Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Dec. 14, 2017, edition 1 / Page 1
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BY TODD LUCK THE CHRONICLE This month, Forsyth County’s Drug Treatment Court held its first session in hopes that it’ll help those with substance abuse issues on the long road to recovery. It’s a return for the county’s adult drug court, which previously lasted 15 years before it ended in 2011 when its state funding was cut. District Court Judge Lawrence Fine presided over that court and has returned for the new one. Back then, crack and meth were the major drugs. This time opioids have become a nationwide epidemic. The court is a sentenc ing alternative for those with drug charges. Its focus is treatment and helping participants kick their addiction. They’re tested several times a week. Progress is rewarded with incentives while relapses may result in sanctions. Fine said he knows things will sometimes “go side ways” for participants and the program will see them Sigler though that. “This court will be dif ferent from any court you have ever been in because this is a collaborative effort,” Fine tells new par ticipants. He said the first session See Court on A6 * * Photo by Todd Luck Attorney Kerri Sigler, Judge Denise Hartsfield, Judge Lawrence Fine and Drug Court Coordinator Curtis Graham stand in Courtroom 4a, where Drug Treatment Court is held. Captain William Penn Jr. greets Council Member Jeff Macintosh during Coffee with a Cop at West End Coffeehouse on Tuesday, Dec. 12. Coffee with a Cop continues to unite community BY TEVIN STINSON THE CHRONICLE More than a dozen officers with the Winston-Salem Police Department (WSPD) mingled with residents over pastries and hot joe on Tuesday, Dec. 12, as the department hosted Coffee with a Cop for two hours in the morning at West End Coffeehouse on North Broad Street near downtown. The WSPD started meeting with residents over coffee in March. Since the first gathering at Whole Foods, Coffee with a Cop has become rou tine in various neighborhoods of the city. Coffee with a Cop is designed to give residents an opportunity to dis cuss their concerns in a relaxed set ting. It also gives officers a chance to develop relationships with the people they serve. Police say that by doing this, they hope to build safer and stronger communities while enhanc ing trust between citizens and offi cers. Firm presents consolidation ideas to county council BY TODD LUCK THE CHRONICLE Forsyth County commissioners heard a presentation on their options for consolidating the departments of Public Health and Social Services on Thursday, Dec. 7. Currently both of these large departments have their own boards, which hire their department directors. Consolidation mainly involves who runs the depart ments, which would involve eliminating or combining the boards. The commis sioners solicited a study to explore consolidation options that are now allowed by state law. The study was con ducted by Cansler Collaborative Resources, a firm owned by former N.C. Health Secretary Lanier Cansler. Cansler’s Rebecca Troutman and Sherry Bradsher present ed the findings. Troutman actually lobbied for the 2012 law that allows for the consolidation of human services when she Bradsher worked for the N.C. Association of County Commissioners. She said counties wanted greater flexibility over how they manage those services, which lawmakers agreed with. “It’s a growing recognition that counties know what’s best for counties,” she said. They surveyed 24 counties that have consolidated and did numerous interviews with county staff and other stakeholders. They said if commissioners wanted to con solidate, the best fit was “Option 2,” which involves a combined board of human services with a human servic es director, which the county manager would hire with the advice and consent of the board. Human services staff would be under the same poli See Consolidation on A6 Hidden No More tour makes a stop at WSSU BY TEVIN STINSON THE CHRONICLE In the 1960s when Katherine Goble Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughn played major roles in the early stages of the U.S. Space Program, it was rare to see a woman, let alone three black women, working in a field we know today as STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). While Johnson, Jackson and Vaughn would go on to make an impact on NASA more than 50 years ago, as depicted in the book and 2016 biog raphical film “Hidden Figures,” today women and young girls pursuing careers in STEM is still rare. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, although women fill half of all jobs in the United States, they hold less than 25 percent of STEM jobs. STEM careers make 33 percent more than non-STEM careers. Experts, believe one way to get more women interested in STEM is to engage students at an early age and thanks to UNC Chapel Hill's Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, that's exactly what happened last Friday on the campus of Winston-Salem State University. See Tbur on A6 ■A ■ o »Ov
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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