Lowe's Home Improvement has set Sept. 8 as the grand opening of its new Sanford store, which will replace the one totaled by the April 16 tornado.

The rebuilt, $10 million store will provide another sign of rebirth for the Lee County community, which was hit hard by the tornado.

The store will employ 160 people. All of the damaged store's employees were shifted to other Lowe's nearby. The store will have 103,000 square feet of sales space, plus a 34,000-square-foot garden center.

Officials broke ground on the replacement store in May.

The reopening festivities will include food, entertainment and more.

An Italian company that makes engine and transmission components is planning a $15 million expansion of its Sanford facility and adding 65 jobs to build three new fuel systems for Chrysler cars.

Magneti Marelli Powertrain Systems USA said today that it will expand its existing 250,000-square-foot facility on Nash Street in Sanford.

The company will add jobs in all three areas of production: die-casting, machining, plastic molding and assembly, plus support areas, including maintenance, logistics and engineering.

The company, which is part of an Italian company, Magneti Marelli Holding S.p.A., currently employs 290 people at its plant. The expansion is expected to be complete by the end of the year.

A beauty products company is planning a $12 million expansion at its Sanford manufacturing operations and expects to add 140 jobs by early next year.

Coty Inc. already makes lotions and fragrances at its Sanford facility, which opened in 1971 and employs about 800 people. The expansion will add production lines to make nail polishes. Production is scheduled to begin in March.

City and Lee County officials provided incentives worth about $280,000 to attract the jobs, which will pay an average of about $38,000 a year, said Bob Heuts, economic development director for Lee County.

"We did provide some incentives to make sure that project ended up here and not somewhere else," Heuts said. "Obviously, a manufacturer like that has many options around the world."

DURHAM -- Vad Lee and Jamal Williams made sure that Durham Hillside advanced to the regional finals of the 4-A state football tournament.

Lee threw for 320 yards and accounted for three touchdowns, while Williams ran for 169 yards and scored four times, as the Hornets pulled away from Lee County on Friday night for a 42-22 victory.

SANFORD - Fuquay-Varina scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to overcome Lee County 31-10 and claim a share of the Tri-Nine 4A conference championship on Friday.

The Bengals (10-1 overall, 7-1 Tri-9) will be seeded behind Panther Creek, who tied F-V for the title but finished ahead on the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Catamounts one-point victory over the Bengals earlier this season.

Wake Forest-Rolesville tops Leesville Road 20-14 in overtime. Marcus Jones runs six yards for the winning score. Leesville had fumbled on its overtime possession.  Wake Forest, Wakefield and Leesville Road all finish 5-1 in the Cap 8.(FINAL)

No. 1-ranked Durham Hillside defeated Northern Durham 38-6 to finish the regular season 11-0 and claim the Piedmont Athletic 4-A championship. QB Vad Lee rushed for 138 yards and passes for 161. (FINAL)

Panther Creek got a 25-yard field goal from Garrett Lang in the final minutes to defeat Cary 10-7 and clinch the Tri-Nine's No. 1 seed into the playoffs.

Athens Drive 35, Holly Springs 31 (FINAL)

Broughton 51, Sanderson 20 (FINAL)

Cardinal Gibbons 28, Oxford Webb 6 (FINAL). Crusaders win league championship.

Cary Christian 57, Northeast Academy 56 (FINAL) (NCISAA eight-man semifinals) (Teams score on first 15 possessions and Cary Christian gets game winner with 15 seconds left)

Clayton 38, Smithfield-Selma 6 (FINAL) (Clayton coach Gary Fowler notches his 200th win. He is 200-11-1 in his career, all at Clayton. Comets grab No. 3 berth from Greater Neuse No. 3 berth)

Fuquay-Varina 31, Lee County 10 (FINAL). Bengals finish 10-1, share Tri-Nine title.

Garner 42, Harnett Central 0 (FINAL) (Garner goes undefeated in Greater Neuse) (Central QB Brian Taylor apparent shoulder injury and out)

Knightdale 28, East Wake 14 (FINAL)

Middle Creek 42, Apex 31 (FINAL)

Millbrook 21, Enloe 20 (FINAL)

Pittsboro Northwood 41, Cedar Ridge 17 (FINAL)

Rosewood 27, Princeton 6 (FINAL)

Triton 40, South Johnston 34 (FINAL)

Southeast Raleigh 47, West Johnston 30 (FINAL). Bulldogs finish runner-up in the Greater Neuse.

Word of God 54, Kinston Parrott 7 (FINAL): Undefeated Rams roll into NCISAA eight-man title game.

CARY – Panther Creek celebrated its senior night Friday with a 28-0 rout of Lee County. The Catamounts’ defense stifled the Yellow Jackets offense all evening – holding them to a mere 136 yards of total offense.

“This win is huge,” Panther Creek coach Wayne Bragg said. “Lee County is a good football team. They’re big, physical and have some really good skill guys. It seems like we keep playing playoff caliber teams every week now. We know we have to win these, and our guys really played well.”

SANFORD - Cary head coach Ben Kolstad told his players that they controlled their own destiny following the Imps win over Lee County on Friday.

That was made possible because Cary’s defense simply controlled the Yellow Jackets.

Cary recorded its sixth straight win with a 7-0 shutout over Lee County, putting itself in a position to potentially capture a share of the Tri-Nine conference title. The Imps (9-1 overall, 6-1 conference) have a bye next week and then host Panther Creek in their regular season finale.

APEX - For the third straight year, the Middle Creek-Lee County football game was decided by three or fewer points.

Also for the third straight year, Middle Creek (6-1, 4-0) came away the victor in this Tri-Nine Conference match-up, winning 21-20.

Lee County is turning out to be a serious contender in  the tough Tri-Nine Conference football race.

The Yellow Jackets held on to edge a resiliant Athens Drive team 21-19 to raise their record to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the league.