The odds may seem about equal to winning a big North Carolina Education Lottery jackpot, but Gastonia resident Billy Rooks hopes that if someone has found approximately 150 lottery tickets in a Ziplock bag that they ll come forward and return them to him.
The 77-year-old retired Navy veteran has been buying lottery tickets for more than 20 years, specifically the Powerball and Carolina Cash 5 games. Suffering from terminal cancer, he hopes to to win a jackpot to build a nest egg for Veronica Rooks, his wife of 52 years.
He secures his tickets in a plastic bag, but recently lost the unchecked tickets that he had accumulated over the past three months.
Some Gastonia water customers hit with huge bills
The Gaston Gazette
Some Gastonia residents are unhappy this month with the large increases in fees on their water and sewer bills.
April Smith said her February bill totaled more than $300, about six times more than her average bill. I opened my bill and my jaw hit the floor, said Smith, who lives in a subdivision off South New Hope Road.
The high bills relate to a mistake a meter reader made in November, December and January, according to city of Gastonia officials.
After the the errors were discovered, the correct usage was then billed, said city spokeswoman Mary Elliott.
We can all agree this year has brought challenges like no other. Whether at work or home, COVID-19 has affected us all in some way.
The year also changed the Gaston County restaurant scene. Some spots permanently closed their doors after serving the community for many years.
And many new restaurants embraced the tough business climate and opened despite state and county stay-at-home orders and new, rigorous standards for cleaning and sanitization.
In this story we look back at the restaurants that left us this year, and we celebrate the restaurateurs who brought their concepts to Gaston County in 2020.
If we omitted a restaurant that should be included in this story, email gstewart@gastongazette.com.