End from page A1 attendees, including Audrey and DeVante Johnson. The couple already has a Living Will and wanted a Health Care Power of Attorney. Audrey Johnson said as the parents of three children, they felt it was an important issue for them to deal with: "You just have a respon sibility and you don't want to put an unneces s a r y stress on your spouse Johnson or oiner family members to make decisions on your behalf when you can kind of plan that out in advance, and that makes it easier for your loved ones should there ever be an accident or something occur and those decisions have to be made " she said. Hospices have long Photo? by Todd Luck Organizers show an opening presentation at the workshop sponsored by Rowan Hospice & Palliative Care on Friday, April 17 at St. Peter's Church & World m in * VWIIVHVII VtriKfl advocated for people to make advance directives for end of life care. Rowan Hospice has already addressed the congregation at St. Peter's on the subject and goes to many places around the community to give presentations and hold workshops. "As much as possible we want people to be able to die on their own terms," said Ann Gauthreaux, Hospice regional director of public relations. She said death rarely happens quickly and quiet ly. It usually requires med ical care and sometimes difficult decisions. Currently there are 400 people under Rowan Hospice's care. Those with six months or less to live qualify for hospice care, the vast majority of which takes place outside of a hospice facility, such as in the patient's homes or long-term care facility. She said the care is holistic for the patient and family, and is intended to help them live their last days as fully and comfortably as possi ble. Attorney Melissa Phipps said she's seen first hand how not having advance directives can be difficult on families. "I've worked for almost Pkipps 17 years as an attorney working for a health care sys tem in house and I've seen what hap p e n s when these con versations don't hap pen - the conflicts that fami lies have because Gaulhreaux one per son's way of loving momma best is to do every thing, another persons way of loving momma best is to let momma die, let momma have a death with dignity," said Phipps, Novant Health's VP of Patients Services and chair of the North Carolina Bar Association's Health Law Council End of Life Subcommittee. She said the N.C. Bar association also will be holding sessions across the state on advance directives. She said it's important to make advance directives * before serious illness or injury happens. She said that state law puts extra burdens on advance direc tives, requiring both a notary and two qualified witnesses who aren't fami ly members or healthcare workers, making it some times challenging to do in a hospital setting even when the patient can communi cate. A state House of Representatives bill (HB 146), which had Forsyth County Reps. Donny Lambeth and Debra Conrad among its spon sors, would've reduced the requirements to either a notary or two witnesses was voted down in April. "It's more about empowerment and choice than it is about death," said Phipps. For more information about advance directives and a schedule of "Got Plans?" workshops, visit gotplans!23 .org. Maps from page XI consider the case. Within hours of the ruling, they presented proposed sched ules to the state Supreme Court with the goal of set tling the litigation before the 2016 election cycle. Candidate filing begins next February. "The redistricting plans which the General Assembly created were illegal because they were racially gerrymandered," said the Rev. William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP chapter. "They were intended to violate the political presence and the participation of racial minorities." New bound aries will have to be drawn, Rarhe.r nredicted. A pair of legal chal lenges focused on 27 state House and Senate districts and three congressional districts. In many districts, Democratic-leaning black voters were placed within boundaries that ultimately benefited Republicans else where in the state. A three judge panel of state trial judges unanimously upheld the maps in 2013. A major ity of state justices deter mined the districts with stood legal scrutiny whether or not race had been the predominant fac tor in drawing them. Republicans who led the 2011 mapmaking com mittees said Monday's decision was procedural" and not unanticipated. They believe the maps are lawful and designed to pro tect the state from legal claims under the federal Voting Rights Act. "We are confident that our state Supreme Court will once again arrive at the same result and the U.S. Supreme Court will affirm its decision," Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, and Sen. Bob Rucho, R Mecklenburg, said in a written statement. In the Alabama case. Justice Stephen Breyer said lawmakers and a lower court relied too much on a mechanically numerical" view of whether the new plan reduced minority vot ing strength. Breyer wrote that the court should have asked what percentages were necessary for minori ties to elect their candidate of choice. In earlier N.C. redis tricting, Democrats in charge of maps adopted a similar strategy that result ed in cutting back the per centages of black voters in majority-black districts. They kept more black vot ers in districts with white Democrats where com bined they could influence election outcomes. N.C. legislative Republicans contend the two cases are different because their legal defense is based on a dif ferent portion of the Voting Rights Act than the Alabama case. The number of minority legislators has reached record numbers in the N.C. General Assembly since the latest round of redistricting. In the 2009 legislative session, when Democrats were in charge, there were 30 black legisla tors. There are 34 black lawmakers today. fV Forsyth County Promoting Health. Improving Livm \tt uj rfir r nmii-iftiitf ?( ma we< f 'i. .?:w* J. 1ts<4K*ailqf?Mrm|akrit Uri*aw?i?T*Xy* HBCU from page AI President Dr. Jimmy Jenkins, Bennett College Interim Provost Dr. Michelle Linster, Winston Salem State University Government Relations Director Cornelius Graves, and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University's Chancellor Dr. Harold Martin. Submitted piloto ' U.S. Rep. Alma Adams, 12th District, meets with presidents and represen tatives from four HBCUs in North Carolina's 12th Congressional District on Monday, April 20, to talk about HBCUs. Local Community Care networks form strategic alliance SPECIAL TO THE nnpwPTK TWo local Community Care of North Carolina (CCNC) networks are forming a Strategic Alliance that will collabo ratively reach the greater Triad. On July 1, Partnership for Community Care (P4CC) and Northwest Community Care Network (NCCN) intend to com plete a strategic alliance that will serve the 10 coun ties of Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Randolph, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry, Wilkes and Yadkin. NORTH CAROLINA'S Pre-CoUege Program NC-MSEN The Center for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education (CMSTE) NC Mathematics and Science Education Network (NC-MSEN) 2015 Summer Scholars Pre-Colleae Program Voted 2nd In the 2014 Winston-Salem Journal Newspaper Readers Choice Awards for Best Summer Camp For Middle and High School Students (grades 6-12) who are interested in pursuing careers in science, mathematics, technology, engineering, and teaching. ? Promoting Excellence in Mathematics and Science Education ? Academic Instruction & Activities in Mathematics & Science ? Field Trip: Atlanta, GA - Atlanta University Consortium Center (Clark Atlanta, . 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