Contributed photo

Soldiers train to help if needed in emergency

Sgt. Brittani Bell-Collins, left, works with Chris Schwartz at the New Hanover County 911 call center to become familiar with the facility in case of an emergency.

Posted: Sunday, October 4, 2015 12:00 am
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Updated: 7:38 am, Sun Oct 4, 2015.

Fort Bragg soldiers train to help if needed in emergency

By Drew Brooks Military editor

WILMINGTON – Fort Bragg soldiers made their way to the North Carolina coast last week with a simple message.

“We’re here if you need us.”

A team of soldiers from the 44th Medical Brigade visited the New Hanover County 911 call center and New Hanover Regional Medical Center as part of an effort to better prepare each in the event they need to be helped by the military.

Les Bolton, a medical operations officer with Joint Task Force Civil Support at Fort Eustis, Virginia, accompanied the soldiers on the trip.

The task force includes several domestic response missions, including some currently filled by the 44th Medical Brigade and other Fort Bragg units. The task force supports civil authorities in the event of a disaster. It offers military support to save lives, prevent further injury and provides temporary critical support to aid recovery efforts.

The outreach in Wilmington was part of a new effort by the task force, Bolton said. It was an early step in developing procedures for military personnel to assist local authorities in times of disasters.

With a very real hurricane on the minds of many in the room, leaders from the medical brigade discussed how they could be of use to Wilmington officials in the event of a disaster.

In particular, the soldiers were interested in supporting communications and helping medical facilities evacuate their patients.

The Army has plenty of radios and could quickly deploy a team of soldiers to help route resources, they said.

Col. Johnnie Wright Jr., chief of professional services for the 44th Medical Brigade, said the soldiers wouldn’t be looking to take over efforts. Instead, they would supplement civilian authorities.

Charles Smith, a spokesman for New Hanover County Emergency Management, said the county would likely need more than 200 ambulances to move all of its patients in the event of an evacuation.

There aren’t that many ambulances in the county, he said, and officials likely would need to turn to the state for more resources.

Bolton said the military could help.

“We have ambulances, we have helicopters,” he said.

In addition to medical soldiers from Fort Bragg, there also are Air Force medical crews capable of flying patients in large C-17 and C-130 cargo planes.

In short, the military has resources and it wants civilian officials to be aware.

“This trip is about learning and educating,” said Col. David Rinaldi, chief nurse and chief of clinical operations for the 44th Medical Brigade.

“We’re letting them know what we do and what assets we have,” Rinaldi said.

During the visit to the New Hanover 911 center, county officials said they were glad for the dialogue.

“It’s definitely a deep conversation, but a conversation that should be had now,” Smith said.

Dawn Williams, a supervisor at the 911 center, said the visit was comforting.

“It’s encouraging for me to know there’s something being put into place,” she said.

Military editor Drew Brooks can be reached at brooksd@fayobserver.com or 486-3567.

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Sunday, October 4, 2015 12:00 am.

