ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — It’s another one for the record books in Asheville.
Tourism officials tell local media outlets that 2014 again set records for tourism in the area.
Officials say an estimated 10 million visitors flocked to Asheville during 2014 and spent an estimated $1.7 billion. That surpasses the figures set in 2013.
The local Convention and Visitor’s Bureau is also running a new $600,000 ad campaign to lure visitors.
The effort includes television ads that are running in the Carolinas as well as in Tennessee and Ohio. Print and online ads also appear in the eastern United States and some will appear nationally.
The theme of the campaign is “Asheville, Discovery inside and out.”
North Myrtle Beach, SC – The Nu Era Flag Football League, based out of Raleigh, N.C., began just last year with a vision of growing into an organization that brings the best of recreational flag football to the Southeastern United States. Now, just one year later, the league has North Myrtle Beach as the destination for its national flag football championship: “Money Talks” Beach Classic Tournament, on Sept. 26-27. The tournament will bring an estimated 75 teams to the area, averaging around 1,200 visitors.
“The league is already earning a reputation as one of the top on the East Coast and we’re pleased to call North Myrtle Beach home for our annual tournament,” said Charles Futrell, vice president and co-commissioner of Nu Era Flag Football League. “We chose North Myrtle Beach because of all that the new sports complex offers as far as venue and amenities to our tournament, our players and their families, as well as the fact that North Myrtle Beach is an ideal vacation destination. It’s a great area with good weather, a fantastic location and there’s plenty for folks to enjoy when they aren’t participating in tournament games.”
Providing pristine fields and amenities along with a quality tournament experience, the North Myrtle Beach Park and Sports Complex has become a top destination in the Southeast for sports tourism, offering a space that is equipped for a wide variety of sports including baseball, basketball, cheerleading, football, golf, gymnastics, soccer, softball and more.
“We are pleased to welcome the members of the Nu Era Flag Football League to the North Myrtle Beach area,” George DuRant, Vice President of Tourism Development for the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce, CVB. “The City of North Myrtle Beach is not only an excellent venue for sporting events such as the championship tournament, but also offers plenty of activities for players to enjoy when they aren’t on the fields. We are proud to host such a unique and entertaining sports tourism experience and applaud the City of North Myrtle Beach for bringing progressive sport organizations, such as Nu Era, to our destination.”
For more information on the Nu Era Flag Football League and tournament information, visit its Facebook page. For information on hosting a sporting event at the North Myrtle Beach Park and Sports Complex, visit its website.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) — A 7-year-old boy was shot and killed Saturday while celebrating his birthday at a home in Charlotte.
According to CNN affiliate WBTV, three others were also wounded in the incident.
WBTV reports, numerous shots were fired near the child’s birthday party.
7-year-old Kevin Antonio Calderon Rodas and other children attending the party were picking up candy from a pinata when the shots rang out.
The boy was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced deceased.
Police say two adults and one juvenile received non-threatening injuries.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the Rodas family with funeral costs. You can find it here.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 704-432-TIPS and speak directly to a detective, or call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600, or visit the Crime Stoppers mobile website.
ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C. (WNCT) – This Labor Day holiday marks the unofficial end of the summer season.
Local restaurants and shops tell WNCT that despite coastal towns being in the headlines this summer for things like shark attacks, deck collapses and inconsistent weather, this year’s summer season has been one of the best they’ve seen in years.
In August, Governor Pat McCrory announced North Carolina spent a record 21.3 billion dollars statewide in 2014 for tourism, an increase of 5.5 percent from the previous year.
Some businesses in Atlantic Beach say they’ve seen higher, more like a thirty percent increase in sales this summer compared to last.
“This summer has been very busy, we haven’t had a dead moment at all. Sales have been good, rentals have been good, also services,” said Crystal Coast Bicycles Owner David Statum.
While tourism plays a major role in North Carolina’s economic development, one store manager says beach towns are now starting to feel the impact service members bring to coastal towns.
“There’s been an increase in military. A lot of the military used to go to Myrtle Beach, they would go to Wilmington, and they found that they can come here, taxi rides are inexpensive, a lot of great restaurants here, a lot of home grown people in the South,” said The Crabs Claw Manager Justin Dowdy.
