That's when the "Today" show's Al Roker, probably the country's best-known weatherman, begins an hourlong weekday morning show. It's a symbol of his celebrity status that the show is named "Wake Up With Al" even though he has a co-host, Stephanie Abrams.

The show will include news and business headlines along with the weather, and is designed to be refreshed every 15 minutes for people getting ready for work. Roker drew a comparison to "Today," where he will continue to work.

"We look at this as kind of a weather-centered version of that show," he said. "Everything you need to know you're going to get, and you're going to get it quickly and concisely and with a little flair."

Technically, it's a show that would have been difficult to pull off a decade or so ago. Roker and Abrams will try to create morning show chemistry despite rarely being in the same state. Roker will work at NBC's Manhattan headquarters, a quick walk across 49th Street to the "Today" studio, and from the road when "Today" travels. Abrams will be based at The Weather Channel's Atlanta headquarters.

Besides the forecasts, the team will do a "Take it or Leave it" segment, a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on the weather in a particular city. Roker will periodically "wake up" celebrities or viewers with arranged phone calls.

"We will not be cold-calling people," he said.

After the show, Abrams will co-host "Your Weather Today" with Mike Bettes from 7 to 10 a.m. A rerun of "Wake Up With Al" then airs, with some updates for fast-changing weather conditions.

Abrams said she doesn't mind the second billing.

"Not at all," she said. "Are you kidding me? I was honored that I was even asked to be part of the show."

NBC Universal bought The Weather Channel and related properties last year for $3.5 billion. It was added to a stable of cable networks that includes USA, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo and Oxygen.

The company is big on synergy, and Weather Channel forecasters have begun appearing on NBC News shows. Meteorologists from NBC-owned stations have also popped up on The Weather Channel.

Lisa Gersh, an NBC Universal executive who engineered the takeover, is running The Weather Channel until a new CEO is named. Gersh wants viewers to get more from the network than just the forecast.

One example was Vortex2 last spring, when The Weather Channel embedded a crew with a tornado-chasing project sponsored by the National Science Foundation and others. Some stunning video was captured, even if the six weeks coincided with a below normal period of tornado activity.

The Weather Channel is already a formidable brand, which sells its own forecasts and has a popular Web site. It's in nearly 100 million homes, one of the most-carried cable outlets in the country. But Gersh wants to "own" weather programming; if there's a popular tornado-chaser story to be done, she wants it on The Weather Channel. One is already in the works.

Another goal is more visibility for on-air personalities. The Weather Channel should be as much about the people telling viewers about the weather as the weather itself, she said.

When Oxygen started, it was important to have a presence by Oprah Winfrey, one of the best-known and respected people within the target audience, Gersh said. The same philosophy holds true for Roker.

Several new series are planned. "Cantore Stories," due later this year, has Jim Cantore traveling to areas of extreme weather to talk to people who thrive there. Besides "Tornado Chasers," coming next year are the clip show "America's Worst Weather: Caught on Camera" and "Weatherproof," which aims to show the science behind weather conditions.

___

On the Net:

http://www.weather.com

___

EDITOR'S NOTE — David Bauder can be reached at dbauder"at"ap.org

"I hope I can personally witness and oversee the completion of the Bruce Lee museum in my lifetime," owner Yu Pang-lin, who is in his 80s, said at a press conference marking the 36th anniversary of Lee's death.

Lee's fans have been calling for an official monument for their hero in his hometown for years.

Lee became a chest-thumping source of Chinese pride by portraying characters that defended the Chinese and the working class from oppressors in films like "Return of the Dragon." He died in Hong Kong in 1973 at age 32 from swelling of the brain.

Yu said he wants the museum to include a memorial hall, a library, a kung fu studio and a film archive.

Lee's daughter, Shannon Lee, and a panel of architects and town planners will judge the design competition, and the winners will be announced in November or December, the Hong Kong government said in a statement.

Yu has offered to donate Lee's home and put up the HK$100,000 ($13,000) in prize money, but it is unclear how the museum itself will be funded.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong government has started collecting Lee's personal items and commissioned a documentary about the late actor and one about the construction of the museum, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Rita Lau said at Monday's press conference.

Officials showed an 8-minute trailer of the biography produced by veteran Hong Kong director Ng See-yuen. It included interviews with "Mission: Impossible II" director John Woo; Lee's frequent collaborator producer, Raymond Chow; Ip Chun, the eldest son of his kung fu teacher, Ip Man; and actress Betty Ting Pei — in whose home Lee died — as well as footage of Lee's body in an open casket at his funeral.

Waller died Friday at The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich, Conn., nursing supervisor Nity Oris confirmed Monday. The duo's Web site says Waller, who lived in Ledyard, Conn., went into cardiac arrest Thursday night.

Waller and Peter Asher hit No. 1 on music charts around the world in 1964 with their debut single "A World Without Love." McCartney, who at the time was dating Asher's sister, actress Jane Asher, wrote the song.

The duo also hit the charts with other songs written by McCartney, including "Nobody I Know" and "I Don't Want To See You Again." Although McCartney wrote the songs, they were jointly credited to him and John Lennon, as was all their work at the time.