Fall Foliage
Coloration Guide

Yellows

Ash, White — Yellow 

Basswood — Yellow

Beech — Yellow

Birch, River — Dull Yellow

Birch, Sweet — Yellow 

Buckeye, Ohio — Yellow

Coffeetree, Kentucky — Yellow

Cottonwood, Eastern — Yellow

Elder, Box — Yellow

Elm, American — Yellow

Hazel Nut — Brownish Yellow

Hickory, Mockernut — Dull Yellow

Hickory, Pignut — Dull Yellow

Hickory, Shagbark — Dull Yellow

Hickory, Shellbark — Dull Yellow

Hophornbeam, Eastern — Yellow

Locust, Black — Yellow

Locust, Honey — Yellow

Maple, Silver — Pale Yellow

Oak, Chestnut — Yellow

Pecan — Dull Yellow

Redbud, Eastern — Yellow

Shad Bush — Bright Clear Yellow

Tuliptree — Yellow

Walnut, Black — Yellow

Walnut, White — Bright Yellow

Willow, Black — Pale Yellow

Reds

Dogwood — Crimson 

Gum, Black — Deep Red

Oak, Northern Red — Rusty Red

Oak, Pin — Crimson

Oak, Scarlet — Scarlet

Oak, Southern Red — Rusty Red

Oak, Swamp Chestnut — Dark Crimson

Sourwood — Deep Red

Sumac — Brilliant Red

Browns

Oak, Bur — Pale Brown 

Oak, Post — Pale Brown

Oak, Shingle — Brown

Oak, Swamp White — Pale Brown

Multi-Colors

Hawthorn — Brilliant Varying Colors

Hazel Nut — Brownish Yellow

Hornbeam — Orange, Scarlet

Maple, Red — Red, Orange

Maple, Sugar — Yellow, Orange, Red

Oak, Black — Dull Red to Orange Brown

Oak, Blackjack — Dull Yellow or Brown

Oak, White — Pink or Red

Persimmon — Glossy Green with Yellow

Sassafras — Red, Orange, Yellow

Sweetgum — Yellow, Orange, Brown

Sycamore, American — Yellow, Brown

Witch Hazel — Bright Yellow-Orange

Source: West Virginia Dept. of Commerce

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) –

North Carolina motorists traveling through South Carolina should be mindful that their trips could be impacted by road closures and detours due to this weekend’s heavy rainfall and historic flooding.

A 70-mile stretch of I-95 is closed in South Carolina between the I-20 interchange in Florence and I-26 near Bowman.

According to Department of Transportation officials, traffic on I-95 South will be detoured onto I-20 and routed to Columbia.  That will take motorists around Columbia on I-77 and then back down I-26 towards Charleston to reconnect to I-95.

The detour will be reversed for I-95 North. 

South Carolina crews are also rerouting a short section of I-20 within the Columbia area to I-77.   

The historic rainfall and flooding that has struck South Carolina has closed hundreds of state roads and bridges on Saturday and Sunday, according to the SC DOT. 

The count is expected to increase as more reports are made from throughout the state.

SCDOT Acting Secretary Christy A. Hall warns that flooding will continue even when the rain subsides. 

“The flood-swollen rivers in the Midlands are tributaries that feed into the rivers that move down into the southern portion of the state. The threat of more flooding is still very real,” said Hall.

SCDOT is preparing to assess the damage to the state highway system as the rain ends and flood waters recede. In the meantime, motorist should remain off the roads for their own safety. 

In addition, long-distance passenger rail service through South Carolina will also be impacted Sunday and likely Monday.

For more information about road conditions and flooding in South Carolina, visit SCDOT’s website. 

For real-time travel information, call 511, visit the Traveler Services section of NCDOT.gov or follow NCDOT on Twitter.

RELATED ARTICLES:

• PHOTOS: Roads crumbling, homes underwater from devastating flood in SC
• Dam failure could impact I-95 in Florence
• SCDOT: 211 state roads closed, ‘stay inside’

Copyright 2015 WBTV. All rights reserved.

Recent editorials from North Carolina newspapers:

___

Sept. 28

Wilmington (North Carolina) Star News on what people can learn from middle school gun incident:

With what we’ve witnessed in places such as Columbine and Sandy Hook, it’s no surprise that word of a gun at a school strikes horror in parents. It didn’t take long this school year for such an event to occur, as a 14-year-old girl was found to have a loaded handgun in her backpack Sept. 18 at Williston Junior High.

It’s not known what the girl’s intentions were, but for the most part, the scary incident seems to have played out about as well as we could have hoped.

Because the incident involved a juvenile and because of a plethora of student privacy laws, details on exactly what happened remain unclear, at least to the public. Law enforcement and school officials know more about what happened than they believe they are legally able to disclose.

The StarNews has continued to ask for details, but, for now, we will have to trust that officials are doing the right thing regarding the student as well as any safety procedures that may need to be revisited.

We do know that someone either knew the girl had a gun or suspected she did and got word to a sheriff’s deputy at the school. The deputy promptly and, it seems by official accounts, very calmly approached the girl and asked if she had something she wasn’t supposed to have in school. New Hanover Schools Deputy Superintendent Rick Holliday said the girl handed the deputy her backpack, which contained the gun.

We say “well done,” first to the person who did the right thing by alerting the deputy, and second to the way the deputy responded quickly and effectively without escalating the situation.

Even though the incident ended peacefully, some parents have criticized officials for not using the school’s notification system to let parents know what had happened. Even though the incident happened at 8 a.m. and was quickly diffused, some parents were upset that they heard about it first from media outlets or their children. Some said they were caught by surprise and were not prepared to talk to their children about it.

