Set your DVRs…

Fans of Orange County Choppers might already know this, but the show that airs this week includes a visit to Kannapolis. That’s right, our friends at Stewart-Haas Racing will be featured on the TLC show as they take delivery of the bike that was commissioned by team co-owner Haas Automation.

The episode airs Thursday, Feb. 4 at 9 p.m. on TLC.

Snow? Ice? Could be an interesting Saturday.

With the forecast for the weekend, my attention today is turned to snow and ice. As of this writing, it looks like more snow and less ice which is fantastic in my book.

While I am sitting here thinking about sledding, snow angels and tomato soup, staff all over the City is preparing for the potential winter storm.

I called over to the public works department earlier this week and asked for their snow removal plan. Basically, I wanted to know what roads they plowed and in what order. Remember, DOT is responsible for lots of streets in Kannapolis like Cannon Boulevard and Dale Earnhardt Boulevard.

I was expecting a few documents that I would share here. Instead I got 17. Suffice it to say it is a complicated process and our crews do a great job getting the roads back to normal during winter events. I admittedly didn’t open all the documents, but here’s a fun factoid. Snow plows shouldn’t go more than 20 mph. Now you know too.

If you’re curious about the pretreatment and snow plowing maps, I’ve linked them. I think it is interesting to see what the City handles, what DOT handles, and what they work on together. Feel free to ping me with any questions.

P.S. If it does snow tomorrow, please be safe. Stay off the roads if possible. Heck, enjoy some snow angels, sledding and tomato soup and let our crews get the work done they need to so we can get things back to normal.

Village Park Holiday Wrap-up

The holidays were a busy time at Village Park in Kannapolis again this year. More than 6100 people bought tickets for either the Santa Train or Winterland Express. This is a jump of 4000 from last year.

An estimated 500 attended the tree lighting (mark you calendars for Dec. 4, 2010 for another parade/tree lighting combo) where performances were given by the A.L. Brown Marching Wonders, the Piedmont Singing Men, and the Choral Academy.

Best of all (in my humble opinion) the lights in the park were spectacular. Check out the pictures below. Have ideas for December in Village Park? Drop me a line or feel free to leave a comment.

MURDOCK Study Looking for Participants

As some of you know, the MURDOCK Study is well underway in Kannapolis and Cabarrus County. This study is led by researchers and clinicians of Duke University to identify linkages within and across diseases by looking closely at genes, proteins, and other so-called ‘biomarkers.’

In order for the project team to reach its study milestones, local residents are being asked to consider joining the MURDOCK Study, a critical component of the study that will aid Duke’s quest to reclassify disease.

The local MURDOCK Study team is currently scheduling appointments for residents to join the study.  Participation is purely voluntary and entails a 45-60 minute study visit. During this time participants (over age 18) who live in Kannapolis or Cabarrus County provide their signed consent to complete a comprehensive health and demographic questionnaire, allow access to their medical record for additional health-related information, provide vital signs, blood and urine samples, and agree to be contacted every year for annual follow-up and up to four times a year to request their participation in additional research studies approved by the MURDOCK Study leadership.

Those who choose to join the study will be followed for an indefinite period of time and may withdraw their consent at any time.  The privacy of study participants is always protected and no information will be shared with anyone without their permission.

The resource created by these volunteers will serve as a rich source of samples representing the local population from which questions related to diseases, like multiple sclerosis and cancer, will be asked to enable researchers to draw conclusions that will improve the diagnosis, progression, and treatment patterns of such medical conditions.

Help Duke reach its goal of 50,000 participants.  More than 2,100 local residents have already joined.  Call today to schedule an appointment (704-250-5861) at one of our several convenient locations in Kannapolis and Cabarrus County.  Or visit the MURDOCK Study website (www.murdock-study.org) to learn more about the progress of the study, recent findings, and more detailed information about joining the study.

Salisbury Post Article Today

Part of my job is to keep tabs on everything that is written about Kannapolis. Today, when I was doing a scan, I can across Emily Ford’s article in the Salisbury Post about the historic preservation discussion at the City Council retreat.  I found her lead to be simply beautiful.

“Kannapolis is a young city with an old soul.”

How well does that put it? We’re a community with long-standing traditions that places a strong emphasis on our heritage, but we’re still new as a city government. A young city with an old soul indeed.

Bachman Brown’s Bust

Over the last week or so we’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on the history of the incorporation of Kannapolis. Both the Salisbury Post and Independent Tribune produced in-depth features on Sunday, including a very cool video done by Ben McNeely at the IT that also ran on WFAE.

While, as City Manager Mike Legg likes to say, we’ve beaten this topic up pretty good, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the reception we had last night that honored many of those who worked tirelessly during the early 1980s to incorporate Kannapolis. The highlight was undoubtedly a special presentation related to the first mayor — Bachman Brown.  A group of citizens commissioned a bust of Bachman that will reside in our train station with the one of Dwight Quinn.

Thanks in advance to Emily Ford of the Salisbury Post for letting me use this photo off their website from her story in the paper this morning. There’s also a lot of great photos here.