Cruz rejoins Intimidators
June 25, 2008
By Bill Kiser
Kannapolis Citizen
The Kannapolis Intimidators picked up two players from their sister team in Winston-Salem, and had two players reassigned to rookie-level teams in roster moves made last week.
The Intimidators picked up outfielders Lee Cruz and Anderson Gomes from the Warthogs — the Chicago White Sox’s Advanced-A level Carolina League team — with infielder Luis Sierra and outfielder Lyndon Estill sent to rookie-league teams in Bristol (Tenn.) and Great Falls (Mont.), respectively.
Cruz, picked in the 10th round of the 2006 draft by the White Sox, played for Kannapolis last season, hitting .277 with 31 doubles, 10 home runs, 56 RBI and 55 runs scored in 108 games.
He opened the 2008 season with Winston-Salem, but hit just .196 in 56 games. However, nearly half of his hits went for extra bases, with 16 doubles and two home runs among 38 total hits.
Gomes, a free agent signee by the White Sox at the end of the 2005 season, also played for the Intimidators last season, hitting .300 in 79 games, with 17 doubles, seven home runs, 50 runs scored and 47 RBI.
Like Cruz, Gomes opened the 2008 season with Winston-Salem, but also had his struggles at the plate. He hit just .196 in 42 games, with seven doubles, four home runs and 14 RBI.
Sierra, a free agent signee by Cincinnati in 2004, was picked up by the White Sox in 2007. He joined the Intimidators just three weeks into the season after a stint with Chicago’s extended spring training program, but hit just .174 in 26 games with Kannapolis.
Estill, an eighth-round pick by the White Sox in the 2007 draft, joined Kannapolis after spending the opening month at Chicago’s extended spring training program. But he hit just .197 in 21 games, with just four doubles and 37 strikeouts in 76 plate appearances.
North wins South Atlantic All-Star Game
Hagerstown (Md.) first baseman Bill Rhinehart went 3-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs to lead the North Division to a 13-4 win over the South in the South Atlantic League All-Star Game last week.
The North squad pummeled the South for 18 hits, including three two-run homers, at NewBridge Bank Park in Greensboro.
Kannapolis relief pitcher Henry Mabee pitched one inning for the South squad, entering in the fourth inning. But he gave up two runs (both earned) off five hits, with one strikeout.
Who’s hot, who’s not
HOT: First baseman Lee Fleisher — Went 2-for-3 in Monday’s loss to West Virginia to extend his hitting streak to nine games. Over the streak, he’s 14-of-31 (.452) with six doubles, two home runs, seven runs and 13 RBIs.
NOT: Catcher John Curtis — Is hitting .194 in 39 games (24-of-124), with nine RBIs. Curtis has picked it up in his last 10 games, but only slightly — 7-of-32, for a .219 average, with one RBI.
HOT: Mabee — The lone Intimidator named to play in the SAL All-Star Game picked up three saves in the last seven games to push his season total to 17, fourth-best in the South Atlantic League.
NOT: The Intimidators — They’re ranked near the bottom of the South Atlantic League stats in team batting average (.247, 13th in the league) and team ERA (4.53, 13th in the league).
Starship entertains
Old favorites rock the crowd Saturday night
June 12, 2008
By Joanne Gonnerman
Kannapolis Citizen
Saturday night at Village Park sounded like a venue from the 1980s as the hit rock band Starship featuring Mickey Thomas took to the amphitheatre stage in front of a crowd estimated at 3,000.
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Obituaries — June 11, 2008
June 12, 2008
Thumbs up, down — Idling trucks waste fuel
June 12, 2008
By Joanie Morris
Kannapolis Citizen
• Doug Goodnight called to tell us about a thumbs down he observed in Landis.
Work is being done on the railroad crossing there and Goodnight saw one of those trucks that can run on the road or the railroad tracks.
“It just sat there and idled for hours,” he said. Goodnight thought added the truck driver should have turned his truck off, because of the waste of fuel. Oil was up $8 a barrel on Read more
Cherish and protect your church history
June 12, 2008
By Norris Dearmon
For the Kannapolis Citizen
It appears that as we grow older, history has a lot more meaning to us than when we were much younger. I find it interesting that people can suddenly become interested in a particular piece of history.
Church history for our local congregations seems to be very popular these days. It may be because some have been around for 100 years or more now and are celebrating their centennial. Some have become concerned about their archives and the possible loss of those Read more
Portraying the nation’s leaders during annual State of the Union
June 12, 2008
By Joanie Morris
Kannapolis Citizen
Students worked for a month to portray the nation’s leaders during the annual State of the Union Addresses at Jackson Park Elementary School.
They learned little-known facts such as:
• George Washington had 36 dogs, 14 horses and a parrot named Polly.
• Thomas Jefferson liked to greet White House visitors in his pajamas and slippers.
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Help wanted: How to get a campus job
June 12, 2008
By Emily Ford
Kannapolis Citizen
As the N.C. Research Campus prepares to open this summer, more people hope to land a job at the biotech complex.
“We get people almost every day who come in, asking when we might have jobs open,” said Kelly Elliott, administrative manager for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s nutrition center in Kannapolis.
The inquiries come mostly from Kannapolis residents who are tired of driving to Charlotte and elsewhere to work, Elliott said.
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Council debates budget, hears from citizens
June 12, 2008
By Hugh Fisher
Kannapolis Citizen
The first regular meeting of the Kannapolis City Council was held on Monday, June 9, at the Kannapolis Train Station.
All council members were present. The invocation was given by Mayor Pro Tem Randy Cauthen.
The consent agenda was approved unanimously and included these items:
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RCCC names Spalding new president
June 12, 2008
By Steve Huffman
Kannapolis Citizen
Dr. Carol Spalding said there’s a lot about being named president of Rowan-Cabarrus Community College that excites her.
Not the least of which, she said, is the school’s association with the soon-to-be-completed N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis.
“That’s a huge opportunity for the college and community,” Spalding said.
Spalding, 58, was named president of Rowan-Cabarrus Community College on Monday. The vote of approval was unanimous by the school’s board of trustees. Spalding was recommended by RCCC’s personnel committee.
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Cities ease water rules
June 12, 2008
The cities of Concord and Kannapolis continue to monitor water levels of all the streams that provide raw water for treatment and distribution to their customers.
While rainfall has contributed to the rising levels of the water reservoirs, Lake Howell is still more than 3 feet below full pond and stream flows feeding all reservoirs are below normal.
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