NOVEMBER 5, 2009 ISSUE
News Watch
A Quick Look at News Across the Region
I-40 Rockslide Update
This week, contractors installed a pulley system and moved two drills into place on the face of the mountain slope as they began to blast rock off the mountain near the site of a rockslide that occurred on October 25. On the ground, crews continue to break up the largest boulders lying in the road. This work will continue over the next couple weeks.
The N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has established a website dedicated to updates and information on the clean up efforts, and it can be accessed by clicking to www.ncdot.gov. People can also sign up for daily updates via Twitter.
The rockslide occurred on I-40 in North Carolina near the Tennessee line. The slide is about 150 feet high and 200 to 300 feet wide, and the majority of debris is rock.
NCDOT hired Phillips & Jordan Inc. of Knoxville, Tenn. and rock stabilization specialist Jonad Contractors of Champion, N.Y. to perform the work.
Travelers can still reach Western North Carolina via a number of routes. An official detour has been set up for inter-state traffic. Motorists traveling west to Tennessee should take I-40 West to I-240 West (Exit 53b) in Asheville to I-26 West (Exit 4a). Follow I-26 West from Asheville to I-81 South (Exit 8a) in Tennessee, back to I-40. Eastbound motorists will follow the reverse directions.
Appalachian Voices and iLoveMountains.org Receive Top Recognition from Google Earth and Good Magazine
According to Google Earth and Good Magazine, Appalachian Voices is both a resource and a hero when it comes to the fight to end mountaintop removal coal mining.
The environmental nonprofit organization based in Boone received a double honor this month when its work on the issue of mountaintop removal mining was featured as part of Google Earth's Heroes series and was also included in Good Magazine's Good 100 list.
iLoveMountains.org, a website created by Appalachian Voices for the Alliance for Appalachia—an umbrella organization of 13 organizations working to end mountaintop removal coal mining in the central Appalachian region—was honored as a Google Earth Hero for its work using Google tools to help change the world. The organization created a number of Google Maps and Google Earth tools on iLoveMountains.org, including the My Connection tool, which allows visitors to determine if they are using mountaintop removal by typing in their zip code.
Appalachian Voices—along with other members of the Alliance for Appalachia—was highlighted in one of Google Earth’s feature videos created to educate people about human and environmental rights issues and about Google Earth tools. The video is available online by clicking to www.google.com/earth/changetheworld/#e.
“Google Earth has allowed us to unveil the secrets that coal companies have depended on to continue this devastating practice without public outcry,” said Matt Wasson, director of programs for Appalachian Voices. “Before Google Earth launched, you had to travel to the Appalachian coalfields to see mountaintop removal. Now anyone with a web server can see the destruction caused by mountaintop removal, see their personal connection to it and learn about the devastating consequences for nearby families and communities.”
iLoveMountains.org was also featured in Good Magazine's inaugural Good 100 list for its coverage of the mountaintop removal coal mining issue. Good created the Good 100 list to celebrate “the most important, exciting and innovative people, ideas and institutions making our world better.”
While coal mining does not occur in North Carolina, the state is the top consumer of coal from the region where mountaintop removal occurs. Last year, Appalachian Voices worked with Pricey Harrison, a state representative from Greensboro, to introduce the Appalachian Mountains Preservation Act—legislation designed to ban the use of mountaintop removal mined coal in North Carolina power plants. Although the bill did not pass committee, it prompted widespread discussion across the state about the issue and led to a letter—signed by 75 state legislators—which asked North Carolina's federal representatives to support Congressional bills that would help end mountaintop removal mining at the national level. Six Congressional members from North Carolina are currently signed on to the Clean Water Protection Act, the House version of the bill.
Watauga Commissioners Approve TDA Grant Application Requests
On Monday, November 2, the Watauga County Board of Commissioners approved four Watauga County Tourism Development Authority (WCTDA) grant application requests, as presented by Senior Outdoor Recreation Planner Eric Woolridge. Woolridge identified four external grant sources that he hopes will contribute funding toward three WCTDA projects.
The organization will request $10,000 from the Bikes Belong Foundation, $15,000 from the Conservation Fund, $75,000 from the Recreational Trails Program and $226,000 from the NCDOT Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation.
The first two grants, if received, will be put toward trail development at the future Rocky Knob Park, the third will help construct a paddle trail access park at the intersection of Highway 321 and Old Watauga River Road and the fourth will be put towards Phase I of the Middle Fork Greenway project, which will be a trail connecting Tweetsie Railroad and Mystery Hill and going under Highway 321 to connect to Sterling Creek Park.
No local dollars are requested for the projects, Woolridge said.
Hagan Announces $400 Million Investment for Smart Energy Grid
U.S. Senator Kay R. Hagan (D-NC) last week announced a major federal grant for Raleigh-based Progress Energy and Charlotte-based Duke Energy to build a smart energy grid that will deliver energy to costumers more efficiently. Progress and Duke Energy will receive $200 million each as part of a nationwide investment of more than $3 billion to spur the transition to a smart energy grid. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act made the funding available.
“Putting smart energy meters in homes and upgrading our energy grid will lower electricity bills for small businesses and hardworking North Carolina families,” said Hagan. “Our energy grid is supported by Thomas Edison-era technology. Our North Carolina companies are working to implement next-generation energy technology for the country. I will continue working to secure important federal investments to ensure North Carolina remains on the cutting edge of green energy.”
