Newspapers / Morrisville and Preston Progress … / Aug. 27, 1998, edition 1 / Page 6
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6 - MorrisvUle and Preston Progress. Thursday. August 27.1998 New town engineer hits ground running By Mary Beth Phillips Staff writer In his first month on the job as town engineer for the town of Morrisville, Richard Hancock spent a 24-hour day trying to stop a leaky water line that had the town without water for several hours. After that incident, he added an additional duty to his full work schedule—to get a geographic information mapping system into the town’s computer, that will iso late valves, T-sections and cross pieces in the water system, especial ly in the older part of town, which was not mapped at all.. Workers were unable to locate the valve closest to the leak, part of the reason the town was without water for so long, he said. If there had been a map, the situation would have been a minor one instead of a major one affecting the entire town. Hancock’s other duties include reviewing construction drawings (and dealing with developers), help ing negotiate with neighboring municipalities for water and sewer capacity, designing the water and sewer loop that is going in on Davis Drive from Morrisville Parkway to Morrisville Carpenter Road, and now he will be working on the com puter GIS system. The opportunity for growth was what attracted Hancock to the posi tion, not only the growth of the town, but his personal growth, he said. “I didn’t want to get some where and get stagnant,” he said. And the town, which is developing “at a crazy pace,” has kept him mov ing at a fast pace to learn what he needs to know and keep up with the development. “There is going to be an attempt to develop every square inch of Morrisville,” he said. Hancock said he spent his first few weeks “tagging along with Carl (Speicher, contract engineer who has worked with the town for years) out in the field, learning what’s what.” He said it will take him quite a while longer to learn all he needs Richard Hancock to know. Hancock comes to the town from Moore County, where he was coun ty maintenance engineer for the North Carolina Department of Transportation. He had been in the position for six years. Before that he spent three years in the consulting firm that is now Arcadis Gerraghty Miller. He also spent about a year with Myrick Construction prior to that. He earned his degree in civil engi neering from North Carolina State University in 1987 and became a registered professional engineer in 1992. In his ^are time, he enjoys bicycle riding, and has already joined a group of riders that meets Tuesday and Thursday evenings at the Governor’s Inn in RTP. Occasionally, he participates in bicycle races, but he said he is just above the beginner level in the ama teur bike race categories. “I don’t have the talent or time to be professional,” he said. “I do it because it relieves stress and helps me keep in shape.” He also enjoys mountain biking and motorcycle riding—’’anything with two wheels.” And he goes hunting in the winter.. Though his parents live in Robbins in Moore County, he has a brother and a sister in the Raleigh area. He is single. State names Morrisville Elementary School excellent Continued from page 1 they test more than 80 percent at or above grade level, they are a school of distinction. This year, 91.8 percent of the stu dents scored at or above grade level. “We love to round that off and go on and say 92 percent,” Cole said. In the 1996-97 school year, 86.8 per cent of the students tested at or above grade level. Next year will be even more diffi cult. “We have to continue to show that we are meeting our student’s needs and showing growth. When the bar is already high, we are really going to have to work hard to continue to raise that bar. But we know it can be done. We had some of the same con cerns last year, but we were able to accomplish that goal.” To prepare the students, “We are really looking at the needs of our students and planning a course of study based upon those needs, putting in place dufferent remedia tion programs to help children who needed more assistance, making sure we were staying on top and challenging those kids who were already at the higher levels, but putting a clear focus on all of our kids and their needs,” Cole said. “We have to build that foundation from day one, from kindergarten throughout the years. It doesn’t just begin with the grades that are tested. All teachers are involved and take an interest in meeting our student’s needs,” she said. The other five Wake County schools who were named schools of excellence were Davis Drive Elementary, Oak Grove Elementary, Kingswood Elementary, and Pleasant Union Elementary in north Raleigh. MOVING SALE Everything 20-50% OFF O^0iise Historic Downtown Apex Wed., 8/26 - Sat., 8/29 10:00 - 5:30 « 362-0723 Woman injured in Davis Drive wreck An Apex woman was seriously injured on Tuesday, August 18, after her car was hit by a dump truck at the intersection of Morrisville-Carpenter Road and Davis Drive at 12:52 p.m. Anne Mitchell, 35, of 303 Swansboro Drive, Apex, was turning her 1996 Ford left off Morrisville-Carpenter Road onto Davis Drive. She failed to stop for the stop light, according to police reports, and was struck in the driver’s door by a dump truck driven by James Barbour, 41, of 2489 Rock Pillar Road, Clayton, who was heading east on Davis Drive. The Mitchell vehicle was declared a total loss and Mitchell was taken to Duke Hospital following the accident. 