Carteret County, where Atlantic Beach is located, landed in the top three counties in the state where the largest percent increase was in visitor spending.
Another local owner says she agrees, calling this summer one of the best times economically she’s seen in years.
“Well it’s been a great summer, this summer was up from last year we’ve had a really great season,” said Janice Bynum, Owner of The Tacklebox Tavern.
Even with the summer coming to an end, The Crab’s Claw says during the off season they supplement income by catering large events and Tackle Box Tavern and Crystal Coast Bicycles have an increase of locals coming in.
Store owners also say they hope local festivals like the North Carolina Seafood Festival held in October will continue to bring big bucks into the Crystal Coast.
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RALEIGH, N.C., Sept. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. (NASDAQ: BDSI) secured a two-year contract with Tennessee Medicaid, also referred to as TennCare, making BUNAVAIL® (buprenorphine and naloxone buccal film, CIII) the only buprenorphine/naloxone treatment for opioid dependence with preferred coverage status on TennCare’s preferred drug list (PDL). Preferred coverage status for BUNAVAIL means that all patients will receive BUNAVAIL, with the exception that non-preferred products can be used only following trial and failure, contraindication or intolerance to the preferred product, BUNAVAIL.
“Tennessee represents the single largest state in the country with regard to Medicaid prescriptions for buprenorphine/naloxone products for the treatment of opioid dependence, and the selection of BUNAVAIL as the preferred treatment is in part reflective of the important patient benefits it provides,” said Dr. Mark A. Sirgo, President and Chief Executive Officer of BDSI. “This agreement provides BUNAVAIL a substantial platform to demonstrate its value in treating this serious condition and helping patients on their path to recovery. The State of Tennessee has placed significant responsibility upon us by providing preferred coverage status for BUNAVAIL, which we take very seriously, and we look forward to working with physicians, pharmacists and other healthcare providers in the state of Tennessee during this transition.”
About BUNAVAIL
INDICATION
BUNAVAIL (buprenorphine and naloxone) Buccal Film (CIII) is a prescription medicine indicated for the maintenance treatment of opioid dependence. BUNAVAIL should be used as part of a complete treatment plan to include counseling and psychosocial support.
Prescription use of this product is limited under the Drug Addiction Treatment Act (DATA).
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
Keep BUNAVAIL (buprenorphine and naloxone) Buccal Film (CIII) out of the sight and reach of children. Ingestion of BUNAVAIL by a child may cause severe breathing problems and death. If a child takes BUNAVAIL, get emergency help right away.
Do not take BUNAVAIL if you are allergic to buprenorphine or naloxone, as serious negative effects including anaphylactic shock, have been reported.
Do not take BUNAVAIL before the effects of other opioids (e.g., heroin, methadone, oxycodone, morphine) have lessened as you may experience withdrawal symptoms.
Do not drive, operate heavy machinery, or perform any other dangerous activities until you know how BUNAVAIL affects you.
BUNAVAIL contains buprenorphine, an opioid that can cause physical dependence. Your doctor can tell you more about the difference between physical dependence and drug addiction. Do not stop taking BUNAVAIL without talking to your doctor. You could become sick with uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms because your body has become used to this medicine.
Do not switch from BUNAVAIL to other medicines that contain buprenorphine without talking with your doctor. The amount of buprenorphine in a dose of BUNAVAIL is not the same as the amount of buprenorphine in other medicines. Your doctor will prescribe a dose of BUNAVAIL that may be different than other buprenorphine-containing medicines you may have been taking.
BUNAVAIL can cause serious lifethreatening breathing problems, overdose and death, particularly when taken by the intravenous (IV) route in combination with benzodiazepines, sedatives, tranquilizers or alcohol. You should not drink alcohol while taking BUNAVAIL, as this can lead to loss of consciousness or even death.
Like other opioids (e.g., heroin, methadone, oxycodone, morphine), BUNAVAIL may produce orthostatic hypotension (‘dizzy spells’) in ambulatory individuals.
Common side effects of BUNAVAIL include headache, drug withdrawal syndrome, lethargy (lack of energy), sweating, constipation, decrease in sleep (insomnia), fatigue and sleepiness.
Because BUNAVAIL contains naloxone, injecting BUNAVAIL may cause serious withdrawal symptoms such as pain, cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, anxiety, sleep problems, and cravings.
