Creedmoor Music Festival This Saturday

4A
THE BUTNER-CREEMOOR NEWS
EDITORIAL PAGE
2B
THURSDAY
September 19, 2013
Guest Editorial
by Dara Demi
Marketing Services
Manager, NCDOT
Each year, too many
children die on North
Carolina highways,
because they were not
buckled properly or
buckled in at all. To help
save young lives, the
Governor’s Highway
Safety Program, in
partnership with the
N.C. Department of
Transportation and the
N.C. Department of
Insurance, kicked off
Child Passenger Safety
Week today in Asheville.
The goal of the campaign
is to raise awareness
about how to use child
restraints in vehicles the
right way.
“We care about the
safety of all those who
travel along North
Carolina roadways,” said
NCDOT Secretary Tony
Tata. “The safety of our
children, though, is a top
priority. Buckling them
in properly only takes a
few moments and makes
a lasting difference
during a crash.”
In 2012, 60 children
in North Carolina were
killed and 107 seriously
injured in car crashes.
Sixty-two percent of
those who died and 46
percent of those seriously
injured were not buckled
in either a car seat or a
seat belt.
“Buckling up saves
lives. As parents and
caregivers, we have the
responsibility to make
sure that our children
are properly restrained
every time they ride in a
car,” said Insurance
Commissioner Wayne
Goodwin, chair of Safe
Kids North Carolina.
“This week is meant to
highlight the importance
of everyone buckling up
- especially our youngest
passengers.”
To share that
message, the Governor’s
Highway Safety Program
produced a new
public service announcement,
which is airing
statewide on digital and
television media during
the campaign. The PSA
highlights www. Buckle
upNC.org, a helpful
resource where adults
can easily read the laws
regarding child restraints
in vehicles, get tips on
how to pick the right car
seat and find the
permanent car seat
checking station in their
area.
Permanent checking
stations are available in
62 counties across North
Carolina at more than
180 locations. Each
station has trained
technicians who can
teach parents and
caregivers how to
properly install and use
child restraints in
vehicles.
To further address the
issue of child fatalities
and injuries in car
crashes, North Carolina
launched a child
passenger safety diversion
program in 2010.
It is currently operating
or being implemented in
38 counties across the
state.
Drivers who are cited
by law enforcement
officers for child restraint
violations have the
opportunity to get their
citations dismissed if they
visit a certified safety seat
checking station in their
county. After learning
how to properly secure
their child and install an
appropriate car seat in
their vehicle, they will be
issued a certificate to
bring to court to get their
ticket dismissed.
The diversion program
and checking
stations represent a
partnership between fire
departments, law enforcement,
district
attorneys and safety
experts help to prevent
motor vehicle injuries
among children.
For more information
regarding Child Passenger
Safety Week, visit the
www.BuckleUpNC.org.
The campaign started
yesterday and concludes
with Seat Check
Saturday on Sept. 21.
The Butner-Creedmoor News
(USPS 081-160) (I SSN 1536-3473)
Published every Thursday by Granville
Publishing Co.
418 N. Main Street, P.O. Box 726, Creedmoor, NC 27522
Phone: 919-528-2393 • Fax: 919-528-0288
E-Mail: bcnews@mindspring.com
Web Site: http://www.butnercreedmoornews.org
Penny Carpenter
Office Manager
Gail Locklear
Administrative
Assistant And
Circulation Manager
Shirley Gurganus
Special Projects Manager
And Advertising Rep.
Elizabeth G. Coleman
Editor & Publisher
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Paid at Creedmoor, N.C. 27522
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Send PS Form 3579 to:
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Charlotte Baker
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Typesetters
Member
North Carolina Press Association
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Granville County Chamber of Commerce
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© 2010 by Granville Publishing Co.
Postmaster - Please send address change to the Butner-Creedmoor News
P.O. Box 726, Creedmoor, NC 27522
Letter To Editor
“RENDER UNTO CAESAR”
To The Editor:
In reference to Mr. Bowman’s letter to the editor
in The Butner-Creedmoor News on September 12,
grumbling about New Jersey Governor Christie’s
signing a bill banning gay conversion therapy, may I
suggest Mr. Bowman also complain about laws that
ban slavery as Bible clearly allows.
On the top of my head, see Leviticus 25: 44-46
NLT, Exodus 21: 2-11 NLT, Exodus 21:20-21 NAB,
Ephesians 6:5 NLT, 1 Timothy 6: 1-2 NLT, and Luke
12: 47-48 NLT.
Maybe we should all “Render therefore unto
Caesar,” (Matthew 22: 20-22 KJV).
Gerald Hendricks
Creedmoor
A Long Way To Charlotte
I n the town of
Albemarle, busy
restaurants and shopping
strips line NC 24 as
tractor-trailers bustle up
and down the highway
leading to Charlotte.
Thirty miles to the
south, in Wadesboro, it's
a different story. The
Anson County town looks
a lot like it did a few
decades ago. The big
textile mills that operated
for years have closed, and
Anson is one of 18 North
Carolina counties whose
un-employment rate
exceeds 11 percent.
There is another
difference between
Albemarle and Wadesboro.
NC 24 is a modern,
four-lane highway for its
entire stretch from
Albemarle to the
Interstate-485 loop
around Charlotte. The
corresponding highway
from Wadesboro to
Charlotte, US 74, is not.
On many days, it is
congested, sluggish mess.
State Rep. Bill
Brawley, a Mecklenburg
County Republican,
pointed out the disparity
at a recent meeting of a
legislative oversight
committee.
