Rowan County Quiz Bowl is Thursday

Rowan Public Library, in cooperation with the Rowan-Salisbury School System, will sponsor the Rowan County Quiz Bowl Thursday evening at the Rowan County Agriculture Center.

The event pits teams from each of the county’s high schools in a test of their knowledge of various subjects and current events.

The Quiz Bowl begins at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the auditorium of the Agriculture Center on Old Concord Road. The event is open to the public.

Weather forecasters are saying that the area could get icy weather on Thursday. “We are keeping an eye on the weather,” said Betty Moore, one of the Quiz Bowl coordinators for Rowan Public Library.

If Rowan-Salisbury Schools’ “activities are cancelled that evening, we will postpone the Quiz Bowl until our snow date of Tuesday, Feb. 6 — same time and place,” she said.

Paul Birkhead serves as the other Quiz Bowl coordinator.

This is the first year that the local winners will not move on to regional or, possibly, state competition. State officials announced previously that the statewide contest was being discontinued.

Commissioners, chamber to meet

The Rowan County Chamber of Commerce will meet with the Rowan County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday to discuss economic development and other key issues.

Pete Teague, chairman of the Chamber’s Task Force for Progress requested the meeting with Chairman Arnold Chamberlain and Vice Chairman Chad Mitchell.

Chamberlain said he anticipates the full Board of Commissioners will attend.

In an e-mail to the board, Teague indicated that his task force would like to hear from the commissioners on planning, either strategic planning or long-range planning.

The meeting will be at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6 in the J. Newton Cohen Sr. Meeting Room, County Administrative Offices Building, 130 W. Innes St.

Energy efficiency program expanded

ASHEVILLE — Waste Reduction Partners, an Asheville-based energy technical assistance program of the Land-of-Sky Regional Council, is expanding operations into Rowan, Cabarrus, Davie, Stanly and Union counties.

Funded by the State Energy Office of the N.C. Department of Administration, Waste Reduction Partners provides free technical assistance to help North Carolina public and private organizations offset higher utility costs with new and more efficient use of energy.

These efforts support the goals of the N.C. State Energy Plan to promote the efficient use of energy while helping organizations become more cost-competitive. A new Waste Reduction Partners satellite office in Tryon will coordinate work in the expanded region.

Waste Reduction Partners has provided technical assistance to western North Carolina communities, public organizations, businesses and industries for 17 years.

Last year, its work helped clients save $1.8 million on utilities, according to Director Terry Albrecht.

“Our unique team of retired volunteer and staff engineers, with industrial backgrounds, delivered more than 12,000 hours of technical assistance free of charge on a confidential basis,” he said.

For more information, contact Russ Jordan at 828-863-2917 russ52@alltel.net or visit www.landofsky.org/wrp.

Watt aide’s February office hours listed An aide for U.S. Rep. Mel Watt will conduct February office hours at the Rowan County Administrative Building, 130 W. Innes St.

The aide will expedite interactions with federal agencies, take questions or concerns about legislative issues, help obtain government publications, provide access to White House tours in Washington, secure U.S. flags at cost and provide applications for Armed Services academies. The hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. each Thursday.