City's utilities rates to go up in the fall
SPEC IAL TO THE CHRONICLE ? '
The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Utility
Commission approved on Monday a seven percent
increase in water rates and a nine percent increase
in sewer rates, effective Oct 1 . The increase will
help pay for capital improvements to the w ater and
sewer system and cover increased operating costs
driven by rising fuel prices, according to the
Commission
With the rate increase, the bimonthly water and
sewer bill for the average household in Winston
Salem would be $57.44, an increase fcf seven cents
a day.
Utilities officials noted that even with the
increase, Winston-Salem continues to maintain
some of the lowest water and sewer rates in the
Southeast, and the lowest among North Carolina's
largest cities.
Currently the estimated average bimonthly
water and sewer bill is $93.37 ii\ Greensboro,
$70.49 in Raleigh. $96.85 in Charlotte, and $89.03
in Durham.
The rate increases are contained in the $68.2
million operating budgej the commission approved
for fiscal year 2008-2009. The budget includes
$42.2 million for operating costs and $24.5 million
in debt service for revenue bonds.
Capital improvements over the next six years are
expected to be $335.8 million, including rebuilding
the R.A. Thomas Water Treatment Plant, updating
the Ellege Wastewater Treatment Plant, and replac
ing aging water and sewer lines in the city's older
neighborhoods. - ,
The City County Utilities Commission issues
debt in the form of Revenue Bonds to pay for these
projects. The total outstanding debt in the utilities
system is $329.9 million and is projected to be
$419.1 million in another year.
Customers with separate meters for irrigation
systems will see the most significant increase. The
commission voted to discontinue the discount rate
for irrigation meters. Starting Oct. 1. all irrigation
meters will be billed at the first-tier rate of $1,841
per 100 cubic foot of water consumed.
the water and sewer system operated by the
Utility Commission continues to be one of the most
economical systems in North Carolina, based on
bond ratings, its operating record, its rate structure,
and its supply of raw water.
Doctors
from page XI
Further research found that economics, not
race was the key factor.
"If you corrected for socioeconomics, poor
white folks did just like poor black folks; black
folks with means did just as well as white folks
with means." said the doctor. "It wasn't a
racial difference in cancer patients; it was
socioeconomics - the same treatment gives
you the same outcome regardless of race."
Though the study was declared negative -
meaning that the proposed treatment was not
better than old methods -Blackstock's investi
gation set the stage for a body of work that
would challenge the old ideals about race and
medicine.
"There are a number of different factors
that came out that, that really correcfed for
why black folks didn't do well," he said.
"That to me was probably one of the most sig
nificant contributions I've made; it made peo
ple think about racial disparities differently."
Blackstock is proud that he has also
worked to diversify the population of doctors
at WFUBMC.
McMichael, a Philadelphia native, works
closely with the American Academy of
Dermatology and regularly provides tips and
advice for publications such as Good
Housekeeping and Shape magazines.
"I feel privileged every day that I get to
come to work ... that's just my narural state of
being," she said. "When 1 can be recognized
for just doing what 1 love to do, I'm happy
with that."
But it is McMichael's interactions with her
students and patients that bring her the greatest
sense of accomplishment.
"I think where I get most of my- good feel
ings from is when I help patients and when stu
dents of mine get into dermatology and get
interested in dermatology," she said.
McMichael has traveled as far away as
Australia to talk about the work that is being
done in her field, but says her most important
obligation is to the people she encounters at
WFUBMC.
"I think a big part of my job is responsibil
ity," she said. "We have so few African
American people who the medical student! get
to see, who the patients get to see, who the res
idents get to see.
We need to have somebody here represent
ing this large group of people and teaching this
large group of people and their issues."
I '
About Vascular Disease
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I?? Forsyth)
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ilar Disease Ki'rruirfcdMc Pet </?/?.? RemarkabL Mt'dianc
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Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) is a serious condition
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4 Numbness
? Pain in the hip or leg muscles that
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/y,
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? Anyone over 50
? History of coronary artery disease ^
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Preventive Cardiology,
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?<
? ? ? k? obyTLayu^anner
Dr. Amy McMichael says she loves going to work each day.
Pastor Jessup
Events will
celebrate
Rev. Jessup
and church
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Pastor Shannon L. Jessup
will celebrate his third year as
pastor of Second New Bethel
Baptist Church on May 17 -
18. The church will also be eel
ebrating
its 57th
anniver
sary.
Both
celebra
tions will
b e
kicked
off on
Saturday,
May 1 7 Dr. Scovens
with a
dinner in
the pastor's honor at the
Anderson Center on the cam
pus of Winston-Salem State
University. Dr. Nathan
Scovens, pastor of Greater
Galilee Missionary Baptist
Church, will deliver the mes
sage during the dinner.
On Sunday May 18, the
Rev. Zavious Pratt, former
Pastor of Second New Bethel,
will deliver the morning- mes
sage. At 4 p.m., the Rev.
Leronzo Lynch, pastor of
Ebenezer Baptist Church in
Charlotte, will deliver the mes
sage. .
Second New Bethel Baptist
Church is located at 1 900 New
Walkertown Rd. For more
information about the services,
call the church at 336-722
0128.
?HTM >?S
and the
'A'AtE'RlC'A'h/
?DR'F'A'M
The Winston-Salem Symphony
ROBERT MOODY, Music Director
PRESENTS M ?
Heroes and the American Dream
I ?
Join the Winston-Salem Symphony and actors from the
N.C. School of the Arts in a performance of Peter Boyer's
Ellis Island: The Dream of America, a salute to those who
came to this country in search of the American Dream.
The season concludes with the most heroic music of
all time, Beethoven's epic Symphony no. 3. lj|
Boyer
Ellis Island: The Dream of America
Beethoven
Symphony no. 3, Eroica
MAY 17, 18 & 20, 2008
at the Stevens Center of the N.C. School of the Artt
Saturday 7:30 p.m. Kickec^Back Ctassics Series ~~w
Sunday 3:00 p.m., Tuesday 7:30 p.m. Classics slfries
Tickets from $15 to $50
For more information, call 336-464-0145 <m f, ioa.m. 4p.m.)
or visit www.wssymphony.org.
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