By: Tommy Savoia
Appalachian State University professor Michael Krenn’s 1999 nonfiction novel “Black Diplomacy” is the inspiration for a recent documentary. According to The Appalachian Online, the book describes the accomplishments of Edward Dudley, Terence Todman, and Carl Rowan, who were three important African American ambassadors of the 1900s. The documentary itself is titled “The American Diplomat” and started production in 2014 after director Leola Calzolai-Stewart read about the ambassador’s history. After calling up Professor Krenn, she decided that both the author and the book would be great wells of knowledge to pull from. After having been screened at the JFK Presidential Library, “The American Diplomat” is scheduled to be screened on campus at Room 420 in Plemmons Student Union at 6PM on Feb. 22.
The Watauga Democrat states that The Appalachian Theatre of the High Country has formally announced that it has hit its funding campaign of $10 million. Officially funded as of December 31, 2021, the theatre now has the means to finish the construction that it proposed a decade before. Appalachian Theatre of the High Country chairman Keith Martin is on record stating that the accomplishment is “wonderful” and everyone involved is “extremely grateful” for the “generosity” of the community.
The Wall Street Journal reports that many companies are taking different means in order to keep employees in important manufacturing positions. One of these methods is switching from annual pay raise reviews to more recurrent reviews, such as every quarter. This is apparently the case in order to “compete for talent and keep pace with rising wages”. Company officials state that the pandemic has caused the economy to “bounce” back and forth, creating a quickly-evolving market that is currently seeing rising hiring costs.
Today’s weather is brought to us by Booneweather.com. This Thursday morning you can expect some wet weather. We’re going to see continual clouds and fog with rain popping up here and there throughout the whole day. It’s going to hit a high of 48 and a low of 44 degrees.