VOLUME 147 ISSUE 2 | THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2024
CHATHAMNEWSRECORD.COM
C HATHAM NEWS & R ECORD THE CHATHAM COUNTY EDITION OF THE NORTH STATE JOURNAL
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BRIEF this week
CCCC summer youth camp signups open Central Carolina Community College Summer Youth Camps are open for registration, offering local youths ages 5-18 (age ranges vary depending on class) access to week-long camps that could pique interest and even give exposure to potential future careers. The camps cover a wide range of topics including: Dental Health, Junior Chef Baking, Junior Chef Cooking, Kids Cooking, LEAP (Learning Entrepreneurship through Action and Play), Men’s and Women’s Basketball, Podcasting, STEM Academy: Junior Forensics, and STEM Academy: Race Car Technology. Enrollment is limited. Visit cccc.edu/summercamps for more.
UNC holds in-state tuition steady for 8th year The University of North Carolina (UNC) System has announced that instate undergraduate tuition will remain unchanged for the eighth straight year. For students applying for the Next NC Scholarship, which promises a minimum of $5,000 for students from households with an annual income of $80,000 or less, the cost for tuition and fees at UNC System institutions can be cut in half or more. Approximately 55% of North Carolina households could qualify for this scholarship.
‘Booze It & Lose It’ campaign sees statewide expansion North Carolina is expanding a pilot program aiming to reduce impaired driving, after seeing success in a seven-county test in the western part of the state. The ‘Booze It & Lose It’ campaign is seeing its first major update in decades, incorporating new strategies and tools to combat impaired driving more effectively. In 2023, the pilot region reported a 7% decrease in alcoholrelated crashes, with 277 incidents compared to 298 the previous year. The pilot included the use of Continuous Alcohol Monitoring (CAM) ankle bracelets which monitor alcohol consumption and report any violations directly to court officials. During a 90-day trial, only one of 55 participants was flagged for alcohol use.
PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL
Getting out the vote Donald Trump held a rally in Greensboro over the weekend, stumping for Republican gubernatorial candidate and Greensboro native Mark Robinson and others on Saturday. Trump was also campaigning in his own presidential primary against his former U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, who held an event in Raleigh the same day.
Siler City Commissioners prepare for new direction By Robert Owens for Chatham News & Record SILER CITY — The Board of Commissioners met for a a special session on Feb. 26, to discuss a strategic plan for the city and potential budget impacts for the year ahead. The special session provided a chance for new members of the board to discuss aspects of the strategic plan and its implementation. Speaking to potential conflicts with budgetary planning that may arise in the process of planning, Siler City Mayor Donald Matthews minced no words, saying “It really does them no
good to give us what they think, if were not on the same sheet of music on where we are going” Gary Jackson of McGill Associates presented a briefing on the importance of strategic planning and some of the conflicts board members may face during the process. The Siler City Board of Commissioners adopted a five-year strategic plan, prepared by McGill, a year ago under the prior administration. “Significant change doesn’t happen overnight and it doesn’t happen without persistence, allocating the resources behind it and holding people account-
able, including yourselves,” Jackson said “Do you like to do what people want or do you want to govern well? If you’re honest with yourself, you a feel a little bit of both of those pressures, don’t you?” Siler City department heads were put on notice that a new direction for the city would be charted out by the board. Heads were instructed to prepare budgetary priorities and bring them before the commissioners. “The department heads will come forth at a later date with their top three budgetary items and present them to the board,”
NSF awards $6.3M to CCCC “The deep resources of industry experts and the ability to support curriculum development in these areas will enhance the college’s ability to respond to these important and emerging skills requirements.” Margaret Roberton, CCCC vice president for workforce development
By Robert Owens For Chatham News & Record PITTSBORO — Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) will receive $6.3 million from the National Science Foundation’s Division of Advanced Technological Education. The grant will fund the creation of the Environmental and Natural Resources Technology Center (EARTh) at CCCC. The center will operate as hub both locally and nationally to further workforce training and innovation in environmental technology. The EARTh Center will cater to a large number of industries, including forestry and natural resources, as well as public safety, water and wastewater control, and renewable energy. These are all industries projected to grow exponentially in the coming years with thousands of jobs being created each year according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “All of these industries engage and impact our environment in varied ways. Leveraging the resources of the EARTh Center will strengthen our ability to effectively support the rapidly changing workforce needs associated with today’s technological advances.” said Lisa Chapman, president of CCCC, in a press release. EARTh will bring together educators and business leaders to create new instructional materials and methods for environmental industry. An Instructional Design Team and Extended Reality Team will work to develop modern training simulations, while mentoring programs and professional development opportunities will also be offered. “The deep resources of industry experts and the ability to support curriculum development in these areas will enhance the college’s ability to respond to these important and emerging skills requirements,” said Margaret Roberton, the college’s vice president for workforce development. “We are excited to begin working with the EARTh Center’s staff to support students at CCCC seeking to enter these career opportunities and to support the region in responding to skilled workforce demands.”
“Do you like to do what people want or do you want to govern well?” Gary Jackson, McGill Associates Mayor Matthews said. He emphasized the importance of board agreement on strategic priorities for the city. “Can you ever have enough public safety? Can you ever have enough community engagement?” said Commissioner Lewis Fadely, stressing the need for realism and perspective in government. “When you set large policy based goals,” he said, “you have your 10,000-foot goal, but then you have your sub-goals. And those are the ones that you can check off.”
Almost 10,000 cast early votes across Chatham Chatham News & Record 9,692 VOTERS cast ballots in early voting in Chatham County for this week’s primary, according to numbers from the North Carolina Board of Elections. Early voting began Feb. 15 and finished last Saturday, March 2. The primary was held Tuesday, when voters are required to report to their designated precinct in order to cast a ballot. A photo ID was also required for all voting in the primary. Chatham County has 60,848 registered voters according to the state, reflecting a 15.9 percent early turnout — that’s well above the 9.3 percent turnout seen statewide, with 694,591 ballots cast out of 7,468,149 eligible voters. Of the approximately 61,000 voters in Chatham County, 21,000 are registered Democrat, while 14,400 are registered Republican, with 25,000 unaffiliated. In North Carolina, unaffiliated voters can choose to receive a primary ballot from either party.
15.9% Chatham County early voter turnout, well above the 9.3 percent statewide turnout.
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