Briefly
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on February 20, 2004 2:00 PM
Student team advances
A team from Eastern Wayne High School is one of four selected to compete on March 10 in the North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association automotive technology competition in Burlington.
Students James Israel and Tyler Sasser make up the team. Mike Brown is their instructor.
The Eastern Wayne team scored in the top four out of 16 teams on a comprehensive automotive technology test given by the Automobile Dealers Association. The winner of the state competition will compete on the national level in New York City this spring.
The other teams in the finals are from Cape Fear High School in Fayetteville, Watauga High School in Boone and Fike High School in Wilson.
Kasell on 'N.C. People'
Dr. William Friday's interview of Goldsboro native Carl Kasell is scheduled to air tonight at 9 on "North Carolina People" on UNC-TV.
The interview was taped during a tribute to Kasell that was sponsored by the Foundation of Wayne Community College and held at the Walnut Creek Country Club.
Kasell is a newscaster for National Public Radio and the official judge and scorekeeper for NPR's quiz show, "Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me."
Aiken likes Wooten song
"American Idol" runner-up and top-selling singer Clay Aiken has expressed an interest in a song by Fremont native Jamie Wooten.
Aiken has put "Every Day of My Life" on hold so he can have first choice to use it.
Wooten recently completed a project in which he recorded a CD full of his original songs.
Writing is not new to the Fremont native. He has written for a number of television series, including "The Golden Girls" and his current success, "Half 'n' Half." He also serves as a television producer.
Cliffs improvements approved
The state Division of Parks and Recreation has awarded a $344,999 contract to D.S. Simmons of Goldsboro for improvements at the Cliffs of the Neuse State Park, including construction of two new restrooms.
It is expected that construction will begin within the next month.
Partin and Hobbs is serving as architect for the project and will oversee construction.
Black history program
Dr. Reginald Watson of East Carolina University will speak on black history Tuesday at the Wayne County Public Library at 7 p.m. in the Gertrude Weil Auditorium. Dr. Watson will be discussing themes from books by Alice Walker and Toni Morrison.
Pickle princess
The fourth annual North Carolina Pickle Princess Pageant will be held at 7 p.m. on Feb. 28 in the Lois Murphy Center on the campus of Mount Olive College
This is the first event to start the 2004 North Carolina Pickle Festival, which will be held on April 24 in Mount Olive.
Miss United States Julie Roberts is scheduled to be a special guest at this year's pageant and will be available for photos and autographs. She was crowned Miss United States in November and represented the state of South Carolina in the national pageant. She is a former "Top Cat" Carolina Panthers professional cheerleader.
New to this year's pageant is the "Red Hat Society" hat-decorating contest, which is open to all residents of Wayne County. Judging will take place solely on the hat, and women over the age of 50 will wear red hats, and women under the age of 50 will wear pink hats. The directors are still accepting participants.
Tickets for the pageant are $7 in advance and $8 at the door.
For advance tickets, call Desiree or Deborah Autrey at 734-8792 or 735-3663 or e-mail ncpickleprincess@aol.com. The pageant Web site is www.ncpickleprincess.com.