BUNAVAIL can be abused in a manner similar to other opioids, legal or illicit. Keep BUNAVAIL in a safe place. Do not give your BUNAVAIL to other people, it can cause them harm or even death. Selling or giving away this medicine is against the law.
BUNAVAIL is not recommended in patients with severe hepatic impairment. BUNAVAIL may be used with caution for maintenance treatment in patients with moderate hepatic impairment.
Before taking BUNAVAIL, tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. If you become pregnant while taking BUNAVAIL, tell your doctor immediately as there may be significant risks to you and your baby; your baby may have symptoms of withdrawal at birth.
Before taking BUNAVAIL, talk to your doctor if you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed your baby. BUNAVAIL can pass into your breast milk and may harm your baby. Monitor your baby for increased sleepiness and breathing problems. Your doctor should tell you about the best way to feed your baby if you are taking BUNAVAIL.
This is not a complete list of potential adverse events associated with BUNAVAIL Buccal Film. Please see full Prescribing Information for a complete list. To report negative side effects associated with taking BUNAVAIL Buccal Film, please call 1800-469-0261. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1800FDA1088.
BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. (NASDAQ: BDSI) is a specialty pharmaceutical company with a focus in the areas of pain management and addiction medicine. BDSI is utilizing its novel and proprietary BioErodible MucoAdhesive (BEMA®) technology and other drug delivery technologies to develop and commercialize, either on its own or in partnership with third parties, new applications of proven therapies aimed at addressing important unmet medical needs.
BDSI’s development strategy focuses on utilization of the FDA’s 505(b)(2) approval process. This regulatory pathway creates the potential for more timely and efficient approval of new formulations of previously approved therapeutics.
BDSI’s particular area of focus is the development and commercialization of products in the areas of pain management and addiction. These are areas where BDSI believes its drug delivery technologies and products can best be applied to address critical unmet medical needs. BDSI’s marketed products and those in development address serious and debilitating conditions such as breakthrough cancer pain, chronic pain, painful diabetic neuropathy and opioid dependence. BDSI’s headquarters is located in Raleigh, North Carolina.
For more information, please visit or follow us:
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
This press release and any statements of employees, representatives and partners of BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. (the “Company”) related thereto (including, without limitation, at the presentations described herein) contain, or may contain, among other things, certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties. Such statements may include, without limitation, statements with respect to the Company’s plans, objectives, projections, expectations and intentions and other statements identified by words such as “projects,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “intends,” “plans,” “potential” or similar expressions. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the Company’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results (including, without limitation, the results of the Company’s commercialization efforts for BUNAVAIL and the Company’s clinical trials for, and FDA review of, the Company’s products in development) may differ significantly from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that are subject to change based on various factors (many of which are beyond the Company’s control). The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future presentations or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
BDSI®, BEMA® and BUNAVAIL® are registered trademarks of BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. The BioDelivery Sciences and BUNAVAIL logos are trademarks owned by BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. All other trademarks and tradenames are owned by their respective owners.
CHARLOTTE, N.C., September 7, 2015 — Western Europe and Great Britain are suddenly deluged with Arab refugees attempting to escape the chaos in the Middle East. If immigration is a serious problem for the United States, it is much worse in Europe.
The irony lies in the fact that most asylum-seekers are trying to escape the very core of their own beliefs. While they refuse to admit their religion is a significant part of the problem, they wish to embrace the “good life” and relative peace of the West.
Anti-racism protests in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv (File photo) (Flickr.com/sashakimel)
Adding to the irony is that Middle Eastern countries do not want to accept their fellow Muslims out of fear of terrorism.
Exacerbating the problem is the nuclear arms deal the West, and in particular the United States, arranged with Iran. Most of the Gulf States, except for Saudi Arabia, sent congratulatory messages to Iranian officials with hopes that the agreement will bring stability to the region.
Stability in the Middle East is a relative term. The Gulf states are never stable, only more or less stable at some times than at others. Bringing “stability to the region” is like bringing honest government to Africa. It cannot be done under present conditions.
If Gulf States leaders do not recognize the predicament, many of their people apparently do, and they want no part of it when they know there is something far better off to the west.
