There are no turtleneck shirts in stock at In The Game Athletics sporting goods store, located across the street from Cherry Park, this time of year.

But that didn't stop one of the players in the NSA Fastpitch World Series from asking for one this week. No, I'm not kidding. Someone wanted a turtleneck-like undershirt, despite the heat wave, a store clerk named Jordy told me this morning.

I don't know how these parents do it. The sweltering heat at Hargett park this morning is awful.

It doesn't look that bad with overcast skies, but stand out here in this thick, humid air, no breeze, and you'll melt.

No wonder the snow cone lady is the most popular person at the ballpark.

I might be $2 poorer and a cherry snow cone richer before I leave.

If throwing like a girl means pitching as good as these young ladies at the NSA Girls Fastpitch World Series this week, then sign me up for a lesson.

I'm out at Hargett Park this morning, host to the 16 and under division at the World Series. And let me say, these girls can play.

I just watched a couple innings of the Carolina Lightning Bolts against the Susquehanna Slam, where a shutout was in progress. Not a surprise the way these girls wind up and pitch the ball 40 mph, 50 mph or more from the mound.

South Carolina's fireworks are drawing huge crowds of out-of-staters into Fort Mill this week.

I went to a few fireworks stores off Carowinds Boulevard yesterday for a story in today's paper, and it was next to impossible to find a local shopper. Everyone was from North Carolina.

One lady drove from Virginia just to buy fireworks. She said Carowinds Boulevard was the closest place. Another man took a trek from High Point, N.C., to load up.

Alright folks, we're about 10 minutes from the start of Hell's Kitchen, airing on Fox at 9 p.m.

For those new to the show, here's a quick recap before the final episode begins tonight:

- Hell's Kitchen is a reality TV series in its fourth season on Fox. The winner this year gets a head chef's job at host Gordon Ramsay's new Hollywood restaurant.

- Winthrop catering chef Louis Petrozza is one of the final two contestants. (This is why we care so much about a B-list reality show).

I sat around a kitchen table with some undocumented -- or illegal, depending on your taste -- immigrants on Tuesday for a story that will appear this week in The Herald.

This group of Latino workers took a break from painting and laying tile to explain their perspective on immigration laws in light of the new Illegal Immigration Reform Act Gov. Mark Sanford signed into law this month.

Look at you, Fort Mill High, Mr. Big Time on the national news.

Since The Herald broke the story Monday about six people being thrown in jail for cheering out of turn at the Yellow Jackets' graduation, and a seventh at York's ceremony, news outlets from here to San Diego have picked up the story. The headline was on the "Most Viewed Stories" list at FoxNews.com yesterday.

A few random bits on yesterday's election:

- As I drove in to work this morning, I passed one of Alex Haefele's giant signs reminding people to vote for him in the County Council race. Haefele appeared to have invested a ton of time and money on his bid to oust council chairman Buddy Motz, but came up a few votes short. I've never run for office, but I can imagine it must be difficult to get up today and collect all those signs after falling just short.

New South Interiors, the upscale furniture store in the Cotton Factory downtown, is hosting a grand opening drop-in tonight from 5 to 8 p.m.

The store has been open for a few weeks in the renovated cotton mill, but is just now publicizing its opening. Tonight's event will serve food and wine, plus give guests a chance to tour the 23,000-square-foot shop.

Just got back from the Rock Hill Economic Development Corp., meeting. Mostly predictable discussions this month, but a few interesting things that might turn into bigger stories down the road. Here's a snapshot:

- City officials have selected a consultant to look at the feasibility of a trolley that would run from downtown, through the textile corridor, and connect with Winthrop University. It's a long way before anything is in concrete, but if it happens, the trolley might eventually connect to Piedmont Medical Center. It's mainly just talk at this point, but getting closer to reality.

York County will get to taste its signature crop this summer.