Peter and Gordon's other hits included their versions of Del Shannon's "I Go to Pieces" and the Buddy Holly song "True Love Ways," both in 1965; "Lady Godiva," 1966; and "Knight in Rusty Armour" reached the top 20 in 1967.

"Woman," another McCartney song not to be confused with Lennon's later song of the same name — also reached the top 20 in 1966.

According to the book "The Beatles: The Biography" by Bob Spitz, McCartney had started writing "A World Without Love" as a teenager. By the time the Beatles reached the top in 1963-64, it wasn't up to their current standard, and it had also been rejected by another singer as "too soft."

McCartney then rewrote it a bit and gave it to Asher. He and Waller "sang it with a pleasant laid-back yearning that transformed the song into a perfectly acceptable pop hit," Spitz wrote.

Peter Asher's Web site says Peter and Gordon had nine Top 20 records from 1964 until they split in 1968.

"Gordon played such a significant role in my life that losing him is hard to comprehend — let alone to tolerate," Asher said in a statement. "Gordon remains one of my very favourite singers of all time and I am still so proud of the work that we did together. I am just a harmony guy and Gordon was the heart and soul of our duo."

After the duo broke up, Asher went on to a long career as a producer. Working for the Beatles' Apple records, he produced James Taylor's first album. In the 1970s, he produced other Taylor albums as well as Linda Ronstadt's string of hits.

Waller was born in Braemar, Scotland. He met Asher at Westminister School in London, according to the duo's MySpace page.

Peter and Gordon, who both played acoustic guitar during their shows, reunited in 2005 for occasional performances. They had several dates this year, including two shows in Kentucky Aug. 27 and 28 and one at the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut on Nov. 29.

On his own Web page, Gordon said his time with Asher was "some of the happiest moments of my life."

"I was able to tour with the Beatles in 1967 and see the world with Peter Asher and most of all play the music that I love," Gordon said on his Web page. "I still follow the same simple philosophy today and that is if it sounds good and the words mean something then you have a good song."

____

On the Net:

Peter and Gordon, http://www.peterandgordon.net.

Gordon Waller, http://www.gordonwaller.com.

Peter Asher, http://www.peterasher.net.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reports that the proposal is another sign that traditionally restrictive alcohol laws are loosening in North Carolina.

Legislators four years ago allowed the alcohol content of beer to climb from 6 percent to 15 percent.
More counties are approving sales of liquor by the drink. Wine sampling has been allowed since 2001.

The Senate has approved the bill and the House may vote on it this week. Tastings could start in the fall.

Owners of small breweries around the state say the law will enhance North Carolina's growing beer culture.

Multiple media outlets reported Monday that employees at the ConAgra factory in Garner began training Sunday. The company has said employees will resume production July 27.

Three employees were killed and nearly 40 were hurt in the explosion June 9. About 300 employees were in the factory when the explosion occurred. Workers have been paid their wages since the explosion in the Raleigh suburb.

Two federal agencies have blamed natural gas for the blast.

The Charlotte Observer reported Monday that Burke County District Court Judge John Mull of Drexel drowned Sunday evening in the Catawba River. Sheriff John McDevitt says Mull had jumped into the river to help his 17-year-old son who was experiencing cramps.

McDevitt said the son made it to shore, but the judge was found in about 9 feet of water. Rescuers couldn't revive Mull.

Mull and his family have been building a house near the river and planned to move into it soon.

The federal Bureau of Prisons lists Vick's release date as Monday, which means the suspended NFL star can shed the electronic monitor he's been wearing on home confinement in Hampton for the last two months.

The next big development for Vick will be a face-to-face meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who has said he will review the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback's status after he completes his sentence. Goodell has said he will sit down with Vick, but it's unclear when that meeting will take place. Also uncertain is where Vick might play if he is reinstated. The Falcons released him in June.

"Michael did an egregious thing," Goodell told The Associated Press in April. "He has paid a very significant price for that."

He said people are forgiving when someone who has done wrong shows remorse and is prepared to live a different life.

"That's something he has to prove to myself and the general public," Goodell said.

Vick, 29, did not initially show enough remorse to satisfy U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson. Vick apologized in court in 2007, but Hudson denied him an "acceptance of responsibility" credit that could have reduced his sentence. He sentenced Vick to 23 months in prison - more than any of Vick's three co-defendants.

Under the federal truth-in-sentencing law, Vick had to serve at least 85 percent of his sentence. He served the first 18 months in the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., before being transferred to home confinement in May.

While on home confinement, Vick - once the NFL's highest-paid player - worked a $10-an-hour construction job for a few weeks. He switched jobs last month, assisting in children's health and fitness programs at the Boys and Girls Clubs.

Vick will remain on probation for three years. He also is under a three-year suspended sentence for a state dogfighting conviction.

It belongs to Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon. It will stay on the moon for millions of years with nothing to wipe it away, serving as a testament to a can-do mankind.

What put man on the moon 40 years ago was an audacious and public effort that the world hasn't seen before or since. It required rocketry that hadn't been built, or even designed, in 1961 when President John F. Kennedy declared the challenge. It needed an advance in computerization that had not happened yet. NASA would have to learn how to dock separate spaceships, how to teach astronauts to walk in space, even how to keep them alive in space -- all tasks so difficult that experts weren't sure they were possible.

Forty years later, the moon landing is talked about as a generic human achievement, not an American one. But Apollo at the time was more about U.S. commitment and ingenuity.

