Waxhaw rapist gets 61 years

Floyd Barns was convicted for a Hickory rape & sentenced to 61 years. He has confessed to a 2005 Waxhaw rape, but has yet to be convicted of this crime.

Hard Times in Mineral Springs

Crime is up 500% in Mineral Springs. 17 burglaries & 5 business robberies. Video also available at the link.

Bridge & Rail closing or already closed?

I heard from the missus who heard from her friend (those details have been provided to help you determine how much stock you want to put into this rumor) that the Bridge & Rail is closing or has already closed. I'll be driving by tomorrow on my way to a game, so I'll try to remember to look. (UPDATE 9/28: I forgot to look & I've been by there 2 or 3 times since the original post. Luckily for me, the missus did confirm there's a sign on the door saying it's closed for renovation & will re-open under new ownership.)

Other details provided by those vicious rumormongers were that the new owners were going to petition for it to be turned into a bar.

My first thought: hooray a bar I can walk to!

My second thought: is this possible even if the Southsiders-sponsored referendum passes? In other words, does the ability to serve beer & mixed drinks alone allow for the opening of a bar? Or are there additional hoops to jump through even if referendum passes? I don't know enough about it to say either way.

I know The County Edge (now defunct?) once had an article detailing the kinds of businesses that were & weren't allowed to open up downtown. But I highly doubt bars were included on the undesirables list like gun dealers were because at that time, there was no chance they could open for business at that time. (We wouldn't want gun dealers rubbing elbows with bead barons, now would we?)

On a lighter note, I'd never eaten at the Bridge & Rail although we heard from a couple people who weren't real high on it.

Toodle-oo Naked Runner?

Per John Tiley of TheWaxhawGazette.com, he suggests we've seen the last of the naked runner until the heat dies down.

I’m sorry to tell you, that at least for now as I understand it, sources tell me she will not be practicing her art form in public. Too much publicity I would guess…

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Which for me is about 24 hrs as I just heard about it.

I must say that performance art would be a nice euphemism for "marketing gimmick," as goes my jaded theory. Seriously, how many people out there think Waxhaw can support two bead stores?

Everything's on Facebook now

Who knew that the Waxhaw Research Park has its own Facebook page?

And then there's this one too? I don't know what they did to Josh, but it's going to take a whole helluva lot to keep me away from those philly cheesesteaks.

Our very own naked runner

The local Fox affiliate has a news report including video about a mysterious, possibly shape-shifting, naked runner that apparently pops up from time to time between midnight to 2.30am.

The "sightings" started about two months ago always between midnight and 2:30 am. The stories are running rampant: "I heard it was an old guy wearing beads." "A guy with a pony tail." "She had on a coat and was running buck naked!" “With only her tennis shoes and some beads!" [my emphasis]

The details of the naked runner change depend on who you talk to and now, there's even talk that the naked runner isn't even human.

I find the fact the naked runner has been spotted with beads somewhat interesting, since Waxhaw appears to be at the epicenter of North Carolina's burgeoning bead industry. Who would've thunk a second bead store would open up shop downtown? The question is will it survive or disappear like many of the other businesses in town.

(On a side note, I recall The County Edge, apparently defunct, had an interesting article long ago about detailing the types of rules for a business to open in downtown proper & what I considered exorbitant costs in just applying to open a business in downtown Waxhaw. Sadly, that article is no longer available.)

Dare I suggest this is some cockamamie scheme by the soon-to-open second bead store to rekindle interest in beads so that Waxhaw can support two bead stores? If I were in their shoes, I'd pull out all the stops

Exit question: Does the fact that I've heard nothing of this naked runner for two months destroy or just devalue my credibility as a Waxhaw blogger? I'd probably hear a lot more if a bar were to open. Not all of us drink coffee you know.

Waxhaw Research Park?

Apparently our mayor is working hard to get a research center in town.

The Charlotte Business Journal had an article on this last Friday. A few of the available snippets:

Waxhaw Mayor Daune Gardner is on a mission to bring a research park to her town.

... How about a 1,800-acre energy research park tucked in what is now a rural corner of Union County that would represent a $3 billion investment? The “energy hub” concept is already being pushed by economic developers and Duke Energy Corp. ...

Gardner has simply married the two and cranked up a scenario she says could bring 12,000 jobs to mostly suburban Waxhaw. She believes in the idea so much she has sought the advice of science-park experts, has been lobbying for a meeting with Gov. Bev Perdue and made presentations about the Waxhaw Area Research Park 70 times in the last six months. (my emphasis)

Maybe this is why she never showed up at the Waxhaw Athletic Association (WAA) Spring baseball opening day ceremonies on April 4th as expected?

Seventy presentations in six months is quite extraordinary; that works out to be one presentation on the research park every 2.6 days! I hope by now she's memorized her pitch verbatim.

This undated proposal appears to describe the following location.

Location:
The subject property is an area of land west of Waxhaw-Marvin road that has, until recently been under development by GS Carolina under the name of Millbridge containing roughly 1,200 acres. In South Carolina, the same developer has an adjoining project named Edenmoor that stretches to SC 521. The SC parcel is believed to be around 2,100 acres. The site is accessed by Waxhaw-Marvin Road on the east, Kensington Road on the north, NC 75 on the South and SC 521 on the west.

That seem about right?