APRIL 20, 2001

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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