A federal judge will hear oral arguments March 26 in a lawsuit filed in 2008 by opponents of the Northern Beltway around Winston-Salem.
A crowd of more than 100 beltway supporters got the news last night at a meeting with state highway officials and legislators at Vienna Baptist Church. During the meeting, many people expressed frustration that their lives and property have been on hold because of delays in the project.
State Sen. Pete Brunstetter, R-31st, said he and state Sen. Linda Garrou, D-32nd, who was also at the meeting, will be exploring ideas to move the beltway forward at a faster pace -- assuming that the beltway gets a thumbs-up from federal Judge Thomas D. Schroeder. State representatives and local elected officials also expressed support for the pro-beltway group, Northern Beltway Now.
All the officials said that beltway supporters need to be active in great numbers to give the project the biggest chance of success. If it can go forward, the first segment of the beltway would link Business 40 and U.S. 158 near Walkertown. Beltway opponents believe that the project would increase pollution and that it wasn't properly planned to take into account future highway projects.
Board violated law, attorney says
RALEIGH -- An expert on the First Amendment says that the Wake County school board violated open-meetings law when it voted to place the superintendent on administrative leave.
Attorney Hugh Stevens said that board members should have voted in public Tuesday instead of behind closed doors when they decided to place Superintendent Del Burns on leave. The chairman of the school board, Ron Margiotta, and the board's attorney, Ann Majestic, said that members acted within the law because no one was hired or fired.
Burns has said he would resign June 30. He criticized the board's plan to end busing for socioeconomic diversity.
Changes proposed for ABC system
RALEIGH -- The head of the panel that regulates liquor sales in North Carolina has proposed merging some ABC boards while making county governments responsible for how those local boards operate.
The chairman of the state ABC Commission also recommended allowing private retailers to sell liquor in areas where an ABC store wouldn't be profitable.
Chairman Jon Williams made his report to Gov. Bev Perdue's Budget Reform and Accountability Commission, which is expected to recommend changes that Perdue can offer to the legislature.
Weather-spotter training offered
Severe weather-spotter training will be offered from 10 a.m. to noon today in Eisenberg Hall at UNC School of the Arts.
The class will focus on such topics as how and why storms develop, weather patterns that lead to severe weather, processes necessary for tornado development, the effect of wind shear on storm behavior.
The free class is sponsored by the National Weather Service and the Forsyth County Office of Emergency Management. The training is part of the SKYWARN program in which the weather service collects reports of local severe weather.
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