi

Top 10 Sites Parents Don't Want Kids To See

2009-02-19T14:47:00.000-05:00

*From Business Insider.com*

Top 10 Sites Parents Don't Want Kids To See

What Web sites do parents, schools, and small businesses censor the most on their networks? Porn? Time wasters? Shopping? Social networks? All of the above!

These are currently the ten most-blocked Web sites on home, school, and small business networks, via OpenDNS's domain filtering tool.

1. MySpace.com
2. Facebook.com
3. YouTube.com
4. Playboy.com
5. Ebay.com
6. Meebo.com
7. Friendster.com
8. Orkut.com
9. AdultFriendFinder.com
10. Espn.com

What's OpenDNS? A San Francisco-based startup offering free DNS -- domain name system -- tools for homes, schools, and small businesses. We've been using them for years at home just because they speed up our Internet. But they're increasingly catching on for their anti-phishing and parental filtering tools.

The company has 10 million users, 20 employees, and is profitable -- making money from Yahoo search ads that show up when people mistype domain names.

At CES, OpenDNS announced that Netgear will be bundling their filtering and anti-phishing software with its routers. The company recently appointed former VMware exec Nand Mulchandani as chief executive.

Dolly Parton to receive honorary doctorate from UT

2009-02-19T14:42:00.000-05:00

Dolly Parton to receive honorary doctorate from UT | CITIZEN-TIMES.com | Asheville Citizen-Times

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Entertainer and philanthropist Dolly Parton will receive an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Tennessee.

Pending Board of Trustees approval, Parton will receive a doctorate of humane and musical letters during spring commencement May 8, honoring her not only for her role as a musician and entertainer but also for her work as an advocate for education.
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In 1996, she founded the Imagination Library program in her native Sevier County, providing children with a new book every month from birth to 5 years of age. That program now has grown to serve 1,000 communities in all of Tennessee and parts of 46 other states, the United Kingdom and Canada.

The only other honorary doctorate UT has bestowed went to former U.S. Sen. Howard Baker Jr. — also a Tennessee native — in May 2005.

Chick-fil-A blessed with increased sales

2009-01-29T19:07:00.001-05:00

Chick-fil-A 'blessed' with increased sales | ajc.com

Chick-fil-A ‘blessed’ with increased sales
CEO credits affordable new menu and God for double-digit sales growth

By JOE GUY COLLIER

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Chick-fil-A credited a loyal customer base, affordable prices and menu upgrades for helping it increase sales in 2008. God’s blessing didn’t hurt, either, a company executive says.

The Atlanta-based chicken chain reported Thursday system-wide sales for last year of $2.96 billion, up 12 percent from 2007. The company has increased sales every year since the first Chick-fil-A opened in Atlanta’s Greenbriar Mall in 1967. It was the 16th straight year of double-digit sales growth.
• Photos: New menu | Family business | Cathy tries hand at pizza

Truett Cathy recovering from surgery

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Same-store sales rose 4.6 percent. The company added 83 stores, ending the year with 1,422 outlets.

Chick-fil-A benefited by being a lower-priced option for consumers, said Dan Cathy, Chick-fil-A’s president and chief operating officer.

“We’re not a high-end, plush restaurant with a $30 average ticket,” Cathy said. “Thankfully, we’re a much more affordable part of your day type expenditure.”

He also was quick to thank his customers and God for the year. The Cathy family, which keeps stores closed on Sundays, is known for its involvement in church and faith-based charities.

“I do think that God has blessed our business,” Cathy said.

Among restaurants, the fast-food category is holding up better in the recession than full-service, higher-end eateries. In 2008, U.S. sales at limited-service restaurants rose 2 percent, compared to a 2.5 percent drop for full-service restaurants, according to Technomic, a Chicago restaurant research and consulting firm.

Chick-fil-A is among the fast-food players that are staying ahead of the industry pace. McDonald’s Corp., the biggest fast-food chain in the world, also reported this week a 4 percent increase in U.S. same-store sales and an 8 percent increase in U.S. operating income.