Historian Douglas Brinkley called the Apollo program "the exemplary moment of America's we-can-do-anything attitude." After the moon landing, America got soft, he said, looking for the quick payoff of a lottery ticket instead of the sweat-equity of buckling down and doing something hard.

In years since, when America faces a challenge, leaders often look to the Apollo program for inspiration.

Those efforts recall May 25, 1961, when President Kennedy, fresh from a disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, announced that America would land a man on the moon by the end of the decade and return him safely home.

"I thought he was crazy," said Chris Kraft, when he heard Kennedy's speech.

Kraft was the head of Mission Control. He was the man responsible for guiding astronauts to orbit (which hadn't been done yet). Kraft first heard about a mission to the moon when Kennedy made the speech.

Less than three months later, Kraft was in the White House explaining to the president just how landing on the moon would be done. Kraft still didn't believe that it would work. "Too many unknowns," he said.

It was the Cold War, and Russian Yuri Gagarin had just become the first man in space.

Kennedy chose landing a man on the moon because experts told him it was the one space goal that was so distant and complicated at the time that the United States could catch up and pass the Soviet Union, Ted Sorensen, Kennedy's adviser, said.

The idea in a world where American capitalism was pitted against Soviet communism on a daily basis was "to prove to the world which system was best, which one was the future," Sorensen said.

And it cost money. The United States spent $25.4 billion on the Apollo program, which translates to nearly $150 billion in current dollars.

Years later, Armstrong called his first words on the moon "a pretty simple statement, talking about stepping off something."

But Armstrong wasn't merely talking about that small step of his. What came next was the big deal. It was, as he said on the moon 40 years ago, "a giant leap for mankind." It still is.

She's faced harder things.

Alexis was born with a valve missing in her heart. By the time she was 2, she'd had two open-heart surgeries and spent weeks in intensive care.

When she was 7, Alexis suffered a stroke, one of risks of a hole left in her young heart to maintain her blood pressure.

The children's aspirin the pre-teen takes every day, along with a scar that peeks above her V-neck shirts, are constant reminders of a medical risk that remains. There's also the knowledge that one day Alexis will likely need a heart transplant.

She prefers not to talk a lot about it, but the subject is hardly taboo.

Doctors told her parents, Mandy and Joey Lankford, by the time Alexis needed a new heart, scientists would be growing them in pigs.

"She asked me why they wouldn't grow them in monkeys," says Alexis' grandmother, Shirley Lowman. "I told her that would suit her better. She's more like a monkey."

Alexis tosses her blond hair and giggles through a retainer.

She and her parents don't allow the daunting possibilities to rule their lives.

She's played basketball, been a softball shortstop and catcher and flown through the air as a cheerleader. She fantasizes about football.

"I'd want to make touchdowns," says Alexis, springing out of her seat. "That would be so cool."

Mom Mandy Lankford told her their schedule was simply too packed for gymnastics so Alexis started teaching herself. She somersaults on one arm across her grandmother's patio to illustrate. Back handsprings are next, she says.

When Alexis goes to Carowinds, mom Mandy Lankford says her 5-foot daredevil gets on every roller coaster.

Alexis also has been singing since she was in kindergarten, in the Hildebran Elementary chorus and musical productions at school. This year, she had the starring role in "Annie."

"Her mom said, 'Don't you go bragging on her too much,'" says Lowman. "I said, 'How can I not?' It just makes me well up about every time I look at her."

Lowman wipes her eyes.

There was a time, not too long ago, when Alexis' parents worried about whether she would be able to walk or talk. The stroke hit their child at church, or on the way there.

Alexis can remember being dizzy, falling down a flight of stairs and waking up in the hospital.

It was a Sunday at Mountain Grove Church, Mandy Lankford remembers. That meant more people knew about it earlier than they would normally.

The Lankfords believe all the prayers from their church that day contributed to Alexis' swift recovery.

By the night of the stroke, the little girl was awake and eating all the chicken tenders and fries she could get, then asking for more.

"I guess that was a turning point for us," says Mandy Lankford. "We did see that miracle within her that day.

"We believe God's going to use her one day for a purpose. She's so good at everything she does, we're not sure what's in store for her."

According to Trooper S.R. Lineberger of the N.C. Highway Patrol, Timothy "Tim" Dean Burke, 56, of East Maiden Road, died at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte after being fatally injured during what appeared to be motorcycle race with his nephew, Evan Owenby.

"They entered into a curve (on Anderson Mountain Road in Maiden) at this point Mr. Owenby was on the inside," Lineberger said. "Mr. Burke lost control of his motorcycle, ran off the right side of the road, came back and was ejected off his motorcycle."

Lineberger said the Highway Patrol responded to the accident shortly after 2 p.m.

Lineberger said Burke was transported to Catawba Valley Medical Center before being airlifted to CMC, where he was pronounced dead.

Lineberger said Owenby was charged with a felony count of failing to report an accident, participating in a speed competition and driving after consuming alcohol. Lineberger said the last charge comes from alcohol being in Owenby's system and does not mean he was impaired.

Burke was the owner of Burke Tours in Maiden, a position he held for 20 years, and worked in his parents' company Christian Tours, which he rejoined in 2006.

