Today's News

A Japanese company with an American name is making a name for itself in Shelby County.

Nifco North America, Inc. opened a manufacturing facility on Hudson Boulevard in Hi Pointe Industrial Park this past spring. The company is a really big fish in Japan, being the country's principal manufacturer of industrial plastic parts and components, to capture a dominant 70 percent share of the market with an annual turnover of $1.1 billion.

So I'm sitting in the upstairs bedroom of my home two Sundays ago, getting ready for my first full day at work in Shelby County.

I feel the building sort of shaking, the wall beside me vibrating, the wind whistling and, out the window, I see oak trees bending like palms.

The wind had been blowing hard all morning, but this was ridiculous.

My wife and I had been glued to the Weather Channel for several days, getting our fix of Hurricane Ike's battering of the Gulf Coast, so TV was tuned when we sprang from our bed to see to see what was the matter.

Everybody thinks about just getting away.

Maybe you want to sail the Caribbean, maybe you want to backpack through Europe, or maybe you want to hike the Appalachian Trail.

Well, William Stewart might be able to give you a few pointers.

Stewart, a 20-year-old native of Shelby County, returned last week from a 104-day hike that took him from Katahdin, Maine, to Springer Mountain, Ga., the full length of the Appalachian Trail.

"I just wanted to step out of the fast-paced world," Stewart said. "I just wanted to get out and see what it's all about."

Officials have a partial answer about what has happened to Clear Creek and are in the process of devising a plan to correct the situation, according to state environmental inspector Clark Dorman.

"We are working on that as we speak," he said.

Dorman said the fill kill in the creek was determined to be caused from a lack of oxygen in the water, in addition to some other things.