Page 6A
The Kings Mountain Herald | www.kmherald.net
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
PETTINGS ZOOS: can, and do, occur safely according to officials
From page 1A
recommendations would likely in-
volve some costs.
The panel was formed last fall
after the Fair became the focal point
of an E-coli break out that resulted
in 106 cases and the death of a tod-
dler.
Are fair officials expecting
lower turnout this year following
the E-coli breakout? Responding to
reporters at a press conference,
Hastings acknowledged that con-
cern. Another concern is weather.
Last year it rained six days during
the fair and attendance was down
nearly 15,000.
State officials said last fall that
consistent heavy rains during the
fair may have played a role in
spreading contamination by wash-
ing waste products to nearby park-
ing lots and walking areas. Hastings
said the Commission determined by
environmental and epidemiologic
analysis that the 2012 outbreak of
E-coli pathogen likely resulted
from direct animal contact and with
soil contaminated by the animals at
one particular petting zoo.
Many of the recommendations
announced at a press conference by
N
CC Fair Manager Calvin Hastings
spoke on behalf of fair officials, in
regard to petting zoos, at Monday's
press conference.
photo by LIB STEWART
county and state officials at the
Cleveland County Health Depart-
ment deal with sanitation measures.
County Health Director Dorothea
Wyant, chairperson, said the health
department would provide training
to Fair employees to review proce-
dures for preventing the spread of
diseases, one of those precaution-
ary measures pointing to hand
washing.
Wyant said the impact of the
2012 Fair Shiga Toxin producing E-
coli (STEC) outbreak, with over
100 ill persons, including hospital-
ization and a death, required an ex-
tensive six-month review of fair
practices and policies, including
risks of human disease with this an-
nual event.
Panelists concurred that while
eliminating animal contact, includ-
ing petting zoos, might prevent E-
coli or other communicable disease
outbreaks from occurring, most of
these events can and do occur
safely when preventive measures
are taken, the public is educated
about what they can do to prevent
the risk, and the public follows rec-
ommendations.
While there is no guarantee that
the disease outbreak will ever
occur, she said the committee be-
lieves that following the recom-
mendations put forward will further
reduce the risks association with ill-
ness acquisition and disease trans-
mission at the Shelby fair. Animal
contact exhibits at sanctioned agri-
cultural fairs, such as Cleveland
County Fair, must adhere to the re-
quirements in Aiden’s Law and
county fair officials say.they were
in compliance at the 2012 fair. The
fair is subject to inspections every
year and in 2012 the animal contact
exhibits were fully inspected by
state and local health agencies and
found to be in full compliance with
all applicable laws.
Hastings said additional control
measures, including signage and
hand-washing stations, were also in
place in areas not required under
Aiden’s law. Despite this level of
compliance by the Fair, he said the
outbreak demonstrates that out-
breaks may occur even when thor-
ough control measures have been
implemented. As a result of the out-
break, the Cleveland County Health
Department initiated a comprehen-
sive review of Fair activities to fur-
ther enhance health and safety of
future editions of the Cleveland
County Fair, Hastings said.
Some of the specific health and
safety recommendations include:
* Provide a clear separation be-
tween all food vending and animal
exhibits and animal entertainment.
Most food vendors will be located
along the main alley at the Fair-
grounds with the last food vendor
location at the Weathers Arena.
Other food vendors will be located
along the carnival ride locations.
No animal exhibits will be placed
outside of the designated animal
areas.
“» Provide marked entranceways
into the animal exhibit areas by
some type of banners/gates, etc.
with signage notifying fair patrons
they are entering animal exhibit
areas.
» Provide hand-washing stations
at marked entrances and exits of an-
imal exhibit so that the funneled
traffic will be encouraged to wash
their hands upon exiting.
Commercial vendors may have .
displays within the animal areas.
» Locate hand-washing stations
on each side of the food vendor
strip.
