This story appears in the March 2021 issue of
Ryan Combe sat at his desk, staring through the window at a gloomy winter in Ogden, Utah. The year had started with such promise. After investing some $60,000 in business acquisition, his consulting company, Better Way Franchise Group, hit a hot streak with a slate of new clients and proposal requests. It was tracking toward its best year ever, a million dollars in revenue. Then the bottom fell out.
COVID-19 dashed hopes of profit for millions of entrepreneurs, and the consulting industry was hit particularly hard. Combe had to divert rent money to make payroll for his staff of three. He filed for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan and applied for government relief through the Paycheck Protection Program. But the money didn’t show up as quickly as promised. With his next payday approaching, he had just $340 in his account.
Jaden Ferguson won second in the state triple jump.
The Fluvanna County High School indoor track and field teams traveled to Liberty University in Lynchburg on March 2 to compete in the State Class 3 indoor track and field meet. The boy’s team, coached by Steve Szarmach, had two impressive performances. Jaden Ferguson placed 2
nd in the triple jump and the 4X400 relay team took 3
rd. The relay team consisted of Ryan Hicks, Rocco Calderone, Nathan Valentin and Aidan Girard.
In the earlier 3C region meet on Feb. 17 at Heritage High, Ferguson turned in quite an amazing all-around performance. He was 3
Fort Worth Weekly
Now that
Gov. Greg Abbott has lifted restrictions, some local venue owners are still not sure how to proceed. Most of the ones I talked to want to open but also want to remain safe.
Ryan Higgs, co-owner of
MASS on the Near Southside, sees the problem clearly.
“Once again, [Abbott] has put the burden of policing the public on individual bar owners,” Higgs said. “If you maintain a mask order at your business, you will have to argue with patrons at every turn. If you allow maskless patrons, you are not doing the public any favors.”
Track and field teams from Albemarle high and Western Albemarle high came to Fluvanna County on Jan. 27 for the third Polar Bear meet to be hosted by the Flucos. The fourth Polar Bear meet was held on Feb. 3., with Louisa High and Orange County high competing.
Tre Smith Jr. for the boys, and Shea Hart for the girls, were the standout performers for the Flucos in Polar Bear 3. Smith finished first in the 55 meter dash with a time of 7.18 seconds, which was 0.16 seconds better than the second place finisher. Smith also won the long jump, as he soared 18.1 feet. Ryan Hicks was also a winner for the Fluco boys’ team. He won the 500 meter run with time of 1:15.14. It was a very close race, as Hicks won by only nine tenths of a second. Two other winners for the boys’ team were Kristian Thomas in the high jump and Addison Patchett in the triple jump. Thomas and Patchett are both sophomores. Ayden Bland was the only second place finisher for the Fluco boys, finishing just behind P
The Beacon
BY YANEEK SMITH, BEACON CONTRIBUTOR
OAK HARBOR After losing a key league game to Huron, Oak Harbor rebounded and rallied to defeat Bellevue, 53-38. In the process, the Rockets helped its coach, Eric Sweet, earn his 100th career victory.
The Rockets (9-7) fell behind 13-7 after the first quarter, but bounced back to take a 22-20 lead into the half. They held a 33-27 lead after three quarters and put the game away by outscoring the Redmen, 20-11, in the fourth.
“We fixed a couple of things defensively, we were rotating a little slow, we weren’t as active as I wanted us to be,” said Sweet. “We talked about some small changes, and the guys were able to execute, get a little more aggressive. Some good offensive possessions helped us to open up a lead in the second half.”