That’s a reasonable concern, and something school system officials should re-evaluate. It’s better to err on the side of over-informing parents, especially when there had been someone on campus with a gun.

Holliday said that there was no direct threat to anyone, but that seems a little Pollyannaish. When a person has a loaded gun at a school, who knows what scenario could have played out, regardless of the girl’s intentions.

Online:

http://www.starnewsonline.com

____

Sept. 28

Gaston (North Carolina) Gazette on compromise budget restoring tax credit for property owners who restore historic buildings

North Carolina’s compromise budget restores the tax credits for property owners who restore historic buildings. The rest of us should be grateful.

The penny pinchers in the General Assembly had abolished North Carolina’s long-standing historic preservation tax credit in their last budget round. Local officials, preservation groups and Gov. Pat McCrory — a man not often accused of tax-and-spend liberalism — had urged the legislature to bring the tax credit back.

The new version doesn’t seem as generous as the old one, which allowed tax credits of up to 30 percent on some rehabilitation projects. The budget compromise allows up to $8 million in funding for the credits in fiscal 2016-17. Still, that’s better than what we have now, which is zilch.

As most homeowners eventually learn, old buildings cost more to keep up than new ones. In purely economic terms, it’s often more sensible just to tear down and build over.

Renovation and rehabilitation does, however, bring a lot of economic benefits. Workers get hired; property owners buy a lot of lumber, paint and other supplies. The General Assembly’s fiscal research division did the math and found that the credit would generate 2.5 times as many jobs as a tax cut.

Since 1998, the old tax credit had generated an estimated $1.6 billion investment on 2,400 historic projects scattered around the state. That amount of benefit should never have been thrown away lightly.

About the program

The historic tax credit program provides an incentive to taxpayers who contribute to the preservation of historic buildings by rehabilitating them in a way that preserves the historic character of the building while allowing for new uses.

Since 1998, 2,483 historic tax credit projects have been completed statewide, bringing $1.486 billion of private investment into North Carolina communities, boosting local economies and creating jobs while preserving communities’ historic cores and our state’s priceless historic character.

HTC projects have taken place in 90 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, from rural to suburban to urban communities.

Eligibility for this program is limited only to those historic properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The continued potential for rehabilitation projects is great, and the potential for loss of these buildings without this incentive is likewise great.

Non-economic impacts of the HTC incentive program include quality-of-life enhancements, such as the reuse of iconic neighborhood schools, downtown revitalization and affordable housing.

Cultural and heritage tourism thrive with the private preservation of “authentic” North Carolina historic buildings. Heritage tourism is a vital industry and economic driver in North Carolina.

Buildings rehabilitated with a historic tax credit are often landmark buildings in communities, and vital to the community’s identity and attractiveness to residents and visitors alike.

They build safe communities by reversing crime and blight — local investment in rehabilitating vacant or dilapidated buildings gives criminals fewer places to engage in criminal activity — be it drug transactions, arson or vandalism — and decreases ugly blight by caring for buildings that would otherwise detract from neighborhood stability and property values.

Online:

http://www.gastongazette.com/

____

September 23

The News Observer of Raleigh on a lawmakers leaving NC with tangles incentives plan:

Job creation, much ballyhooed by candidate Pat McCrory when he was seeking the governorship, has been decidedly underwhelming since he and fellow Republicans took control of the legislative and executive branches of state government in 2013. (The GOP gained legislative control two years earlier.)

The problem has been that Republicans didn’t have any job creation plan except for tax cuts for the wealthy and businesses, a flashback to the failed trickle-down economics of the Reagan era. As witnessed by their debate over building an incentives package for business recruiting and extending tax breaks for specific businesses, Republicans can’t even agree on whether incentives work.

Instead, North Carolina could put money into an entrepreneurial fund to encourage professors and others with ideas for innovation to start businesses. The state could build up a rural economic development center like the one Republicans gutted. And the Commerce Department, which under the governor was supposed to form some whiz-bang, public-private business recruiting organization, could take that stalled effort and try to reorganize.

What the state is doing, or isn’t doing, will not bring businesses and jobs without those in charge having an idea about how to start the engine of job creation, and the Republican leadership doesn’t seem to have a clue. Their promises about job creation that would keep up or exceed population growth haven’t been kept.

Online:

http://www.newsobserver.com