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Nepal quake: Over 1000 dead, history razed, Everest shaken – WBTV 3 News …

Posted on April 26, 2015 by

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KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) – A Nepalese police official says at least 1,394 people are confirmed dead after a massive earthquake that struck the Himalayan nation.

Inspector Yuvraj Khadka of Nepal’s national police force says that the death toll is expected to continue rising following Saturday’s quake.

The magnitude 7.8 quake struck Nepal before noon and was most severely felt in the capital and the densely populated Kathmandu Valley. More than a dozen smaller aftershocks continued to ripple through the region for hours.

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Tourism To Guilford Military Park Has $10M Impact

Posted on April 25, 2015 by

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Travel is a blessing, so here are ways to pay it forward

Posted on April 25, 2015 by

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After hundreds of business trips and a vacation or two, Clement Quintyne’s Briggs Riley Rollaboard was ready for the recycler.

His wife, Debra, figured it was time for new luggage, but what to do with the old bag?

Then she heard about the company’s new trade-in program called “A Case for Giving.” Quintyne, a manager from Raleigh, N.C., could return his luggage and receive a $100 credit on a new Briggs Riley bag. The aging spinner would be donated to charity.

It was a deal she couldn’t pass up, she said, because there’s a deficit of compassion among travelers.

“I don’t think travelers are charitable to one another,” she said. “Hopefully, this luggage exchange will spread and will make people stop and think about the many blessings that they have.”

The Briggs Riley program, which just wrapped up, is one of many travel-related charities that are easy to miss in today’s frenetic travel world.

It can start before your trip begins, with your planning. For example, Vacation 4 A Cause, a travel agency based in Flower Mound, donates a portion of the money you spend on your vacation to a nonprofit partner. The agency’s mission: “Making the world a better place, one vacation at a time.” A typical resort vacation for a family of four could generate a donation of about $300, said Jennifer Gross, the agency’s owner.

Organizations such as Tourism Cares help the travel industry be more philanthropic, giving professionals like Gross an outlet for giving and volunteering. Most recently, it coordinated an effort by 325 volunteers from 29 states to help restore Miami’s landmark Marine Stadium.

Lately, it has added philanthropy and corporate social responsibility programs, said Mike Rea, the organization’s chief executive, such as philanthropic awards and strategy consulting.

“Travelers are using their pocketbooks in new ways to benefit communities,” Rea said. “Often, before they leave, they’ll scout out options for giving back and getting involved. Sometimes they plan their whole trip around community involvement.”

Voluntourism, as the concept is known, remains one of the most popular ways for travelers to get involved in a charitable cause.

Because many tours are just resort vacations interrupted by an afternoon of feel-good activities, like picking up trash on the beach, tour operators such as REI Adventures are trying to set themselves apart by offering trips that make a “real and significant impact,” said REI Adventures’ Cynthia Dunbar.

Its Virgin Islands Volunteer Vacation, for instance, focuses on trail work in Virgin Islands National Park that is done alongside National Park Service rangers. You’ll clean debris, fix trails and remove vegetation in the park. But it’s not all work; you’ll have two free days out of the week to hike, snorkel, swim and relax.

Hotels are getting in on the act, too. The Sheraton Kauai Resort offers a program called Table 53 at its signature oceanfront restaurant, RumFire Poipu Beach. A portion of your check goes to charity. So far, the program has raised $90,000.

“It’s an easy way for travelers to give back to our small island community,” said hotel spokeswoman June Cappiello.

The two-week luggage exchange by Briggs Riley resulted in hundreds of bags being donated through participating retailers. The luggage was refurbished and sent to people in immediate need in local communities, including the Ronald McDonald House charities in New York, Atlanta and Denver. All told, more than 100 charity partners participated in the promotion.

Bottom line: No matter where you’re going or what stage of the journey you’re at, there are more opportunities than ever to do good.

Christopher Elliott’s latest book is How to Be the World’s Smartest Traveler. You can get real-time answers to any consumer question on his new forum, elliott.org/forum, or by email at celliott@ngs.org.

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Berkeley announces schools chief finalists

Posted on April 25, 2015 by

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GUEST COMMENTARY: Founding fathers owe a lot to remarkable women

Posted on April 25, 2015 by

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As Women’s History Month wraps up at the end of March, there’s something we want to know: Why should half of the human race be relegated to one month a year?

