North Carolina Now; North Carolina Now Episode from 06/26/1998

Yeah it be expensive. It's Friday June 26 tonight. Efforts to organize farm workers in Carolina. Hello everyone average imma try thanks for joining us on this Friday evening. Hope all of you have

managed to survive the heat of the day. Later on this evening's program will help take your mind off the soaring temperatures with a relaxing visit to Southfork. Also on the program tonight the summer months bring Fishkill season to North Carolina. Tonight we'll get the latest on the effects of Styria. Plus the latest on efforts to organize farm workers. But first we'll find out what issues were hotly debated on the House and Senate floors this week. And for that update we turn to legislative correspondent John basin at our Raleigh bureau. Thanks for joining us tonight John. It appears as though the Senate is close to releasing its budget but it's. Coming a bit late isn't it considering the end of this state's fiscal year is Tuesday. It is coming a little bit late Senate leaders were a little apologetic and a little maybe defensive this week in explaining why they pointed to the bailee decision which was the court case the retirees who sued the state. The settlement on that decision came down just a few weeks ago and it took 400 million dollars off of the table that had been available for this year's budget. That money will be going to the retirees. They also pointed to the bonds package that they've been working

on and the incentives bill they've been working on saying that all of these things caused a delay in their budget which they hope will be out next week. But we haven't heard a lot about what's included in this budget halfway. Well I think we can say for now we haven't but we can safely assume that it will reflect generally speaking the budget priorities of the governor that as that since the Senate is controlled by Democrats and the governor is a Democrat. However they'll they're going to have to restructure the governor's budget again in light of the Bailey decision and the money that took that it took off of the table. I think you can say with some certainty for instance that this budget will expand Smart Start to all 100 counties in North Carolina that's something the governor is as is adamant about and I think his supporters in the in the Senate will make sure that's in their version of the budget. But we haven't seen a lot of details. They've been working with their budget with their subcommittee chairman after the bailee decision they went. They were able to finally figure out how much they could afford to spend and they went back to those subcommittee chairman and said here's what you and your your group can spend and divide it up prior to prioritize it as

you will. John the Senate passed its incentives bill this week any idea of what that provision includes. Well that's the main the main items in that incentives bill are tax breaks for to bring the Federal Express hub to Greensboro and to bring a new core steel plant actually a recycling plant to Hertford County a very high unemployment area in the state. There are a lot of other things in that bill that make it palatable to other folks and so it's going to be hard to vote against. There are philosophical questions a lot of people aren't happy with. Many people even supporters of the bill don't like the fact that incentives are needed to bring industries into other states and into North Carolina. But that is the way the game is played now and so supporters of the bill say if we don't do this we risk losing these and other business opportunities. And so they say it's worth it. But there are folks who have a philosophical problem with the incentives bill. It's now on its way to the house. John last week we heard so much about the sexual harassment bill and now all of a sudden nothing what happened to it. Well the bill is going to pass but it got caught up in some back

and forth politics between the House and Senate which I'll try to explain briefly earlier this year the Senate took the House bill took the provisions out of it and saved the bill number and put in a campaign finance reform bill that they liked and sent it back over to the house. Well the House rejected that bill saying that technically they couldn't take it up because of the way the Senate had done it. Well the Senate is kind of turning turning that back at the house because they have said the exact same thing about the bill that the House took gutted the original provisions out of and put this sexual harassment language in and now everybody wants to pass that sexual harassment language to close a loophole for lack of a better word in the state law. But the Senate is saying you've done you know we can we can play this game too and we're going to reject your original attempt to do that because technically it doesn't fit the guidelines and it's a way of reminding the house that by the way you also rejected our campaign finance reform bill on a technicality. John thanks get complicated down there luckily we have you to help us sort things out. They're complicated and I we saw them out the best we can. All right well thanks for joining us tonight have a good weekend and

we'll see you back on next Friday. Thanks Maria. All right. Well at the state capitol today union activists rallied to show their support for efforts to organize migrant farm workers at the Mount Olive pickle company. The rally was the culmination of a 70 mile march from Mt. Olive to Raleigh by supporters of the farm labor organizing committee. Michel Louis brings us more right and hit the streets assembling Yeah let's just end with those words a united front of North Carolina migrant farm workers began a 70 mile march spearheaded by the farm labor organizing committee or walk a group of several dozen marchers started their trek on Tuesday of this week in Mount Olive. The home of Mount Olive pickle company the latest target of unionizing efforts by the labor group. We think that a lot of the farm labor organizing committee which is in affiliated the AFL CIO has targeted our economy for attention because it's the best way for them to