In contrast to other Arab nations, Saudi Arabia acknowledged the importance of the deal, but told Iran it would respond harshly if Tehran attempted to “cheat” and therefore undermine the tenuous security of the Middle East.
One writer, Ghassan Al-Imam, a London-based journalist for the Saudi Arabian daily newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, sharply criticized the Gulf States for their praise and the U.S. for “backing down” on its global responsibilities.
As the boat was towed into port, the grim task of removing trapped bodies began… (Mohamed Ben Kalifa/IRIN)
In essence, Al-Imam blames much of the current problem on the mind-numbingly inept foreign policies of the Obama administration. He wrote:
One of the nuclear agreement’s ‘impressive achievements’ is the announcement of the renewal of the Iranian initiative to solve the Syria crisis. The initiative, which has been
Syrian girls in Belgrade play together while their families organize transport to the Hungarian border (Carly Learson/IRIN)
bolstered by the American recognition of a nuclear Iran, seeks to impose Iran as a foreign and uninvited partner in Arab national security, to consolidate the rule of Bashar (Al-Assad)’s collapsing regime, and to continue to exterminate Arab Sunni Syrians if they do not agree to remain subjects who have obligations (but) who have been deprived of all rights.
Iran has completely lost control of the situation on the ground in Syria. What is happening now is that Arab Syria is being divided into Turkish, Kurdish, and ‘Alawite Shi’ite pockets.
Thus, an already complex situation has become even more complex many times over thanks to mindless rhetoric overriding legitimate solutions.
And, in the process, suddenly the “Pied Piper” negotiations are leading Muslims out of harm’s way and into the West.
Syrian Refugees in Turkey – Image by Ariel Ricker
The current migration crisis creates further debate within and among Western countries about whether they should accept the refugees on humanitarian grounds, or whether they should deny them access because of potential terror threats in the future.
A massive influx of refugees will do nothing to enhance Western Europe’s standard of living and quality of life, and an influx of Muslims will not strengthen Europe’s secular institutions. If anything, it will drain the “life blood” from European societies. One need only compare Israel with Palestine to witness the effects.
As Ghassan Al-Imam explains, “Saudi Arabia recognizes and is aware of these facts on the ground. All those who hastened to welcome the nuclear agreement should commit to minimal Arab diplomatic solidarity, trust themselves more, and rely on themselves.
“This (must be the answer to) the defeatism of the Obama administration, that backed down from the demands by (both) the Arabs and the Europeans to put an end to the Iranian nuclear program, and to strip Iran of the ability, in the immediate or distant future, to produce a new tragedy like Hiroshima.”
As Strother Martin so eloquently said in the 1967 Paul Newman movie classic “Cool Hand Luke,” “What we have here is failure to communicate.”
The West did indeed negotiate with Iran, but it did not communicate. We faced off with masters of deception and lost. Now Europe and the United Kingdom are paying the price by being potentially overrun by the unintended consequences of appeasing leadership.
For more information visit Irin News; we appreciate their sharing their images of this situation.
Bob Taylor has been traveling the world for more than 30 years as a writer and award-winning television producer focusing on international events, people and cultures around the globe.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Charlotte police officers are being called back in from days off and vacations after five people have been killed and five others hurt in shootings during a violent Labor Day holiday weekend in North Carolina’s largest city.
The dead include a 7-year-old boy killed during a birthday party around 9 p.m. Saturday in a front yard in southwest Charlotte. Another child and two other adults were wounded, but their injuries were not life threatening, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Deputy Chief Jeff Estes said.
“It’s a sad state of affairs in the city and our country when a 7-year-old boy can’t be free to celebrate a birthday party without being murdered,” Estes said at a news conference Sunday.
Police haven’t identified suspects or a motive in Kevin Antonio Calderon Rodas’ death. The other three fatal shootings this weekend also remain unsolved, Estes said.
The sudden spate of violence led officials to call in officers from days off and vacation to help patrol and investigate, Estes said. He said the extraf officers would be used to search for illegal guns, among other steps.
“We think it is an absolute tragedy that in Charlotte-Mecklenburg we are seeing this type of violence,” Estes said. “We will not rest or not stop until we do everything we can to put a stop to it.”
While officers investigated the boy’s killing, authorities said they heard shots nearby about three hours later and found a woman dead and a man wounded from what appeared to be a drive-by shooting.
