Hickory ranks lowest in N.C.
Spartanburg residents are not as healthy or happy as residents of most other cities in the country, according to the Gallup-Healthyways Well-Being Index.  The index, based on surveys of nearly 353,000 people age 18 and older, ranks Spartanburg as the sixth worst of 188 cities for overall well-being.
Spartanburg, the only South Carolina city to decline in population in the last decade, ranked poorly in each of six categories, but fared worst in physical health and emotional health, landing in the bottom 10 in the nation in each. In fact, Spartanburg was in the lowest quintile nationally in five of the six categories, including work environment (job satisfaction), basic access (access to necessities critical for high well-being) and life evaluation (self evaluation of one’s current life and expected life five years from now). The city was in the fourth quintile for healthy behavior, which is based on lifestyle habits that have established relationships to health outcomes, such as smoking, exercise and healthy eating.
Hickory was the lowest ranked city in North Carolina in the index, finishing in the fifth lowest spot in the nation, just below Spartanburg. The next lowest in North Carolina was Fayetteville.
Raleigh, Durham and Winston-Salem each finished in the top quintile in the nation with rankings of 26th, 27th and 35th, respectively. Each of those cities fared particularly well in physical health and work environment.  Charlotte, which ranked in the top quintile in only one category, Life Evaluation, finished in the second quintile overall. Wilmington, Asheville and Greensboro followed with overall rankings in the fourth quintile.
Asheville ranked very high, 21st in the nation, for healthy behavior, but was among the lowest in the nation for emotional health (172nd) and work environment (174th).
In South Carolina, Spartanburg was joined by Myrtle Beach and Columbia with an overall ranking in the bottom quintile. Greenville was ranked 124th out of 188 cities, while Charleston was 18th in the nation.
South Carolina and North Carolina had very similar overall rankings, finishing 35th and 36th respectively. North Carolina had its highest rankings for work environment (27th) and healthy behavior (28th), while its lowest was in emotional health (42nd). South Carolina did best in life evaluation (24th) and emotional health (28th) and ranked poorly in basic access (41st).
Based on the index, the happiest cities in the nation were Boulder, Colo., Lincoln, Neb., and Fort Collins-Loveland, Colo. The least happy cities were Utica-Rome, N.Y., Prescott, Ariz., and Lake Havasu City-Kingman, Ariz. Hawaii ranked at the top among states, while West Virginia was at the bottom.
For more information on the index, visit www.well-beingindex.com.
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A meeting to discuss trail use in Pisgah Forest and Bent Creek will be held April 4 from 2:30 – 6 p.m. at the Arboretum in Asheville.
Organizers say this meeting is crucial for horse people to attend in order to save area trails for horses.
The Arboretum is located at 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way in Asheville. For more information, call 828-665-2492.
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The management company for Extended Stay Hotels has announced it will move the hotel chain’s headquarters from Spartanburg to Charlotte. HVM says it plans to create 170 jobs and invest $3.6 million in a new building in Charlotte over the next three years. Extended Stay’s headquarters currently is located in downtown Spartanburg. The company, which has seven hotel properties in the Charlotte area, said it determined its growing business and commercial needs will be better served from corporate headquarters in a “major, national market and transportation hub.”
North Carolina is providing a Job Development Investment Grant valued at up to $4.7 million over 12 years if Extended Stay meets its hiring and investment goals. According to the state, the average wage for the jobs at the new headquarters will be $83,580, well above the Mecklenburg County average of $51,584.
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A new monthly magazine debuted throughout the Upstate region on Tuesday, March 29.
“Town” magazine promises to offer compelling articles, stylish design, and captivating photography.
“Town” is the brainchild of Community Journals, publisher of the “Greenville Journal,” “Spartanburg Journal,” “At Home,” “Behind the Counter” and other local publications. Mark Johnston, president and chief executive of Community Journals, said his company saw the need for a publication that could serve the entire Upstate region while combining the best of sophisticated, “city” style magazines with top-notch photography.
