JUNE 15, 2001

Names in the News

Sen. Eric Reeves (D-Wake) (left) announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Sen. Jesse Helms, and three other Democrats seemed close to announcing. Reeves, a Raleigh attorney and son-in-law of former U.S. Senator Robert Morgan, is known for his expertise in technology issues in the General Assembly, where he chairs the Information Democrats who seem poised to enter the campaign are Cong. Bob Etheridge (D-4th), Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and state Rep. Dan Blue (D-Wake), the former House speaker who said he’s likely to announce as soon as the session ends.

Former lieutenant governor Dennis Wicker (right), now with the Smith Helms Mulliss & Moore law firm in Raleigh, has been appointed to the NCCBI Board of Directors to fill an unexpired term.

Colleen Borst, a former field consultant for the organization, was named the new executive director of the N.C. Association of Educators. Borst, who will start work July 1, replaces John Wilson, who left to become executive director of the National Education Association.

J.B. Buxton has been named the Governor's Education Advisor. The former White House fellow and policy and research director for the Public School Forum begins his new job June 15. He is also a former high school teacher and consultant for the Southeastern Center for Teaching Quality. Buxton is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and earned a masters in public affairs from Princeton University.

George E. Battle III joined the State Board of Community Colleges at its latest meeting on Friday. Battle is a Charlotte attorney and has served as associate corporate counsel for several health care providers.

Fred Yates of Winfall was named North Carolina Economic Development Volunteer of the Year by the North Carolina Economic Developers Association during its annual meeting June 10-12 in Atlantic Beach Yates was cited for his work as chairman of North Carolina’s Northeast Partnership’s Education and Training Task Force and in bringing natural gas to Northeastern North Carolina. Yates, who is retired from the US Marine Corp, serves as mayor of Winfall in Hertford County. He is a member of the board of directors of North Carolina's Northeast Partnership and also serves chairman of the Partnership's Education & Training Task Force. Yates is a board member of the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center and a member of the board of trustees of Elizabeth City State University.

Gov. Mike Easley and his wife, Mary, who initially were reluctant to move into the Executive Mansion, have decided to sell their Raleigh home and are asking $525,000 for the 2,943-square-foot Cape Cod. The Easleys paid $255,500 for the house in January 1993 shortly after he was first elected attorney general.

Eddie C. Smith Jr. (left), CEO and owner of Grady-White Boats of Greenville, was chosen by the American Sportsfishing Association as the recipient of its first-ever lifetime achievement award for outstanding long-term service to conservation and the fishing and boating industries. The honor was bestowed June 5 in a reception attended by ASA members, leaders of the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), government officials, conservation communities and friends. The awards reception at the Russell Senate Office Building was a part of the first annual National Fishing and Boating Week.