Burke is survived by his parents, Udean and Nancy Barringer Burke, of Newton; his wife, Susie Burke; two sons, Aaron Burke and his wife, Miriam, of Maiden, and Jonathan Burke and his wife, Andrea, of Newton; a daughter, Sundee Jones and her husband Doug, of Newton, among several other family members and friends.

A funeral service will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Mount Anderson Baptist Church in Newton. The family will receive friends from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Burke Mortuary in Newton.

"All I do is say, 'Let's go see Pete,' Mike Jimison of Sherrills Ford said, laughing as his two Boston terriers, Jake and Elwood, stick their heads out of the window of Jimison's truck to get a treat from center attendant Pete Bruner.

Bruner gets a treat from two of his "favorite customers" in the form of kisses from the two terriers.
He says it's the part of his job he really likes.

"It's all about the people. I just love them," he said. "And I always keep a stock of dog biscuits, lollipops and bubble gum for my special customers."

The center is busy with about 35 customers dropping off trash, recyclables or both between opening at 1 and 3:30 p.m. It seems one person leaves and another enters the small area with bins for recyclables, trash and small household goods. Large appliances must be taken to Blackburn Landfill, Bruner said.

Bruner has noticed over the nine years he has worked at the convenience center how social dropping off trash has gotten.

"Some of the people who come here live beside each other, but never talk when they're at home. They get out here and they talk," he smiles.

The center has recently been threatened when Carolina Centers bought the property, including the tract on which the center is located, in 1986 from original owners Crescent Land & Timber. Since that time, the county has been trying to work out a lease agreement like the one it had with Crescent since 1976, to no avail. However, when the property changed hands again this year to Duke Energy Carolinas, an agreement was reached that pleases both sides.

The only step left is for county commissioners to give County Manager Thomas Lundy authority to execute the lease on the county's behalf. The board will consider this move during its regular meeting tonight.

Most of the people using the center Sunday do not have pick-up services at their residences and think of the center as not only convenient, but also necessary.

"I use it every week and if it wasn't for this place, I would have to go to the other station," Bevan Gamewell said.

Gamewell was referring to the center in Newton, about 15 minutes away from the Sherrills Ford Center.

Others see the center as a method of controlling other problems.

"It's important for our community for it to stay open. It's the greatest thing we have to keep trash out the gulleys," said Wesley, who preferred to not give his last name.

Others at the center Sunday also mentioned it as a way of keeping trash off the roads and a cheaper way of recycling, since that service is free.

Barry Edwards, director of the county Utilities and Engineering Department, said the two sides are proposing a 10-year lease in which the county will pay Duke $1,000 a year for the first five years and $1,100 annually for the second five years.

The lease begins June 1 and ends May 31, 2014.

Commissioner Barbara Beatty asked what happens after 10 years.

"At that time, the board will have to make a decision," Edwards said. "About that time, we will need a transfer station because there's too much garbage going through that site."

Edwards said this situation would remain even if the county put a digester to compact some of the waste at the site, as suggested by Commissioner Dan Hunsucker.

Edwards said the county has been talking about the need for a transfer station in that area for years.
"And the public needs to know that that need has not gone anywhere," he said. "The economy has pushed the need back, but at sometime in the future, we will need to readdress that situation."

Edwards said the board would probably be asked to begin considering options during the second five-year period of the contract.

The contract also contains a method of termination for either party with a 60-day written notice. The contact would end after those 60 days, but the county would have one year to vacate the property, during which time it could continue to operate the site.

The center takes garbage and recycling. Customers must pay $1.25 per bag of garbage dropped off at the center, but recyclables may be left free of charge.

Republic Waste runs five convenience centers in Catawba County. The county pays the company $300,000 annually for the service.

The commissioners' meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the 1924 Courthouse in Newton.

The announcement will be made during the 2009 US Open, and local tennis enthusiasts are working to make sure the honor will go to Hickory.

Hickory Foundation YMCA Tennis Director Kathy Kim said she hopes a win will draw even more Hickory residents to the sport for the first time.

She said she'd love to see all the people who have looked at tennis and said, "I'd like to try that," but never did, to come out to the courts and get a taste for the game.

More than 50 cities entered the contest and when the field was narrowed to 10, Hickory was among the finalists.

The USTA has set up a Web site where people can vote online for their favorite tennis town at www.besttennistown.com. The voting began Thursday and will run through Sunday, July 26. Voters must be at least 13 years old and only one vote is allowed per e-mail address.

The winner will get the title, a trophy and $100,000 for tennis programs or facility improvements.

Other cities vying to be the first-named Best Tennis Town include Las Vegas, Nev., Baton Rouge, La., and Cary.

The second- and third-prize winners will receive $50,000 and $25,000, respectively. The remaining seven communities will each receive a $2,000 tennis equipment package.

That kind of prize money could come in handy, said Legacy Tennis Executive Director of Programming Jebrille Walls.

Legacy Tennis serves area young people who are just starting out in the game, and Walls said he'd like to be able to provide them with more equipment. He'd also like to see more tennis tournaments in Catawba County, he said.

Both teachers are having their students read books to them over the phone.

This is Gilbert's first year working with students over the summer. She said before school let out in June, she printed out eight books at Southwest Elementary through a subscription service at the school, so the five students she's working with would have a variety of books to read.