“We reviewed magazines across the country to find the correct formula for our market,” Johnston said.
“Town” magazine is distributed free to select homes and businesses in the Upstate and will be available throughout the area. A digital version along with additional information is available at www.TownGreenville.com.
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Nearly 50 communities in North Carolina that were vying for a new ultra-fast broadband network from Google learned this week that the company chose Kansas City as the inaugural site for its “Fiber for Communities” program. Google had listed Asheville and other North Carolina cities among the contenders for the program that will deliver Internet at speeds more than 100 times faster than broadband connections in most homes in the country. Other North Carolina communities that applied for the program included Gastonia and Gaston County and Rutherford County.
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The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will open approximately 1,100 miles of hatchery-supported trout waters in 25 western counties at 7 a.m. on Saturday, April 2. The season will run until one-half hour after sunset on Feb. 28, 2012.
While fishing on hatchery-supported trout waters, anglers can harvest a maximum of seven trout per day, with no minimum size limits or bait restrictions.
Hatchery-supported trout waters, marked by green and white signs, are stocked repeatedly from March until August every year. Many of these waters are stocked monthly, although some heavily fished waters are stocked more frequently.
Stocked trout are produced in four mountain region fish hatcheries operated by the commission and are distributed along hatchery-supported streams where public access for fishing is available. While hatchery-supported waters are open to public fishing, many of those miles are privately owned.
“Opportunities to fish on many of these hatchery-supported trout streams are only available through the support and generosity of landowners,” said David Deaton, Fish Production Supervisor. “The Wildlife Resources Commission reminds anglers to respect the property that they’re fishing on and remember that landowners can take away access if they feel their property is being misused.”
For a detailed list of all hatchery-supported trout waters and regulation information, as well as trout maps and weekly stocking summaries on hatchery-supported trout waters, visit the commission’s website, www.ncwildlife.org/fishing.
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A debate in Greenville, S.C., next year for GOP presidential candidates likely will be the first in the nation for the 2012 race. A GOP presidential candidates’ debate in California had been scheduled for May 2, just ahead of the South Carolina debate on May 5. However, the California debate has now been moved to Sept. 14 after only a few candidates committed to attend the event. Joel Sawyer, executive director of the S.C. Republican Party, said candidates have informally committed to attend the May 5 debate, hosted by Fox News, and there are no plans to delay the event.
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South Carolina’s exports rose 23 percent in 2010 compared to 2009, according to figures from the S.C. Department of Commerce and State Ports Authority. The state reported a total of $20.3 billion in goods exported from South Carolina to 192 countries.
South Carolina’s 2010 exports totaled more than $20.3 billion in goods sold to 192 countries around the world, a 23.22 percent increase over 2009 totals, the office of Gov. Nikki Haley, the Department of Commerce and the State Ports Authority announced recently. The state’s export growth was ranked 17th in the country.
Vehicles, machinery, rubber, organic chemicals, wood pulp, iron, steel, optics and medical equipment and plastics were among the leading export industries from the state. Yarn and fabric had the largest export increase during the year at 89 percent higher than 2009, followed by optical and medical equipment up nearly 73 percent and inorganic chemicals and rare earth metals up 70 percent.
Canada moved ahead of Germany as the state’s No. 1 export market, while China was third and Mexico was fourth. The United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Kuwait, India and Japan were also in the top 10 export markets from South Carolina.
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A manufacturer from Travelers Rest, S.C., is contributing 100 power generators to help Japan recover from the tsunami and nuclear reactor crisis. Liquid Combustion Technology LLC is providing the generators, valued at more than $120,000. The generators can provide more than 1,000 hours of use.
“We have built ties to Japan’s citizenry and know people who are afflicted by the catastrophes,” said the company in a statement. “We are extending our efforts to take care of these people and others in need.”