A Marine Reservist who grew up in Fuquay-Varina died during combat in Afghanistan Dec. 14.

Maj. Samuel Mark Griffith, 36, was shot in Helmand Province, according to the Defense Department. Griffith was a member of the Marine Corps Reserves' 4th Air/Naval Gunfire Liaison Company based in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Lt. Col. Aaron Marx, inspector instructor with the unit, said Griffith had been in the reserves for about three years, traveling as needed between Florida and his home in Virginia Beach.

He volunteered earlier this year to go to Afghanistan and serve as a forward air controller, identifying enemy targets and calling in aircraft to destroy them.

"He was doing what he loved," his mother, Kathleen Bischoff of Jupiter, Fla., told a television station there.

Griffith was an Eagle Scout. He graduated in 1993 from Enloe High School in Raleigh and in 1997 from Penn State University, where he was a member of the ROTC.

From there, he was commissioned in the Marine Corps, where he trained as a pilot.

He had deployed twice while on active duty. He arrived in Afghanistan less than a month ago with the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force from Camp Lejeune.

In addition to his mother, he is survived by his wife, Cassandra, and two sons, of Virginia Beach; his father, William Griffith, of Fuquay-Varina; two sisters; a brother; and three grandparents.

Satellite dish tops litter contest

From staff reports

A discarded satellite dish earned a Knights of Columbus group from Morrisville first place in Keep North Carolina Beautiful's Most Unusual Litter Contest.

Knights of Columbus Council 7186 won a $250 prize for finding the satellite dish during a spring litter cleanup organized by the state Department of Transportation. Keep North Carolina Beautiful announced the winners of the contest this week.

Second place was a medical identification bracelet in Elon (it was returned to the owner), while third was an empty tube of Fixodent denture adhesive in Mt. Ulla.

Pantry 4Q results down

From staff reports

The Pantry, a Cary convenience store chain, last week reported fourth-quarter results that missed analyst expectations.

Excluding one-time charges, The Pantry reported net income of $8.4 million, or 37 cents a share, compared with 43 cents a share during the same period a year ago.

Net income for the fiscal year 2011 was $17.5 million or 78 cents per share, compared with earnings per share of 97 cents in 2010.

That was below the 99 cents per share that was the consensus among analysts who follow the company.

The disappointing numbers were partly the result of The Pantry's pricing strategy, particularly for gasoline and cigarettes.

"I think they were less competitive than they should have been and so they've kind of seen a slow loss in market share," said Ben Brownlow, an analyst with Morgan Keegan. "After consistently pricing above your competition it's more and more difficult to regain that lost market share."

Gross profit from merchandise sales at the company's stores decreased 8.6 percent in the fourth quarter compared with the same period a year ago. Profits were down .7 percent for the year.

The Pantry has more than 1,600 stores throughout the Southeast.