Especially in American history, where we have molded our Founding Fathers into deities of bronze and marble, it’s important to consider the perspective of the distaff side in order to get a more accurate, not to mention more lively, understanding of the shaping of our society.

The men who declared independence, fought in the Revolution and crafted the Constitution were well aware that what they were doing was extraordinary.

If they succeeded, they knew that their writings and letters would be preserved and published, so they carefully chose their words, editing extensively.

Their missives bear such a weight of posterity (and in some cases, pomposity) that they might have been composed by their massive marble replicas.

It takes the women in their lives to introduce us to the Founders as flesh-and-blood human beings — husbands, brothers, sons, friends, lovers — with all the passion and playfulness, flaws and feelings that go with those roles.

To whom other than his wife would the great jurist John Marshall have admitted that he had arrived in Raleigh, North Carolina, without any breeches?

“I immediately set out to get a pair made. I thought I should be a sans-culotte only one day,” but the tailors were busy, so “I have the extreme mortification to pass the whole term without that important article of dress I have mentioned.”

What was he wearing under those robes? It’s a very different mental image than the formal portraits portray.

When they write to women, the men are franker and funnier about themselves and their colleagues, and more honest in their political judgments and in seeking the opinions of these often-remarkable women — women our young people should know about.

But even better than the letters from the men to the women are the ones written by the women themselves. They had no expectation that we would be reading their mail hundreds of years later.

Unfortunately, too many letters have been lost, and too many women like Martha Washington destroyed correspondence we would have found enlightening. But the letters and diaries that remain give us a much fuller and fresher insight into our history.

Women report on politics and pregnancies, often in the same sentence; they comment on economic conditions and fashion and food. They also paint unvarnished pictures of men in power.

Here’s a story no man would tell: John Quincy Adams’ wife, Louisa, went to a meeting of the trustees of the Washington Orphan Asylum after the congressional session that was spent hammering out the Missouri Compromise in 1820.

What she learned there shocked her: “The session had been very long, the fathers of the nation had left forty cases to be provided for by the public and that our institution was the most likely to be called upon to maintain this illicit progeny.”

No man would even know that the departing lawmakers had left behind 40 pregnant women, and if he did, you can bet he wouldn’t write about it. And no man was working diligently for the orphans the way the women were: one of their many contributions to American society.

Almost 50 years later, Louisa’s daughter-in-law, Abigail Brooks Adams, scolded: “the Senate behave like children and silly ones at that.”

Her own husband, then-Congressman Charles Francis Adams, occasionally numbered among the men exasperating her, leading her to conclude, “I would advise any young woman who wishes to have an easy, quiet life, not to marry an Adams.”

Most of her call-it-as-she-saw-it musings (President Buchanan was a “heavy old toad”) have never been published — an all-too-common situation. Many women’s writings have stayed buried in their husband’s files, passed over as historians dissect the political ponderings of the men.

But their letters are so engaging and infused with such a sense of immediacy that history comes alive and becomes something young people would enjoy learning.

And seen through the women’s lens, the men who founded our nation — and those who have led it over the centuries — become more accessible and admirable. It’s easy for a deity to do something extraordinary. It’s much harder for the actual human beings we meet through the women.

Those humans are people our kids can emulate; that’s reason enough to keep women in our history 12 months a year. Without them, we get a distorted picture of the past, and one that’s a lot less fun.

Steve and Cokie Roberts can be contacted by email at stevecokie@gmail.com.

Tagged with: Boone NC

Easter Weekend Fundraiser for the Middle Fork Greenway Project Nets $48350

Posted on April 25, 2015 by

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Local business owners gather at a “check collection celebration” to benefit the Middle Fork Greenway. Photo by Jesse Wood

By Jesse Wood

Fifty five businesses and seven individuals raised $48,350 during the Easter Weekend fundraiser on behalf of the Middle Fork Greenway project. The results were announced at a “check collection celebration” in between Mystery Hill and Tweetsie Railroad on Thursday afternoon.

Appalachian Ski Mtn.’s General Manager Brad Moretz, who plans to make this an annual fundraiser, spearheaded the fundraiser by announcing that he would extend the ski season at the resort through Easter Weekend and donate all ski-ticket sales on that Saturday to the Middle Fork Greenway initiative. Dozens of other business jumped on board with the majority agreeing to pledge 25% of Easter Saturday sales or $500 or more in cash.

