State Government
News
Unemployment
rate creeps up a tenth of a point to 4.5%
North
Carolina’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for March
was 4.5 percent, according to the state Employment Security
Commission (ESC). This compares to a 4.4 percent jobless rate
in February and a 3.4 percent rate one year ago. The last time
the state's seasonally adjusted rate was 4.5 was in May 1996.
The national unemployment rate rose to 4.3 in March, up from
4.2 percent in February. For the past two months, North
Carolina’s rate has been higher than the national rate.
During the past year, the N.C. civilian labor force has
increased to 4,005,500. Employment in the state increased to
3,826,300 over the same time period. Total nonagricultural
employment grew by 1,100, seasonally adjusted, over the month
and 122,200 over the year.
ESC continues to return North Carolina workers to jobs faster
than almost any other state in the nation. Currently, the
average time a North Carolina worker draws unemployment
insurance before returning to work is 9.2 weeks, compared to a
national average of 13.7 weeks. At the same time, the rate of
unemployment tax paid by N.C. employers is among the lowest in
the nation, while workers receive the highest benefits in the
Southeast.
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NC
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4.5
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4.4
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4.2
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3.9
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3.9
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3.9
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3.8
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3.8
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3.6
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3.7
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3.6
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3.4
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US
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4.3
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4.2
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4.2
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4.0
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4.0
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3.9
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3.9
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4.1
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4.0
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4.0
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4.1
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4.0
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Legislative
Building susceptible to terrorist attack
Security
is lax in and around the Legislative Building, and several
steps should be taken to protect the building and the people
in it from a terrorist attack, according to a report prepared
by the U.S. Secret Service.
A draft report the agency submitted to legislative leaders
this week includes 149 recommendations for improving security
at the General Assembly. The recommendations are based on
information gained by Secret Service agents who visited
Raleigh last September. The review was requested by a
legislative study commission.
The report says the General Assembly’s greatest weakness
stems from the structure of the Legislative Building, which
has an underground garage that is easily accessible from the
street. A bomb placed in a car driven into the garage and
detonated could cause the building to collapse, the report
said.
Other recommendations include scanning all visitors and
packages entering the building with metal detectors; placing
vehicle barriers in front of key entrances; allowing people to
enter the building only through the main entrance on Jones
Street and closing the side and rear entrances to the public;
requiring lawmakers and employees to use magnetic cards or a
punch code security system to enter through the rear entrance;
screening all mail at a remote site; and closingt he blinds in
the galleries of the Senate and House chambers at all times.
N.C.
only state to reduce gap between top, bottom students
North
Carolina’s fourth and eighth graders showed strong overall
performance in reading and math during the 1990s and was the
only state to reduce the achievement gap between its highest
and lowest performers, according to a report released last
week by the National Education Goals Panel (NEGP).
NEGP’s analysis showed that
states are making "more progress in mathematics
achievement than in reading" and that "good readers
are getting better at the same time weak readers are losing
ground." Most states also have not been successful in
reducing the achievement gap between white and minority
students.
"I’m pleased to see that
all our extra efforts to hold North Carolina’s public school
students to higher standards are paying off. This is good
news," State Superintendent Mike Ward said. “One of our
goals for North Carolina is to close achievement gaps and
still raise achievement for every public school student. This
report shows we’re on the right track.”
State Board of Education Chairman Phil Kirk attributed North
Carolina’s decade of achievement success to the state’s
focus on academic achievement. "I firmly believe that the
success our students have experienced as a result of the ABCs
will increase even more when statewide Student Accountability
Standards are fully in place. This is not the time to rest on
our successes but to keep moving forward," Kirk said.
Based on its new analysis of
National Assessment of Educational Progress data, NEGP found
that North Carolina’s fourth and eighth grade mathematics
students posted achievement gains in average scores, in scores
for both the top and bottom quartiles, and in the percentage
of students at the proficient level and higher. In 4th grade
reading, North Carolina students increased their average score
and the scores of students in the bottom quartile. North
Carolina was the only state to reduce the achievement gap
between students in the top and bottom quartiles.
A copy of the report can be
found online at NEGP’s Web site, www.negp.gov.
Highway
marker to honor World War II ace
The
N.C. Division of Archives and History planned to unveil a
highway historical marker today honoring Lt. Gen. Frank
Armstrong, one of the most highly decorated airmen of World
War II. The marker will be erected near Armstrong’s
boyhood home in Hobgood in Halifax County.
Best known as the inspiration for the 1948 novel "Twelve
O'Clock High," and the 1949 movie of the same name, Col.
Armstrong led the first daylight air raids over occupied
France in 1942, and the first daylight raids over Germany in
1943. The mark of this small town North Carolina native now is
left on history. Authors Beirne Lay Jr. and Sy Bartlett served
with Armstrong, and made it clear that Armstrong was the model
for the book's central character, Col. Frank Savage.
The inspirational Armstrong was brought back to U.S. for a
nationwide tour and to sell war bonds. After a stint teaching
young flyers, he returned to command a combat unit and led the
longest heavy bomb raid against Japan, flying from Guam to
Honshu, Japan, and back again.
Armstrong, who enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1928, retired
in 1964 after serving his country for 33 years. He died in
1969. He was born in Hamilton in Martin County and was the
brother of Hazel Armstrong Valentine (Mrs. I. Tim Valentine
Sr.). A graduate of Wake Forest University (then Wake Forest
College), Armstrong was married to Vernelle Hudson of
Richmond, Va. His only child, Frank Armstrong III, an Air
Force fighter pilot, was killed in Vietnam in 1967.
DAQ
issues permit for new asphalt plant
The
N.C. Division of Air Quality (DAQ) on Tuesday issued a permit
for a new Henderson County asphalt plant, with several
conditions added to assure proper maintenance and operation of
the facility. The DAQ issued the air quality permit to
Tarheel Paving Co., John L. Pace Enterprises Inc., which plans
to build a new drum mix asphalt plant at 2700 Asheville
Highway north of Hendersonville. To obtain the air permit,
Tarheel Paving was required to demonstrate that it could
comply with the state rules for controlling particulates
(dust), sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and toxic air
pollution. These demonstrations include modeling of toxic air
emissions from the plant's main stack as well as fugitive
emissions, or fumes from asphalt storage and loading
areas. Under the permit, the plant can produce up to
200,000 tons of asphalt per year, but actual production levels
are expected to be lower than the limit.
Cultural
Resources launches new web portal
The
N.C. Department of Cultural Resources has unveiled a new
service providing Internet access to the state’s libraries,
archives, museums and historical societies. "North
Carolina ECHO" is a web portal that will allow users to
cross-search the online resources created by the state's
cultural institutions. Some materials currently available
include nearly 1,000 slave narratives that have been digitized
by UNC-Chapel Hill's Documenting the American South Web site,
1,300 Egyptian papyri mounted by Duke University's Digital
Scriptorium and 250 Confederate poetry broadsides owned by
Wake Forest University. The web address of the site is www.ncecho.org.
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