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Gov. Perdue helped announce $250,000 for eastern community college scholarships for the next five years.

The Minges Bottling Group will be granting the scholarship funds for eight Eastern North Carolina community colleges over the next five years.

The Minges Group, based in Ayden, has been a long-time supporter of the people in the region.  The group shares the vision of Gov. Perdue in wanting to open educational opportunities for North Carolinians, especially in tough economic times.

Gov. Perdue helped announced the fund at the Pepsi museum in New Bern. 

The scholarship program is structured to provide funds for both outstanding high school students as well as adults looking to re-tool their skills for a changing economy. The scholarships will be given to the eight community colleges within the Minges Bottling Group distribution area: Coastal Carolina Community College, Craven Community College, Lenoir Community College, Martin Community College, Pitt Community College, Pamlico Community College, Beaufort Community College and Carteret Community College.

While at the Pepsi Museum, Gov. Perdue shared a Pepsi with Jeff Minges, the company’s President and CEO, Thomas Minges, Chairman and CFO.  They enjoyed the soft drink in the same place that Caleb Bradham invented Pepsi-Cola in 1893. 

Juleigh Sitton, the Director of the Governor’s Western Office, was recently recognized for her work helping adults with disabilities get jobs.

She started last year with a trip to Andrews to tour Industrial Opportunities Inc. (IOI). IOI is a manufacturing company that provides contract sewing as well as a large number of finished products for customers ranging from national store chains and health care organizations to the U.S. Dept of Defense and many other organizations. IOI is also a non-profit organization serving adults with disabilities from Cherokee, Clay and Graham counties. Their Elastics Products Division provides employment to adults with severe disabilities as well as to support staff and production workers.

Earlier this year, she spent time in Waynesville at Haywood Vocational Opportunities, Inc. They are a manufacturing facility that provides hundreds of quality jobs for diverse populations in the area.

And last month, she met Scott Daugherty, North Carolina's Small Business Commissioner in Brevard where they toured Transylvania Vocation Services (TVS). TVS provides manufacturing and vocational services to workers with challenging disabilities.

According to Noel Watts, Executive Director of the Marketing Association of Rehabilitation Centers, "Juleigh has been an advocate and partner in our efforts to create jobs in Western North Carolina for people with and without disabilities."

Thanks to Juleigh for the important work she is doing in to create jobs in Western North Carolina.

We've received a number of questions about dove hunting season.  Executive Order 62 did not trigger the provisions of G.S. 14-288.7 and there was never any intention by the issuance of Executive Order 62 to restrict the transportation or possession of off premises firearms.  The order was written in such a way that the rights of North Carolina gun owners were not infringed upon. 

For more information, see the Wildlife Resources Commission's press release here.