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As each lesson pro gresses, you will see yourself "before ” and "after” on split •CADEMY OF i^OLF A COMPUSPORT TEACHING CENTER Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail / 167 Sunbelt Parkway / Birmingham, Al 35211 / 888-446-5203 A silver-haired head of lies By Roxanne Powers Some time back, I posted a note on the bulletin board above my desk. It is a quote from the New King James version of the bible. Proverbs 16:31, and I posted it there as a reminder to myself not to indulge in too much folly. This was in an effort not to begrudge that ever increasing number of sil ver hairs at my left temple. It reads, “The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness.” Hmmm. I wonder what Bill Clinton’s excuse is. Truly-..no sac rilege intended. My first thought when I saw the scripture this day, was, “I wonder what it means when you get silver hair the Bill Clinton way. Do the silver hairs on his head merely protect what is obviously just so much mush? That thought led to reflections about how my kids and their friends delight in my use of my brain as a doorstop in the master bedroom. They love to wait until I’m watching, then snatch my brain and run with it, because they know I’ll reciprocate with loud calls of, “Hey! Bring my brain back!” Well, actually, it’s my hus band’s brain and I stole it to use as a doorstop. It's of the plastic coat ed, foam rubber variety, and he acquired it as a giveaway for play ing in a golf tournament. It proba bly would have been nicer of me to use my own brain instead of my husband’s, but I didn’t play golf, and therefore, didn’t get a brain. Of course, that little indiscretion is probably the only thing that allows me to have any empathy for Bill Clinton. Now I’ve really gone and done it. I’ve really lowered myself to Bill Clinton’s standards. I’ve gone public about something that should have stayed in mine and my hus band’s bedroom. I suppose I could blame my kids for snatching my brain and taunting me about it, or their friends for telling their par ents about it and their parents for laughing about it. But the fact remains that I put the brain there, and I knew it was a good possibili ty that the kids would find it, taunt me about it and tell others about it. Of course, my action isn’t exact ly of WatergateAVhitewater caliber and isn’t causing anyone, least of all my husband and children, any pain. And while there are those who have claimed that I and/or my husband have brains suitable for using as doorstops, I didn’t exactly perform or relent to a lobotomy. Clinton, on the other hand, more or less did and by now, we all know what tool he used to do it. I’ve always felt a particular loathing for child molesters, and in my book, when the man chose his tool, he was on the verge of quali fying as one. If Clinton was will ing to trade a few moments of his own selfish pleasure for the excru ciating mental anguish of his wife, daughter, and youth/toy, at what price would he sell his country’s well being? Just think, if that millionaire Russian that despises us so much decides he wants to take out a few million of us, Clinton might trade us for one of those cute little fur hats like they wear in Siberia. Especially since he can’t come up with a legitimate excuse for all those unrighteous gray hairs he has accumulated. Truly, it is a shame that the other Clintons suffered for his actions, but it is not the fault of the press or the public that they are suffer ing. It was his action that hurt them. It is not as if he didn’t know that there was a great possi bility that his actions would be found out, and bring public scruti ny and shame to his family. If we accept the fodder that it is wrong to publicize this information because it is hurtful to a lot of innocent people, then just how censorious should we get? It is also hurtful to the families of mur derers, thieves, vandals, rapists, con-artists, etc., when their crimes are made public. So, let’s not allow the press to print anything about those crimes or criminals either. Shoot, we could all just sit around picking each other’s noses while pretending that we’re really just picking pansies. Then when we slip into an economic crisis, because all our money is going to the ear, nose, and throat guys and our kids have nothing to wear but those pansies we didn’t really pick, let’s see if Clinton doesn’t get on the air waves and tel! everyone that the reason we are in economic crisis is that we were all caught red-handed picking our noses! (And he won’t even care that our kids are hurt by this information!) You still believe that Clinton would return the loyalty that the US citizens have more than gener ously given? Consider the question asked by D.L. Cuddy in a letter to the N&O, “Where were all the women lib bers when Air Force Officer Kelly Flynn was drummed out of the ser vice for her sexual indiscretions?” Good question. However, I would like to expand on that ques tion, and ask. Where was the pub lic outrage when her right to priva cy was being exploited? Where was Clinton? If he showed sup port for her cause, it must have been nominal, for she lost her position, If he believed in the “do unto others” rule then he must have temporarily forgotten it, but I can only guess that he didn’t step up to defend Kelly Flynn for fear that he might call attention to his own indiscretions. Does this mean it’s okay to indulge in the mudslinging of a politicians past in all instances? Why would it be? How many of us can say that we are proud of everything we’ve ever done? I certainly wouldn’t want to have to stand before my children and share everything I’ve ever done! The ruler for moral or even just insensible behavior should only extend so far. Unfortunately, there is no way to measure the moment an untrustworthy person suddenly becomes trustworthy, but certainly, I would be reluctant to trust some one who has wronged me if they showed no remorse, asked no for giveness, and showed no resolve to change. The more repetitive the behavior the larger the red flag should be and the longer it should fly. In Clinton’s case that red flag is big enough to drape all the crooked politicians in several states for years. Does this mean that we shouldn’t forgive him? Heck, no! If his wife can forgive him then who am I to hold a grudge? But, I would n’t leave him alone with any of my daughters either, so why would I want to trust the well being of those same daughters to him on a larger, national scale? Better yet, we could all just acquire bumper stickers that read, “Hillary for President Problem is, even the role of First Man is too high an office for him to hold at this time... St. Michael Catholic Church • 804 High House Rd. • Cary, NC 468-6100 Friday, Sept. 11 * 6:00pni -10pm Saturday, Sept. 12 • lOair - lOpm • TEEN DANCE • Friday 7pm-10;30pm • DINNER DANCE • ’ Saturday 7:30-10;00pm FRIDAY J Polka Band Under The Tent | • SATURDAY • Entertainment and Children’s Parade Raffles • Games • Fooii • Beer • Wine 1 Entertainment • Carnival Rides • Flea Marketip
Morrisville and Preston Progress (Morrisville, N.C.)
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