Rutherford Weekly

Page 6 - Rutherford Weekly 828-248-1408 www.rutherfordweekly.com Thursday, September 14-September 20, 2023 345 S. Broadway, Forest City 828-245-8067 NO CREDIT, POOR CREDIT ©Community First Media Community First Media LET US DECIDE! LET US DECIDE! WE FINANCE WE FINANCE w w w . w w w . M o o r e s A u t o s I n c M o o r e s A u t o s I n c . c o m . c o m On September 7 a thunderstorm roared through parts of Rutherford County creating power outages for hundreds of residents in the county. The storm included lightning, hail, heavy rain and thunder. When it was over, the stormy skies became a rainbow. Article Provided By: Jean Gordon. Photos Provided By: Tonya Garrison. Lightning strikes near Bostic Answers to Word Search small town friendly BIG time results Fourteen counties, including four in Western North Carolina, will share $22 million for broadband expansion. Gov. Roy Cooper announced the state's fi rst Completing Access to Broadband program awards that will connect 6,012 households and 164 businesses in 14 counties to high-speed internet. The CAB program, administered by the N.C. Department of Information Technology, complements the state's Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology grant program to reach additional unserved areas. "These awards will help ensure that more North Carolinians can access affordable and reliable high- speed internet to participate in today's digital world," Cooper said in a news release. "We will continue to collaborate with county leaders and all grantees to close our state's digital divide" The NCDIT Broadband Infrastructure Offi ce, part of the Division of Broadband and Digital Equity, made the following awards, which are contingent upon a fi nal, executed grant agreement with broad band provider partners: Rutherford County: Bellsouth Telecommunications LLC (AT&T) Alexander County: Spectrum Southeast LLC (Charter Communications) Franklin County: Spectrum Southeast LLC (Charter Communications) Granville County: Spectrum Southeast LLC (Charter Communications) Haywood County: Spectrum Southeast LLC (Charter Communications) Hertford County: Roanoke Connect Holdings (FYBE) Madison County: Skyrunner Inc. Mitchell County: French Broad Electric Membership Corp. (French Broad Fiber) Onslow County: Spectrum Southeast LLC (Charter Communications) Robeson County: Spectrum Southeast LLC (Charter Communications) Sampson County: Spectrum Southeast LLC (Charter Communications) Stokes County: Surry Telephone Membership Corp. Vance County: Zitel LLC Wilkes County: Wilkes Communications Inc. "We are proud to partner with these 14 counties to make the state's fi rst CAB awards," NCDIT Secretary and State Chief Information Offi cer Jim Weaver said in the release. "This new funding program adds to the ways we are working to provide high- speed internet access across North Carolina." "This is great news for Rutherford County," said County Manager Steve Garrison. "The County has forged signifi cant partnerships to close the access to internet gap in Rutherford County. To date, Charter-Spectrum has received a Federal RDOF grant as well as a NC GREAT grant and they have already begun installing fi ber lines at various locations across the County," Garrison said. A Spectrum representative is scheduled to present an update to the Commissioners during their October Commissioner meeting. The County also has PANGAEA/ Carolina Community Broadband Alliance installing three broadband towers in three different areas of the County—Green Hill, Avondale, and Mt. Vernon- Ruth Elementary School. "We anticipate this project being completed by some time in October," Garrison said. "The County is funding this project with a Community Development Block Grant that we received," he said. Counties may choose to fund internet infrastructure projects not funded by the GREAT grant under the CAB program per N.C. Session Law 2021-180, or they may participate in the NCDIT- administered procurement process in which pre-qualifi ed internet service providers reply to service expansion requests in areas mutually defi ned by the counties and the division. Article Provided By: Jean Gordon County receives funding for broadband expansion The American Red Cross is experiencing a national blood shortage. Fewer donors than needed gave this summer, drawing down the national blood supply and reducing distributions of some of the most needed blood types to hospitals. Hurricane Idalia further strained the blood supply with blood drive cancellations and reduced blood and platelet donations in affected areas. Donors of all blood types are urgently needed, and there is an emergency need for platelet donors and type O blood donors to make an appointment to give now to ensure patients across the country continue to receive critical medical care. When Idalia slammed into the Southeast- leading to widespread power outages, travel hazards and fl ooding- the storm also forced the cancellation of over a dozen blood drives and caused hundreds of blood and platelet donations to go uncollected. This compounded a shortfall of about 30,000 donations in August. Right now, blood product distributions to hospitals are outpacing the number of blood donations coming in. The Red Cross needs blood donors now. Schedule an appointment to give by downloading the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-733-2767. In thanks for helping rebuild the blood supply, all who come to give Sept. 1-18 will receive a limited edition Red Cross T-shirt, while supplies last. Those who come to give throughout September will also receive a coupon for a free haircut by email, thanks to Sport Clips Haircuts. Plus, they'll be entered for a chance to win a VIP NASCAR racing experience. Details available at RedCrossBlood. org/RaceToGive. 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