McDonald’s, by the way, cited chicken products as one driver of growth. It introduced last year a Southern style chicken sandwich and biscuit that bears a strong resemblance to Chick-fil-A’s own offerings.

Chick-fil-A, a privately owned company, does not disclose profit data. While sales increased in 2008, the company is being cautious this year, Cathy said.

In 2009, Chick-fil-A expects to add 76 outlets, down slightly from last year. The company has delayed a move by some corporate headquarters employees into new office space.

It also will keep staffing levels even at the corporate headquarters south of Atlanta. Chick-fil-A has a corporate staff of 732 employees.

Chick-fil-A won’t have layoffs and will replace staff members if they leave, but investments and hiring will be focused at the store-level, Cathy said. The chain plans to renovate 65 restaurants this year.

“I think all of our staff knows that against the coming economic backdrop, with where their friends and neighbors are, we’re eternally grateful to have a job and be with a healthy business,” Cathy said. “We want to make sure it stays that way.”

Chick-fil-A is rolling out an initiative designed to take their customer service the “second mile.” The first-mile elements, as Cathy explained, are the basics of the business — a clean parking lot and restaurant, hot fries and a smiling staff.

As part of the second mile, Chick-fil-A is teaching etiquette to employees, starting with training sessions for store operators.

Company employees are already known for responding with “It’s my pleasure” to customer thank yous. As part of the next phase, employees might be walking through the dining room asking customers, “Sir, may I refresh your beverage?”

Chick-fil-A also has new products in the works. In 2008, Chick-fil-A completed an aggressive product rollout that included a new chargrilled chicken and fruit salad, larger chicken strips and a chicken salad sandwich with chunkier meat and new wheatberry bread.

The restaurant chain expects to add a peach flavored milkshake this summer, Cathy said. It’s also testing a spicy chicken sandwich in some markets that could be added in 2010, he said.

“We are always tweaking and refining,” Cathy said. “The challenge you have with a 63-year-old family business is: How do you continue to stay relevant with the customer? How do you continue to reshape the business, retool the business?”

Truett Cathy, Dan’s father, opened his first restaurant, the Dwarf House, in 1946 before going on to create Chick-fil-A.

One Hall of a debate set for NASCAR

2009-01-23T20:15:00.001-05:00

One Hall of a debate set for NASCAR

By Greer Smith

McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

Published: January 23, 2009

Now the debates can begin in earnest. Since NASCAR broke ground three years ago on its Hall of Fame in Charlotte, talk has occasionally swirled about how many people should go in the first year and who should be in the class.

There is no more speculation about the number that will be among the first class, now scheduled for induction when the Hall opens in May 2010 -- presumably in conjunction with race weeks at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

The number for that class and all subsequent classes will be five, dashing the hopes of those who thought the first group should be as many as 10 to give the facility a kick start.

"Personally, I like five," Hall of Fame executive director Winston Kelley said. "As I fan, I like five because you get to focus on five people every year and they get their due. It could have been four or could have been six. Some people said, "You need a bunch of people in there early.' I didn't like that concept and gave my feedback to NASCAR."

The Hall will be located in downtown Charlotte and will be part of a complex that includes a 20-story office tower, studios of NASCAR's media group, a retail/restaurant building, parking and convention area space.

Those elected to the Hall will have their likenesses placed in a rotunda-like Hall of Honor that will be a centerpiece of the exhibit space. Other features of the Hall include an area known as the Great Hall, an area of changing exhibits, displays that detail what happens during a race weekend and will include a team transporter, a section known as Heritage Speedway that details the sanctioning body's history and technical evolution, and a section where patrons can choose any of 50 greatest finishes.

The first five inductees will be chosen from a list of 25 nominees that will be selected from a 20-member committee that includes Kelley, Hall historian Buzz McKim, seven NASCAR officials, seven track owners and reps from four historic short tracks -- one of those Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem.

