GSO employee arrested
Greensboro police detectives arrested Delores Ann Scott, an
employee of the Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department, on Aug. 1,
according to an an nouncement by police. Scott is charged with embezzle
ment and obtaining property by false pretenses. Police began an
investigation after a random audit by the city found a $10,000
discrepancy in funds. Scott, who has been employed by the city since
1980, worked at Trotter Recreation Center at Oka T. Hester Park in the
city’s southwestern quadrant. — JG
GPD up for re-accreditation
A review of the Greensboro Police Department’s man agement, policies and procedures by the Virginia-based
Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies begins on Aug.
23, according to a department announcement. The three-person assessment
team will take public comment from department employees and community
members at city hall on Aug. 25. The department must be in compliance
with 378 standards in order to gain re-accreditation, which takes place
every three years. The department was last re-accred ited in 2005 under
the administration of former Chief David Wray. The commission’s
executive director is a former Greensboro police chief, Sylvester
Daughtry Jr. A separate outside review, conducted by Virginia-based
Buracker & Associates, recently gave the department high marks but
called for improvements in promotions at the command level and more
coherence in compen sation arrangements. — JG
Charge dropped against Sanders
Superior Court Judge Edwin G. Wilson Jr. dropped a charge of obstruction of justice against former Greensboro police Detective Scott Sanders on
July 29. The obstruction of justice charge related to a request by
Sanders for help from an agent of the State Bureau of Investigation in
accessing a government computer.
Three charges remain pending
against Sanders, includ ing a related charge alleging that without
authorization Sanders accessed a Toshiba laptop computer provided by
the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to Detective Julius
Fulmore for use while working on organized crime drug enforcement task
force cases. Two other charges relate to an alleged attempt by Sanders
to prevent two black police officers assigned to the now disbanded
special intelligence section from contacting a confidential informant. — JG
Jessica’s Law
Gov. Mike Easley signed
Jessica’s Law (HB 933) on July 28. The new law creates mandatory
minimum sentences of 25 years for adults convicted of raping children,
followed by a lifetime of satellite monitoring.
An editorial
penned by the staff of the conservative Civitas Institute criticized
the law, saying it should have been extended to some adults who commit
lesser offenses categorized as indecent liberties with a child.
“One of the biggest arguments driving Jessica’s Law in Florida
was that, had the legislation been in place in 1991, John Couey would
have been in prison and unable to harm Jessica in 2005,” the piece
read. “Under North Carolina’s
version of ‘Jessica’s Law,’ however, Jessica Lunsford would not have
been safe from harm.” The law was named for a 9-year-old Florida resident who was raped and murdered by a man who had been convicted of molesting a 5-year-old. — AK
Study finds NC lost jobs to China
North Carolina has lost 79,800 jobs to China over the past seven years, according to a study released on July 30 by the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute. North Carolina ranked 10 th for net job loss to China
among the 50 states. Trade deals such as the North American Free Trade
Act and the Central American Free Trade Act were ratified with the
promise that exactly the opposite would occur. “Every day, working Tar
Heels shoulder the costs of trade while unfair and unwise policies
prevent them from enjoying the benefits rhapsodized about in economics
textbooks,” said John Quinterno, a research associate at the NC
Budget & Tax Center in Raleigh. Some of the heaviest hits were
taken in traditional manufacturing sectors — 14,336 jobs lost in
textiles, 11,373 jobs lost in apparel, and 7,761 jobs lost in
furniture, but newer fields such as computer and electronics
manufacturing — 8,064 jobs wiped out — were also significantly
affected. “The industrial trends show that China
is aggressively moving away from low-wage, low-value-added industries
in favor of more advanced technology products,” Quinterno said. “China
no longer wants to compete for the textile jobs found in communities
like Hickory; it wants to compete for the high-skill jobs in RTP. That
helps explain why col lege-educated workers — a group previously
thought to be immune to trade-related losses — have been
disproportionately affected by trade in recent years.” — JG
Turn off the tap
The
City/County Utilities Division in Forsyth County is asking residents to
voluntarily restrict water use due to drought conditions that have
reduced the flow of the Yadkin River to 10-year lows. The river, which
supplies 80 percent of the county’s water, averaged 553 cubic feet per
second this July compared to 1,659 cubic feet during non-drought years.
