North Carolina Now; North Carolina Now Episode from 05/14/1997

A. It's Wednesday May 14th tonight. Questions surrounding the safety of our ocean water in North Carolina now. Hello I'm reading it right thanks for joining us tonight. For North Carolina now there is a growing need for foster care parents here in our state. Our guest tonight will explain this critical gap and how you can help to fill it. Also tonight we'll profile the proud culture of the Cherokee people and see how the Cherokee are passing their heritage on to the younger generations. But first as the weather starts to heat up

more of us and many others from out of state will be heading to the beach. But is it safe. More than thirty eight million people vacationed in North Carolina last year many of them taking advantage of the Tarheel state's beautiful beaches. But as this year's tourist season officially begins later this month state tourism officials are seeing clouds on the horizon that could affect North Carolina's tourism industry as reports some tourists are questioning the safety of North Carolina's ocean water. There's no doubt North Carolina's coast has helped build a tourism business that's currently the second largest industry in the state employing more than one hundred and sixty seven thousand people statewide. But as this year's tourist season begins state officials are finding themselves having to answer questions about the very waters that attracts so many visitors to the state. Water quality is important very important to North Carolina's tourism industry we know that

the people who come to North Carolina come here in large part because of our natural resources and water. Certainly it's one of those. But this year tourists are questioning whether it's safe to swim in the ocean water off the North Carolina coast earlier this year. Several national news stories detailed the fish kills that have occurred along the Neuse River. Following these stories more tourists began asking question. It's about the quality of the state's coastal waters. And while scientists have yet to find any proof linking the problems in the news river to the coastal waterway some tourists are now wondering whether any other contaminants may live in the ocean water. We've had several calls to their county and to Carteret County probably to New Hanover County about how safe is the action. I'm coming to North Carolina for medication and I want to be sure the water quality say those questions are coming because of the National bad press we had. State Senator Beverly Perdue hopes the state will soon have some answers to these water quality

questions. The New Bern Democrat is sponsoring a bill in the state legislature that would establish a program to monitor the water quality along the North Carolina coast. We do need to have some kind of sense of credibility. You and I believe that it's time but if you are coming from New Jersey you might not feel that way. If Stener reporters bill was passed by the state legislature George Gilbert will be in charge of getting the coastal water monitoring program up and running as head of the state shellfish sanitation program. You know the show percentage of programmers already involved in coastal water call the monitoring for its lack of shellfish purposes and we are already physically working and probably two thirds of the geographical area that would be concerned about in a recreational monitoring program. Youl but says he'll need to add between 300 and 500 additional testing sites to monitor all the areas where people swim along the coast. He says the work will be done by professional water quality experts. We need to be vigilant I guess you could say about

all aspects of water quality in the coastal zone and we're out as a microbiologist interested in public health. My concern is mostly with the disease causing microorganisms of humans that cause infection and illness. We also need to be mindful of some of these other organisms that that will degrade water quality and may or may not pose risks to human health. Mark Saunders The study's waterborne illnesses at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He says a coastal water monitoring program will help establish how things like sewage treatment plants septic tanks and storm water drains affect coastal water quality. He says right now it's unknown whether any of North Carolina's coastal waters contain contaminants that could make people sick. I would like to think that the risk is very low and and I think that in general. Our ocean waters probably are of very low risk when it comes to risk of being

exposed to pathogenic organisms that could cause illness I think that the net effect of having a program like this will be to potentially result in improvements in water quality. And I think will also assure the public. North Carolinians in the interests that North Carolina is trying to do the right thing by monitoring coastal work quality and taking actions to protect the coastal water monitoring is part of the state's budget recently passed by the state senate and unless the problem faces opposition in the house the officials at the Department of Environmental Health could begin testing the quality of the water off North Carolina's beaches as early as. However one North Carolina county won't have to make any changes if a state wide coastal water monitoring program is put in place. Their county already tested coastal water and Jeff Moya is the county's one man coastal water testing department in our ocean samples.