“We were touched by the generous and enthusiastic response from our many locally-owned businesses,” Moretz said. “In our tourism-driven economy, local businesses recognize the value of the Middle Fork Greenway will bring to both residents and visitors.”

Middle Fork Greenway Executive Director Ann Browning called the response “overwhelming.”

Proceeds from this benefit will provide matching funds for outstanding grant requests, land purchases and construction of the next segment of the greenway.

The Middle Fork Greenway is a 6.5-mile pedestrian and cycling trail located in between Boone and Blowing Rock. Of the proposed 6.5 miles, only one mile of trail has been developed so far.

The Middle Fork Greenway will be a part of the New River Headwaters Trail, a network of three trails – Middle Fork Greenway, Boone Greenway and South Fork Greenway – connecting Boone, Blowing Rock and Todd. New River Headwaters Trail is a project of High Country Pathways.

The Middle Fork Greenway is a collaboration between the Middle Fork Greenway Association, Blue Ridge Conservancy and High Country Pathways – along with other community and local government partners.

For more about the Middle Fork Greenway project, click here and view the master plan of the project here. For more information about the Middle Fork Greenway Association, click here.

Contributing Businesses

Yadkin Bank, presenting sponsor
ECR Software, presenting sponsor
Mast General Store, presenting sponsor
Alpen Acres Motel
Damon Anagnos, MD, Plastic Surgery
Appalachian Mountain Brewery
Appalachian Ski Mtn.
Basil’s Fresh Pasta and Deli
Black Cat Burrito in Boone
The Blowing Rock Attraction
Blowing Rock Brewing Co.
Blowing Rock Inn
Blowing Rock Market
Boone Drug
Carolina Mountain Lodge
Chesseburger’s Grille
Chetola Resort
Comfort Suites of Boone
Dianne Davant Interiors
Doc’s Rocks Gem Mine
Doc’s Rocks Gem Mine
Fairfield Inn Suites Boone
Farm to Flame Food Truck
Foggy Rock Eatery Pub
Jane Fonvielle
Footsloggers
Foscoe Rentals/Echota
French Swiss Ski College
Gaines Kiker Silversmith
Grandfather Mountain
Green Park Inn
Hemlock Inn
Highland Hills Motel Cabins
Adam E. Hill, DDS, PA
The Inn at Ragged Gardens
Jenkins Rentals
Kilwin’s of Blowing Rock
La Quinta Inn Suites
Lost Province Brewing Company
Magic Cycles
Makato’s Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar
Meadowbrook Inn
Melanie’s Food Fantasy
Mellow Mushroom (Boone and Blowing Rock)
Mountainaire Inn Log Cabins
Mystery Hill
The New Public House Hotel
Norwood’s Commercial Appliances
Jim and Suzie Parnell
Pepper’s Restaurant and Bar
Ray’s Weather
Recess Ridge Shop
Red Onion Cafe
Roots Restaurant
Xan Sanders
Jim and Suzanne Shaut
Sleep Inn Boone
Stick Boy Bread Company
Sunset Tee’s and Hattery
Super 8 of Boone
The Ethel and George Kennedy Foundation/The Herterich Fund
The TApp Room
Ed Winebarger

Danny Wilcox, Appalachian Mountain Brewery

Ray Pickett of Blowing Rock Inn, Kent Tarbutton of Chetola

Rob Dyer of Best Cellar Restaurant

Charlie Sellers of the Blowing Rock Attraction

Brad Moretz of Appalachian Ski Mountain

Jack Pepper of Pepper’s Restaurant

Lynn Mason of Lost Province Brewery

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Things to do in the Myrtle Beach area on April 25

Posted on April 25, 2015 by

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Final day for film fest

The Myrtle Beach International Film Festival concludes, at Carmike Cinemas’ Broadway 17, at Broadway at the Beach, off Robert M. Grissom Parkway, between 21st and 29th avenues North in Myrtle Beach (445-1616). $10 per two-hour block of films, or $50 all-access pass. 497-0220 or www.myrtlebeachfilmfestival.com:

▪ Noon-2 p.m. – “The Star Fishing Boy” (12 minutes), “Sugar, My Sweet Enemy” (28), “The Magic Bracelet” (20) and “The Current” (46).

▪ 2:30-4:30 p.m. – “Birthday” (12), “The Walk” (20), “Nocebo” (39) and “The King Next Door” (34).

