For the sixth straight year, Chatham County received several top awards from the N.C. Dept. of Labor for outstanding safety practices and even exceeded last year’s result. For calendar year 2018, Chatham County received 10 Gold Awards and two Silver Awards.
“We have four departments that have earned six consecutive years of Gold Awards, an amazing accomplishment,” said Chatham County Safety & Risk Manager Marilyn Grant. “Others have won the Gold Award for three and four straight years.”
The Dept. of Labor’s awards program recognizes private and public entities that achieve and maintain good safety records. To qualify the county had to verify for each award that the department had no fatalities and maintained an incident rate at least 50 percent below the average for its industry group.
County Manager Dan LaMontagne said, “Our office is very happy to see consistent improvement every year. We have a great safety and risk leader in Marilyn Grant. Could not be prouder of all the recognized departments.”
Chatham County’s awards for 2018 include:
• Sixth Consecutive Year Gold — Library System, MIS (Management & Information Systems), 911 Telecommunications, and Tax Office
• Fourth Consecutive Year Gold — Chatham County General Administration, which includes Board of Elections, County Manager’s Office, Finance, Permit & Inspections, Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, Planning and Soil & Water Conservation
• Third Consecutive Year Gold — Water Utilities, including treatment plant
• First Year Gold - Department of Social Services, Solid Waste & Recycling, Parks & Recrea-tion, and Facilities Management
• Sixth Consecutive Year Silver — Health Department
• Second Consecutive Year Silver — Sheriff’s Office
“One Chatham,” a project of the Reese News Lab at UNC’s School of Media and Journalism, and the News + Record are teaming together to produce a town hall-type community conversation on the subject of Chatham County’s socioeconomic inequality.
The panel discussion, which will feature community leaders, brief presentations and audience questions, will begin at 6 p.m. on May 15 in the Holmes Room of the Chatham Community Library, located at 197 N.C. Hwy. 87 N. in Pittsboro.
Watch the News + Record for additional information in the coming weeks.
ASHBURN, Virginia — The Association of School Business Officials (ASBO) International has recognized the Chatham County Board of Education with ASBO’s Certificate of Excellence (COE) in Financial Reporting for the fiscal year ended 2018. This award reflects the school system’s commitment to transparency and high-quality financial reporting.
“The COE’s mission is to promote and recognize excellence in financial reporting, specifically through a district’s [Comprehensive Annual Financial Report or] CAFR,” ASBO International Director of Recognition Programs Molly Barrie said. “The CAFR informs parents and other stakeholders about the financial and economic state of the district, making it an important communications tool for building trust and engaging with the school community.”
There are more medications, treatment programs, and support than ever to help people quit tobacco. Even if you have tried in the past, this is the time to give it another try.
Free in-person QuitSmart classes will be held starting in May at the Public Health Department in Pittsboro. The first class is from noon to 1:15 p.m. on May 9. Subsequent classes will be held on May 16th, May 30th, and June 4th. Attendance at all four sessions is strongly encouraged. A free lunch is provided at each of the four classes. In addition, two free weeks of nicotine replacement patches will be given to all participants. Interested individuals should contact Anna Stormzand at anna.stormzand@chathamnc.org or 919-545-8445 to reserve their spot or find out more information.
State transportation officials have awarded a contract for a project to preserve two bridges over Jordan Lake.
The bridges, on eastbound and westbound U.S. 64, were built in 1971. The work is expected to extend the use of the bridges by another 25 years.
The work calls for repairing the bridge decks and structural elements including joints, bearings, columns and girders.
The lowest of seven bids was filed by American Contracting and Services Inc. at $1.6 million. Work may begin as early as April 29 and is scheduled to be complete by Sept. 1, 2020.
The contractor may close one of the two lanes on each bridge for safety purposes. Lane closures are not allowed on holidays or during holiday weekends.
PITTSBORO — The Piedmont Regional Goat and Sheep Conference will take place at the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center on May 11. Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. and the program will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with lunch provided.
Topics will include internal parasites, deworming, goat carcass evaluation, starting your enterprise, nutrition, finishing meat goats, small-scale budgets, pasture management, and ethnic holiday marketing.
The keynote speaker will be Susan Schoenian, Sheep and Goat Specialist at the University of Maryland. Additional speakers on the program include Derek Washburn from the N.C. Farm School at N.C. State University and Dr. Emily Cope, Livestock Extension Specialist at N.C. A&T State University.
Register Online at https://go.ncsu.edu/goatsheepconf2019. Registration deadine is May 1; early registration fee is $15, while onsite registration is $20. Lunch is included in registration.
Make check payable to “Alamance County” and mail to: N.C. Cooperative Extension, Alamance County Center, ATTN: Lauren Langley, 209-C N. Graham-Hopedale Rd. Burlington, NC 27217
Read more at https://alamance.ces.ncsu.edu/2019/03/2019-piedmont-regional-goat-and-sheep-conference/
PITTSBORO — Several Chatham County Schools students have earned an opportunity to showcase their talents at the Beta National Junior Convention in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, from June 15-18. To make it there, they emerged in February during competition at the North Carolina Junior Beta Club Convention in Greensboro. Chatham winners include:
J.S. Waters School
Tyler Rives, third place, sculpture
Riley Maynor and Carolyn Belk, third place, technology
Shelby Holder, Jayley Martin, Mary Gaines and Andrea Chavez, first place, service
Bennett School
Olivia Jones, first place, digitally enhanced photography
Kailey Green, second place, painting
Skylar Brigham and Olivia Jones, second place, portfolio
Grace Greeson, fourth place, creative writing
Bonlee School
Ellie Phillips and Abby Johnson, fifth place, technology
Sanaiya Cheek and Kelsey Andrews, fourth place, service project
Chatham Middle School
Reagan Smith, Buck Thornton, Carolina Fernandez, Ahtziry Ramirez, Chelsea Prieto, Estefani DePaz, Dayanara Camacho, Jennifer Garcia, Byron Martinez, Angel Gonzalez, Macy Beavers, Nathalie Gonzalez; first place, living literature
Anna Ichel Vicente, Bria Moffitt, Carolina Fernandez, Jennifer Garcia, Jaylyn Baldwin, Cecilia Munoz, Karsyn Vann, Nathalie Gonzalez, Estefani DePaz, Nora Funez; first place, banner
Silk Hope School
Ann Maupin, Caroline Matthews, Julia Vitaro, Natalie Hamel, Logan Gunter, Sarah Dekaney, Chloe Dickerson, Andrew Duncan, Rafael Soto Monter and Caleb Collison; second place, living literature
Brooklin Quee, fifth place, poetry
ASHEBORO — The N.C. Department of Transportation has awarded a contract that will make for a smoother ride along 68 miles of roads in Randolph County.
From this July until Nov. 1, 2020, Sharpe Bros. of Greensboro will perform $11.6 million worth of milling, resurfacing and shoulder reconstruction.
The work consists of two sections of N.C. 49, a section each of U.S. 220 Business, U.S. 220 Alternate, N.C. 705 and N.C. 22, and 25 sections of secondary roads. The longest span is 13 miles of N.C. 49 between Maurine Drive and New Hope Road west of Asheboro.
The contractor cannot close a lane on Suits Road between the Guilford County line and U.S. 311, or on Tigers Den Road north of High Point Street in Randleman on weekdays from 7-9 a.m. and 2-4 p.m. It is also not allowed to close a lane of West Academy Street at the roundabout at High Point Street at any time between the hours of 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.
For real-time travel information, visit DriveNC.gov or follow NCDOT on social media.