Also over the holiday weekend, a man was found dead from gunshot wounds in east Charlotte on Sunday morning, and police found a man shot to death Saturday morning in northwest Charlotte after a second man was dropped off at the hospital where he died from gunshot wounds.
“It is too early to say if any will be connected or not,” Estes said. “I can tell you what connects them is it is a senseless, tragic loss of life.”
Alcohol report details what parts of N.C. like which spirits
WILMINGTON — A detailed report shows exactly what kind of alcohol is most popular across North Carolina.
The StarNews of Wilmington obtained the 422-page report from the National Alcoholic Beverage Control Association. It tracks how many cases of alcohol are sold in 99 North Carolina counties. Graham County remains the state’s lone dry county.
North Carolina’s ABC alcohol boards sold $869 million in 2014, nearly twice the amount from a decade ago.
Rum is popular in coastal counties like Dare, Currituck and Onslow.
The report says Tennessee whiskey sells better in the mountains, while areas like Wake, Durham and Orange counties have seen an increase in rye whisky sales.
Gin is more popular in rural counties like Bertie, Greene and Hertford.
Two kayakers rescued after 9 hours in sound near Outer Banks
NAGS HEAD — The Coast Guard says two men have been rescued in the Pamlico Sound nearly nine hours after their kayaks sank off the Outer Banks.
Authorities say the men were wearing life jackets, which likely saved their lives.
Coast Guard officials said one of the men called for help around 4:30 p.m. Saturday, giving rescuers their position.
A helicopter and boats started searching, finally finding them around 1:15 a.m. Sunday. Paramedics began treating both men. Their conditions and names were not immediately released. Authorities say they are in their 20s.
The Coast Guard says the men drifted about 9 miles southwest of where their ordeal started, near the Oregon Inlet.
Prosecutor refuses imprisoned killer’s fast trial request
GASTONIA — A convicted killer says he only has four months to live and wants to be tried in a Gaston County murder case before he dies.
But a prosecutor told The Gaston Gazette that 58-year-old Jerry Case is already serving a 30-year sentence in an unrelated kidnapping case, and he sees no reason to waste taxpayer money.
Case wrote the newspaper a letter recently saying he has lung cancer and will die in months. He is awaiting trial in the 1985 killing of 17-year-old Chris Farmer. He was charged after writing a letter confessing.
But Case says he will only plead guilty if he can get the death penalty.
Gaston County District Attorney Locke Bell says that isn’t possible and Case is just playing games with the legal system.
Asheville tourism bureau doesn’t report how it spends money
ASHEVILLE — The agency that promotes tourism in Asheville has a $9 million budget of public money, but doesn’t have to reveal how it spends a lot of that money.
Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Stephanie Brown told the Asheville Citizen-Times reports that the salaries and bonuses of agency employees are not public record.
Brown says the bureau employees are workers on contract from the private nonprofit Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, so even though they handle public money, they aren’t considered public employees like the city manager, police officers or firefighters.
North Carolina Press Association attorney Amanda Martin says it is appalling that so much money can be spent without reporting, itemizing or accountability.
Neighbors fight massive single-family houses on Outer Banks
COROLLA — Neighbors say a 20,000-square-foot home in the northern Outer Banks with 24 bedrooms shouldn’t fit the definition of a single-family home.
Marie Long told The Virginian-Pilot that the designation is dangerous. She says the nearest fire department is 7 miles away and the home doesn’t have to have sprinklers because it is a single-family residence.
The house can cost up $30,000 a week to rent. Many times it hosts families for weddings.
Long is fighting a court ruling that upheld a 2013 local board decision that the home is a single-family dwelling. Earlier this year, legislators passed a law preventing local governments from limiting the number of bedrooms in a home.
Currituck County lists 247 homes of 5,000 or more square feet built since 2005. Most are rentals.
Traveling the various interstates and highways throughout North Carolina, we are fortunate to have an abundance of colorful annuals, perennials, blooming trees and native wildflowers. The N.C. Department of Transportation does a fine job of making sure travelers have a plethora of seasonal plantings to enjoy.
Throughout the year, fields of poppies, sunflowers, larkspur and cosmos begin to dot the medians and line the roads. Exit ramps and overlooks explode with yellow as mass plantings of Stella de Oro day lilies begin to bloom.