▪ 5-7 p.m. – “A Chess Player” (22) and “Amongst the Shadows” (88).

▪ 7-8 p.m. – Complimentary sushi from Jimmyz Original Hibachi House of Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach, and wine tasting from Silver Coast Winery of Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., with jazz by Denny Hess Trio.

▪ 8-9:30 p.m. – “One Armed Man” (30), “The Window” (17), “Taxi Stop” (20) and “Berlin Troika” (12).

▪ 9:30 p.m. – Awards ceremony, in theater.

▪ 10 p.m.-midnight – After-party at Sun City Cafe, 801 Main St., Myrtle Beach.

Other ideas for outings

▪ Community yard sale benefit, 7 a.m.-noon at Myrtle Beach Intermediate School, on Oak Street, between 29th and 38th avenues North. 626-5831.

▪ Seventh annual Dragon Boat Festival, benefiting Ground Zero of Myrtle Beach, a ministry to teens, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at Myrtle Beach’s Grand Park, on Farrow Parkway. Free to see. 945-9440 or www.groundzeromb.com/dragonboat.

▪ Myrtle Beach Kennel Club All-Breed Dog Show and Rally, open 8:30 a.m. Saturday-Sunday at Southeastern Agricultural Center, 1027 U.S. 74 E., Lumberton, N.C. Free admission; parking $5. 902-6338 or www.myrtlebeachkennelclub.com.

▪ Seacoast Artists Guild’s “Art in Common” festival, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday in Myrtle Beach’s Valor Memorial Garden, on Farrow Parkway, at The Market Common. Free. 232-7009 or www.seacoastartistsguild.com.

▪ Myrtle Beach Coin Show, benefiting Horry County Meals on Wheels, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday at Springmaid Beach Resort, 3200 S. Ocean Blvd., Myrtle Beach. Free. 293-9000.

▪ Canine Carnival and Rescue Day, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at A Dog’s Way Inn, 761 Pendergrass Ave., Murrells Inlet, behind T-Bones Steak House. Free. 357-4545 or www.adogswayinn.com.

▪ Socastee Heritage Festival, benefiting Socastee Heritage Foundation, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Dick Pond Road, between Socastee Boulevard (S.C. 707) and swing bridge. Free. Also, Hot Rod Promotions (503-8245), car show, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. for $25 entry per car. 458-1461 or www.socasteehf.com.

▪ Myrtle Beach Car Club cruise-in, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at Jud Kuhn Chevrolet, 3740 S.C. 9 E., Little River. Free. 742-9802.

▪ Free Tree Party, with more than 1,000 saplings, and tree planting and care seminars, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. at Hog Heaven barbecue restaurant, 7147 Ocean Highway, on south end of Pawleys Island. 457-8126 or 651-9309.

▪ “Saturday Music Wine,” noon-6 p.m., with music 1-5 p.m. by Jerry Jones, at La Belle Amie Vineyard, 1120 St. Joseph Road, Little River, just west of North Myrtle Beach Middle School. Free. 399-9463 or labelleamie.com.

▪ Metropolitan Opera live with “Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci,” 12:30 p.m. at Cinemark at Coastal Grand mall, off Seaboard Street in Myrtle Beach. $24 adult, $22 senior and $16 child. 839-3225 or www.cinemark.com.

▪ “Profiles in American Character: Robert E. Lee” film, 1 p.m. at Horry County Museum (open 9 a.m.-5 p.m.), 805 Main St., Conway. Free. 915-5320 or www.horrycountymuseum.org.

▪ Carolina Master Chorale’s “A Big Band in the House of God,” 4 p.m. at Coastal Carolina University’s Wheelwright Auditorium, off U.S. 501 in Conway. $20 adults, $15 veterans and seniors, and $5 students through age 22. 444-5774 or www.carolinamasterchorale.com.

▪ Opening reception for “The Power of Three” exhibit of works by National Sculpture Society members, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Cheryl Newby Gallery, 11096 Ocean Highway, Pawleys Island, in The Shops at Oak Lea, with show through May 23. Free. 979-0149 or www.cherylnewbygallery.com.

▪ “Praisefest” with Debra Snipes and The Angels, 6 p.m. at Chesterfield Missionary Baptist Church, 8591 S.C. 90, Longs. $15 donation. 399-6421 or 390-0597.