* Provide pre-packaged, pre-
portioned food condiments or make
other arrangements to avoid public
contact with hand pump devices,
ketchup, mustard, vinegar, etc.
Consider installing motion-
sensor paper towel and soap dis-
pensers.
+ Consider restricting the num-
ber of patrons allowed at any one
time in animal contact exhibits.
* Install underground drainage
piping to handle surface water and
run-off from animal areas.
NO INCREASE:
for property taxes proposed
ECONOMY: /eaders tout growth
From page 1A
county allocation in the budget totals
$27,249,570. Capital outlay will remain the
same at $1,550,000 and special capital proj-
ects will be funded at a total of $1.2 million.
The supplemental tax will increase by an esti-
mated $150,000 and the sales tax is expected
to increase $59,500.
The Sheriff’s Office budget reflects an in-
crease of 3.97% for a total appropriation of
$10,569,361. This budget includes the addi-
tion of 11 new Sheriff’s vehicles to replace
current high mileage vehicles as well as the
conversion of two full-time hourly positions
without benefits to full-time permanent posi-
tions with benefits. Both of these positions
will be administrative support positions at the
Detention Center.
No. 7 Fire District is requesting an increase
of 1 cent for a total tax rate of 4 cents. The
proposed budget includes a 2 cent increase in
the county fire district tax. As the only source
of funding, Fire District tax funds are used to
support the Volunteer Fire Departments pur-.
chase of equipment and to provide required
training for volunteers.
Dear Savvy Senior,
I’ve heard that there are strategies
available that can help married cou-
ples increase their Social Security
benefits when they retire. My wife and
1 are approaching retirement age and
would like to understand these op-
tions. What can you tell us?
Getting Prepared
If you're willing to wait to full re-
tirement age and beyond, married
couples have several unique claiming
options that could actually add tens
of thousands of dollars to your Social
Security checks over your retirement.
Here’s what you should know.
Waiting Strategy
Before we go over the different
“benefit boosting options for married
couples, it’s important to know that
the most commonly used strategy for
increasing retirement benefits is to
delay taking them.
While workers can start collecting
their Social Security retirement ben-
efits as early as age 62, postponing
them to full retirement age (which is
¥
66 if you were born between 1943,
Cleveland County revenues, as proposed
for 2013-14, include: sales tax and other taxes,
13.2%; permits, fees, interest, misc., 9.8%;
fund reserves, 2.9%; federal, state and local
funds, 2.9%; property tax, 71.2%; prior year
taxes 2.2%; and current year taxes 69.0%.
The budget includes an increase of
$109,573 to $1,590,573 in current expendi-
tures for Cleveland Community College.
Funding for capital projects will increase
$25,000 to $100,000 for 2013-14 budget
years. :
The budget will appropriate $161,000 to
the Cleveland County Economic Develop-
ment Partnership to be used in the recruitment
of new businesses, as well as existing industry
expansions. The budget is allocating $110,000
for travel and tourism with a majority of fund-
ing coming from the local occupancy tax.
The overall appropriation of county fund-
ing for the Department of Social Services is
$7,869,324 for an increase in funding of 6.14
percent over the previous year. This increase is
primarily due to a reduction in Federal and
State funding for county mandated programs
and services.
and 1954), or better yet to age 70, can
make a big difference.
Let’s say, for example, that you're
eligible for a $1,200 monthly benefit
at age 62. By waiting to 66 your
monthly benefit would increase to
$1,600. And by delaying to age 70,
you would boost your benefit a
whopping 76 percent to $2,112. De-
laying will also increase your wife’s
survivor benefit if you die first. Wait-
ing, however, beyond age 70 will not
increase your benefits.
Claim and Suspend
In addition to waiting, Social Se-
curity also offers two other little
known strategies for married couples,
but you must be at least full retire-
ment age (currently 66) to use them.
The first one is called “claim and
suspend” (see ssa.gov/retire2/sus-
pend.htm) that allows a worker at full
retirement age to file for Social Secu-
rity so their spouse can begin collect-
ing a spousal benefit, but asks to
receive their own benefit later.