"I wanted them to have a choice," Gilbert said, adding the five students she's working with, "needed a little more support in reading."

She calls the students once a week, and for about 20 minutes, lets them read to her, while she follows along. Gilbert doesn't keep them on the phone too long, because she said she doesn't want them to be bored.

"I make sure they've been reading, and ask what happens next and how they like the story," Gilbert said. "We work on sounding out larger words, making connections to things in their own lives and question things about the author."

Park is working with all of her students. She works with the five who are at grade level every other week. She calls the other 11 students every week to listen to them read.

"The parents are pretty excited," she said. "I mentioned it at the end of the year, and they liked the idea. One mom said her son wouldn't have read this summer if I hadn't called to read with him."

Park, like fourth-grade teacher Laura Hairston-Porter, also is doing math with a few of her students she thinks could use the help. She will mail three worksheets at a time to the five students, as well as a self-addressed stamped envelope, so the students can mail the worksheets back to her when they've completed them.

"I'll write them a little note asking about them, and include a few tattoos and stickers for them," Park said.

Although the summer's mostly been a success, there have been a few snags. Park said two children haven't mailed back the math worksheets, and one child's phone number has been disconnected.

"That sometimes happens, so I'll send a note in the mail, so he'll know I'm thinking about him," she said.

Park said she's concerned about all of her students, which is why she wanted to work with all of them this summer.

"You work with these kids all year, and you worry about them. They become your family," she said. "Some kids can lose several months of reading. You usually spend a month playing catch-up, and there's no summer school because of the budget."

Gilbert and Park will move from second to third grade and will be their students' teachers again in the fall.

"I'll be able to see if this worked," Gilbert said. "All five of my students will be coming back and will be in my class. The main goal was helping them maintain at grade level, but if they boosted up, that would be great."

Kindergarten teacher Karen Lounsbury is only working with one student. She said he had never been in a school environment before attending kindergarten at Southwest, and it took several months to get him acclimated. She felt that working with him this summer was necessary to keep him on-task for fall.

"He's the perfect example of how, if you don't send your child to preschool, the parents need to be working with them at home," Lounsbury said. "Kindergarten is the new first grade."

She said when he first arrived at school, he had no interest in picking up a pencil, and was used to getting his way. Lounsbury said it took several months to get accustomed to school.

"By January, he was ready for school, and at the end of the year, he was doing well," she said. "But in all, he'd only done about four-and-a-half months of school."

Lounsbury has met with him several times, checking out books from the library and working on copy writing, reading, drawing pictures and other things. She said she's seen differences since school let out.

"He's motivated to read. He was not this motivated at the end of school," Lounsbury said. "I think the one-on-one has helped. He picks things up easily."

She said even though he will not be in her class next year, she will likely continue to tutor him after school because she enjoys it so much.

"When the light bulb goes on and the face lights up — that look, you can't beat it," she said.

Inside the Patrick Beaver Memorial Library, Laura Hairston-Porter is helping rising fifth-graders Cameron Thomas and Dontavias Shade with fractions and reading comprehension.

Hairston-Porter is one of four teachers at Southwest Elementary School who is working with students this summer to help them maintain reading and math skills they had at the end of the school year.

Other participants include second-grade teachers Melissa Park and Anna Gilbert, who will be moving up with their students to teach the third grade this fall, and kindergarten teacher Karen Lounsbury. The teachers are not being paid for their efforts.

"I think what they are doing for their students speaks highly of their caring spirit and their commitment toward doing whatever is necessary to help their students succeed," said Sherry Willis, principal at Southwest Elementary. "I am so impressed by their willingness to volunteer their time and effort during the summer."

Hairston-Porter said she singled out five students in her class she thought could benefit from additional help over the summer. Three of them already had plans, though, which left her with Thomas and Shade, both 10.

"A lot of kids, if they don't read over the summer or practice math skills, they fall behind," Hairston-Porter said. "By meeting with them at the library, I thought it might give them a leg up. They have a desire to do well, and they worked hard all year. This is something I wanted to do."

She said she selected these students because she knew they would work hard to do better. And by having already taught them in class during the year, Hairston-Porter said she knew the areas they would need the most help.

"They had difficulty with some math concepts, particularly fractions. I knew they would need to build on that later," Hairston-Porter said. "They also needed more fluency for reading comprehension. You need to know not just what words are, but what they mean. Reading impacts everything you do, in every subject."

Although the trio has missed a session for vacation, they meet at the library for 90 minutes every week, and will continue to do so through the first week of August. Thomas will not be returning to Southwest Elementary in the fall, but Hairston-Porter said that's not important.

"That's neither here nor there. These kids need the help, no matter where they go," she said. "If they want to do better, I will work with them."

Shade and Thomas each are given math and reading homework in their workbooks each week. The work is reviewed at the weekly sessions, with Hairston-Porter working with one student while the other does independent work. She gives them tips for how to do better in general testing, which could help on end-of-course exams. Hairston-Porter encourages them to mark out answers they know are not correct.

"I don't mind doing this during the summer," Shade said. "When I do math, I'm starting to get stuff. And I'm getting reading. I feel like I'm doing better."

Thomas said he does a little bit of work each night to break it up.