The folks at Arthur Black's peach orchard in York picked their first basket of peaches this morning. They'll be picking every morning now as new varieties ripen into the summer. Down the road, Ben Smith started picking a few days ago. Others will begin picking soon if they haven't already.

The early appraisal is that its shaping up to be a nice crop. (The farmers will slap me now for jinxing their crops. But, hey, you'd be superstitious too if your livelihood was based on something hanging on a tree limb.)

Economic development collided with Earth Day ideals this week outside a kindergarten classroom in York. And it wasn't pretty.

My wife, Ashley, teaches kindergarten in York. On Tuesday morning, her class of 20 5- and 6-year-olds celebrated Earth Day. She taught them about recycling, saving water and how trees and plant life help produce oxygen so humans have clean air to breathe.

She stressed the importance of recycling garbage, not littering and preserving trees.

Winthrop catering chef Louis Petrozza rebounded nicely from his mishaps last week on the Fox reality show Hell's Kitchen.

Petrozza landed a rare compliment from overbearing host Gordon Ramsay during the dinner service last night, and was selected to nominate a teammate for elimination. Petrozza picked Jason, a good choice considering he screwed up the desserts and was caught bad-mouthing his male teammates to the women's team.

Ramsay gave Jason the boot, following Dom DiFranchesco of Catawba as the first two contestants to leave the men's team.

Oh, Petrozza. You got lucky.

Winthrop University catering chef Louis Petrozza was nearly served his walking papers Tuesday night from the Fox reality show "Hell's Kitchen," hosted by foul-mouthed culinary king Gordon Ramsay.

The show pits 15 chefs in a competition for a chef's position at Ramsay's new Hollywood restaurant.

Catawba Chef Dominic DiFrancesco was the first contestant eliminated by foul-mouthed culinary king Gordon Ramsay on his Fox reality television show "Hell's Kitchen," which debuted its fourth season Tuesday night.

But Louis Petrozza of Charlotte, a Winthrop University catering chef, remained for Week 2 despite preparing the strangest dish of the night.

Rick Norwood, marketing manager for the Rock Hill Economic Development Corp., reported at Tuesday's board meeting that software juggernaut and gazillionaire Bill Gates' company Microsoft will be moving its headquarters to Rock Hill.

April Fools!

Norwood's statement was an April Fools Day tease directed at the media and me specifically as The Herald's business reporter.

"I was going to announce that Microsoft was relocating its headquarters to Rock Hill," Norwood quipped to begin his report at the April 1 meeting. "But I was afraid it might go beyond this meeting."

Most of the time, an overnight freeze this time of year really puts a scare into local fruit growers. Too much cold, as we saw last spring, can wipe out an entire season's worth of produce.

But when Tuesday morning temperatures dipped into the 20s, Mother Nature actually did farmers a favor. It thinned out some of the weaker fruit, allowing the remainder to mature.

Chick-Fil-A's newest restaurant will open Thursday on S.C. 160 near Baxter Village in Fort Mill.

That means the line of soon-to-be customers is already wrapping around the building.

When a Chick-Fil-A opens its doors for the first time, the company gives away free chicken sandwich combos for a year to the first 100 customers. The Fort Mill location is no exception.

It will snow March 7. That is, if you believe Old Wives' Tales.

Today's (Tuesday) forecast calls for a few thunderstorms this morning and rain showers this afternoon. I already heard a boom of thunder this morning.

According to the Old Wives' Tale, if there's thunder in February, it will snow 10 days later. If I counted right, that means snow on Friday, March 7. That's very possible. It wouldn't be the first time we saw snow in early March.

Welcome to the Showdown blog, where Herald staffers Charles Perry and Adam O’Daniel (Winthrop alums) and Matt Garfield (a Davidson grad) will debate Friday night’s highly-anticipated clash on the basketball court between the Winthrop Eagles and Davidson Wildcats at the Winthrop Coliseum.

The game pits two of the most successful mid-major college basketball programs in recent years, both located in the Charlotte metro area, against each other in a nationally-televised 7 p.m. game on ESPN2.

