By Reagan Wall & David Katzenmaier
In local news, Howard Knob park was granted $350,000 for renovations by the Parks and Recreation Authority. $9.6 million worth of grants has been awarded to 21 other projects within the state as well. According to the Watauga Democrat, the main purpose of the grant will be to update and upgrade facilities and make them accessible to people of all abilities. Some of the first improvements at Howard Knob will be to enhance existing facilities, improving the parking and to make the current path to the overlook accessible to everyone. A construction timeline is being put together right now but they don’t anticipate a groundbreaking until at least 2024.
In state news, 7 were injured in Brevard, NC after the wind picked up inflatable rides. Firefighters and EMS were called out to a little league opening day around 4:30 PM last Saturday. Two large inflatables were blown across the sports complex, one landed 150 feet from where it was originally anchored and the other was 450 feet from its original spot. According to WRAL News, when rescuers arrived 4 people were hurt and they found 3 others while searching the crowd. Three people were sent to the hospital in critical condition and the fourth was sent just as a precaution however, none of the injuries seem to be life-threatening.
In national news, Tennessee Representative, Tim Burchett, said that Congress is not going to fix the problem of school shootings. Burchett also stated that the country needed a revival rather than stricter gun laws. This comes after a tweet where Burchet said “we aren’t going to fix it” when asked about what congress would do about the shootings. According to NBC News, he then goes on to compare this situation to his father’s time serving in World War 2. After the Uvalde shooting last year congress passed the first gun control measures in years but now Republican lawmakers are using this shooting as an excuse to stop pursuing stricter gun control.
Now onto sports.
A new season of Major League Baseball kicks off later today as the MLB begins its 2023 campaign. All 30 teams will be taking the field today with action all day long. Games begin at 1:05PM with The Yankees VS Giants Braves VS Nationals. Games will run throughout the day, with the night cap being between the Cleveland Guardians and Seattle Mariners at 10:10pm. Opening Day marks the start of a 162 game regular season for the MLB.
Penn State has announced hiring Mike Rhodes as their next head basketball coach. This deal has been in the works for several days, with Rhodes jumping to Penn State from VCU after Micah Shrewsberry left the Nittany Lions for Notre Dame. Rhodes, 50, had a winning season all six years with the Rams, taking VCU to three NCAA Tournaments. While he never won a tournament game, he went 129-61 and won both the A10 regular season and conference title this past year. Rhodes takes over a Penn State program that just won its first NCAA Tournament game in 21 years earlier this month.
VCU is hiring Ryan Odom as its head basketball coach. Odom, 48, spent the last two seasons at Utah State, going 26-9 and taking the Aggies to the NCAA Tournament this year. He previously spent five seasons at UMBC, memorably guiding the Retrievers to a historic upset of No. 1 Virginia in the 2018 tournament. Odom put together four winning seasons, including three 20+ win seasons, at UMBC. He now returns to the east coast to lead a VCU program that has seen its last five HCs move on to a power-conference coaching job.
Today's weather is brought to you by Booneweather.com. Today will be a lot like yesterday with a high of 58 and a low of 40. It will be sunny and warmer in the afternoon with clouds rolling in at night.
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