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Blog
It’s a bright pageant of color. Under an azure sky, a parade of yellow vehicles rolls through the emerald countryside, trailing behind a black river of road.
It’s the N.C. Department of Transportation road oil crew, resurfacing country roads in Surry County on a gorgeous Indian Summer day. The procession of equipment is something to behold: first, an asphalt distributor laying a stream of chocolate-colored oil. That’s followed by a gravel-spreader, coupled to a dump truck feeding a continuous stream of crushed stone to be laid atop the oil. Then come a front-end loader, two rollers, more dump trucks, a broom tractor and assorted pickup trucks. It’s giant lemon millipede gobbling old roadway and replacing it with a ribbon of gleaming fresh asphalt.
The crew, from DOT’s Division 11 out of Wilkesboro, will repave about 3 miles of country roadway this day – about a typical day’s work. It takes a team of 24 employees and 18 vehicles and heavy equipment to lay that much road.
No, there’s not a clutch of a half-dozen guys standing around one person with a shovel. In fact, there’s only one shovel-wielder in sight. The rest are running the mostly computerized equipment, with about a half dozen workers posted at each end of the project and side roads along the way to control traffic.
The road-laying is an impressive display of precision. It’s harder than you think to guide a multi-ton gravel spreader down one lane and back the other without leaving a visible seam in the middle or wobbly edges. Under the equipment din, the workers communicate with a set of hand signals that would make a third-base coach proud.
The guys guffawed when I compared their teamwork to a ballet – these are chunky deer-hunters, mostly – but the coordination and precision were impressive. But supervisor Matthew Oliverson said that description is not far off: “It’s like a chain,” he said. “Everyone works together. They can read each other’s minds. They know what each other is doing.”
Like the rest of the DOT operation around the state, the work is hampered by the recession. The road oil crew normally is supplemented by about 15 temporary workers hired for the paving season. But DOT laid off some 2,000 temporaries this year, so Oliverson’s team has to make do by borrowing full-time employees from other parts of the operation. That means those workers aren’t able to do their regular jobs.
The impact – a lot less mileage being resurfaced. By year-end, the Wilkes team will complete about 75 miles of road, compared to 150 miles in normal years. There have been complaints, but so far the public has been understanding, says Oliverson. Their hope: that the recession ends soon, state coffers start filling back up, and these workers – proud of their public service – can get back to laying more asphalt.
As a prelude to National Cyber Security Awareness Month, Governor Perdue joins Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in recognizing the inaugural WALK to Stop Child Trafficking Now, which takes place Sunday, September 27, 2009. Child trafficking occurs all over the world, including in our own country, and much of the preying on children is initiated over the Internet. Stop Child Trafficking Now (SCTN) seeks to create awareness of this problem, and the walk on Sunday will help raise money for their cause. Walks are planned in approximately 40 cities nationwide, including several in North Carolina.
October is also State Cyber Security Awareness Month.
Charlie Smith could hardly believe his good fortune at featuring Tammy Duckworth, Assistant Secretary for Public Policy and Intergovernmental Policy at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, at the annual conference of the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs (NASDVA) last week in Asheville.
“While she was speaking, I was just standing to the side, enjoying it,” recalled Charlie, Director of the N.C. Division of Veterans Affairs and immediate past president of NASDVA. “It was a complete surprise when she called me to the stage. She really got me.”
Duckworth presented Charlie with the prestigious Secretary’s Award, signed by General Erik K. Shinseki, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
“It means so much to receive this from Tammy, since she’s really one of us,” said Charlie, noting that Duckworth was previously director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.
Charlie said he was especially proud that General Shinseki’s signature is on the plaque.
“I really have the highest regard for him,” he said of the former Commander of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “He lost half his foot in Vietnam when he was a young officer. He was going to be discharged for disability but he fought it. He stayed in a military hospital for 10 months and was able to rehab sufficiently to be deemed fit for military service.
“He went from there to four-star general,” Charlie said with evident admiration, “He’s just a hero’s hero.”
While he’d be loath to boast of it, Charlie also has a distinguished career of service, which no doubt earned him this high honor. We are fortunate that he has been Director of the state VA since 1989, served as assistant director the previous year, plus another 17 years as a District Service Officer in Kinston. Additionally, he served three years of active duty in the U.S. Army, including one year in Vietnam, and 23 years in the U.S. Army Reserve, from which he retired as a Colonel in 2006.
Kids and parents alike can now learn about more than just animals the next time they visit the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. A new stormwater wetland will educate them about the importance of protecting the state’s water quality, as well as the benefits of team work.
The wetland was built through a partnership between the N.C. Department of Transportation, the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Clean Water Management Trust Fund. The organizations worked together to gain environmental permits, design, fund and oversee construction on the $1 million project.
The wetland took more than three years to transition from an idea to a reality, but the wait was definitely worth it.
When rain falls on the zoo’s 11-acre North America parking lot, it washes pollutants such as oil leaked from cars into storm drains. Before the wetland existed, the dirty water would flow from the drains right into the zoo’s lake. That is no longer the case. Now, the water is filtered as it passes through the wetland and goes into the lake untainted.