"Timewise,
they
(Wadesboro
residents)
a r e
farther
from
Charotte
than
Hickory,"
Brawley said.
Brawley and his
legislative colleagues
hope that a new roadbuilding
formula sought
by Gov. Pat McCrory
and approved by the
legislature earlier this
year will help the
dozens of Wadesboros
around the state, whose
economies could benefit
from modern transportation
corridors
leading to transportation
hubs and job
centers like Charlotte.
Brawley says it is
about more than
allowing commuters
access to employers in
big cities. It is also about
encouraging manufacturing,
which requires
access to airports
and ports, in those
outlying communities,
A V IEW
F ROM
R ALEIGH
T HE R ALEIGH R EPORT
he says.
It's not
yet clear
that will
happen,
though.
The
formula
puts more
emphasis
By Scott on projects
of
Mooneyham
statewide
importance,
but the scoring criteria
that will determine what
roads will be built is still
being developed and will
only be put to the test over
time.
Brawley and some of
his colleagues worry that
emphasis on "accessibility
and connectivity," as
called for in the plan,
might get pushed aside in
favor of other aspects of
the criteria.
Even if they don't,
there are no guarantees
that every Wadesboro will
become Albemarle.
Every community has
its own, unique
impediments to economic
development. And not
every town wants onesize-fits-all
development
associated with either
being a bedroom community
for a larger city or
even being a home to
small manufacturing.
Regarding Wadesboro,
existing plans to
improve US 74 with a
bypass around Monroe
have been caught up in
fights over tolling the
road and in a lawsuit
challenging the project
due to environmental
concerns.
Arguments can and
have been made that
building roads that
encourage sprawl, without
any overall economic
benefit, is not a wise
expenditure of money.
Still, effective and
efficient transportation
corridors -- whether they
were rivers, plank roads
or railroads -- have
always encouraged
economic growth.
North Carolina's
bigger cities, as job and
economic centers, need
good roads, but so do the
Wadesboros of the state.
Balancing those
needs and spending road
dollars effectively has
never been easy.
But a lot of people in
a lot of places are
depending on the
changes in the
distribution formula
making it a little easier.
The Raleigh Report
Allan Gurganus is
back—with a bang
Say Allan Gurganus’s
name in a group of
readers, and several may
tell you that the Rocky
Mount native's "Oldest
Living Confederate
Widow Tells All" is their
favorite novel of all time.
"Widow" came out in
1989, followed in 1990 by
"Plays Well with Others."
Then there were a couple
of short story collection,
including "White People,"
but no other new books
from Gurganus in many
years.
So, what has he been
doing? "Writing, every
day," he says, "and getting
up at 6 a.m. to do it."
Finally, next week we
can buy and read a new
Gurganus book, one that
takes us back to the
fictional eastern North
Carolina town of Falls,
where "Widow" and many
of his short stories have
been set.
"Local Souls" is not a
novel, but three separate
novellas. All are set in
Falls, but the characters
and stories are
independent and quite
different.
Susan, the main
character in the first
novella, "Fear Not," is a
14-year-old all-American
girl growing up in Falls
when her father dies in a
boating accident. Seduced
and made
pregnant
by her
godfather,
she gives
up her
b a b y ,
pulls her
l i f e
together,
l a t e r
marries,
has two
children,
and leads a normal life
until she is reunited
with the child she gave
up. Then her life is
transformed in a
surprising and puzzling
way, one that only
Gurganus could conjure
up.
In the second
novella, "Saints Have
Mothers," a divorced
woman, smart and
ambitious enough to
have published a poem
in The Atlantic
magazine, has two boys
and a 17-year-old girl.
The daughter is more
committed to serving
those in need than she
is to her mother. But her
mother's life is wrapped
up in hopes for her
daughter’s future.
When the daughter
announces that she
plans to go to Africa on
a service project, the
mother objects. But the
daughter goes anyway.
Communication with
her daughter
is spotty
until a
middle of the
night phone
call brings
word of the
By daughter's
D.G. death. As
Martin the mother
and the
F a l l s
community
prepare for a
memorial service,
Gurganus brings the
story to a shocking and
touching conclusion.
The third novella,
"Decoy," is the history of
a relationship between
two men. One is a beloved
family doctor, part of an
established Falls family.
The other is a newcomer,
who came from the
poverty of struggling farm
life, but has achieved
modest financial success
and near acceptance by
Falls's elite. When the
doctor retires, their
friendship is disturbed
and then swept away by
a "Fran-like" flood that
destroys both men’s
homes and much of Falls.
With these three
stories, Gurganus demonstrates
that he has not
lost the story-telling
power that propelled him
to fame.
And he leaves us
hoping that we will not
have to wait so long for his
next offering.
Others agree. John
Irving, author of "The
World According to
Garp," writes, "Gurganus's
storytelling is
flawless. His narration
becomes a Greek chorus,
Sophocles in North
Carolina. Gurganus
makes the preternatural
feel natural. Sexual
taboos, a parent’s worst
fears: these emerge in
tones comic and
horrifying. Each novella
delivers an ending of
true force."
Ann Patchett, author
of "Bel Canto" and a
former student of
Gurganus, says he
"breathes so much life
into the town of Falls,
North Carolina, his
reader is able to walk
down the streets and
mingle with the local
souls. This book
underscores what we
have long known—
Gurganus stands among
the best writers of our
time."
More important than
this praise, Gurganus’s
fiction gives us a true
look at our fellow North
Carolinians in a
struggling region as they
cope with the challenges
of contemporary times.