The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina • A1

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 1A, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2007 SERVING CARY, APEX, HOLLY SPRINGS AND MORRISVILLE WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2007 THECARY NEWS CARY, NORTH CAROLINA www.carynews.com 460-2600 A way to save Cary history PUTTING ON HIS GAME FACE Town considers an ordinance; may buy Nancy Jones House BY BETH HATCHER STAFF WRITER Most drivers who pass by the unassuming two-story white house off Chapel Hill Road guess its history. As they zip by on trips to new big-box stores, driving past a part of history the Nancy Jones House, oldest house. Situated on a shaded lot between the Cary Parkway and Maynard Road intersections, the circa-1803 house with Federal-style architecture has served as a stagecoach stop, a tavern and the site of an 1838 meeting between the governors of North and South Carolina. If some officials have their way, it may serve as a town-owned public meeting space in the future. The Town of Cary has been in talks with the owner of the house about purchasing the property.

interested in what- ever it takes for that house to be said Bob Myers, pres- ident of the preservation group Friends of the Page-Walker Ho- tel. The Nancy Jones house is just one of the many historic structures found throughout original neighborhoods, and the town lay down the bucks for every historical property. partly why the town is in the initial stages of develop- ing an ordinance that would Writer weaves tales in virtual world BY BETH HATCHER STAFF WRITER Wes Platt started writing for a very simple reason to keep from getting his butt kicked. His school bus stories, also in- spired by a zeal and his soap operas, dis- tracted from the fact that he was the short kid with glasses who played flute in the marching band. Thirty years later lost the glasses but still telling sto- ries, not for bullies but for a pay- check as he puts his skills to use at Icarus Studios, a Cary com- pany specializing in tools used to develop online virtual worlds, like the ones seen in massive mul- tiplayer online role-playing games.

MMOGs are games found sim- ply by logging onto a Web site, where, often for a subscription fee, players can dive into virtual worlds of conquest and danger, pitting their skills against oppo- nents around the world. As a writer for Icarus, Platt develops characters and story- lines for games like Fallen Earth, a postapocalyptic game devel- oped by Icarus. as cool as it sounds. a hell of a lot of Platt, 40, said recently from the air- conditioned cool of his Mor- risville apartment. lived in the apartment for a year, about the same amount of time worked at Icarus, though the road to his new cre- ative outlet has been a bit longer.

A child of central Florida, Platt spent his formative years in sub- urban Orlando, in the shadow of traffic and Disney World. He worked in the bustling theme park for five years as he pondered life after high school. He filled stock logs with stories as he stacked T-shirts and trin- kets in dark Magic Kingdom BY ADAM ARNOLD STAFF WRITER Cary has a response for anyone who calls with an emergency regardless of the language they are speaking. The Emergency Com- munications Center, which han- dles all 911 calls, can have an in- terpreter on the line in seconds to help callers speaking a lan- guage other than English. Cary uses a service called Lan- guage Line, an international provider of interpretation and translation services in 170 lan- guages for the public and private sectors.

Once Cary communica- tions personnel realize the need for the service, they add Lan- guage Line in on the call. Staff members for Language Line can determine the language and provide the appropriate in- terpreter. That capability, said Crystal McDuffie, a communications su- pervisor with the town, allows the center to handle those calls same way it would handle any other call for McDuffie said an interpreter is typically on the line within 30 seconds. There has been a McDuffie said, in the number of calls in languages other than English in her more than 10 years with the town. getting an influx of all Show some spirit Join the festivities as area towns celebrate the Fourth.

PAGE 7A All smiles Apex High grad Emili Tasler has almost fully recovered from tearing her ACL last December. PAGE 1B Arts Calendar Beliefs Briefs Classifieds Club Notes 14A Crossword Puzzle 9A Death Notices Opinion 4A Police Blotter Schools Sports INDEX Help is on the line STAFF PHOTO BY GRANT HALVERSON Lisa Rhew, foreground, and Chris Hegele, work as Cary 911 operators. The town uses Language Line interpretation service. In the last of our seriesabout how foreign- speaking residents adapt to life here, we take a look at a program the Cary Police Department uses to help communicate with residents, no matter what language they speak. Language Line helps emergency personnel assist hundreds of foreign- speaking callers each year who need help communicating.

BREAKING THE LANGUAGE BARRIER: INTERPRETING IN AN EMERGENCY STAFF PHOTO BY GRANT HALVERSON Thomas Young, 13, of Cary, watches the opening ceremonies at the USA Baseball National Training Complex at Thomas Brooks Park on June 19, prior to the start of the Tournament of Stars. MORE COVERAGE IN SPORTS, PAGE 1B. PHOTO BY RAY BLACK III FOR THE CARY NEWS The Nancy Jones House is oldest house. The town is considering buying the property to preserve it. SEE HISTORIC, 7A SEE LANGUAGE, 2A SEE PLATT, 2A JUST WONDERING Nancy Jones was a real person, though it was ac- tually her father-in-law Nathaniel who built the house around 1803.

In 1809 son Henry husband inherited the house. After death in 1840, Nancy lived in the house until her death in 1876. Local people once referred to it as the because it was the only painted house for miles. Source: and About by Thomas M. Byrd.