Weekly news quiz: Test your nose for local news

Published 12:00 am Sunday, December 7, 2014

1. N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory unveiled Thursday a 10-year Transportation Improvement Program that includes more than 30 projects in Rowan County. It would finally address what big project here?
A. Replacement of the causeway on St. Matthew’s Church Road
B. Making N.C. 150 four lanes between Salisbury and Mooresville
C. Widening Interstate 85 in southern Rowan County from four to eight lanes
D. Creating a U.S. 52 bypass around Granite Quarry and Rockwell

2. Fifth-graders from China Grove Elementary made a field trip Thursday morning to the Price of Freedom Museum on Weaver Road. What did they bring with them?
A. A contribution to the military museum of $1,000
B. Twenty relatives who fought in Vietnam
C. A vintage U.S. Army tank, donated to the museum by a grandfather of one of the students
D. A parachute used by a U.S. soldier who had dropped into enemy territory during the Battle of the Bulge

3. Construction has started on a new building at the Rowan County Fairgrounds. What is it?
A. A cattle barn
B. An exhibit hall
C. A gateway entrance
D. A multi-purpose events center

4. Northwest Cabarrus High School graduate Kyle Seager made the news this past week for doing what?
A. Making the coldest-water swim across the English Channel
B. Signing a $100 million contract with the Seattle Mariners
C. Scaling the outside of the Sears Tower in Chicago
D. Making a successful climb on Mount Everest

5. The city of Salisbury hired Kent Winrich to one of its top-level positions. What is it?
A. City manager
B. Parks and Recreation director
C. Fibrant director
D. Auditor

6. Shirley Ritchie, Paul Fisher and Tom Smith recently resigned from what company’s or organization’s board?
A. The Salvation Army
B. Food Lion
C. The United Way of Rowan County
D. Catawba College

7. Matthew M. Brown, director of music and organist at First United Methodist Church in Salisbury, will be giving a solo organ recital early this evening at what notable venue?
A. Westminster Abbey
B. The Taj Mahal
C. Rockefeller Center
D. Notre Dame Cathedral

8. Bobby Clement’s Eagle Scout project was a memorial garden at Liberty United Methodist Church for whom?
A. His late pastor
B. His late father
C. A late uncle
D. His late Scoutmaster

9. Rowan Public Library currently has an exhibit related to the color pink. It explores local history behind what product?
A. Pink roses produced in Hanford greenhouses
B. Pink aspirin, once produced by Stanback
C. Pink granite from quarries around Granite Quarry
D. Pink lilies harvested from the backwaters of High Rock Lake

10. The newly sworn Rowan County Board of Commissioners approved $500,000 in tax incentives for what California-based company?
A. Citrix Solar Farms
B. Saxotech Power Source
C. Progressive Bio Force
D. Agility Fuel Systems

Answers below: 

1. C. The widening of I-85 in southern Rowan County is a need that has been discussed a minimum of two decades, says N.C.Rep. Carl Ford, R-Rowan.

2. A. The three fifth-grade classes at China Grove Elementary collected coins from students throughout the school to make up the bulk of their $1,000 donation to the Price of Freedom Museum.

3. D. The $421,000 events center will fit upwards of 400 people.

4. B. Seager plays third base for the Seattle Mariners, and his $100 million contract covers seven years.

5. C.  Winrich, the city’s new Fibrant director, previously worked for Hibernia Media, overseeing the company’s European network.

6. D. When taken together, Ritchie, Fisher and Smith served roughly 100 years on the Catawba College Board of Trustees.

7. A. About 25 people from Salisbury and a contingent of students from the N.C. School of Arts in Winston-Salem, are expected to hear Brown play tonight at Westminster Abbey in London.

8. B. Bobby Clement’s father, Spencer Police Officer Robert Clement, died less than two years after being shot while serving a warrant. Bobby, now 17, was an infant at the time.

9. C.  The library’s exhibit about Rowan County granite is called “Traveling with Balfour Pink.”

10. D. Agility Fuel Systems, which makes natural gas fuel systems for heavy-duty commercial vehicles, has not chosen to locate in Rowan County yet. If if does, it would receive a property tax break of $99,938 a year for its first five years of operation.