RALEIGH — Governor Roy Cooper has proclaimed May 2-8 as Correctional Officers and Correctional Employees Week in North Carolina, in recognition of the essential public service provided by employees in the state’s prison system.
“We call on correctional staff to do a lot to ensure the safety of the people of North Carolina,” Governor Cooper said. “They provide security, health and wellness care, rehabilitative programs that prepare offenders for eventual re-entry into their communities and more. They do all this with great dedication, sometimes in unpredictable or dangerous situations and I’m grateful for their service.”
Department of Public Safety Secretary Erik Hooks said the past year’s experiences with COVID-19 testing and vaccinating are further evidence of how critical correctional officers and employees are to the public’s continued health and safety.
“I salute the many outstanding correctional professionals for their dedicated service,” Secretary Hooks said. “Through the daily challenges they face, our dedicated staff continue to carry out their critical missions with pride. It is fitting to recognize our staff members for their outstanding work and commitment to public safety.”
More than 13,500 correctional officers and employees in the state prison system supervise approximately 28,000 offenders in more than 50 facilities. The pandemic further challenged Prisons employees to initiate swiftly changing procedures to help ensure the well-being of staff, offenders held in state custody and the public at large.
“I’ve been in many prisons throughout the country, and without a doubt our correctional staff are some of the finest men and women in the field anywhere,” said Commissioner of Prisons Todd Ishee. “To me, they are heroes.”
As part of a $1 million series of grants to organizations across North Carolina, Duke Energy has awarded $15,000 to the Chatham Education Foundation.
“The Chatham Education Foundation is honored to have the continued support of the Duke Energy Foundation,” said CEF Executive Director Jaime Detzi. “Partners like Duke Energy give CEF the ability to provide required resources to our students and families that would not be possible without their support — in this instance, putting books into the hands of low-income students so they too have high interest, self-selected books to read over the summer, like their more affluent peers.”
CEF was one of 51 organizations granted funds, all of which are dedicated to helping students rebound from the effects of pandemic learning loss. The money can be used to fund summer learning, tutoring and other supplemental learning opportunities in underserved and minority communities.
“After a difficult year for North Carolina’s students and families,” said Stephen De May, North Carolina president of Duke Energy, “we’re investing in programs that address the disproportionate learning loss among vulnerable communities and help put students on a path to academic success.”
Siler City Parks and Recreation invites you to lace up your shoes and get ready to walk into better health! Start your day off right with a few laps at the Indoor Walking Program each weekday morning from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. The program is held at the Ernest Ramsey Gymnasium Indoor Walking Track at 512 East 6th Street, Siler City.
This program is free and no pre-registration is required. Operations are subject to COVID-19 guidelines and mask are required indoors.
For more information, visit www.silercity.org, contact Siler City Parks and Recreation at 919-742-2699 or email recreation@silercity.org.
— CN+R staff reports
ROCKY MOUNT – A worldwide shortage of aluminum is forcing the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles to indefinitely suspend its program to replace license plates that are older than six years. The move is to help ensure there is enough material to produce first-time plates.
Under normal circumstances, North Carolina can produce 400 to 500 new license plates a day. But the older plate replacement program, passed into law by the General Assembly, has increased daily demand by more than 10 times. More than 640,000 replacement plates were produced in the first four months of this year, with about another 1.4 million projected to be needed for the rest of the 2021.
Corrections Enterprises, which handles the plate production, has enough aluminum on hand to make about 160,000 plates, and another shipment of the metal is expected in the middle of this month.
Replacement plates have typically been sent automatically to customers when they renew their registration of older plates online or by mail, while customers who renew at a local License Plate Agency office receive their plates during that visit. There is no customer charge for getting the new plate.
There is no timetable for when the issuance of the replacement plates will resume, but if the suspension continues until late this year, it is likely the rest of phase one of the replacement program will be handled in 2022, with phase two moving back a year to 2023. The replacement of the plates was initially slated to begin July 1, 2020 but was pushed back to this year because of COVID impacts.
