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North
Carolina still tops in nationally-certified teachers
State
orders paper plant to further reduce discharge
State
Government News
 DOT
ramps up road maintenance budget
State
Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett (left) lauded
the General Assembly for passing a special provision in the
budget bill that will allow the N.C. Department of
Transportation to use a portion of its cash balances for
maintenance during the next three years. This landmark action
will enable the Department to invest about $420 million in
maintenance from the mountains to the coast. In the first
year, the department will improve about 400 miles of highway
across the state.
"This provision is the most significant transportation
legislation since the Highway Trust Fund was created in
1989," said Tippett. "I commend the General Assembly
for recognizing the importance of highway maintenance to our
state's continuing prosperity. We're committed to getting
these projects under contract immediately so that work can
begin as soon as possible. Because of this legislation,
citizens in every region of the state will see an improvement
in the quality of their highways."
The Board of
Transportation is scheduled to approve projects for more than
$153 million for the first year of funds to improve more than
400 miles of highway. Construction on these projects will
begin as soon as weather permits. Because there are two more
years left in the program -- $135 million in both the second
and third years-other important maintenance projects will be
completed across the state as part of this effort. Contracts
for maintenance projects for the second year will be let in
2002 and, for the third year, in 2003. The
funds will be used for heavy maintenance work, including
replacing deteriorating sections of highway as well as asphalt
overlays.
This
legislation would also allow the department to use funds from
its cash balances during the next three years for the
following purposes: $120 million for public transportation,
including state matching funds for major new transit projects
in Charlotte and the Triangle; $45 million to install high-end
technologies such as closed loop traffic signal systems,
vehicle detection systems and incident management systems; and
$45 million for the planning and design of "shelf
projects" or projects outside the department's current
seven-year Transportation Improvement Program that can be
ready for construction when new funding is available.
At its November meeting, the board also awarded contracts
totaling $121.3 million for widening, bridge replacements and
other transportation related projects in Bladen, Brunswick,
Buncombe, Caldwell, Chatham, Cleveland, Columbus, Cumberland,
Currituck, Duplin, Forsyth, Guilford, Harnett, Jackson,
Johnston, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Nash, New Hanover, Onslow,
Pender, Robeson, Union, Wake and Washington counties. Included
are contracts to:
 Install fiber
optic cable to connect traffic monitoring cameras on Glenwood
Avenue at the interchange of the I-440 Raleigh Beltline to
Raleigh's Traffic Operations Center. The contract was awarded
to Georgia Electric Co. of Albany, Ga. for $721,230. Work
begins Dec. 3 with completion scheduled in April 2003.
Rehabilitate
pavement on 6.2 miles of U.S. 29 north of Greensboro from
south of Eckerson Road to the Rockingham County line in
Guilford County. The contract also calls for replacing bridges
over Reedy Fork Creek and N.C. 150. The contract was awarded
to APAC-Carolina Inc. of Greensboro for $15.4 million. Work
was to begin Dec. 3 with completion in October 2004.
Widen 8.9 miles
of Interstate 77 from Interstate 85 to north of the proposed
Charlotte Outer Loop to eight lanes. The contract was awarded
to Rea Construction Co. of Charlotte for $70.9 million. Work
was to begin Dec. 3 with completion in November 2004.
Widen 1.5 miles
of Lewisville-Clemmons Road to a four-lane divided highway
from south of Forest Oaks Drive to north of U.S. 421 in
Winston-Salem and revamp the interchange at U.S. 421. The
contract was awarded to APAC-Carolina Inc. of Greensboro for
$9.6 million. Work was to begin Dec. 3 with completion in
September 2003.
The board also awarded contracts to replace bridges over:
Railroad tracks
of Norfolk Southern Corp. on Graham Street in Charlotte. The
contract was awarded to Blythe Construction Inc. of Charlotte
for $3.1 million. Work was to begin Dec. 3 with completion in
August 2003.
Railroad tracks
of CSX Transportation System and Norfolk Southern Corp. on
Hillsborough Street in Raleigh. The contract was awarded to
Blythe Construction Inc. of Charlotte for $5.7 million. Work
was to begin Dec. 3 with completion in August 2003.
Shoe Heel Creek
and Shoe Heel Creek Overflow on Midway Road south of Raemon in
Robeson County. The contract was awarded to R.E. Burns &
Sons Co. Inc. of Statesville for $848,439. Work can begin
between Dec. 3 and March 1, 2002, with completion 240 days
thereafter.
Bear Creek on
Old U.S. 421 northwest of Goldston in Chatham County. The
contract was awarded to Crowder Construction CO. of Charlotte
for $773,351. Work was to begin Dec. 3 with completion in
December 2002.
North
Carolina still tops in nationally-certified teachers
North
Carolina continues to lead the nation in the number of
teachers who have earned certification by the National Board
of Professional Teaching Standards, the most accepted symbol
of teaching excellence in the United States. State
Superintendent Mike Ward said that North Carolina has 3,667
teachers who have earned the certification, including 1,260
teachers who just learned of their new status recently.
National board certification was first offered in 1994, when
eight North Carolina teachers received this important
professional credential. The number of North Carolina teachers
receiving the certification has grown dramatically since then.
Florida is the state with the second highest number of
teachers who are nationally certified.
North Carolina supports efforts by teachers to achieve
national board certification in the following ways:
Payment up front
of the $2,300 assessment fee. (The teacher is obligated to
teach in the state the following year whether they achieve
national board certification or not.)
Three paid
release days from normal teacher responsibilities in order to
develop their portfolios.
A 12 percent
salary supplement to the teachers’ regular salary, good for
the 10-year life of the certification.
15 continuing
education units (CEUs) awarded to the individual for
completing the national board certification process.
State
orders paper plant to further reduce discharge
Blue
Ridge Paper Products Inc.'s plant in Haywood County must
reduce the amount of color discharged by 18 to 33 percent over
the next five years in accordance with a permit issued by the
state's Division of Water Quality. "Substantial
improvements have been seen in the facility's wastewater
discharge over the past decade, and that has translated into a
healthier Pigeon River," said Mike Myers, an engineer
with DWQ's point-source permitting branch. "We anticipate
that the conditions of this permit will result in further
improvements through the next several years."
The mill has achieved about a 50 percent reduction in color --
a by-product of the pulping process -- since an agreement was
reached in 1997. That agreement was between North Carolina,
Tennessee, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, City of
Newport, Tenn.; Cocke County, Tenn.; American Canoe
Association, Tennessee Environmental Council and the company
The reduction in permitted color loading has been from 98,168
in 1997 to 48,000 pounds per day during the last permitting
cycle. The new permit requires that the color level be reduced
to between 32,000 and 39,000 pounds per day on average.
Built in 1908, the mill is currently permitted to discharge
29.9 million gallons of treated wastewater daily into the
Pigeon River in the French Broad River Basin. Champion
International Corp. of Stamford, Conn. owned and operated the
plant until 1999, when employees purchased and renamed it.
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