It's fair to say that we have no problems and most of the ocean sites that we have pristine water quality have very few of them. We've had detectable levels of e.coli in our caucus but nowhere near the mass entertainment limit today dare county's water testing program is pretty sophisticated as a rule yeah. Screens the water for chemical and bacterial problems. However this water testing program started simply with a group of concerned citizens like brain wise. And that's very important that people as far away as Raleigh and asked for I realize that everything that they flushed down their toilets everything that they wash down storm drains the fertilizers it ends up in our ocean until this year few people question the quality of water along the Outer Banks. But now thanks to the water testing program when such. Questions are asked folks like John Boehner at the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce have the answers. Their County is the first county in the state have such an extensive program

and it works very well for us because now we can tell people that are if they asked a question we can tell people that our waters are clean they've been tested they're tested quite frequently and quite a number of places. Bowman says he believes a state wide coastal water testing program could help rebuild confidence in North Carolina water weighs great wine says such a program could also do something even more important create a baseline see where we are now. That way when things started rising you know instead of as the news forever it's a problem before they knew it. Now we can stop the problem. State lawmakers say it'll take almost $400000 to establish the coastal water monitoring program. But this year many legislators say they're willing to pay that price if it will help restore confidence in the state's coastal water quality. However the beaches aren't the only areas affected by the concern surrounding water quality. Tomorrow night Bob Gardner shows us

how the state as a whole is taking a hit from all the publicity surrounding the problems on the Neuse River. Well still ahead on North Carolina now carrying on a proud Cherokee tradition among the younger generations. But first let's head over to the news desk to check in with Michel Louis for a summary of today's statewide headlines. Good evening Mitch. Thanks Maria. Good evening everyone. A federal lawsuit over livestock regulations tops our news this evening. The Chatham County agribusiness Council alleges that the health board doesn't have the authority to regulate new and expanding livestock operations. The suit also contends that set back requirements adopted in March were preempted by state law. The plaintiffs say there is no legitimate reason for regulating Hong operations beyond state and federal standards. The suit names members of the Board of Health the County health director and Chatham County as defendants. Solsbury based food lion is in court once again. The federal lawsuit accuses the supermarket chain of illegally firing workers to deny them benefits. Attorneys for the four former workers claim the

employees were illegally fired just before becoming fully vested in the company's pension plan. The suit was filed seven years ago by 11 former employees and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. Seven of the claims have since been settled. Attorneys for Food Lion contend the lawsuit is an attempt to pressure the company into recognizing the Union. A critical vote on reforming North Carolina's fishing industry is set for tomorrow. The House Judiciary Committee will consider proposals developed over two years by the state's moratorium steering committee. The proposed changes would restrict the number of commercial fisherman and creeks and for cement and give new powers to the Marine Fisheries Commission. An audit released two weeks ago calls the future of the division of a ring fisheries which would oversee the reforms into question because of an efficiency. The federal government is giving North Carolina nearly 3 million dollars to upgrade railroad crossings for high speed trains. Some roads will be bridged and others will get extra crossing devices to ensure that automobiles will not endanger train traffic. About 40 crossings will be closed. The

safety improvements are scheduled to be completed by the year 2000 when the high speed train system is in place. Commuters should be able to go from Raleigh to Charlotte in two hours. Train speed will be one hundred twenty five miles an hour in some areas. Looking ahead to tomorrow's weather temperatures will be in the 70s for most of the state but it will be cooler with highs near 60 while the eastern half of the state nears 80. Most of North Carolina will be under variably cloudy or mostly cloudy skies. There's about a 30 percent chance of showers and possible thunderstorms for most areas when the conditions are also expected. And business news the American Kennel Club won't be moving its headquarters to Durham after all the decision reverses plans announced two years ago by the New York City based organization. AKC officials say they are planning to move about 80 employees from the New York office to the existing Raleigh office. Governor Hunt met with AKC officials last week to convince them to keep the Riley office open. And now for a look at what happened on Wall Street today. Have

you ever thought about becoming a foster parent and now's the time to accept the challenge. May is National Foster Care Month and county agencies all across the state are encouraging North Carolinians to fill the vital role of becoming foster parents. Joining us now to tell us more about it is Tina Martin with the Wake County Human Services was Martin welcome to North Carolina now. Thank you for heaven. Tell us first how big is the need in North Carolina for foster parents.