“Progress Energy is currently investing in several Smart Grid initiatives to meet our customer’s changing electricity needs throughout the communities that rely on us for reliable power,” said Bill Johnson, Progress Energy chair, president and CEO. “This grant program has the potential to expand investments necessary to transform the electric grid to give customers greater control of their energy use, enable utilities to harness the potential of renewable energy and electric vehicles and improve power quality and service reliability.”
Progress Energy is contributing an additional $320 million to complete the project and will install more than 160,000 smart meters across its service area. A map of where Progress Energy’s smart grid will be implemented in North Carolina can be seen by clicking to www.energy.gov/recovery/smartgrid_maps/ProgressEnergy.JPG.
The Electric Power Research Institute estimates that the nationwide implementation of smart grid technologies could reduce electricity consumption by more than 4 percent by 2030, representing a savings of more than $20 billion for American businesses and consumers.
Duke Energy will use its grant to invest in comprehensive energy grid modernization, and will be implementing it in the Midwest. The company will also receive $4 million to install phasor measurement units that will monitor energy consumption in substations across the Carolinas and upgrade communications infrastructure and technology.
Blue Ridge Wine Festival Chosen as Southeast Tourism Society Top 20 Event
The Blue Ridge Wine Festival, which returns for a 5th time to Blowing Rock from April 15 to 19, 2010, was recently designated a Southeast Tourism Society Top 20 Event. The best events across the Southeast compete to receive the prestigious designation and the Southeast Tourism Society selects the Top 20 events in the Southeast for each month.
“One of our long-term goals for the Wine Festival was to establish it as a highly anticipated and well-attended annual occurrence, and designation as a Southeast Tourism Society Top 20 event shows that we’ve attained that status. With this recognition will come increased visitation in 2010, and we’re looking forward to showcasing downtown Blowing Rock next April,” said Charles Hardin, executive director of the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce.
Featured Blue Ridge Wine Festival events include wine tastings, the Fire on the Rock Chef’s Challenge, seminars, a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway and more. For information, click to blueridgewinefestival.com.
The Top 20 Events announcement is released to more than 1,600 newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, AAA publications and others. To be eligible, the event must have at least 1,000 in attendance and be in at least its third year in existence.
Sperry Selected as WCS After School Site Director of the Year
Patricia Sperry of Mabel School was recently named Watauga County Schools After School Site Director of the Year for 2009-2010. Superintendent Dr. Marty Hemric presented her with the award at the monthly meeting of after school site directors.
Sperry has worked for the Watauga County Schools for 18 years and has been site director at Mabel for nearly seven years.
Mabel Principal Mark Hagaman said, “Ms. Sperry is dedicated to the after school program and the students of Mabel School. She keeps the best interest of the children close to her heart and then acts accordingly. She is an asset to the school system and certainly the Mabel School community."
As site director at Mabel, Sperry is responsible for the care of 18 children enrolled in the after school program. Her duties include planning the daily activities, ensuring compliance with state childcare licensing standards, establishing good communications with parents and school staff and creating a safe and healthy environment for the program. Sperry has a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in social science, both from ASU, and is a certified teacher. In addition to her work as a site director, she is also a tutor for students at Mabel.
Sperry is the first site director in the school system to pursue a rated star license. While all after school sites in the school system are licensed by the state’s Division of Child Development, Sperry volunteered to go through the additional documentation and on-site evaluation required to obtain a higher rated license. She has completed the process and is now waiting for official word on Mabel’s new license.
The after school program in Watauga County Schools is a fee-supported program with a total enrollment of more 300 children at seven sites. Information about the after school program is available through the “Parent Link” page of the WCS website by clicking to www.watauga.k12.nc.us.
Elon Poll: North Carolinians Favor Public Option
Three out of every four North Carolina residents believe the current healthcare system in the United States is in need of reform, according to the latest Elon University Poll, and 54 percent of residents support health insurance legislation that would include a public option. Forty-one percent of respondents said they would use a public option plan should one become available.
The poll, conducted October 26 to 29, surveyed 703 North Carolina residents and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. The sample is of the population in general, with numbers that include both landlines and cellular phones.
In a little more than a year, the number of residents who have some form of private healthcare coverage has dropped. While 83 percent of respondents in a September 2008 poll indicated they had private insurance, in the most recent poll, just 73 percent reported the same.
“Obvious from these results is that citizens recognize that the health system is in need of reform, but, like most Americans, are divided over how to do it, ”said Hunter Bacot, director of the Elon University Poll.
In proposals currently under debate, the public option is a plan where citizens who lack existing coverage would be able to purchase insurance through the federal government. However, in a separate question, the poll found that residents are evenly split on their support for a national insurance plan where the federal government pays most medical and hospital costs for all citizens. Forty-seven percent of residents support such a plan while 47 percent oppose it. Six percent indicated they “don’t know” if they support or oppose the idea.
Overall, the North Carolina public remains pessimistic about the economy, with 73 percent of respondents expecting the current economic climate to stay about the same or get worse. Three quarters of respondents—76 percent—said the economy has affected them personally. The percentage of respondents indicating they have been affected by the following:
Have lost money in the stock market—47 percent
Have had their home value decline—41 percent
Have had a retirement plan lose more than 25 percent of its value—38 percent
Have had hours reduced at work—32 percent
Have had trouble paying the mortgage—20 percent
Have lost a job—20 percent
Have lost medical coverage or medical insurance—18 percent
Community Interest
News & Notes
Events
Arts & Entertainment
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
