THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
^Volume 56, No. SO, USPS 428-080 Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Wednesday, December 24, 25 CENTS
Twas the night before Christmas
by Heleen Trucks a student at Perquimans High School. Heleen is in Ms. Coates Art I class.
-Surgeon general releases report on smoking
The American Heart Association,
North Carolina Affiliate applauded
the Surgeon General's latest report
on cigarete smoking as "the most
comprehensive collection of scien
tific evidence that supports the need
to protect non-smokers from the
health hazards of second-hand
smoke."
This week, C. Everett Koop, M.D.,
?S. Surgeon General, released the
^86 report on cigarette smoking in
Washington, D.C. This year's report
presented the scientific evidence on
tfie harmful effects on non-smokers
of breathing smoke coming from the
tip of a burning cigarette.
"The implications of this report
afe very clear: Smokers may choose
to ignore the warning labels on ciga
rette packages. But non-smokers can
.JSov. restores
Tunding
' -Governor Jim Martin recently
joined Administration Secretary
Grace Rohrer in announcing the re
storation of $135,000 in grant awards
to 41 domestic violence programs
statewide that had been cut because
of a legislative error.
On Oct. 8, Secretary Rohrer re
duced monetary awards to each of
those programs by 27.5 percent in or
der to give legislatively mandated
preferential treatment to eight simi
lar programs in western North Caro
lina. Although the legislative lead
ership had indicated that funding for
those eight programs would be in ad
dition to the funding for those eight
programs would be in addition to the
$450,^00 allocated for the entire pro
gram, it wasn't until late September
| fl)at it was discovered that the
*135,000 needed for those eight pro
grams had been omited from the bud
get adopted by the General Assem
bly. Iii order to comply with the law
as written, money for those eight
western North Carolina centers had
to come from funds already prom
ised the 41 other programs.
Working with the Governor and the
legislative leadership, Secretary
I Rohrer had identified funds nec
essary to restore those monies. To
accomplish this, $135,000 has been
transferred into the domestic vio
lence grant program from lapsed sal
aries; currently vacant positions for
which money had been budgeted.
The 41 programs that had faced re
ductions received their original noti
fication of awardfollowing an exami
nation of project proposals by a
Apartment grant review committee.
Awards were made to the programs
on the basis of the number of clients
served, their ability to acquire fund
ing from local sources, local volun
teer support and on the basis of an
equitable geographic distribution.
The state's domestic violence
grant program is administered
within the N.C. Council on the Status
of Women, a component of the de
40prtment of Administration.
no longer ignore those warnings. Cig
arette smoke affects all of us," said
Leonard S. Gettes, M.D., President
of American Heart Association North
Carolina Affiliate. Gettes is head of
the cardiology division of UNC-Cha
pel Hill.
"For two-thirds of the American
population that does not smoke, or
people who think they do not smoke,
this report is clearly a cause for
alarm," said Gettes.
Cigarette smoking claims an esti
mated 350,000 lives each year.
The Surgeon General's 1986 report
on second-hand smoke or passive
smoking made the following points :
Children of parents who smoke
have a much higher rate of colds and
other respiratory infections com
pared to children whose parents do
not smoke.
The non-smoking wife of a smoker
runs a higher risk of lung cancer than
the non-smoking wife of a non
smoker. The report anticipated that
similar evidence could soon be avail
able for the incidence of Heart dis
ease, emphysema and other obstruc
tive lung diseases among non
smoking wives of smokers.
Smokers, as well as non-smokers
exposed to smoke, breathe the same
4,000 constituents of cigarette smoke,
including tars, napthalene, pyrene,
benzopyrene, carbon monoxide,
methane, ammonia, acetylene, and
hydrogen cyanide.
Sidestream smoke, which comes
from the burning tip of a cigarette,
contains 2.5 times the carbon monox
ide found in smoke exhauled by a
smoker.
Tar, one of the most carcinogenic
substances, is 70 percent more con
centrated in sidestream smoke than
in mainstream smoke.
The American Heart Association,
North Carolina Affiliate is on record
in support of a "no smoking policy in
schools" and an educational effort to
encourage local school boards to pass
their own local policy,
in support of pursuing state legis
lation to ban smoking in all North
Carolina public school systems, in
support of pursuing state legislation
to either ban or designate non-smok
ing areas for all buildings and offices
occupied by state employees, in sup
port of state legislation to increase
the North Carolina excise tax on cig
arettes.
Pictured top right are the
Union School Chorus and
band as their give their an
nual Christmas concert on
Thursday, December 11th.
The chorus is under the direc
tion of Lynn Winslow, and the
band is directed by Mr. David
Ziemba. Pictured right are
the students of Central School
as they gave their Christmas
Program last Thursday eve
ning for parents and visitors.
TIP program adopted
CHARLOTTE? The state Board of
Transportation Friday, Dec. 12, 1966,
adopted an improvement program
that calls for an ambitious contrac
tion schedule and is designed to in
crease the acuacy and dependability
of planned transportation im
provements.
It is based, in part, on Governor
Jim Martin's "Roads to Future" pro
gram adopted by the North Carolia
General Assembly in July. Martin
has made the state's transportation
needs a top priority during his ad
ministration.