Well, looks like my exercise plans will be sidelined for awhile.

I strained my right hamstring Wednesday night. Figures. I'm trying to get fit and I come up lame halfway through my basketball game. I guess that's what happens when fat people actually believe they can run, dive, pass and jump back on their feet in one motion.

Before the questions pour in, yes, I did stretch before the game. More than usual, actually. I made a conscious effort to stretch, and I am repaid for my proactive approach with an injury. Nice.

I tried to eat lunch at my favorite sandwich shop today, the Jersey Mike's at Winthrop Commons next to the old Harris Teeter.

But to my dismay, and the relief of turkey and provolone everywhere, the popular little lunch spot was closed.

Turns out, it's moving to an outparcel building in the same plaza. The Jersey Mike's will be moving into the former bank building in front of the U.S. Post Office, near Cherry Road.

The store manager told me it should reopen in its new digs by the end of the week.

While most of the feedback for my weight loss journey has been polite encouragement, one comment this weekend made me laugh.

An acquaintance at the Winthrop basketball game Saturday night told me if I needed to lose weight fast, just take some Ex-lax before the final weigh-in this Friday.

Nice suggestion. But I think I'll try the conventional way: eat less, eat healthy and exercise more.

Of course, with three days left til the final weigh-in, don't think "unconventional" methods haven't crossed my mind.

Oldies music has returned to the Charlotte market.

The Charlotte Observer is reporting WNMX (106.1 FM) today changed its format from adult standards to the hits of the 60s and 70s. It's the first time a Charlotte station has played oldies music since 96.1 changed to pop in 2004.

I'm excited about this. I grew up riding around town with my dad with the windows down, COOL 105.9FM out of Orlando, Fla., blaring and a cold Coke in my hand.

It's always the scale's fault.

Me only losing one pound this week? No chance. It must have been the rain this morning, forcing me to wear heavy tennis shoes and thick pants when I weighed in.

No way having pizza for lunch (twice), a big plate of spaghetti and meatballs (twice), a bowl of chili for Winthrop Eagles tailgating last weekend and too many sweets this week stopped my three-pounds-a-week streak.

I explored a cool, new Q & A Web site this morning that's designed to help answer questions about the economy.

A pair of staffers at McClatchy's bureau in Washington, D.C., launched the site this week to help make sense of the national economic turmoil everyone's talking about. McClatchy is The Herald's parent company.

There's a good answer to someone's question about what the latest interest rate cut means for credit card rates.

Check it out here.

especially during football season. If sitting on the couch for 7 hours watching the NFL playoffs wasn't damaging enough to my get fit quest, watching hour after hour of pizza ads during the commercial breaks certainly finished me off. I caved.

Sunday night I ordered a pepperoni pizza from Papa Johns. It was great. Great to taste, anyways. The 310 calories per slice... not so much.

Apparently, people still read the newspaper.

All over town Tuesday as I helped cover the presidential candidate rallies and then on to the Winthrop basketball game after work, people stopped me and wished me well on my Activate Upper Palmetto journey.

If I had any second thoughts about my public weight loss and get healthy plan, those are long gone. Everybody in town knows what I'm trying to do.

So, I climbed aboard the healthy eating train this morning.

After a less-than-ideal weigh-in at the Activate Upper Palmetto event Monday, Tuesday morning I woke up a few minutes early to make sure I had time for breakfast.

I've been told by the experts that skipping breakfast actually makes losing weight more difficult. But I usually skip that so-important meal because I'm in a rush to get to work by 7 a.m. Kicking that unhealthy habit will be one of my first obstacles to overcome.

What a busy week for York County business.

- While eating lunch at my favorite local spot yesterday, I learned Nishie G's Greek/American restaurant is opening a second location in the old Bellacino's Pizza space, at the corner of Herlong and India Hook. I hope the fried buffalo chicken sandwiches there are as good as the ones served up at the Mt. Gallant location!