Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / April 27, 2005, edition 1 / Page 8
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8 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2005 Plan would help laid-off workers BY LAURA YOUNGS SENIOR WRITER RALEIGH State officials aimed Tuesday to give a boost to North Carolina’s laid-off workers with a 10-step plan to help the unemployed get back into the job market. “It was four years ago when the recession hit in North Carolina,” said Andy Anderson, chairman of the Dislocated Worker Advisory Committee of the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center. “We all hoped that once the recession ended, things would get back to normal. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened.” The report was presented by the Raleigh-based center. The six-month project yielded 10 agenda items, including: ■ expanding the U.S. Department of Labor’s Trade Adjustment Assistance program to ensure that all workers dislocated by trade have access to services; ■ revising the state’s unemploy ment insurance funds to prevent future shortages such as the one that occurred in 2001; and ■ establishing a non-reverting reserve fund for community col leges to deal with emergencies such as dramatic enrollment increases. The plan is a step in the right direction to help laid-off w'orkers and support the community col lege system, said Rep. Joe Tolson, D-Edgecombe. “We’re going to continue to be faced with this, and we have to be better prepared.” Moving Supplies Sale Save 25°/o-50% |H on moving supplies ™ and boxes 1818 Airport Rd., Chapel Hill, NC (Harris Teeter Shopping Center near 1-40) 919-960-0900 M - F 8:30 am - 6:30 pm SAT 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Grad School Giveaway Prizes include: > Kaplan programs and services > Dell laptops * Tickets from STA Travel to visit your target grad school * And more! Visit kaptest.com/giveaway by May 31 to enter! 1 -800-KAP-TEST D&LL kaptest.com/giveaway Test Prep and Admissions |www.statravei.£s^ NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding the Province of Quebec) and students residing on a student visa in these eligible jurisdictions who are eighteen (18) years of age or older as of March 16. 2005. LIMIT: One entry per person. All entries must be received or postmarked by May 31. 2005. 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' £ Dislocated workers by education level Since the state's manufacturing jobs have decreased 27 percent since 1990, the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center and community college system hope to secure funding for job training programs. 70% —— 88 rural j£ ■ |gfjf URBAN | 50% ■— b 1 I 40% -I |"~ 1— m ■ :v. 10% IS l 1: m I— -0%-* M M M .... LESS THAN 9-11 12 YEARS 13-16 OVER 16 9 YEARS YEARS YEARS YEARS YEARS OF EDUCATION SOURCE: N.C. RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CENTER DTH/MARY JANE KATZ Community colleges play an important role in training work ers to put them on the road to economic recovery, said Martin Lancaster, president of the N.C. Community College System. Establishing a reserve fund also is important for the system, he said, because the colleges cannot obtain regular state appropriations quickly enough to deal with emergencies such as enrollment growth spikes. But Lancaster said it could take several years to receive approval from the state legislature and get the reserve off the ground. It used to be that working at a local manufacturing plant was often the best option, said Harry Payne, I c ■ 1 1 |~~ The UPS StoTe chairman of the N.C. Employment Security Commission. Now, many of those plants are gone, and the state must bring together agencies to make change, he said. Despite the recovering economy, manufacturing layoffs continue, according to the center’s report. From 1990 to 2002, N.C. manufac turing jobs dropped 27 percent. Anderson said economic com petition is a sort of warfare, and it’s not wise to leave the injured on the battlefield. “They represent not only a lost opportunity for them, but to all of us.” Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu. News Stmk P*^F*Wf Sa L. ii " * il Ml— dL thaw-" ~mt m T. ; ... DTH/WHITNEY SHEFTE Courtney Jones browses through books at Branch's Chapel Hill Bookshop in Village Plaza on Tuesday evening. After recently losing its lease, the independently owned book store may be forced to relocate or close for good. Area bookshop may close BY EREN TATARAGASI STAFF WRITER After a little more than three years of operation, a local bookstore has lost its lease and might be forced to relocate or close for good. Branch’s Chapel Hill Bookshop, owned and operated by Kate Branch, has been located in Village Plaza on Elliott Road for about three years. But Friday, Branch found out in a phone call with the store’s land lord, Mark Properties, that the store had officially lost its lease. Because Branch was out of the state in January caring for her sick grandfather, the store fell behind on its rent. When Branch’s grandfather passed away, she returned to her store, which was already in trouble for the late payments. She said she negotiated a pay ment plan with the landlord and was working on a negotiation for reduced rent. But after a check bounced, she sent the landlord an envelope con taining payment replacing the bad check and other payments. Two weeks later, the envelope was returned to her because it had ITS COLLEGE RIVALRY NIGHT WITH THE BUHfiW raHur ■ Come out and watch UNO TAKE ON I ■■■SjjX NC State and Duke DURING BETWEEN B BfcSg INNING GAMES AND I ENJOY $1 HOT DOGS, ALL NIGHT LONG! THURSDAY Durham BULLS APRIL 28TH vs. RICHMOND 7:OOPM BRAVES insufficient postage. Branch now owes about $92,000 in rent. “The landlord is being really vague,” she said. “As long as I keep paying $2,000 a week, they will give us time for an orderly liquidation.” Mark Properties, a Durham based company, recently fired almost all the employees Branch had dealt with. On Friday, the company also revoked Branch’s payment plan and rent decrease and added back late fees. “After a five-minute phone call, I owed $50,000 more,” Branch said. Since the store announced the loss of its lease, Branch has seen much concern from locals. “We’ve had such an outpouring of community support it’s amaz ing,” she said. One form of support for the store will come from Cartoonists Across America, a pro-literacy group based in California. Richard Dinges, vice president of the organization, said the group first contacted Branch’s to set up one of its pro-literacy tours. Two days later, when members Sailij (Ear lirrl visited the shop’s Web site, they were shocked to see the store was in trouble. “We talked about it and decided we want to help out by doing an event for them,” Dinges said. The planned event will be a fund-raiser tied together with the pro-literacy campaign. “We want to focus on the plight of the shop owner,” he said. “I redly like the people there, and it’s a shame they are going to get pushed out because of some landlord issue.” Branch said a group of authors is also planning a benefit. “If all that works out, we might be able to stay here,” she said. Many customers are upset that one of the few independently owned bookstores in town is in jeopardy. “I appreciate having a locally owned bookstore and would like to see it stay” said Jane Hare, a Chapel Hill resident and a customer at the bookstore since its opening. “They have features you don’t find at larger franchise stores. It has a more personal touch.” Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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April 27, 2005, edition 1
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