Phase one of the replacement program covers regular vehicle and motorcycle license plates. The second year is for older specialty plates, including personalized plates, commercial, permanent, municipal and state-owned, for-hire, dealers, trailers and farm vehicles.
RALEIGH — The N.C. Dept. of Labor last week announced the rollout of a new process for obtaining youth employment certificates that aims to streamline the process and better ensure youths are working in safe jobs.
After a soft launch in April, the new process took effect on May 3.
The NCDOL Wage and Hour Bureau administers youth employment certificates, which are required under the N.C. Wage and Hour Act. The certificates, commonly referred to as a work permit, are designed to alert parents, teens and employers of certain prohibited jobs and hour limits for workers under the age of 18.
“We changed the process for obtaining youth employment certificates to better ensure that our state’s young employees end up working in safe and acceptable jobs,” Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson said. “We understand this will be a big change for employers, but we are ready to assist any employer, parent or youth who have questions about the new process.”
Any questions about the new process should be directed to the Wage and Hour Bureau Call Center at 1-800-625-2267. To learn more about youth rules and regulation, please visit the NCDOL website.
— CN+R staff reports
PITTSBORO — The Chatham County Collection Centers Swap Shops reopened a week ago Monday as place for residents to leave and take gently used items, so they do not have to be disposed of in a landfill. The Swap Shops have been closed since March 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Residents are reminded that they must have a 2021 Collection Center decal to use the Collection Centers, including the Swap Shops. Items placed in the Swap Shops are available on a first-come, first-served basis and items cannot be set aside for future pickup. Residents are limited to two 15-minute visits per day at the Collection Centers.
Solid Waste & Recycling asks residents not to overload the Swap Shops. Space is limited, and attendants will have to dispose of items if the Swap Shops are too full.
Learn more about Solid Waste & Recycling at www.chathamcountync.gov/recycle. Residents who have questions may contact the Main Office between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, at 919-542-5516 or at recycle@chathamcountync.gov.
PITTSBORO — The Chatham County community is invited to spend a night under the stars at the Chatham County Parks and Recreation Department’s Outdoor Film Festival. The event is from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, May 7, at The Park at Briar Chapel, located at 1015 Andrews Store Road in Pittsboro.
This free event will showcase multiple short films that are all focused on outdoor recreation. Themes include paddling, climbing, biking and more. Films will be shown using an outdoor projector and large movie screen. Due to COVID-19, spectators will be asked to physically distance from other family units while watching the films. There is space for 100 people on the field, and there are 17 parking spots for people who wish to watch the films from their cars. Space is limited, and this event is first-come, first-served. It is recommended that attendees arrive early to secure their spots.
PITTSBORO — Chatham County announces that a new, online portal is available to serve the public with services from several departments: Central Permitting and Inspections, Planning, Environmental Health and Watershed Protection. The online services portal is located at https://chathamcountync.viewpointcloud.com and is available 24 hours a day.
The portal enables residents, property owners, contractors, designers and others to request various permits and approvals online without having to leave their home or office. Individuals may apply for permits, receive comments, ask questions, obtain documents and approvals, schedule inspections and make payments with a credit card. Even more services will become available online as staff continue to add them to the portal. The additional services are expected to be incorporated throughout the remainder of the year.
Individuals must create an online account in order to use the portal. Their individualized dashboard allows them to track multiple permits easily and review records of past permits. By using the online portal, applicants are likely to receive their permits faster and without the need to fill out paper applications and additional copies.
For more information, or to contact someone in Central Permitting, visit www.chathamcountync.gov/centralpermitting.
Dominion Energy will be conducting natural gas system inspections beginning this week at 13804 U.S. Hwy. 64 in Siler City near the Walmart Supercenter. As part of that process, motorists will see a vertical flame off U.S. Hwy 64. Related work will take place several times a week and the flame may be visible for approximately three to six hours each day. There will be road signs to remind the community that the flame is a controlled burn activity.
These activities are overseen by Dominion Energy and other qualified personnel in cooperation with local fire department officials. If residents smell a rotten egg odor and have concerns there may be a leak in or around their home, they should call 911 and Dominion Energy at 1-877-776-2427 from a safe place.
— CN+R staff reports