Local Digest
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on April 22, 2004 2:06 PM
400 accept
trash amnesty
Around 400 people took advantage of the first "Amnesty Day" at Wayne County's landfill.
The landfill took in more than 400 tons of trash Saturday, County Manager Lee Smith said.
The county commissioners agreed to waive normal tipping fees for all county residents and citizens, other than commercial waste haulers. This allowed people to throw out wood, bricks, limbs, yard waste and construction debris, all of which the landfill typically accepts but with a fee.
The county board wanted to encourage homeowners to clean up their properties.
Hurricane audits
are under way
A federal auditor has hunkered down in City Hall, planning to stay for several weeks, to conduct a routine audit of Hurricanes Fran and Floyd.
City Manager Richard Slozak said these audits were routinely conducted by the government, but that normally they weren't this long after the storm. Hurricane Fran hit North Carolina in 1996, while Floyd hit in 1999.
"The federal government has just been swamped," Slozak said. "That's why it's taken so long to get here."
Author to sign books
William Holloman will sign copies of his book, "From Heaven to Harm's Way," Saturday in front of the Mount Olive Area Chamber of Commerce, 123 N. Center St., from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.
The signing is being co-sponsored by the Chamber and the Mount Olive Area Historical Society. The book costs $26.70.
Base receives award
The Air Force honored the winners of the 2003 Maintenance Effectiveness Awards at a banquet in Washington, D.C., according to the Air Force's Web site, www.af.mil.
The winner in the Maintenance/Component Repair/Equipment Maintenance category was the 4th Equipment Maintenance Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
Sprunt to add building
KENANSVILLE -- The Duplin County commissioners have given their blessing to the construction of a new building at the community college.
The new building on the campus of James Sprunt Community College will be named after County Commissioner Zettie Williams, who is president of the college trustees. The Williams Building will go beside the Dallas Herring Building.
Sprunt President Mary Wood says she is excited about the project, which will consist of a 15,000-square-foot building to computer and technology classes. The Williams Building will also house the college's paramedic and EMS programs.
Money for the $1.7 million project is coming from the latest state bond issued for community colleges and universities.
"We're getting the paperwork finalized," said Dr. Wood. "We've put the project out for bids, and we hope to start construction in another month."
Novelist to visit
KENANSVILLE -- North Carolina native Sheryl Mebane will visit James Sprunt Community College from noon until 1 p.m. on April 27 in the Strickland Center to promote her first novel, "Lady Bird."
A jazz composer and drummer, Dr. Mebane will also be promoting the release of a CD by the Tangria Jazz Group, of which she is a member.
While in Kenansville, Dr. Mebane also will visit the Dorothy Wightman Library from 7 p.m. until 8 p.m.
A former Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley last fall.
More information about Dr. Mebane is available at www.geocities.com/sherylmebane. The group has a site at www.tangria.net.