get attention for their labor organizing nappers the nationally recognized group has turned its attention to North Carolina. After several successful attempts at unionizing farm workers in states like Ohio and Michigan the union is employing a unique strategy instead of negotiating with farmers who hire the workers. Flock is targeting the produce buyer in this case Mt. Olive pickle company. We don't think this is a matter that we should be involved where we think union representation is a decision to be made about a farm worker on the farm. Not I'm an optical company what we've been asked to do is dictate to the farmers if they want a contract it's up to Congress to Mal pickle company and they need to recognize a celebrity and we don't think that's right. Brian twice the head of the mine all of that. These are navigable man intelligent doing its business. He wants to buy pickles the cheapest you can buy them. That's what businessmen do. And we say most of all you can buy MS cheap if you want it

but we want to be part of the market. Consideration. We want to be able to make a living from what we the sentiments expressed by Flocke president Alaska and resonated with the state president of the AFL CIO James Andrews recalled his days of living on a farm picking cucumbers. But he said even his situation was different from that of the migrant farm worker of today. At the moment they have to go to a nice house to go to for you and I never left out what I want. And if you don't talk that basic human rights to it situate their message. The four day March snaked through the heart of North Carolina's cucumber growing region hitting the communities of Goldsboro Smithfield and Garner before ending in Raleigh today at the state capitol building all the influx brought its concerns to the seat of States government. The law

says he does not plan to make any appeals to the state legislature. I'm not going to wait for politicians to lead the fight for us because they've never led the fight for us so matter of fact a lot of them have gotten in our way in the past. And I think it's time that the workers themselves take the lead with our supporters in the churches. I'm going to Goodwill people in the community and transform the changes create some model some initiatives and start doing the changes that way. The law says now that the march is over it is time to intensify efforts against Mount Olive pickle company. We're going to convene a national model of boycott consultation in October which means we're going to get together prominent leaders in the churches and labor and supporters from around the country. Let's talk about how we can launch a boycott of the company probably in early 99. Mt. Olive pickle company president Bill Bryan was in Raleigh today to respond to block his efforts. He believes his company has not wronged migrant workers and consumers will be on the company's side if a boycott occurs. He feels at this time there was no

need for discussions with bloc until other issues are settled. There are two things not as long as his position is that we should require another employer to recognize the way we were to do business with this and the other thing is it needs to be if there are issues to be addressed with agricultural industry it needs to be an industry wide effort to address those and not to focus just on one company which they're trying to advance here like organizing. However Velasco is optimistic that there will be talks and an agreement will be reached. So it's only with firmness and commitment that we stand in this great struggle and say it's going to happen something good is going to come. It is Mt. Olive pickle company president Bill Bryan says Mt. Olive does not directly employed the farm workers and he will not pressure its growers to negotiate contracts. He says the action sought by the union violates the state's right to work laws. Well still ahead the human health effects of

hysteria. But right now it's time to check in with Michel Louis for statewide news summary niche. Thanks Marina. Good evening everyone. Now that a federal court has given its approval to the state's newly redrawn congressional districts another Republican challenger has come forward to oppose Democratic incumbent Mel Watt for the 12th Congressional District. State Representative Steve Wood says he has decided to join two others in seeking the Republican nomination. What is the same legislator who's been shunned by his fellow Republicans for winning a top post in the State House with Democratic help. A month long review of procedures at the state's 11 residential schools has resulted in more than a dozen recommendations on preventing abuse background checks on and coming students and closer supervision or among the proposals offered by the State Department of Health and Human Services. The review was prompted by reports of sexual assaults at the central and eastern North Carolina schools for the deaf. However a number of informed child advocates say what's really needed is additional funding to hire more staff. North Carolina is lending