Those selected to the Hall will be the five receiving the most votes from a committee of 47 people plus one vote that will be entered from the top-five in fan voting to the Hall of Fame Web site. The voting committee includes the nominating committee, 14 media reps, drivers, owners, crew chiefs and reps from the four car makes in the sport.

Drivers must compete for a minimum of 10 years and have been retired from driving for three years. Non-drivers must work in the industry for 10 years.

The 25 nominees will be announced in June. Voting will be completed by Sept. 15, with the results to be announced in October.

"People can go to the Web site and put their five selections, and your five and my five may not be the same," Kelley said. "If we have four alike, then you could say "why this person and not that person.' That's going to be the same from years 1 and 2 and years 8 and 9 and years 14 and 15. You'll keep that debate."

And there will be plenty of debate, because there are enough deserving candidates from NASCAR's 60 years to fill several classes without trouble.

The argument for many of those who will be considered is not if they belong in the Hall but when they deserve to be inducted.

That even applies to who needs to be in the first class.

At least three people should be locks as solid as ice in Alaska. Those would be NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. and seven-time champions Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr.

As for the other two: It's hard to deny that David Pearson should be in with his 105 victories that are second to Petty's 200 and titles in all three years that he attempted to win the championship.

The fifth person could be Bill France Jr. (who guided the Cup Series' growth into a national sport); or R.J. Reynolds executives Ralph Seagraves or T. Wayne Robertson, who took promotion of the sport to a higher level through Winston cigarette sponsorships; or Junior Johnson (winner of 50 races as a driver and six championships as a car owner); or a driver from the earlier days such as Fireball Roberts, the first superspeedway ace; or a short-track legend such as eight-time Modified champion Richie Evans.

Because it is a NASCAR Hall of Fame instead of a Cup shrine and I have a soft spot for short track racing in general and modifieds in particular, my pick for the fifth spot is Evans, the New Yorker who held the record for most championships in any division for two decades, was versatile enough that he could win anywhere (including Bowman Gray and once embarrassing the competition in a Modified race at Daytona) and certainly would have won more titles if he had not been killed in a crash at Martinsville Speedway.

For the second-year selections, I'd start with the trio of Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison -- all Cup champions with 80-plus victories.

The younger Bill France gets one slot. The other goes to Johnson.

The third year: Dale Inman (who was the crew chief behind six of Richard Petty's championships and one of Terry Labonte's titles); Herb Thomas (the first two-time Cup champ who was the first three-time winner of the Southern 500 on the way to getting 48 wins); two-time champ and winner of 46 races Buck Baker; and Rusty Wallace (one title, 55 wins).

The fourth year: Roberts, whose 33 wins includes four of the first 10 at Daytona; Ned Jarrett, who won 50 races and two championships before going on to TV work on CBS and ESPN; two-time champ Tim Flock with 39 wins; team owner Glen Wood, whose cars have won 96 races and was noted for revolutionizing pit stops in the 1960s; and Fred Lorenzen, who made his mark on the superspeedways while winning 26 times in the early '60s and becoming the first to win $100,000 in a season.

Fifth year: Legendary driver Curtis Turner; early Nationwide Series champs Sam Ard and Jack Ingram; Bobby Isaac, a winner of 37 races and a Cup championship; and RJR exec Seagraves.

Cops Bust Meth Lab at Arkansas Funeral Home

2009-01-09T22:49:00.001-05:00

Cops Bust Meth Lab at Funeral Home | NBC New York

A funeral home might be a place for eternal rest, but police say an Arkansas man saw an opportunity to build a methamphetamine lab undisturbed by the living.

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From mermaids to flying pigs check out these pictures of off-beat, interesting happenings from around the world.

There was just one problem—the funeral home was across the street from the sheriff's office.

Officers say Robert Lee Lewis left the light on in the basement of the Higginbotham Funeral Home in Walnut Ridge on Dec. 3. Officers noticed the light on after hours and walked into the funeral home through an open door.

Inside, police say they found all the components necessary to build a meth lab. Officers arrested the former funeral home employee when he returned.

The 43-year-old faces several drug charges and is free on $2,500 bond pending a Jan. 21 court hearing.