This is best suited for one-earner
couples where one spouse worked
From page 1A
state. Also, there’s a computer
for every one and a half stu-
dents in Cleveland County
schools, Boyles said in his
presentation.
The annual breakfast, held
at the Patrick Senior Center
and sponsored in part by the
Kings Mountain Hospital,
drew about 75 local officials,
business leaders and members
of the general public. In addi-
tion to Murphrey and Boyles,
Cleveland County Commis-
sioners Chairman Ronnie
Hawkins and Senior Execu-
tive Director of the Kings
Mountain Family YMCA
Kevin Osbourne also spoke,
among others.
The crime rate in Kings
Mountain remains at 20-year
lows, with arrests in 2012
numbering 474. The rate has
been on a steady decline since
2001, which saw more than
1,100 arrests. In 2012 the po-
lice department answered
15,927 calls, down sharply
from the 22,000 to 26,000 it
was making annually when
the crime rate was peaking
about a decade ago, according
to information provided by
law enforcement officials.
The city’s fire department
answered 368 calls in the
same year, with no loss of life,
according to information pro-
vided by fire officials. The de-
partment continues to see a
decline in the number of se-
vere fire calls.
The Patrick Senior Center
is scheduled for a $1.1 million
expansion project that in-
cludes a new reception and
multipurpose rooms, an up-
graded computer lab and a
larger crafts room. The city
and county have committed a
total of $450,000 to the
planned construction and im-
provements. :
Look for more bike and
pedestrian trails in Kings
Mountain’s future. The city
has won grants and funding
for improving or adding onto
five projects including the
Kings Mountain Gateway
Trails, the Kings Mountain
Bike Plan and the Eat Smart,
Move More initiative — aimed
at making exercise easier and
more fun for residents.
The city achieved a Fit
Community “Silver Level”
from the N.C. Health and
Wellness Trust Fund last year.
In May, Kings Mountain’s
Main Street program was des-
ignated as an accredited Na-
tional Main Street Program.
The initiative aims to drive
business and promote growth
through revitalization and
building strong public-private
partnerships.
EYRE
Editor
full-time and the other spouse did not
work outside the home or did not
work long enough to qualify for So-
cial Security retirement benefits.
Here’s an example of how it
works: Let’s say that you are age 66,
but want to keep working until 70 to
collect a higher benefit. Let’s also say
your wife is a nonworking spouse
who just turned 62 and would like to
start receiving spousal benefits on
your work record. The problem is she
can’t get them until you sign up. So
you file for your Social Security ben-
efits but request an immediate sus-
pension which allows your wife to
claim spousal benefits, without lock-
ing you into a lower payment for life.
Then when you do decide to start col-
lecting, at age 70, you end the sus-
pension and receive a higher benefit
for delaying.
This strategy can also be used if
you have children under 18, or 19 if
they are still attending high school, or
are disabled. Each dependent child is
eligible for up to 50 percent of the re-
tiree’s full benefit. And, if any child
is younger than 16, your spouse can
also qualify for additional benefits as
How Married Couples Can Boost Their Social Security Checks
a caregiver, even if she’s under age
62. ;
Claim Twice
For two-career couples, the second
strategy known as “claim twice,” lets
you collect Social Security (at full re-
tirement age) first as a spouse and
later using your own work record.
Here’s how it works: Let’s say that
you are 66 and would like to continue
working until age 70. But, your wife
started collecting her benefits on her
own work record at age 64. You could
file a “restricted” application with
Social Security and collect a spousal
benefit which is half of what your
wife gets. Then, once you reach 70,
you stop receiving the spousal benefit
and switch to your own benefit,
which will be 32 percent higher than
the benefit you would have collected
at your full retirement age.
Send your senior questions to:
Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Nor-
man, OK 73070, or visit SavvySe-
nior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor
to the NBC Today show and author of
“The Savvy Senior” book.
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