able bodied support to Florida's efforts to battle a rash of forest fires. Nearly 200 Tarheel firefighters and tons of equipment have been dispatched to help extinguish the wildfires that are rector of the State Forestry Division says firefighters took 16 bulldozers. Three single engine air tankers and brush trucks. North Carolina's response is the result of the southeast compact and arrangement in which 13 states pledged to send state manpower to help each other combat major fires. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is one step closer to being moved a half mile inland. The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has approved spending nearly 10 million dollars to move the landmark structure from its current location which is only one hundred twenty feet from the ocean. The U.S. Senate action differs from the U.S. House which just last week declined to appropriate any money for protection of the light. Senator Locke Fairclough thinks the move will eventually be approved and President Clinton is asking for the necessary funds in his budget request. Some forms of animal cruelty would become felonies under a bill now moving through the

General Assembly. Under current law it's a misdemeanor to kill or torture many domestic and wild animals misdemeanors or punishable by a fine or a brief time in jail. Raising the offense to felony status would bring the threat of a prison sentence. Exceptions to the legislative proposal include animals used in medical research as well as hunters and veterinarians. And now for a look at your weekend weather forecast. Very hot temperatures will once again spread across the entire state. Most of the state will see highs in the mid to upper 90s for Saturday. Partly cloudy skies with a chance of late day thunderstorms are expected statewide and business news more than three million sprint and BellSouth customers in North Carolina are about to see a reduction in their phone bills. The two carriers will drop local rates by a few cents and some long distance charges will be reduced even more. The cuts effective on Wednesday are required under price regulation plans. The state adopted for the companies two years ago to help pave the way for local competition. And now for a look at what happened on Wall Street today.

Thank you. A panel of North Carolina health experts has recently completed its report on public

health problems related to fish kills in our state's waters. The final report is not conclusive on the matter of hysteria possibly causing human health risks. The report does recommend however that the state continue to research the matter. Joining me now to discuss this report further is Dr. Bill Roper the dean of USC Chapel Hill School of Public Health and the chairman of the panel. Welcome to the program Dr. Brown to be here. Tell us first of what your panel investigated. Our panel was asked to study the issue of human health effects of fish kill waters hysteria. But more broadly than that there are talks and potentially that might affect human health. We were appointed by a secretary David Bruton North Carolina Secretary of Health and Human Services and I had the privilege of chairing this panel made up of health experts from the other medical schools in the state and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences over the last nine months we studied the question by talking to people like Dr. Joanne Burkholder others within the state who have long studied this issue. Plus colleagues at Maryland where they have done extensive studies of the problem of

hysteria and human health effects. And finally we commissioned a study done here in North Carolina last fall on this issue of what can we know today about human health effects and what do we know. What we know we believe and this we said in our report two weeks ago when we released it is. Fish tail waters Mysteria do not cause large scale widespread chronic human health effects in the general population. Those are carefully chosen words. What I'd say though is our work from last fall mostly says this is an important issue. We believe hysteria does have adverse human health effects. In some circumstances it needs much more study and we've recommended that to the state and especially recommended that intensive work be done going forward to look carefully at this issue. The reason that we are anxious not to draw greater conclusions from the work last

fall is this was a study done not closely associated with a fish kill. But one done months after potential exposure to fish kill water so there are some significant limitations to our study and we are anxious not to say more than we can from this limited study. So you are saying that that you cannot determine that it in fact does cause problems but you're not saying that it doesn't. Well we believe based on evidence in laboratories here in North Carolina the experience of the researchers in Maryland where on the poker river they had an experience with. Horror being caused to some people there and other work done in other places we believe hysteria does have horrible harmful health affects in some circumstances. What we can't yet characterize is the risk to the general population and how to mitigate that risk. That's what the further work is going to be about the Centers for Disease