He, too, said working with his teacher during the summer has paid off. Thomas said reading has been the hardest, but working with Hairston-Porter one-on-one has benefited him.

The process each week is slow. It takes the boys several tries to get a new concept. But by breaking down fractions into terms the boys can understand, they slowly get the concept. After getting a difficult question they've struggled with correct, Thomas and Shade are rewarded with a high-five and a big smile from Hairston-Porter. They give her a big grin in return.

At the end of Wednesday's session, they are one step closer to full comprehension of fractions and decimals, and understanding reading concepts.

The investigation is to evaluate the health and welfare of the residents and examine the facility's culpability in the murder, putting other residents at risk, said Jim Jones of the N.C. Division of Health Service regulation.

Jones said it will take 10 to 15 days to produce the report, which will become public record once officials at The Walden House receive the document.

"There's a whole lot to look at," he said.

The Walden House is a 56-bed facility that has been in operation about 10 years. It's on Third Avenue, SE, behind Kenworth Hall apartments on Second Avenue, SE.

The Walden House provides care to adults over the age of 18 who are unable to live independently but do not require continuous medical or nursing care.

The Walden House officials did not immediately return phone calls to comment on this story.

Hickory police arrested Dennis Edward Scherzer and charged him with murder on July 8, minutes after a Walden House employee called police to report she'd seen Scherzer bludgeon Roland Claude Simmons to death.

The attack took place at about 11:45 p.m. on a patio behind The Walden House. Police have not released a motive for the attack.

Tami Hefner, adult service program manager for Catawba County Department of Social Services, said, "We have conducted death investigations before, but not for homicide."

She said county inspectors are working to determine if anything could have been done to prevent the murder, and whether the patients were being properly cared for and supervised.

The state requires bimonthly inspections of adult-care facilities, but Catawba County's facilities are inspected monthly to ensure they are in compliance with state laws and regulations, Hefner said.

They also are investigated as needed when complaints are made, she said.

The Walden House got a perfect score and a three-star rating on their most recent state inspection, conducted Jan. 8.

"The facilities that have a three-star rating today are among the best-run in the state — at least on the day of the inspection," Jones said. "It looked as though things were well-run at their facility."

Jones said this is the first year scores and star ratings were applied to inspections.

Several deficiencies were noted in the reports of Walden House's 2007 and 2008 inspections.

The infractions ranged from allowing patients with dementia to wander around Hickory streets, to giving residents improper doses of medications to not following doctor's orders concerning dietary restrictions for certain residents.

The Walden House is owned and operated by DePaul Adult Care — a private, not-for-profit organization founded in 1958. DePaul operates facilities in 13 counties in western New York and 10 counties in North Carolina. The facilities serve more than 5,000 people each year in over 60 residential program locations.

Phone calls to Melissa Silverman-Connolly, DePaul adult care communities regional director of operations, were not returned.

When: 2:50, 3, 5:10 and 4:55 p.m. today

Where: Carolina Theater, 222 First Ave., NW, Hickory

Cost: At least three cans of food per person

Why go: Spend a couple lazy hours in the movie theater and feel good about it. The good that gets you in goes to Greater Hickory Cooperative Christian Ministry. You have your pick of films: 2:50 p.m. is "Hannah Montana The Movie," 3 p.m. is "Hotel for Dogs," 5:10 p.m. is "Monsters vs. Aliens" and 4:55 p.m. is "Land of the Lost."

Farmer's market salsa lesson

When: Downtown Hickory Farmer's Market is open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. today. The chef's demonstration is around 10 a.m.

Where: Former Hickory Station parking lot, across the railroad tracks from Union Square

Cost: Free

Why go: Bistro 127 chef Matthew Miller spices up Saturday morning with a homemade salsa demonstration. All the ingredients will come from the market. Make sure you get a taste.

Rock Camp Concert

When: 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. today

Where: Belk Centrum at Lenoir-Rhyne University, 625 Seventh Ave., NE, Hickory

Cost: Free

Why go: Rock speaks louder than words. Thirty-six teens spent the week learning how to be in a band and bring an audience to its feet. The kids will play covers and original songs.

Bluegrass in the Park

When: 1 p.m. Sunday

Where: Henry Fork River Regional Recreation Park, 5655 Sweet Bay Lane, Hickory

Cost: Free

Why go: They pick. You grin. Musicians can bring their instruments and join in the 1 p.m. jam session. Bands are scheduled to follow at 2 p.m. Playgrounds are open for the kids. And if it rains, there's still a place to sit under the picnic shelter.

"From This Day Forward"

When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Aug. 15

Where: Fred B. Cranford Amphitheater, 401 Church St., Valdese

Cost: $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors and $6 for kids under 12

Why go: Oh, the drama. This outdoor play tells the astonishing story of the people who founded Valdese.

Take one step into their charming, girly shop and you know you're not in a typical medical supply store, but somewhere very different.

Silhouettes is a cancer care boutique on N.C. 127, north, in Viewmont.

Owner Vicki Gatwood's goal for her store, which carries mastectomy and lumpectomy products, wigs, hats and skin-care products for cancer patients, is to make her customers feel as normal as possible.

"I designed this place to be nonclinical," Gatwood said. "I want them to feel like they've just come to a nice store to shop."