A telephone number for Lewis could not be found Thursday night.

Cowboy churches rope in new Christians

2009-01-08T19:31:00.001-05:00

Cowboy churches rope in new Christians - Kingsport Times-News Online

Cowboy churches rope in new Christians
By Associated Press

Published January 7th, 2009

WAXAHACHIE, Texas — Moments after flying headfirst onto the arena floor dirt, the man gets up and brushes off his protective vest as rodeo clowns rush in to distract the still-bucking bull.

The crowd cheers as the announcer reveals he’s fine, just before the chute opens with another cowboy atop a menacing bull.

But this isn’t a typical rodeo. It’s an outreach ministry of the Cowboy Church of Ellis County, which has grown from about 300 to 2,200 members since it began nearly nine years ago. The church about 30 miles south of Dallas now bills itself as the world’s largest cowboy church.

The movement is about 40 years old but has grown rapidly in recent years, especially among Baptists. The Midland, N.C.-based Cowboy Church Network of North America, supported by the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Missions Board, has started dozens of churches in 12 states and Canada since 2003.

The Baptist General Convention of Texas has launched about 140 cowboy churches since 2000 — the first in Ellis County. The congregations now perform about 10 percent of all baptisms among the group’s 5,700 churches statewide, officials said.

“It appeals to you because it’s ‘come as you are,’” said Chris Maddox, who attends the Cowboy Church of Ellis County. “You don’t feel judged based on how you’re dressed, how you talk, how you look. We’re not asking somebody to be something they’re not.”

Churchgoers wear cowboy hats and jeans, sing hymns accompanied by a country band and get baptized in horse troughs. Churches vary. Some have Western-theme sanctuaries; others meet in barns or on rodeo grounds, some on weeknights.

A few months ago the Cowboy Church of Mobile, Ala., started meeting at a nightclub called The Whiskey on one Sunday each month — when the bar is normally closed for business.

On summer Sundays in Jackson Hole, Wyo., horse whisperer Grant Golliher leads cowboy church services at the Diamond Cross Ranch. As he works with an abused or unbroken horse in the arena, he talks to the crowd about biblical parallels, and about an hour later he is able to ride the animal.

“We use an out-of-the-box method to get people to come, because people have so many walls up with church,” said Golliher. He’s not ordained but calls himself a “horse trainer with a message.”

Organizers say the churches attract everyone from rodeo participants and farmers to country music lovers and people who embrace the western lifestyle. Some don’t fall into any of those categories, but say they just haven’t felt comfortable in traditional churches.

“I met a man in a feed store who said he hadn’t been to church in 40 years, and now he’s going to a cowboy church,” said the Rev. Jeff Smith, a North Carolina pastor who founded the cowboy church network five years ago.

Larger cowboy churches have arenas and offer rodeo events, mainly to attract new members. They have brief devotions and sometimes baptize new believers in an outdoor trough.

“What a family life center is to a traditional church, an arena is to a cowboy church,” said the Rev. Charles Higgs, director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ Western Heritage Ministries.

Matt Ward, 15, who plans to become a professional bull rider, was among dozens who rode bulls earlier this month at a weekly event at the Cowboy Church of Ellis County’s arena. He attends another church near his hometown of Saginaw about 50 miles away, but came to the rodeo event because a friend recommended it.

“At other places, all they want to do is drink beer,” Ward said, referring to non-church arenas. “But there are a lot of nice people here, and it’s a lot safer.”

Some Baptist leaders say their cowboy churches have grown so quickly because they offer an alternative for those who associate churches with long sermons and pressure to donate or accept Jesus as their savior.

Many cowboy churches never mention tithing and don’t have offering plates; they tuck envelopes into the service programs or put boots out for those who want to give. Also, some pastors don’t have “altar calls” but encourage folks who want to follow Christ to see a minister privately.

“People think we’ve hung boots and hats on traditional Baptist churches, but we found a plan that was radically different,” said the Rev. Ron Nolen, executive director of the American Fellowship of Cowboy Churches and its Texas counterpart.