The more than $3.1 billion Trans
portation Improvement Program,
(commonly called the T-I-P) is a non
binding plan which sets statewide
construction and assistance priori
ties. It includes schedules for the
highway program, airport im
provements, assistance to rail lines,
plans for bicycle routes, and public
transportation programs.
The update of the program ap
proved by the board shortens by one
year the peoiod covered by the TIP,
scheduling work over nine years,
1987-1995. The reduction is the first
step in the board's plan to return to
the seven-year transportation pro
gram specified by state law. It is con
densing the document because of dif
ficulty in predicting needs and
projecting costs for the more distant
years.
As it has in the past, the majority of
this year's update of the transporta
tion program concerns the state high
way system. The highway portion of
it lists 1,491 projects with an esti
mated total cost of $3.1 billion. Each
of the state's 100 counties is sched
uled for some highway work.
But construction of the projects in
the TIP is far from being a certainty.
The North Carolina Department of
Transportation has cautioned that all
the program's schedules are "sub
ject to the availablity of funds." Also,
the department has said that it based
its planning on assumptions that the
United States Congress and the North
Carolina General Assembly will en
act several important bills related to
highway funding and highway con
struction cost control.
Still, the DOT says that the pro
gram adopted today should be more
accurate and dependable than pre
vious editions because is based on up
dated estimates of both project cost
and available funding.
Secretary of Transportation James
E. Harrington said, "This year's
Transportation Improvement Pro
gram is an important step towards
better planning and implementation
of a comprehensive transportation
program.
It represents an effort by the admin
istration of Governor Jim Martin to
more closely match transportation
planning and project initiatives with
the needs of the state. Furthermore,
a concerted effort has been made to
ensure that the program operates
within bounds of the financial contr
acts it faces."
Given the numerous changes in
this year's program, it is probably
wise to note, Harrington said, that its
most important aspect has remained
virtually unchanged. The project
commitments made in previous
years have been honored in almost
all cases.
Harrington said that in order to
guarantee the success of the 1987-1995
TIP adopted by the board, the de>
partment must receive at least $275
million dollars annually in federal
highway funds, an appropriate
amount of state matching funds, and
additional authority to control right
of-way costs. Congress adjourned
without passing a new highway act
and the old one expired on September
30. The legislature is expected to con
sider state transportation issues
when it convenes in February.
Without cngressional action fund
ing for North Carolina highway con
struction projects will run out by next
April. Some states have already had
to halt construction because of lack
of funds.
Holiday driving tips
RALEIGH? Arrests for driving
while impaired have increased 17
percent over last year, and with the
Christmas holiday season ap
proaching, the State Highway Patrol
is urging motorists to drive with
care.
The Christmas holiday period be
gins at 6 p.m., December 23 and ends
at midnight, December, 28. The New
Year's holiday period begins at 6
p.m., Dec. 30 and ends at midnight.
January 1.
Last year, 12 motorists died in traf
fic accidents during the New Year's
holiday. Patrol Commander Colonel
Jack Cardwell says, "Heavy holiday
traffic is expected, and all available
troopers will patrol the highway for
speeding and drinking drivers."
Colonel Cardwell urges motorists
to use seat belts. Effective January 1,
drivers and front seat passengers
must buckle up or pay a $25 fine.
Early deadline set
Due to the upcoming New Year's hol
iday the Perquimans Weekly will be
observing early deadlines this com
ing week.
The deadline for news copy will 3 p.
m. on Friday, December 26th, and
the deadline for advertising will 5 p.
m. on Friday, December 26th.
Because of the press schedules, no
copy received after the deadlines will
be run.
To insure proper placement, please
turn in all information to the office of
the paper as soon as possible.
CTT reduces rates
ELIZABETH CITY-Christmas,
one of the busiest days of the year for
'telephone users, is just around the
corner. Although the holiday is one of
five annual holidays when discount
rates apply, customers may want to
avoid calling at peak times.
Carolina Telephone has found the
heaviest calling periods on
Christmas Day are early morning
until 1 p.m. and from 6 p.m. until late
night, according to T.F. Daniels, Dis
trict Commercial Manager. Long
Distance is also heavy from 6 p.m.
until late oh Christmas Eve.
Daniels said, "The heavy calling
places an unusual load on circuits
which sometimes leads to delays in
completing calls. People can perhaps
get their calls through faster by
avoiding the heavy callings times.
Also, by dailing the calls themselves,
callers can save money by avoiding
the operator service charge.
The "Weekend and Night Rate" is
50 percent off the full rate for calls
placed within North Carolina and 56
percent off the full rate for calls
placed outside the state. The usual
"Evening Rate" applies all day on
weekdays on the five denoted holi
days, and is at a 25 percent discount
for in-state calls and at a 40 percent
discount for out-of-state calls.
"Whether Christmas on weekday
or a weekend, customers can call
during the Weekend and Night (11
p.m. to 8 a.m.) Rate Period to avoid
the busy hours and get the lowest
rate available."
An explanation of reduced long-dis
tance rate periods can be found in the
Call Guide Section in each Carolina
Telephone directory," said Daniels.
See the Christmas
Edition on pg. 8
'WUrtAty @6ni4t*nCL4>