The store is not the only one in the area that sells products for cancer patients. It is, however, the only store that does not also sell other medical supplies, such as wheelchairs. Because of this specialization, Gatwood said the shop gets a lot of business from men and women in Hickory and surrounding areas.

In keeping with the store's goal of helping customers live a normal life, Silhouettes offers a variety of prosthetics, fill-ins and enhancement products so women with breast cancer can feel good about their appearance.

"Women shouldn't have to give up fashion or anything else when they get breast cancer," Gatwood said.

It was this idea, voiced by Gatwood's aunt, a breast cancer patient, that led to the creation of the shop. Gatwood, her mother and her sister all opened up boutiques, then in Winston-Salem and Charlotte, to serve women such as her aunt.

A Silhouette store, originally founded in Charlotte in 2003, moved to Hickory four years ago, and has served as a store and beacon of hope for cancer patients.

Gatwood said they often see women in the store who have just been diagnosed with cancer who want to know their options.

It's times like these when Silhouettes' "Wall of Fame" shines. The wall, which displays hundreds of messages of hope and thanksgiving written by shop customers, was designed by Gatwood to provide encouragement.

"Women have so much to say, so I decided I'd take a wall and let them say what they want to say," Gatwood said.

A woman who recited a poem about not giving up wrote one of her favorite messages. Also on the wall are messages written in foreign languages, such as Romanian and German, demonstrating the variety of customers the shop serves.
Among this variety of customers are cancer patients and nonpatients alike. Gatwood said some comparable stores have an unspoken rule about nonpatients browsing, but she encourages everyone to come see what Silhouettes has to offer.

The shop regularly hosts support groups from other areas in the state, and these groups are very much welcomed at Gatwood's store. The store also provides education about breast cancer.

Silhouettes partners with medical centers, such as Catawba Valley Medical Center and Frye Regional Medical Center, on a regular basis. The store was also involved in the Metrolina Women's Show, which took place Sept. 1, 2008, at the Hickory Metro Convention Center for the first time last year, and will be present at that event again this year.

To better serve their customers, the store also works closely with insurance companies that set the prices for medical products.

"At the beginning, it was hard," said graduate Giovanni Virgilio-Valdez, "but it made it easier to get dressed."

Rising junior Betsy Broussard agreed.

"It was different," she said. "I missed being able to wear whatever I wanted. But it gave a sense of order to the school."

Principal Kim Mattox said whenever there's a major change like this, the first year is always the hardest. She expects this year to go more smoothly. Having 75 percent of the student body used to it when school starts in the fall will help.

Alex Martin and Jason Hill are rising seniors. Martin said the new dress code has been beneficial because, for the most part, people are no longer as concerned about what clothes they're wearing.

Hill said he cares about what he wears on Fridays, though. That is the day students are allowed to wear school T-shirts, with school, club, class or other Hickory High themes.

"Every Friday, I wore a T-shirt," Hill said.

He said he did miss being able to wear other clothes besides what the dress code requires.

Martin said although most students abided by the dress code policy, there were a few who got lax during classes.

"Most kids would have shirts that would come out during class, but they would tuck them back in when they left the classroom," he said.

For students who occasionally forgot part of the dress code, like a belt, Martin said a teacher would get a belt out of the clothes closet for the student to wear that day. However, if you would forget every day, then you would get in trouble.

Hill offers advice for the incoming freshmen class: "If you follow the dress code, you'll be all right," he said.

Adopted in part for safety reasons, Hickory High Principal Kim Mattox said there has been some difficulty telling parents from other cultures that the dress code is to make their children look professional.

"We've had to have a great deal of conversations not just with students, but with parents. In the Latino culture, they think we're trying to dress their daughters like a boy," she said. "We just want them to dress professionally. We want to give them every opportunity for success."

Mattox said she's also received complaints that the school is asking the students to "dress preppy" or "dress white."

At a school board work session meeting this week, Mattox said there were a few thousand infractions at the school during the year, but many of the infractions were committed by the same 15 students during the year, and only took five minutes for the teachers to address. She said she was surprised to see the school had the biggest problem with freshmen committing the infractions, perhaps because they had not yet established relationships with the students.

Teachers also took 30 seconds at the start of each class to ensure students were in proper attire.

"They took 30 seconds to see if students were in dress code compliance," Mattox said. "They were asked to see an administrator if they were not. It doesn't count if students were spoken to before school starts."

To help reduce the number of infractions this fall, Mattox said in addition to the clothes closet at the school, she's found a vendor to sell polo T-shirts at Hickory High for $6 for small through extra-large, and $7 for XXL through XXXXL.

"Adolescents don't like to wear clothes that others have worn, and we think this will help," she said. "It's a vendor we use for athletic wear. They'll offer all five colors of shirts."

Mattox also talked about reconvening the dress code committee created when the board first designed the dress code, with more parents and students.

"A lot (of parents) felt they didn't have the opportunity to speak," Mattox said. "If we let them know we do hear their concerns and are willing to dialogue with them, it will help."

She also asked the board to no longer require students to either tuck in their shirts or wear belts.

"We have such a diverse range of body types. We could not find any belts that could fit a few young ladies or a few men, and I know that's frustrating to the parents, too," Mattox said.

