THE PENDULUM
NEWS
WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 16. 2009 11 PAGE 7
.. ^ •• DAVID WELLS I Photo Editor
North Carolina will use the ARRA recovery funds to repair state railroads and complete rail projects.
Funds created
for N.C. railroad
improvements
Laura Smith
News Editor
With the recent occurrence of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act funding North Carohna highway and
transportation projects, the state has
shifted its focus to the railroad system.
On Sept. 1, North Carolina Gov.
Bev Perdue announced the state had
submitted the first of its high-speed rail
applications for funding under the act. If
the funds are allotted, the projects will
help retain or produce an estimated 1,457
jobs for North Carolinians.
“The purpose for the ARRA funds is to
stimulate the economy,” Elon economics
professor Steve DeLoach said. “You want
to stimulate the multiplier effect — money
gets spent and that creates income for the
workers.”
And for those who work on the North
Carolina railroads, that is good news in
bleak times.
“For the local area, it really depends
on who’s getting hired,” DeLoach said.
“If they’re local workers that are being
hired to work on the tracks, they’ll bring
money back."
The N.C. Department of Transportation
filed six “project-ready” applications
totaling 592,612,936, and they are
requesting $75,950,546 in Federal
Railroad Administration grants. It
pledged $16,662,390 in matching funds.
The NCDOT worked with the North
Carolina Railroad Company, Norfolk
Southern Railway, CSX Transportation
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and Amtrak in order to complete the
applications.
The projects include rehabilitating
locomotives and passenger equipment
for new service, doubling the size of the
station in Cary, adding parking in High
Point, lengthening the boarding platform
in Burlington and grade separating
Klumac Road in Rowan County.
if granted, the FRA requires the
projects to be completed within two years
of the award.
“These rail projects are critical
for communities throughout our
state,” Perdue said. “Working with our
partners in other states will improve the
transportation system in North Carolina
and in the Southeast.”
In addition. North Carolina is
partnering with Virginia to request
funding for completion of final
engineering for the development of
a shorter Southeast High Speed Rail
Corridor route with top speeds of 110
miles per hour. This would connect
Raleigh with Richmond, Va.
The two states will also partner
to complete a corridor development
plan which will connect Charlotte,
Greensboro, Raleigh, Richmond and
Washington, D.C. with passenger
trains that can travel at top speeds of
90 to 110 mph.
The second group of applications for
the corridor development plan is due
to the FRA on Oct. 2., and the ARRA is
providing $8 billion in funding for high
speed rail projects around the country.
Food Stamps rising
across nation, impact
felt in Alamance County
Pam Richter
Sports Editor
The number of Americans
receiving food stamps continues
to rise for the eighth consecutive
month. There are now more than 35
million people across the country
receiving this aid.
“It's straightforward. It's the
recession we’re in,” said Jim Barbour,
associate professor of economics. “Food
stamps are based on the income level.
As people get laid off and hours get cut,
incomes fall. There's a need for social
services.”
Since June 2008, the number of
food stamp recipients has increased
by 22 percent, according to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
The nationwide statistics also
reflect the trends taking place
in North Carolina and Alamance
County.
Lori Walston, a spokesperson for
the Department of Human Services
in North Carolina, said the state has
averaged 15 to 20 thousand more
applicants for food stamps a month
since April 2007.
The increase directly corresponds
with the timeframe of the economic
recession.
“It’s a steady uphill since two
years ago when we lost a lot of
industry in Alamance County,”
said Sheila Porterfield, income
maintenance supervisor with the
Alamance County Division of Social
Services. “(During the) last seven
months, there’s been a real steady
increase.”
Porterfield said residents in the
county have been impacted by the
recent closure of several industries.
including the textile mills and,
indirectly, the furniture industry.
Barbour said the county has been
hit “doubly" because industries
were leaving the county, and the
community was hit once again by
the nation-wide recession.
In the past, the Alamance Count)-
Division of Social Services saw a lot
of single parents, but Porterfield
said that is changing and more two-
parent households are appl> ing for
aid.
“We’re seeing a large amount
of families since a lot of places (in
the county) have laid off recently,”
Porterfield said.
In July, there were 8,064 active
cases in Alamance County according
to the North Carolina Division of
Social Services. All of these cases
were receiving assistance Ihrough
food stamps. During the same month,
there were 891 new applicants taken
within the county.
In order for a family to be eligible
for the food stamps program, it has
to have a household of two with
a gross income of $1,517 or less a
year. Families are not eligible to buy
tobacco products, alcohol or paper
products with the program.
Local divisions of social services
act independently from the state
division of Social Services, Walston
said.
“Each county has its own part of
social services, and does not report
to the state,” Walston said.
People who use food stamps
use a debit card and swipe at local
food stores. Porterfield said this is
beneficial because other people do
not know who is using food stamps
and who is not.
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