▪ Wine Fest benefit, 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Museum of Coastal Carolina, 21 E. Second St., Ocean Isle Beach, N.C. $50. 910-579-1016 or museumplanetarium.org.

▪ Senior Dance with Rosalie and Jack Drust, disc jockeys, 7-10 p.m. at Myrtle Beach Base Recreation Center, 800 Gabreski Lane, close to Horry-Georgetown Technical College Grand Strand campus and Farrow Parkway and The Market Common. $7. 570-881-0244 or email rosalie182@att.net.

▪ Ninth annual Georgetown Rotary Club Shag Festival, benefiting Alzheimer’s research and other community service projects, 7-11 p.m. on King Street between Front and Prince streets, with music by Heart ’N Soul. $20 advance, $25 at gate, including free shag lessons 6-7 p.m. www.shagfestival.com.

▪ The Platters, Legacy of The Miracles, and The Coasters, 7 p.m. at Alabama Theatre, at Barefoot Landing, on U.S. 17 in North Myrtle Beach. $34.95, $42.95 or $48.95. 272-1111 or www.alabama-theatre.com,

▪ “Almost Queen” tribute, 8 p.m. at Palace Theatre, at Broadway at the Beach, at 21st Avenue North and U.S. 17 Bypass in Myrtle Beach. $29.95 or $34.95 ages 13 and older, or $9.95 ages 3-12, plus tax. 448-0588 or www.palacemb.com.

For a complete list of upcoming events, festivals and shows, visit MyrtleBeachOnline.com/kicks.

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Why Raleigh-Durham International Airport needs a new GlaxoSmithKline

Posted on April 25, 2015 by

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American Airlines brought the London flight to RDU almost exactly 21 years ago.

7 photos

Lauren K. Ohnesorge
Staff Writer- Triangle Business Journal

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When American Airlines (NYSE: AAL) decided to take a bet on a nonstop flight from Raleigh-Durham International Airport to London decades ago, it was because of one company: Glaxo – now called GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK).

The British drug maker is still a frequent flyer, despite its recent headcount reductions in Research Triangle Park. While American Airlines wouldn’t say whether the cuts had impacted passenger vacancy numbers, local execs who frequent the flight say it’s still heavily traveled, providing a gateway to operations in Europe and beyond. Not only are executives vocal about their need to keep the flight, they’re also increasingly speaking out about the need for other flights, to destinations such as Paris and Frankfurt.

Read: Why the next international flight probably won’t come from American Airlines

The Regional Transportation Alliance is even trying to match an already pledged $500,000 by the RDU Transportation Authority with business contributions to entice a flight. And experts say it’s likely carriers will need something enticing to choose on RDU, as recent figures suggest it won’t be easy to make another flight across the Atlantic profitable.

To get an idea of what needs to happen to get another flight, Triangle Business Journal interviewed one of the people who made that London flight possible: Venture capitalist and former Glaxo CEO Bob Ingram.

Then

Almost exactly 21 years ago, a 172-seat Boeing 757 took off on an eight-hour flight for London from Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

It was the debut of American Airlines’ London flight, which started at about $800, round trip.

Then, it was the second international route across the Atlantic, after the now-discontinued American flight to Paris, which had its first takeoff in 1988.

Ingram says it was needed.

“We were flying private airplanes back and forth every day from London to Raleigh-Durham,” he recalls, an expensive endeavor, even for such a giant pharma company. So Ingram boarded another plane, to meet then-CEO of American Airlines Bob Crandall. “We agreed that, with some incentives from Glaxo, they would put that flight in. … It turned into, obviously, a win-win.”

While he can’t recall the number of tickets per year Glaxo committed to, media reports at the time indicate that Glaxo regularly booked more than 100 flights per month to the United Kingdom. And efforts were underway to increase North Carolina’s visibility abroad.

Then-Gov. Jim Hunt announced a $5 million tourism campaign to encourage Europeans to pick North Carolina as a vacation destination.

Now

Today, Ingram says, the flight is no longer dependent on GSK. GSK’s recent layoff wave primarily impacts research and development, Ingram says, adding that, as former chairman, he couldn’t really comment on the pink slips.

“While that will have some effect on ridership, the fact that this will become more the U.S. commercial headquarters, I think, will offset that in time,” he says.

Ingram, a regular user of the London flight, took it earlier this week, he says, adding that it was a full plane.

