In the News
Much to my relief, Bibles and fifth graders didn't make the news this week. The formal announcement of the closing of Charleston Forge did as the headline story.
The president of Charleston Forge, Art Barber, made the announcement in a letter to the Alleghany County Commission and the Sparta Town Council. He didn't bother to show his face.
Timing of the closing appears related to an agreement in which Charleston Forge bought the production facility from the county for $719,000 in 2005. Of that total, Charleston Forge paid $246,000 in cash and received a credit of $383,000 for providing a certain number of jobs over a certain period of time. The company met all its legal employment requirements late last year and made the final cash payment earlier this year at which time the deed of trust was released by the county. In an interview, Barber indicated that Charleston Forge was planning to sell the building. Surprise, surprise! You can bet the asking price will be substantially more than $246,000. I'd call it a case of legal larceny.
On a similar note, the Sparta crime report for 2007 also made the front page. A total of 323 citations were issued, down from 430 in 2006. That comes to 0.88 citations per day! They also responded to one rape, 14 instances of vandalism, 11 larcenies, 38 DWI's, and made 77 arrests. Of the arrests, 18 were for traffic violations (with the exception of DWI) and 15 for drug violations. Single arrests were made for larceny from a building, motor vehicle theft, simple assault, forgery-uttering, credit card fraud, possession of stolen property, possessing/concealing non-tax-paid liquor, and resisting arrest.
The police department also issued 41 parking tickets, made 64 checks on businesses, provided escorts for 60 funerals, answered 27 noise complaints, made 27 residence checks, responded to 78 alarm activations, and answered 20 domestic calls.
There were no murders, bank robberies, or drive-by shootings reported in the fair city of Sparta in all of 2007.
The president of Charleston Forge, Art Barber, made the announcement in a letter to the Alleghany County Commission and the Sparta Town Council. He didn't bother to show his face.
Timing of the closing appears related to an agreement in which Charleston Forge bought the production facility from the county for $719,000 in 2005. Of that total, Charleston Forge paid $246,000 in cash and received a credit of $383,000 for providing a certain number of jobs over a certain period of time. The company met all its legal employment requirements late last year and made the final cash payment earlier this year at which time the deed of trust was released by the county. In an interview, Barber indicated that Charleston Forge was planning to sell the building. Surprise, surprise! You can bet the asking price will be substantially more than $246,000. I'd call it a case of legal larceny.
On a similar note, the Sparta crime report for 2007 also made the front page. A total of 323 citations were issued, down from 430 in 2006. That comes to 0.88 citations per day! They also responded to one rape, 14 instances of vandalism, 11 larcenies, 38 DWI's, and made 77 arrests. Of the arrests, 18 were for traffic violations (with the exception of DWI) and 15 for drug violations. Single arrests were made for larceny from a building, motor vehicle theft, simple assault, forgery-uttering, credit card fraud, possession of stolen property, possessing/concealing non-tax-paid liquor, and resisting arrest.
The police department also issued 41 parking tickets, made 64 checks on businesses, provided escorts for 60 funerals, answered 27 noise complaints, made 27 residence checks, responded to 78 alarm activations, and answered 20 domestic calls.
There were no murders, bank robberies, or drive-by shootings reported in the fair city of Sparta in all of 2007.
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