The utilities division recom mends limiting watering to one hour per
day in the mornings and evenings, fixing leaks and refraining from
washing cars or sidewalks. — AK
Coble defends tobacco industry
Rep. Howard Coble, the Republican who represents North Carolina’s 6 th Congressional District spoke out on the US House floor on July 30 against the proposed
Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. “During my tenure in Congress I have consistently op posed granting the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco,” he said. “I do so based upon my philosophical beliefs and the ramifications this legislation would have upon my congressional district and state.” Proponents such as the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) say the legislation would allow the FDA to keep tobacco manufacturers from enticing young people to smoke and would help current smokers quit. — JG
Ram stampede Winston-Salem State University officials expect a record-breaking freshman class to put the squeeze on the institution’s dormitory stock, according to a press release, forcing the college to rent hotel rooms for up to 260 returning students. Students shunted to area hotels will pay university rate for their rooms, with the university picking up the rest of the tab. The universityz set up a phone bank dedicated to answering students’ questions about housing and posted information on its website. — AK
White House staffers ordered to testify
US District Judge John D. Bates of the District of Columbia ordered White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers to
testify before the US House Judiciary Com mittee for an investigation
into the forced resignation of nine US attorneys in late 2006. Bates
wrote in an opinion filed on July 31 that the dispute between the White
Hose and the Judiciary Committee “pits the po litical branches of the federal government against one another in a case all agree presents issues of extraordi nary constitutional significance. Rep. Brad Miller, who represents North Carolina’s
13 th Congressional District, hailed the decision, saying that it
“should help avoid the most serious constitutional crisis in a
generations.” — JG
Free cancer screening in High Point
The
UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center in Chapel Hill is leading a
study on colorectal cancer in High Point this summer, said research
assistant Katya Roytburd in a recent e-mail to YES! Weekly.
Researchers
hope to enroll 300 people age 50 and above for free screenings. A
health clinic will be held on Thursday at the High Point office of
Piedmont Health Services and Sickle Cell Agency for people interested
in finding out whether they’re eligible to participate in the study.
For more information, call 866.625.6328. — JG
GSO might curb repeat requests by developers
Greensboro
may tighten up language in its development ordinance to try to curb
developers from making minor changes to rezoning requests to bypass a
12-month waiting period for resubmitting requests that have been
previously withdrawn or denied. “In the past few years, a number of
rezoning requests have been filed and were subsequently denied or
withdrawn following controversy on the requests,” Planning Director
Dick Hails wrote to City Manager Mitchell
Johnson in a July 29 memo. “Those requests were then refilled with
virtually the identical details of [the proposed development within one
year, except that the underlying zoning district was changed.” Hails
noted one request that came before council four times within a 12-month
period in a presentation to city council on Monday: Council ultimately
approved the request in February, allowing developer Mark P. Reynolds
to build a drive-thru Walgreens drug store at the intersection of New
Garden Road and Garden Lake. The proposed amendment would require
developers to obtain a finding of “significant change” before
resubmitting a request within the 12-month period. Hails said Greens
boro would likely model its amended regulations on a Guilford County
ordinance that makes its planning board responsible for approving
findings of “significant change.” Greensboro’s zoning commission
include members with close ties to the real estate industry, including
Chairman Tony Collins, a partner with Collins & Galyon General
Contracting; realtor Paul Gilmer; and Raymond Trapp, member services
coordinator for the Triad Apartment Association. In contrast, the city
of Durham vests that responsibility with administrative staff. Mayor Yvonne Johnson said
she favors giving the final say over the findings to the city council,
which hears appeals of zoning commission decisions. “You have some very
strong council members with very strong opinions,” she said. “I think a
recommendation could come to us from staff.” – JG
Minimum housing
The Winston-Salem
City Council held a public hear ing Aug. 4 in its ongoing efforts to
revise minimum housing standards in the Camel City. The housing staff
changed a handful of the new standards after a group of realtors and
other stakeholders pointed out that the new local code would exceed
state guidelines on issues like bathroom venting and central heat.
###Richard Miller###, president of the Winston-Sa lem Regional
Association of Realtors, praised Mayor ###Allen Joines### for meeting
the group halfway and then asked for changes in rules governing the
number of smoke detectors and amount of electrical supply for small
properties. The body heard the concerns, and then bounced the
discussion back to the Community Development/Housing/General Government
Commit tee, which meets Aug. 12. — AK
A ’burb with a plan
Members of the Winston-Salem
City Council unanimously agreed to turn the city’s southwestern
corridor into a patchwork of retail, residential, rural and recreation
areas bound by a comprehensive suburban plan. The Southwest Suburban
Area Plan designates 41 percent of the land within the study area —
which covers more than 13,000 acres — for residential use. The
southwestern part of the city is developing rapidly, and the city
adopted the plan to impose some kind of framework on development. A
major feature of the plan is its designation of the southern end of the
study area as a rural district. The city is sponsoring a study of
historic properties in the area to determine whether they qualify for
the National Register of Historic Places.
The southern end of
the study area falls outside city limits and is under the jurisdiction
of the Forsyth County Commission, which will have the opportunity to
approve the plan at its next meeting. — AK
