Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida cemented economic links and cultural amity with North Carolina on Friday, following up time in Washington during his official U.S. visit by checking up on benchmark Japanese companies building plants here.
Kishida, Cooper and others traveled to the Triad on Friday morning to tour the construction site for the Toyota Motor Corp. electric and hybrid battery plant that is expected to ultimately employ more than 5,000 people. They also toured the Honda Aircraft Co. production facility in Greensboro.
After those visits they returned to Raleigh for lunch at the governor’s mansion in Raleigh, the first time a foreign head of state has visited the governor’s mansion since record-keeping began in 1891, the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources said.
Japan is North Carolina’s largest source of foreign direct investment. More than 200 Japanese companies have now set up shop in the state, employing more than 30,000 people, according to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and his office.
“I am honored to be here in North Carolina to showcase the multilayered and strong ties between Japan and the United States,” Kishida said through a translator inside the mansion ballroom.
He called North Carolina “a state at the forefront of the times.”
Kishida, who has been Japan’s prime minister since 2021, said before his trip that he chose to stop in North Carolina to show that the Japan-U.S. partnership extends beyond Washington, according to a translation posted on his website.
Hours before Kishida and his wife arrived Thursday night at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, a subsidiary of another Japanese company, Fujifilm, announced an additional $1.2 billion investment in its upcoming biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant southwest of Raleigh and another 680 jobs.
Kishida, Cooper and others went to North Carolina State University in Raleigh later Friday, where they met students ranging from those in middle school to adults studying Japanese. They visited the university’s Japan Center, which was established by former Gov. Jim Hunt and others in 1980 following a state trade mission to Tokyo. North Carolina State also has long, formal ties with Japan’s Nagoya University.
GRAHAM — Members of this year’s class for the Graham Sports Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor were inducted in a ceremony Saturday night.
This year’s Hall of Fame inductees were Shelby Hall, Nikki Wilborn, Burton Cates and the 1998 Graham High School men’s golf team, and the Hall of Honor inductees were Buster Goodman and the late Jim Perry.
Goodman received the loudest applause of the evening and a standing ovation. He Goodman served as an assistant coach and manager with GHS in football, basketball and tennis from 1978-2002.
He said he turned red when he learned he would be inducted.
“My passion is for the high school kids. I’ve always wanted to give something back, like what I got when I was in school,” he said.
Hall, a Graham High School graduate, was a five-sport athlete, competing in gymnastics, track and field, basketball, tennis and softball. She earned state championships in gymnastics and the long jump. Hall was also a member of the 2009 women’s basketball team that made the state finals. Hall earned a college scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where she received the UNCW All-Time Heptathlete award.
Wilborn was a basketball and softball star at Graham, was all-state in both sports and is considered the best shooting guard in GHS history. She earned a scholarship to Greensboro College to play basketball.
“This is all about the sacrifices my parents made so that I could play the sports I love. They were also my reality check,” she said.
Burton Cates, a GHS graduate, has been a high school football coach for 47 years, 39 as a head coach. He currently ranks first in the state and 33rd in the country in career wins, with 364. He has also coached the East/West Shrine Bowl Game. Cates has spent a good number of his coaching years at Eastern Randloph HS, where the football stadium is named after him.
“I’ve loved every minute of it. My family have been so supportive, and I get to work every day with my son Foster, who is the athletic director at Eastern Randolph,” he said.
The 1998 GHS men’s golf team finished runners-up in the 1998 state championships after winning the conference and regional matches. Members of the team were Justin Dixon, Shaun Griffith, Joey Hall, Wayne Jordan, Matt Linens, Nolan Myrick and Marty Predmesky Jr., and the coach was the late Gary Moser.
Each team member was given one of their late coach’s golf clubs at the ceremony.
For 30 years, Perry was a local umpire booking agent for youth sports, organized and coached mite and midget baseball and football, and umpired for 30 years. He also officiated basketball in the ACC for 10 years. His son Rock accepted the award on his behalf.
The selection committee is always looking for potential inductees for the Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor. Information can be found at www.grahamrecreationandparks.com.
BURLINGTON — Two people were injured in unrelated shootings this past weekend, the Burlington Police Department said.
The first was reported about 12:13 a.m. Saturday, April 13. Officers arrived at the intersection of Brown Bear Drive and Tucker Street, where a 28-year-old woman who had been shot was in a vehicle, police said. She was taken to a local hospital and was listed in stable condition.
The second shooting, at the cul-de-sac of Vanderbilt Court, was reported about 1:35 a.m. Sunday, April 14. Officers arrived to find a large gathering and many vehicles leaving the area, the Burlington Police Department said.
Inside a residence, officers found one juvenile who had been shot. That person was taken to a local hospital and was listed in stable condition, police said.
The person’s name, age and gender were not released.
Police said there was no other information available about either shooting in the early stages of the investigation.
Investigators ask that anyone with additional information about either of these investigations contact the Burlington Police Department at (336) 229-3500. For anonymous methods, call Alamance County Crimestoppers at (336) 229-7100 or use the mobile app, P3 Tips. Tips provided through Crimestoppers may be eligible for cash rewards.