Control the federal agency the state of North Carolina and other states Delaware Virginia Maryland are banding together to study this and the School of Public Health that Chapel Hill is going to be a major part of that study going forward to try to answer these questions. We fully understand the public's concern about these issues. I realize people would like to have crisp conclusions. We're just not there yet. There are implications to the state's tourism industry that maybe have a scare about fist area might harm the tourism in the state is any of that taken into consideration when you conduct your study or when you release your findings. We're anxious to speak clearly and we do understand the context that you described there. But no that's not the mandate that we operated under rather it was to characterize what are the human health effects what are the risks. And what we've said to date is we don't see evidence of widespread chronic human health

effects of a serious nature in the general population. But we don't know how. The exact extent of the risk and it needs further work to characterize this further work that you're talking about is that research currently underway. The funding is there and the preliminary work is being put in place. What it will look like is we are selecting about one hundred twenty people in the eastern part of the state who by virtue of where they live in the work that they do have a risk of being exposed to a fish kill. Once one does occur and it will eventually occur bully those people are going to be examined ahead of time very carefully and then examined at intervals over time. And especially when and if a fish kill does occur we'll quickly approach those people do a number of exams and lab studies and whatever and try to get at this question of what happens in a fish kill what are the toxins they are and what are the human health risks from exposure to a fish kill.

What types of human health risks are we talking about. Well the things that have been reported are skin problems. Long difficulties but especially memory loss what are called neurocognitive deficit. But especially memory loss among people who've been exposed to a large amount of fish kill waters. That's the thing that has gotten the most concern and rightly so. That's what happened in Maryland that so grab people's attention about this issue. Dr. Robert any educated guess as to how severe the fish kill season may be in North Carolina. We just don't know that it's something that is best described by the biologists like Dr. Burkholder and others. That's not my area but I think we are likely to have a large scale fish kill one of these days and what we are anxious to do is have this study in place so that we can examine what happens to people. Thank you so much for being here and providing our viewers with this information. Appreciate it thank you.

And if you believe if you have symptoms of exposure to fish tail waters or if you observe a fish kill you are urged to call the state hotline at 1 8 8 8 8 2 3 6 9 1 5. At the mouth of the Cape Fear River south of Wilmington is a quaint little town tailor made to be explored by foot. It's Southport where Bob Garner takes us for a visit Southport has spent most of its 200 year history as a sleepy little village.

Now it's grown some and has moved up to unhurried even with the increased population Oh we still have a relatively slow pace. Our Streets still wander off in all directions and we just don't push things too much. Novelist and newspaper man Robert Rue Ark spent much of his boyhood here and his novel The old man and the boy is based on the time he spent with his grandfather in Southport the Victorian style rule our callus was a focal point of the 1986 film crimes of the heart which was filmed almost entirely on location here during the Civil War blockade runners like the daring Thomas Mann Thompson were based in what is now South Fort but the village had a different name until 1887. As local historian SUSAN CARSON points out in the book she wrote about her hometown and original language they'll they'll send in a little bit small for their ambitious plans were to have a railroad in this the border.

But although the name was changed to Southport the plans for rapid growth never materialized and Southport became basically a destination for excursion boats from Wilmington traveling down the Cape Fear River with overnight travelers enjoying places like the old Brunswick in. There are several islands just off shore from Southport the lighthouse of Oak Island is clearly visible from the town's waterfront. While Bald Head Island lies further out south port is the terminal for the Bald Head Island Ferry. The only means of public transportation to and from the popular vacation destination which allows no auto traffic. Hurricane Hazel wreaked havoc in 1054 and in 1906 Hurricane Bertha destroyed a large cedar tree around which was built a popular gathering spot. The quibblers bench will they mostly will get the idea of what they mean by slow paced around here.

Southport is best enjoyed at a stroll for the fresh seafood or to enjoy the restored downtown area with its heavy emphasis on antiques. You also want to be sure to include a visit to the town's fine Maritime Museum with its collection of artifacts and momentos of the town. Just don't come to south too much of a hurry to do anything. You could reach South Fork from Highway 17 south of Wilmington by taking either Highway 87 or Route 11. Well as the 4th of July holiday approaches North Carolina chapters of the American Red Cross are in dire need of blood donations blood banks are particularly low on Type O positive and O negative blood. If you would like to donate you can contact your local chapter of the American Red Cross or call 1 800 GIVE LIFE. That's 1 800 4 4 8 3 5 4 3. Well on tomorrow's edition or on Monday's edition of North Carolina now we'll focus on efforts to save farmland and scenic views from the

onslaught of housing developments. Plus it's all aboard the Smoky Mountain railway a great family getaway for these hot summer months. Enjoy your weekend everyone please make plans to be with us again on Monday for another edition of North Carolina now. Good night with thing.