School Board Chairwoman Sarah Talbert said the policy was already changed twice last year, to allow school T-shirts, and to allow jackets and sweaters, in addition to sweatshirts, without hoods. She said she didn't want to amend it again.

"I'm not inclined to make any changes this year, particularly these two," she said. "The belts and tuck-ins are two key pieces."

Board member Charlotte Williams said she was "impressed with the change" she's seen at the two high schools, but thought the board should be more open to talking with the community.

Gloria Hemphill agreed.

"Talking with the community is key," she said.

Vice chairman Joab Cotton sided with Talbert.

"We know what to look for now with the freshmen and how to correct it," he said.

Talbert also said she expected all of the teachers at Hickory High to fully enforce the dress code this school year, something she didn't think happened last year.

"We need to try it another year, with all the partners working together. I don't think they were all working together this year."

Cotton said he could see, just by going into different classrooms at the school, that not every teacher enforced it.

"I would go into one class and they didn't have to do it, and into another one and they did. It has to be everyone on board or it won't work," he said.

Mattox said she agreed, and planned to stress that message to her staff.

"If teachers cannot get on board with this policy, then this is not the place for them," she said.

The babies reportedly born at the Woodstock festival 40 years ago remain the most enduring mystery from that chaotic weekend that defined a generation. Depending on the source, there was one birth on that patch of upstate New York farmland between Aug. 15-17, 1969. Or two. Or three. Or none.

There is some tantalizing evidence. Singer John Sebastian is captured on film announcing that some cat's old lady just had a baby, a kid destined to be far out. A couple of surviving eyewitnesses say there were births. The concert's medical director told reporters at the scene there were two births: one at a local hospital after the mother was flown out by helicopter; the other in a car caught in the epic traffic jam outside the site crowded with more than 400,000 people.

But no one has come forward with a credible public claim of giving birth to a Woodstock baby or being born there. No one has produced proof that it happened. If babies were born at Woodstock, they have lived their lives ignoring — or unaware of — the fact that reporters and researchers have been on their trail for decades.

"I've searched, I've spoken to the doctors and nurses from the main hospitals that were there," said Myron Gittell, who wrote the new medical history, "Woodstock '69: Three Days of Peace, Music, and Medical Care."

Like many before him, he found nothing.

"Almost statistically, you'd think if there are a half-million people, and half of them were women, and 95 percent of them were of childbearing age, and fertile, and active. Just statistically, someone would have had to pop a baby."

Problem is: No one has been able to dig up a birth record.

Rita Sheehan, town clerk for Bethel, which hosted the concert, said there is no local birth certificate on record. Still, it's possible the birth was recorded in one of the surrounding towns. Gittell says there were births recorded in neighboring towns in that period, but the records are sealed under state privacy laws. There's no way to check whether the birth mothers were locals or out-of-towners (the likely pool of Woodstock Moms).

That leaves a few eyewitness accounts, like that of Gladys Devaney, who was a member of the volunteer ambulance corps in nearby Liberty. She answered an ambulance call to a tent at the festival and saw a young woman in labor. Her overriding concern then was that other medical workers took her stretcher as they rushed the woman away. But Devaney knew labor when she saw it.

"I heard her screaming," Devaney said. "I didn't get a good look at her, she was thrashing."

Devaney never found out whether they took the young woman to a waiting helicopter or somewhere else.

Elliot Tiber, the subject of Ang Lee's new movie, "Taking Woodstock," tops Devaney. He says he helped deliver a baby that weekend.

Tiber, who has a reputation for being a raconteur, said the woman gave birth at his parent's hotel near the site, which — like the entire area that weekend — was mobbed. The woman wore a leather jacket, came in on a motorcycle and just flopped down.

"I see she's starting to give birth," Tiber recalled. "It was like the quote from 'Gone With the Wind': 'I don't know nothing about birthing no babies, Miss Scarlett' ... I was screaming, just screaming. Everybody was standing around stoned saying, 'Yeah, groovy!' They thought it was cool."

Tiber said the baby was taken away, though the mother came by in a cab a few weeks later with her baby in a blanket. He didn't get any names. He never heard from them again.

After four decades, the Woodstock baby trail has gotten colder. The young people who packed into Woodstock are retirement age now. A number of the emergency and medical workers involved, including the concert's medical director, Dr. William Abruzzi, are dead. And if a baby was born onsite, there are curious gaps in the record.

Press accounts at the time mentioning the births did not provide names. Abruzzi wrote an exhaustive account of the event in which he tallied six pages of medical incidents over the three days (11 rat bites, 16 peptic ulcers, 707 drug overdoses, among them). The paper, now in the collection of the Museum at Bethel Woods, the onsite museum, does not mention a single childbirth.

"It could be one of those myths that grow out of major events," said Bethel museum Director Wade Lawrence. "It could be like the story of the New York State Thruway being closed. It wasn't."

Maybe the best argument against a Woodstock baby is that no one in the past four decades has stepped forward to publicly and credibly claim they were born or gave birth at Woodstock. There is a theory that neither mother nor child particularly want Woodstock to define their lives, and have chosen to keep their distinction a private matter.

But it bears saying as the 40th anniversary of Woodstock approaches. If you are a Woodstock baby or a Woodstock mother, please consider contacting The Associated Press at woodstockbaby"at"ap.org.

People have been looking for you.