Q: A friend got a new cellphone number and it has a 743 area code. Is that for this area? Why the change? — N.B.
Answer: The reason is to increase the number of available phone numbers. In 2000, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator, the agency that assigns area codes, warned that the Triad area was running low on available numbers with the 336 area code.
In the past, when an area started running out of numbers, the area would be split off and assigned a new area code. In an eight-year period, this area went from 919 to 910 and finally 336 in 1998. Now, instead of splitting off an area, an overlay area code is issued. The 743 area code was assigned to the 336 area code.
The Charlotte and Raleigh areas have had overlays for many years. The Triangle area has 919 and 984 area codes. The Charlotte area has 704 and 980 area codes.
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The N.C. Utilities Commission approved the overlay in August 2014, calling it “the most efficient, most effective and least disruptive of the four alternatives presented,” according to an August 2014 Winston-Salem Journal article.
The transition to the 743 area code began in October 2015. In April 2016 10-digit dialing became mandatory to make a local phone call. New numbers assigned starting in May 2016 might have the 743 area code or might be assigned the 336 area code.
Q: Why did the price of gas go up $.20 a gallon last week?
Answer: SAM has gotten several questions from readers about why the price of gas jumped $0.20 per gallon overnight, so she turned to Haresh Gurnani, a professor and the Thomas H. Davis Chair at the Wake Forest University School of Business.
“There is a shift from winter-grade to summer-grade-fuel around this time (spring),” Gurnani said. “Due to production issues — like longer production time and lower overall yield — it is more expensive to produce summer-grade fuel with approximately 15 cents/gallon additional cost. This can partially explain the price rise at the pumps around this time of the year.”
Q: Can you tell us who we can contact to obtain spectator tickets to the Wells Fargo PGA Tournament in May in Charlotte? — J.L.
Answer: To check on the price and availability for tickets to the Wells Fargo Championship, go to www.wellsfargochampionship.com and click on “Buy Tickets.”
The tournament will be held May 1 through May 7 at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.
Q: Can the residents of Stokes County get an answer as to when the Green Box Trash site on Old U.S. 52 in Pinnacle will be reopened? This trash collection site closed on Nov. 11, 2022. Residents were told it would be reopened by the end of March 2023. There has been very little done at this site in four months and no updates have been posted since December. — S.D.
Answer: Good news, you may soon be able to use the Green Box again.
Stuart Easter, the public works director for Stokes County, said they are hopeful that the Pinnacle Green Box Station will reopen either the week of April 10 or April 17.
Email: AskSAM@wsjournal.com
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Write: Ask SAM, 418 N. Marshall St., #100, Winston-Salem, NC 27101