Unfortunately the need is tremendous. More and more children are needing to leave their families because of situations of abuse or neglect. And in those types of cases the children have to live with foster families and we just never seem to have enough families for the children and this is a state wide issue. If you could articulate for us the important a role that these foster parents play in a child's child's life. I'll begin by saying we cannot stress how important the job that foster parents have in making a difference in the lives of children these are children who were removed from their homes and they really don't understand why they're there might've been abused there might've been neglect a family crisis. But for these children this is their parents this is what they're used to so they're taken from what's familiar and placed with strangers. They don't understand what's going on. They're dealing with those issues of separation and loss in addition to living in a new environment a new school in the daycare setting. So these foster families have the very important job of helping the children first of all

begin to understand what's going on what happened to me why am I here. I have some acceptance there helping the children deal with all the angry feelings that they have as a result of their foster care placement and helping the children understand that it's not their fault it's nothing they did because all these children are feeling like I was a better kid I would have been at home if I hadn't cried that one of dad up and then he would've gotten so angry and the police one of common I wunna been here they all feels oh it's their fault so. Foster parents are taking these children who are so vulnerable and they're just really helping them just build up their self-esteem the littlest things doing their hair. You know get them dressed up and then they go to school and the teacher says You look great today and then the child feels good and then they're going to sit down and pay a little bit more attention to that homework assignment and all of those kinds of things so these kids are really adrift in the foster parents are their anchors. That sounds to me though something that would require a great deal of training to help the foster parent

parents know how to fill these important roles very important in North Carolina and now there is a training requirement a pre service requirement for foster parents of 30 hours. In addition foster parents are required to participate in 10 additional hours of in-service training a year. But that's not all of it I mean some of it is just going to come from within. What we're trying to help foster parents to do before hand is is become aware of the children's needs of the separation and loss issues of abuse or neglect issues. But that empathy that ability to understand the sensitivity that families bring. We obviously can't train people to to do that for children. What's the criteria for becoming a foster parent. Well there are some basic criteria set forth by the state. You need to be at least 21 in most counties and in White County. We say 25 because we really feel foster parents need a little bit more maturity than birth parents. You need to be

able to support yourself you do receive some reimbursement for the expenses you meet in raising the child but not nearly enough to consider income. Really not even enough to take care of all the expenses. Need to be stable in your living situation. We asked for references we do police checks. The basic criteria are not really as important as the other qualities. There's probably not a whole lot of the base most people could meet the basics. But it's the other qualities that we're looking for that are so important. How do you judge those other qualities. It's hard. We asked foster parents to do a whole lot ahead of time when they're in the training class where getting the opportunity to get to know them to see how they interact with the group to see their understanding of child development issues and foster care issues. We meet with couples individually in their home we talk to both husband and wife separately and together we meet with the children in the family and just try to get. The best

picture we can of of that couple and to help them get to the point where they can articulate their strengths and their needs as a parent so we can see first of all can they do this job and then second of all what type of child what type of situation could they do best. How long of a commitment is this how long can you expect a certain child to be in your home once he or she is placed there. It varies some placements are very short term. They might be a matter of weeks or months or more frequently the children will stay in a foster family for an average of a year and a half to two years. And we asked foster parents to make a commitment until that child can either return home or if adoption becomes the plan then to help us while we recruit an adoptive family for the child so that that child will not move from foster home to foster home. What's the percentage of children who return to their home and who are placed in adoptive homes. Most children return home and may not be to birth parents but it might be a grandparent or

