West Craven Hishlights
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VOLUME 12 NO. 12
MARCH 23,1989
VANCEBORO, NORTH CAROLINA
PHONE 244-0780 OR 946-2144
UPSP412110)
25 CENTS
SIX PAGES
Environmental ^Alphabet Soup^ Words Explained
Last week wc looked at the
alphabet soup of agencies and
laws which govern environmen*
tal regulation in North Carolina,
including the divisions of En
vironmental Management
(DEM) and Coastal Management
(DCM), the Environmental Man
agement and Coastal Resources
commissions (EMC and CRC)
'"and the Coastal Area Manage
ment Act (CAMA).
This complex network of agen
cies is guided by regulations
which are complex in them
selves and which, of course,
make up a confusing alphabet
soup of their own. This week we
will try to unscramble a few of
the regulations that have a signi-
Analysis
Heant affect on the Tar-Pamlico
and coastal North Carolina.
AECa (Areas of Environmental
Concern) — AECs are areas of
coastal North Carolina identified
by the CRC as having particular
environmental importance and
thus deserving of added regula
tory protection. AECs include all
estuarine waters and ocean wa
ters to three miles offshore,
estuarine shorelines and coastal
wetlands, unique habitats, signi
ficant cultural or geological sites,
and a variety of other areas.
Most developments proposed
in an AEC must obtain a CAMA
permit from DCM before pro
ceeding, which occasionally
means a full environmental im
pact study will have to be con-
ducted. Agriculture, forestry,
and road and utility maintenance
are usually exempt from needing
permits to operate in AECs.
EIS (Environmental Impact
Study) ~ An EIS is an analysis of
the effects a proposed project
may have on its surrounding en
vironment. A number of state
agencies, such as DEM and
DCM, can require an EIS as part
of the permitting process.
though the persons seeking the
permit are actually responsible
for preparing the study.
An EIS may examine secon
dary and cumulative effects of a
project that are not addressed in
a general permit reviews, and it
may have to discuss the need for
the project and reasonable
alternatives to proposed proce
dures.
There are “windows" for pub
lic response to EISs where con
cerned citizens can comment ab
out items they feel are not fully or
appropriately addressed in the
EIS.
Some federal agencies, such as
the Army Corps of Engineers,
can also require an EIS of a pro
Dirty Trickster At Work?
(Rie Carter photo)
Someone might think this fellow is up to no good, punching
holes in some guy's tires. Wrong. Kenny Ray Barber is just doing
his job at a service station. He's fishing a nail out of a tubless tire
so he can plug it and return his customer to the road. And those
suds aren't to keep Kenny Ray’s hands clean. Escaping air blows
bubbles in the soapy water to show him the leak.
Part Of $125 Million Payment
Distributed To Corn Growers
The U.S. Department of Agri
culture’s Commodity Credit Cor
poration will make about $125
million in deficiency and 0/92
prqi*ision payments in commodi
ty certificates to eligible produc
ers of 1988 crop corn and sor
ghum.
The payments will be made
this month.
Sorghum producers will re
ceive about $25 million in de
ficiency payments. Sorghum
producers who requested adv
ance deficiency payments dur
ing the 1988 feed grain program
sign-up have already received
payments of about $218 million,
according to Milton Hertz com
modity credit executive vice
president.
Most corn producers re
quested advance deficiency pay
ments and were paid about $2.6
billion at sign-up.
“Corn producers who did not
request advance payments will
receive approximately $1 million
in deficiency payments in
March," Hertz said.
Deficiency payments are re
quired under the 1988 corn and
sorghum programs because the
national weighted average mar
ket price received by producers
during the first five months of
the marketing year were below
the established “target" price
levels.
Deficiency payment rates are
the difference between the target
price for the commodity and the
higher of the five month average
market price or the basic price
support loan rate for the com
modity.
The target price for corn is
$2.93 per bushel and for sorghum
is $2.78 per bushel.
The basic loan level is $2.21 for
corn and $2.10 for sorghum. Five-
month market price is $2.57 for
corn and $2.30 for sorghum.
Five-month final deficiency
payment rate is .36 for corn and
.48 for sorghum. Advance pay
ment rate is $.44 for com and .432
for sorghum.
Producers who did not request
advance deficiency payments
will receive .36 per bushel in corn
payments and .48 per bushel in
sorghum payments.
Sorghum producers who re
ceived advance deficiency pay
ments will receive .048 per
bushel while corn producers
who received advance deficiency
payments will be required to re
fund .08 per bushel.
{See FARM, Page 5)
Pirate
To Visit
Library
The Vanceboro-Craven
County Public Library will be
invaded by a pirate March 29.
The legendary Blackbeard
is expected to drop anchor
and appear at the Children's
Story Hour at 4 p.m.
Portraying the famous, or
infamous, pirate will be Ben
Cherry, who portrayed Black-
beard in the production of
“Blackbeard: Knight of the
Black Flag" at Bath.
Cherr>' comes dressed in the
full Blackbeard regalia — a
ruffled shirt, black breeches, a
knee-length coat and boots.
Cherry even has a few red rib
bons in his hair and beard.
Cherry will tell the children
(See PIRATE, Page 5)
ject.
NPDES (National Pollutant Dis
charge Elimination System per
mit) — An NPDES permit must
be obtained for any project that
will discharge pollution into sur
face waters. It is important to
note that NPDES permits do not
require an absence of pollution
from discharges, but merely set a
limit on the amount of pollution
which the permittee can release.
NPDES is a federal program
which is administered in North
Carolina by the EMC and DEM.
NSW (Nutrient Sensitive Wa
ters) — The NSW designation is
applied by the EMC to any wa
ters in the state which are being
threatened by nutrient overload.