While American Airlines wouldn’t say how many people use the flight, they have pledged new investments in the London flight. American Airlines’ route to London-Heathrow will be served by a larger plane, a Boeing 777, starting June 4, which means travelers will be able to fly first class. The move is temporary, while the company refurbishes the Boeing 767 that currently serves the route. An American spokesperson, reached Friday, said the route wasn’t going to change any time soon.

By the numbers: A new flight

According to a study by N.C. State University professor Michael Walden, a new international flight would raise the GDP by 1.4 billion over a 25-year period, creating 14,000 new jobs and $272 million in new public money. It would also increase access to connecting flights. For example, should a route from RDU to Paris happen, that would give RDU fliers access to 51 European flights currently not available from London. Should a nonstop flight to Frankfurt emerge, it would give travelers access to 44 flights in Europe, one flight to the Middle East and one flight to the near east, none of which are currently available from Heathrow.

It’s those connecting flight options that would be most impactful, says another Triangle leader and frequent London flyer, Jay Parker, who leads the RTP-based enterprise division at Chinese electronics maker Lenovo.

“It could save time and money,” he says, adding that a connecting flight can mean costly hotel stays.

Lenovo has people flying in and out of RDU from all over the world on a daily basis, he says.

Lauren Ohnesorge covers information technology and entrepreneurship.

Tagged with: Raleigh

Backyard Wildlife: Cary garden is a haven for bats

Posted on April 25, 2015 by

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Among the chief rewards for wildlife gardeners is seeing the fruits of our labor: butterflies flocking around flowers in the morning or hummingbirds at the feeder in the afternoon.

For Cary’s Kathy Martin, that treat comes just before dark, when dozens of bats fly across her yard as they set out on their evening’s quest for flies, bugs, ants, beetles, wasps and similar dining options.

“I enjoy sitting on the patio in my side yard with a glass of wine and watching the bats come out,” Martin said. “My neighbors like to watch them the same as I do. Bats are such different creatures.”

The creatures in residence in Martin’s two bat houses are Mexican free-tail bats, Tadarida brasiliensis. These are brown or gray bats with short noses and bodies less than 4 inches long.

If you’ve ever visited Austin, Texas, you’ve probably seen or heard of this species; some 1.5 million of them live beneath the Congress Avenue Bridge. If you are a rum drinker, you might also recognize them from the Bacardi logo.

Martin said she became a fan of bats after seeing one inside her home about 10 years ago. She called a pest control company, and inspectors discovered that a small colony had set up a home in her attic.

People don’t want bats sharing their living quarters because of health hazards posed by guano, the bat droppings that make a fabulous fertilizer but may also develop illness-causing fungi if allowed to accumulate, said Lisa Gatens, curator of mammals at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences.

Long fascinated by birds and other backyard wildlife, Martin turned to Bat Conservation International, batcon.org, whose website is full of helpful tips on dealing with bats.

The site explains that there are 1,300 species, and all play an important role in pest control around the world. Many also pollinate plants and disperse seeds that are needed to repopulate our forests with the next generation of trees and plants.

A threat to bats

A major threat to North American bats is white-nose syndrome, a fungus that has spread from one New York cave in 2006 to 25 states today, including Western North Carolina, as well as parts of Canada, killing 5.7 million bats so far.

Other threats to bats come from deforestation and other habitat disruptions, including human intrusion into the caves and mines where many bats hibernate. The hibernation period is essential to the mammals’ ability to conserve energy in winter, when food sources are insufficient for activity.

Bats can be a great backyard resource, ridding the garden of harmful plant pests like beetles and worms, while also taking a bite out of the mosquito population. Some eat fruit or nectar. Others dine on small lizards, fish or smaller mammals. And, yes, in South America there actually are three species of vampire bats that feed on blood, but only one with a preference for mammal blood. They don’t suck blood but lap it.

The popular idea that most bats are rabid is overblown, Gatens said.

Bats behaving erratically, flying in populated areas during daylight hours, for example, are the ones most often tested for rabies, and fewer than 10 percent of those come back with positive results. Gatens’ advice is to treat bats as you would any other wild animal and do not touch or handle them.

Providing a habitat

But it’s not difficult – or dangerous – to provide a hospitable habitat.

Because Martin got the facts and didn’t react in fear after learning about the bats in her attic about a decade ago, she was able to oust them in a humane manner.