Through a successful partnership, the wetland project is not only improving the water quality in the lake, but it is also better protecting the plants and animals that rely on it for survival.
The next time you go to the zoo, stop by the wetland, read the signs explaining how it works, and enjoy the scenic overlooks and nearby picnic areas. NCDOT and its project partners hope the wetland will highlight our commitment to the environment and motivate others to follow in our “green” footsteps.
I'd like to tell you about a new feature on our website, a brief history of each former North Carolina Governor since 1776. Click here to read up on the 66 men that held the Governor’s Office prior to Bev Perdue.
Thank you to the Department of Cultural Resources and in particular historian Michael Hill for putting this together. You can read even more about each former governor in Michael Hill’s book, “The Governor’s of North Carolina.”
The stories of our former governors are just the latest incarnation of a partnership between the Governor’s Office and the Department of Cultural Resources to highlight the history and culture of our great state on the web. Previously, we created interactive websites on the State Capitol and the Executive Mansion and there is more to come.
What do Hillary Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, the Pope, Sonia Sotomayor and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith have in common? They have all sustained broken bones or other injuries from a fall this summer. And they are not alone. In North Carolina, falls are the leading cause of fatal injuries and the second- leading cause of nonfatal injuries for people 65 and older. That’s why Gov. Bev Perdue has declared the first week of fall, Sept. 20-26, to be Falls Prevention Awareness Week.
Here are 5 simple things that you can do to help prevent a fall:
1) Exercise regularly. Research shows that strengthening your legs, improving your balance and increasing your overall mobility are the most effective actions you can take to prevent falls.
2) Ask your doctor or pharmacist to review your medicines. Make sure to have prescriptions and any over-the-counter medications reviewed to reduce side effects and interactions.
3) Have your eyes checked by an eye doctor at least once a year.
4) Make sure your home is well-lit. As people get older, they need brighter lights to see well.
5) Reduce the hazards in your home that can lead to falls. Install grab bars near the toilet and around the shower or bath stall, and put handrails in stairwells or other risk areas. Use a walking aid if it will help your mobility. But if you do use a walking aid (such as a cane or walker), work with a physical therapist or other health care provider to learn how to use it safely.
In fiscal year 2008-09, the Division of Facility Management (FM) was able to divert more than 1,329 tons of office waste from the landfills to recycling markets under the Office Recycling Services Contract. This year, we anticipate that total will increase as a result of HB1465, which bans the disposal of rigid plastic containers – including beverage bottles – into solid waste facilities in North Carolina.
The ban is effective Oct. 1. For details on which plastic items must be recycled and which non-recyclable plastics should be disposed of with general trash, click here.
As part of its Recycling Services Contract, FM is providing basic recycling containers for the collection and recycling of plastic in state-owned and -maintained buildings located in the Raleigh/Wake County region. Agencies located elsewhere will need to make their own arrangements.
As a reminder, FM provides for the collection and recycling of the following items: plastic, glass, aluminum, paper, shredded material, magazines, maps and glossy material.
For additional tools and information on recycling programs in state government facilities, contact FM Recycling Coordinator Patricia Scurlock at patricia.scurlock@doa.nc.gov. The N.C. Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance provides additional resources and tools for the business, home, state and local government on recycling programs and disposal of banned landfill materials on its website at http://www.p2pays.org.
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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s recent announcement that the Obama Administration is stepping up its efforts in traditional civil rights was music to my ears.
This is very encouraging to the N.C. Human Relations Commission in that the federal agency has identified fair housing and increased awareness of anti-discrimination as key issues. These are our key areas as well, and the very reason why we have completely reorganized.
Since I became Executive Director in June, the Commission has been engaged in process improvement and staff training to enhance the efficiency with which our cases are managed. Training for landlords, big and small, is a top priority.
We also need to help our renters understand that sometimes they are in the wrong. Some cases are borderline and are found to be without cause. But then there are others where there is cause and we tried to reach an accord, a conciliation. That, and not litigation, is always our goal.
As former Director of the Robeson Human Relations Commission – and still a pastor and member of the local school board – I believe the time is right for healing and restoring trust in Human Relations agencies.
We have a responsibility to provide direction, counsel and resources to assist folks who seek resolution of their concerns. We are taking steps to better educate the community about the laws and what we can do for those who believe they have been discriminated against.
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It goes without saying that all state agencies strive to be productive and injury-free in the execution of their tasks. With all the work involved in maintaining and repairing about 8,500 vehicles in the state fleet, that has proved to be a challenging goal for Motor Fleet Management.
Until last year, that is. It was with great pride that I called our staff together recently to announce what their hard work and focus on safety has accomplished: For the first time ever, Motor Fleet has been recognized with a Certificate of Safety Achievement from the N.C. Department of Labor.
For the year 2008, our Division did not have any injuries severe enough to be reported. This is quite an accomplishment, given all of the machinery we operate on our grounds and with the potential for injury to our mechanics from working on thousands of vehicles.
We are very proud of this achievement, which is directly credited to our great staff and renewed emphasis on safety. I’ve made it clear to everyone that we’ve got plenty of room on the wall for more certificates to come, and we’ll continue to work hard to earn them.
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