When NSW is applied, the EMC
will set specific limits for the
amount of nutrients which can
be discharged into the river, and
various matching funds and
grants become available from the
state to nutrient polluters in the
watershed (e.g., grants to help
farmers establish runoff controls
on their cropland).
The Tar-Pamlico is being cons
idered for NSW designation by
the EMC and DEM.
PNA* (Primary Nursery Areas)
— PNAs are areas of rivers and
lakes that are so productive as
fish nurseries (hat they are given
special protective status. PNAs,
(See SOUP, Page 5)
CAMA May
Include Rules
On Airspace
Panel Suggests Changes;
Hears Noise Discussions
By MIKE VOSS
Eclitfir
The Coastal Area Management
Act could include regulations on
airspace and underground space
under a proposal made Tuesday
in Washington.
The Coastal Resources Com
mission's Military Activities
Task Force, after hearing discus
sion of noise and its effects on
people and animals, suggested
that legislation be introduced in
the General Assembly to clarify
CAMA's scope.
The task force was created this
year to review environmental
problems related to military
activity. It includes members
from the Air Force, Navy and
Marines.
Kate Benkert, an official from
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser
vice's Raleigh office, told the
panel Tuesday that although
knowledge on how noise affects
wildlife is limited, there are spe
cific responses that animals have
to noise. She said most studies
had been done with domestic
and laboratory animals and it is
difficult to compare that in
formation with how wildlife
might react.
She said noise can cause
physical damage to hearing and
affect breeding activities.
She said kangaroo rats in U.S.
deserts have been partly
deafened by off-road vehicles.
The rats adjust their hearing to a
different threshold, and they can
no longer hear an approaching
sidewinder rattlesnake.
(See NOISE, Page 5)
Farm Life Teacher Plans
Math Club For Students
A Farm Life Elementary
School teacher is one of two
teachers in Craven County
awarded a mini-grant by the N.C.
Council of Mathematics.
Loretta Lawson, a fifth-grade
math teacher at Farm Life in
Vanceboro, and Annette Gamer,
an assistant principal at Have
lock Elementary School, were
awarded the grants recently.
The money received by Mrs.
Lawson, to be used at Farm Life,
will be used to develop an after-
school math club for fifth-grade
students. The aim of the club will
be to present activities to prom
ote leadership skills.
Plans include a family '‘math
night" for interested parents to
sharpen their math skills and to
teach parents activities and
games that are at their childrens’
skill level, said Mrs. Lawson.
There will be a meeting for pa
rents and other members of the
public to discuss how mathema
tics relates to their occupations.
Speakers will include a seams
tress and pharmacist and they
will be asked to discuss how
mathematics are used or applied
by adults in their day-to-day ex
periences.
April is Math Month and the
proposed club has started its
membership selection and plans
to begin its kickoff campaign in
April. Mrs. Lawson said the pur
pose of the club is to let boys and
girls know that math is fun and to
get students interested in math.
The mini-grant from the N.C.
Council of Mathematics will be
split among Mrs. Lawson and
Ms. Garner. Part of the mini
grant will be used to establish a
math-related program for
second-grade students.
Teachers and other school per-
(See GRANT, Page 5)
Homes, Gardens And Palace
Brighten Up Tours With Color
NEW BERN — The brilliant
colors of flowers against the new
green of springtime; strolling
through hand-carved entrances
into private historic treasure
homes; and enjoying the in
teriors and gardens of Tryon
Palace in a first-ever Tulips-By-
Twilight Tour are sights offered
April 7-9 during New Bern's His
toric Homes Tour and Garden
Festival. Visitors can pick an
event or ei\joy all of them during
the three-day festival.
New Bern, rich in early
architecture, opens its doors to
visitors April 7 and April 8 with
its Historic Homes and Gardens
Tour. Featured are 13 vintage pri
vate homes and gardens, two loc
al landmarks, gardens of Tryon
Palace and 11 churches. All are
listed on the National Register of
Historic Places, and all easily by
walking with ticket map in the
New Bern peninsular historic
district.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
for both days. Advance tickets
for the Historic Home and Gar
dens Tour are $10 and tickets
sold on tour days are $12. Phone
the New Bern Preservation
Foundation at (919) 633-6448 for
information on the homes tour,
including group discounts. Pro
ceeds go to local historic pre
servation projects.
The private homes on the His
toric Homes and Gardens Tour
reveal and exciting variety in
architectural styles and interior
decors. For example, the "cap
tain’s walk" that spans the chim
neys of the Brinson-Fulshire
House is an interesting prelude
to a fascinating interior, that was
begun before the Revolutionary
War. Discover a “hidden” cottage
built just before the Civil War in
the unique Carpenter Gothic
style and now restored as a guest
house.
Experience the elegance of old
New Bern when touring the in
teriors of the Federal-style James
Bryan House and office (circa
1803). Enjoy the sweeping view
of the mighty Neuse River from
Gull Harbor, built about 1815. An
early cooking fireplace remains
in the full-brick basement of the
restored home.
A new event. Historic Tryon
Palace and Tulips By Twilight is
a new event scheduled for 6 p.m.
to 9 p.m. April 8. Designed to
show Tryon Palace in all its
spring finery, ladies in satin will
escort guests through both pub
lic rooms and bedrooms where
candlelight flickers over season
al flower arrangements and anti
que flimishings. Musical enter
tainment of the 18th century
period will be provided inside
Tryon Palace and outside in the
lush gardens, expected to be at
spring peak.
(See TOURS, Page 5)
Gardens of Tryon Palace fcaltirc 35,000 liilips during tours weekend