She discovered that most bats are born in May, which inspired her to delay eviction proceedings until fall, when the babies would be old enough to fly. And she spent the summer building a bat house based on plans from http://nando.com/16d.

In the fall, Martin fashioned a screen to block bats from entering her house. By leaving the screen unattached at the bottom and extending it several inches beneath the vent openings, bats were able to leave the attic but not re-enter – “basically creating a one-way door,” she said.

“Bats typically drop 10 feet when they leave their roost and start to fly,” she explained. “They have to gain enough lift, air under their wings, to fly. That’s what is happening a lot of times when people think bats are swooping at them.”

The bats who left her house that fall were heading southward for five months or so of hibernation. The next spring, they came back to her yard and adopted the newly crafted bat house as their new home.

Free fertilizer

Today, when she’s not bat watching on the patio, Martin works with parks and other organizations interested in building bat houses and advocates for support of the world’s only true flying mammals.

Ready-made bat houses, sometimes called bat shelters, are available online for $20 to $100, depending on size. Be sure to check the specifications to ensure your choice conforms to Bat Conservation standards. If you’re handy, use the organization’s plans to build it yourself for less.

Once the bats are relocated to the bat house, they take care of themselves. And as a bonus, you’ll get plenty of guano to fertilize the garden by simply shoveling up what drops to the ground beneath the house, Martin said.

For more information, including lists and descriptions of bats found in North Carolina, visit the Museum of Natural Sciences Web page at http://nando.com/16e.

Elder: wildlifechatter@gmail.com

Tagged with: North Carolina

McGrady bill gives cities some potential breathing room – Asheville Citizen

Posted on April 25, 2015 by

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We would prefer that the General Assembly leave North Carolina’s sales tax law alone. But that is not going to happen, and Chuck McGrady’s bill would lessen the impact on urban counties.

Traditionally, the two cents of sales tax earmarked for local use is redistributed based on where the money is collected. The General Assembly instead is set on distributing the money according to population. The big losers would be cities that collect a lot of sales tax from nonresidents.

In Asheville, 50,000 people visit every day with 9.1 million visitors annually, Mayor Esther Manheimer said. These people use city services but do not pay city taxes. “People say it’s great for business, and it is great for business,” the mayor said. “But it’s hard on a local government.”

The cost to Asheville of the sales tax bill is estimated at $1.5 million. That comes atop another $1.5 million lost from the state’s elimination of local business privilege taxes. Combined, that works out to about 3 percent of the city’s general fund. Roughly half of that fund goes for public safety.

McGrady, a Republican state representative from Hendersonville, is sponsoring a bill that would allow cities and counties to levy an additional quarter-cent sales tax and keep all the money. That would raise the rate in Asheville to 7.25 percent, not counting the 4 percent county hotel occupancy tax.

The new tax would raise $6 million in Asheville, enough to offset the losses and provide some relief to city budgeters. One possibility would be to reduce property taxes, but that should be done only after determining it would not create new problems.

We’re not crazy about new taxes, but the state is giving counties and cities no alternative when it keeps chipping away at their finances. Local governments can expect more demands on their resources as the state tries to make up for the tax cuts it gave to the wealthy and corporations.

The only funding sources under the control of cities and counties are property taxes and fees — at least those fees the state hasn’t taken away. “They can raise prop taxes, but that’s not something they’d like to do,” McGrady said. “They’d like to have a broader range of options, so they’re not just having to default to property taxes.”

The bill probably has a good chance of passage in the House. The primary sponsor in Republican Jason Saine of Lincolnton, who chairs the finance committee. There is no indication yet as to how it will fare in the Senate.

Manheimer would prefer that the state give cities more control over the existing sales tax. The problem with increasing the sales tax is that it tends to be regressive, imposing a disproportionate burden on those less able to pay. Still, as the mayor notes, it does capture money from nonresidents using city services.

“To really hit the nail on the head for Asheville would be a food and beverage tax which would be more focused on tourism,” the mayor said, “but a sales tax may be a cruder way of getting to that same end.”

The best solution would be a constitutional amendment giving cities and counties home rule. Under home rule, the state couldn’t take facilities or taxes away from local governments, or change the way they elect officials without referendum.

But this is off the table, at least in the short run. There is no way to amend the constitution without General Assembly approval and this General Assembly has demonstrated repeatedly its hostility to urban interests.

The McGrady bill may be imperfect, but it’s the best option we have.

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