The Texas Fellowship of Cowboy Churches, which supports the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and the Cowboy Church Network of North America each have “schools” in which they teach people how to start cowboy churches. The new congregations are being formed at a time when attendance and baptism rates have stagnated in a large number of traditional churches, including many in the Southern Baptist Convention.

At a recent Sunday morning service at the Cowboy Church of Ellis County, the Rev. Jess McCabe, a visiting pastor, held up different sizes of deer antlers to illustrate his sermon about how people grow as Christians.

“That’s one thing about cowboy church — we all got room to grow,” McCabe told the congregation with a smile.

Woman finds 139-year-old baseball card in box of antiques

2009-01-08T19:13:00.001-05:00

Woman finds 139-year-old baseball card in box of antiques - Big League Stew... - MLB - Yahoo! Sports

Woman finds 139-year-old baseball card in box of antiques

By 'Duk

The strange story goes like this: Last summer, Bernice Gallego pulled an old baseball card from a box of antiques. She figured it might be worth something to someone, so she listed it on eBay.

The starting bid was $10.

But after getting a flurry of inquiries about whether the card was authentic or not, Gallego started to suspect she was holding something a little more valuable and immediately ended the auction.

Turns out her hunch was correct. She did have something more valuable. The card she found was made in 1869 and featured the "Red Stocking B.B. Club of Cincinnati," the sport's first professional team. It's considered one of the first baseball cards ever produced and its actual value could be worth more than $100,000 when she puts it back on eBay (with a higher starting price, of course).

Of course, the news that she had found a rare piece of early baseball history came as a shock to the 72-year-old Fresno, Calif., resident who said she's never been to a baseball game. Her tale, from unwitting discovery to learning about the card's history, is wonderfully captured by our old pal Mike Osegueda of the Fresno Bee. Click here to read it.

From the Fresno Bee:

"When I came to meet her and she took it out of a sandwich Baggie and she was smoking a cigarette, I almost fainted," (collector Rick) Mirigian says.

"They've uncovered a piece of history that few people will ever be able to imagine or comprehend. And it comes out of Fresno," he says. "That card is history. It's like unearthing a Mona Lisa or a Picasso."

Gallego said she doesn't know exactly where the box of antiques came from since she and her husband are collectors and frequently buy lots from different estates around California. She does have a history of being lucky, though, having once won $250,000 on a slot machine.

WORLD'S Slimmest LCD TV

2009-01-05T15:31:00.001-05:00

by : Yahoo! Tech

SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea's Samsung Electronics on Monday unveiled what it says is the world's slimmest LCD (liquid crystal display) TV.

The new product, measuring only 6.5 millimetres (0.26 inch) thick, is thinner than any other existing TV set, and even slimmer than most mobile handsets, Samsung said in a statement.

Its thickness is one seventh of Samsung's "Bordeaux 850" LCD TVs, which is currently the thinnest on the market, the company said.

The new product, which adopts an LED (light emitting diode) backlighting system, will be on display at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas from January 8 to 11, Samsung added.

NAB Against Football Going To All Cable

2008-12-08T22:35:00.000-05:00

ESPN Deal With BCS Raises Questions of Access - washingtonpost.com

The major television networks and their affiliate stations yesterday said they will push policymakers to support free access to premier televised sports events after ESPN last week contracted to carry college football bowl games on cable and satellite channels.

The National Association of Broadcasters said ESPN's $500 million deal to carry the Bowl Championship Series on subscription-based television channels from 2011 through 2014 would leave out about 20 million television viewers who rely on free over-the-air television.

Doc Watson On Monday Night Football

2008-12-08T20:56:00.002-05:00

Coming back from break on Monday night football between Carolina and Tampa Bay, a great picture of Doc Watson was shown.

The intro "If you've been in this area then maybe you know that guy, living legend in North Carolina Doc Watson. Pioneered the flat pick guitar style. He's 85 and still performs regularly." Picture was from a show Friday night at The Neighborhood Theater in Charlotte.