an entourage uncle or some other family member. I can speak for Wake County that usually we have about 600 children in foster care at any given time and work with eight to nine hundred children per year and a very small percentage and becoming legally free for adoption. I think last year we did about 40 foster parent adoptions and then several other children that were adopted by other people. The most important part of the interview how somebody can get involved they can contact their local county services agency or there is a toll free number like the Met numbers there on the screen it is 1 800 6 6 2 1 0 3 0 in this the North Carolina Carolina. All right Tina Martin I want to thank you so much for being here tonight and sharing with us some very important information. Thank you my pleasure. A

big part of who we are as individuals is based on our heritage with the customs and traditions passed down by our ancestors. Tradition is very important to North Carolina's oldest residence. The Cherokee Indians and US reporter Maria Lundberg shows us that something they're working hard to preserve. The Great Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina have been home to the Cherokee Indians for more than 10000 years. Today the Cherokee preserve their history culture and heritage in many ways. One is through the oak on a lefty Indian village which recreates 18th century Cherokee life demonstrations a basket weaving finger waving and bead work carry on the traditional crafts of their forefathers. The Museum of the Cherokee Indian house is the greatest collection of Cherokee artifacts in existence and each summer the outdoor drama unto these hills portrays the history of the Cherokee people. All of these are primarily aimed at

educating visitors to the area about the ways of the Cherokee. But there is also a special effort to preserve this rich heritage for the next generation of the Cherokee people during cultural heritage week. The children at Cherokee elementary school have an opportunity to experience many customs firsthand. Opening day ceremonies begin with a traditional Cherokee Song of Prayer. Next a Cherokee greeting and the procession of the flag. Sure sure or so or first scheme Cherokee principal chief Joyce Doogan speaks to the students to emphasize the importance of this

week long celebration of the Cherokees of the age of the Eastern Band. I have been here for thousands of years. There have been many efforts to wipe us out. There been many efforts to make us not like not the Cherokee but look at you sitting out there. Look at yourselves and look at your families and your parents were still as strong as we ever were. I think to find out what makes us a strong we've got to look inside ourselves. Look inside of our hearts and think about what it is to be Cherokee. It means a good spirit. It means a good heart. It means sticking together and helping one another. I'm proud of you and our prayers are working in the school system in your efforts to keep these traditions alive.

Thank you. Are you going to say that YOU KNOW WHERE WHERE WHERE WHERE WHERE WHERE WHERE MY culture means learning today new craft and speaking out which with us from our elders we know that our culture means a lot to us but we don't like to show it. Our culture is a private personal thing. We think others will might find this a good thing. When

cultural heritage week started out hears ago it was simply a one week celebration today with the school teaching the Cherokee language and trying to preserve traditions. This week is really a culmination of what has gone on all year on this particular day. Students proudly shared their heritage with tribal council members and other honored guests by dancing together. There's just no one to go and see. Throughout the week students experience many aspects of their culture including storytelling craft contests Cherokee food day and a powwow another educational opportunity comes through the peace keepers program in which students are encouraged to discuss concerns or problems and to participate in

decision making. We are learning that was another school group shares the language through music. The school chorus rehearses a song they will perform in a music festival in Washington D.C.. Joyce do all of these activities play a vital role in helping the children to carry on their rich heritage regardless of how much we teach in the language of crafts and history. The biggest thing that we need to get across to our young people is pride pride in being more than they know and why they should be proud knowing their history and because to me that

that's what makes us who we are. Although these events took place at Cherokee elementary school there were also activities which occur for middle and high school students cultural heritage week has proven to be a very successful way to highlight and applaud the students efforts to preserve their heritage. Well we hope you enjoyed tonight's edition of North Carolina now thanks for watching. Tomorrow Insurance Commissioner Jim Long will be our guest with the beginning of hurricane season on its way. Mr. Long will be here with advice on what we all need to do to prepare ourselves for that next big storm including considering purchasing flood insurance. Also tomorrow Bob Garner examines how the latest concern regarding fish Styria in the Neuse River is impacting tourism and will take it to an RTP company that is manufacturing the next best thing to one diamond. Enjoy your evening. We'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight everyone.