As a lifelong resident of North Carolina, I suppose I’ve always taken this roadside beauty for granted. But while traveling the roads in other states, it doesn’t take long to appreciate what we have here in North Carolina, especially in the Triad.
The N.C. DOT Wildflower Program started in 1985. According the agency’s publication “Wildflowers on North Carolina Roadsides,” “Dottie Martin, wife of former Governor Jim Martin, is credited with initiating the idea for the North Carolina program after reading an article in The Wall Street Journal about wildflower beds in Texas.”
During the first year, 12 acres were sown as part of the wildflower project. Today, wildflower beds are sown and maintained by each of the roadside environmental teams of the 14 highway divisions across the North Carolina.
While these teams are responsible for all of the flowers, shrubs and trees you see dotting the highways, the wildflower program is its own project, consisting of spring and fall plantings of annuals, perennials and North Carolina native wildflowers.
Forsyth County falls under the transportation department’s Division 9, which includes Stokes, Davidson, Davie and Rowan counties. Todd Hiatt, the roadside environmental engineer for Division 9, oversees the wildflower program in this area.
“There’s a central roadside environmental group in Raleigh and they help all the 14 divisions with the wildflower program,” Hiatt said. “They give us money two times a year to plant the wildflowers. The funds come from personalized license plates.”
In the past 30 years, this program has grown to become the largest planted wildflower program in the nation, encompassing about 1,500 acres. On average, North Carolina spends $1.5 million annually to plant and maintain the wildflower beds in the state.
“We have a fall planting,” Hiatt said. “We plant those in October and those bloom the next spring. And then we plant a summer program, usually mid-June to mid-July. We typically sow around 50 to 60 acres of wildflowers a year in this division, with half being planted in the fall and half in the summer.”
There are more than 130 varieties of wildflowers planted throughout North Carolina. And while you may not see all these varieties present along roads in the Triad, Hiatt and the Division 9 environmental team make sure that there is a good rotation of cultivars and color planted every year.
Each division gets to pick and choose what it wants to plant, based on what seeds are available.
“Raleigh will send us a seed list that has all the different types of seed we can choose from,” Hiatt said, “and then it’s up to us what we want to plant. In the summertime, we plant mostly cosmos, zinnias and sunflowers, which are the main three. And then there’s a lot of different varieties within each of those, a lot of different colors.
“In the fall, we plant a lot of poppies, rocket larkspur, a lot of different daisy varieties, catchfly and toadflax. It’s different year to year.”
The central team in Raleigh gets the seeds from 10 to 12 seed companies throughout the U.S. When designing wildflower beds and median areas, engineers have to take into consideration what will perform best in conjunction with their weed-maintenance protocols. These beautiful fields would be overtaken with grass and weeds if they weren’t treated with herbicides.
“Of course you have to choose what you plant based on the weed problems you have,” Hiatt said. “We control weeds with pre-emergents, so we have to look at what kinds of herbicides we have available and then what kinds of flowers we can apply to those herbicides on top of without killing them.”
Pre-emergent herbicides can be either granular or liquid, and they are applied to an area to prevent weed seeds from germinating. But they can also prevent the wildflower seeds from germinating. Depending on the product, certain wildflower seeds are not affected by the herbicides and will germinate through the barrier that the pre-emergent creates.
As for the seed-sowing process, it’s pretty simple.
The wildflower areas are cultivated, sown and treated with pre-emergents. A mulch cover of Bermuda hay is used to prevent erosion, hold moisture and aid in germination. Of course, the DOT uses tractors, hydroseeders and large equipment. But the same principles apply if you want to sow an area of wildflowers in your backyard.
The general philosophy behind the N.C. Wildflower Program is rooted in the tourism industry. Making the state more appealing to visitors is a driving force behind the program.
“I think the wildflower program is something that people like,” Hiatt said. “I get a lot of calls complimenting us on it, especially people from other states. In other states, you may not ride down the road and see wildflowers, so it is kind of a unique thing to North Carolina. Enhancing the roadsides is good for tourism. Tourism is an $18 billion industry in North Carolina, so what we do is a good thing.”
A great display of summer wildflower color can be found right now throughout the Interstate 85 corridor in Davidson County.
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