RALEIGH — Schools in the state’s three psychiatric hospitals could be eliminated as officials consider making local school districts responsible for educating hospitalized children.
The change could have its biggest impact on children who are hospitalized for long stretches. Instead of taking classes at hospital schools that have their own teachers and schedules, students would rely more on their home districts to help them keep up with class work.
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The governor and legislators have come to the moment of truth on budgeting. Fairness and effectiveness are what matters.

As Gov. Beverly Perdue herself might say, were she looking at the challenges facing, for instance, a governor in a state with 11 percent-plus unemployment, a budget gap of $4.7 billion, serious bickering ahead on both raising taxes and slicing expenditures, even in public education … what was that again? Oh, yes, what the governor might say if the predicament belonged to someone else: Bless your heart. Probably followed by: Lord, have mercy.
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Video Report On WRAL website

RALEIGH, N.C. — It’s the last day of the fiscal year and North Carolina lawmakers don’t have a spending plan in place for state government next year.

So the Senate must decide Tuesday whether to accept the temporary spending measure the House approved late Monday or reject it and work out a quick compromise.
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Wake County will break ground on a new inpatient mental health facility on Wednesday, July 1, 2009, at 10 a.m., on Sunnybrook Road, Raleigh (across from Holly Hill Hospital).
The facility, part of Wake’s Mental Health Continuum of Care, will provide inpatient services to citizens with behavioral health disorders, reserving bed space for the most acute and critical cases.
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Most of North Carolina’s historical site markers recall something good — even if it’s only the birthplace of another obscure politician. So the new sign in downtown Raleigh stands out. It marks a sad chapter in our history, one whose grotesque injustice is painful to contemplate.

As an N&O article in 2001 put it, “from 1929 to 1975, in pursuit of a more perfect population through eugenics, North Carolina took the right to reproduce away from more than 7,000 people.”

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Mental health issues expected to be raised.

WAYNESVILLE — The jury in the trial of Edwardo Wong won’t come from Haywood County because of pretrial publicity in the case, a judge ruled on Monday.
Superior Court Judge Nathaniel Poovey did not decide where the jury would come from or whether the trial itself would be moved, as Wong’s attorneys have asked.

The judge agreed with defense attorneys Mark Melrose and Randall Seago that news reports about the shooting death of N.C. Highway Patrol Trooper David Shawn Blanton Jr. would make it impossible for him to receive a fair trial in front of a local jury. READ MORE HERE >>>

Reading the list of local and state luminaries police say were threatened with bombings and worse by Raleighite Angelos Vangelos, you knew there had to be some noses out of joint.

The list was long and pretty darn comprehensive. The mayor, most of the city council. Most of the county commission. The guv.

But what about the people left off the hit list?

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RALEIGH — When N.C. State University junior Dan Marino walks around the vast campus of Dorothea Dix Hospital, he doesn’t picture filling this space with office buildings or townhouses.

Instead, he sees spandex-clad cyclists of all skill levels racing around trails of his design — from mountain bikers bounding over hills, to young children leisurely learning the ropes of riding on their own.

Marino is one of 13 NCSU graphic design students assigned to draw up detailed designs for the Dix campus as a class project for the spring semester.

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If enacted, proposed state budget cuts will speed the end of state funding for certain types of care for children with needs beyond what traditional family foster homes can provide.

The cuts will terminate state funded-services at Level III and IV group homes and affect about 30 children in Alamance County, says Susan Osborne, the director of the county Department of Social Services.

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VIDEO REPORT ONLY: Click here

As record unemployment prolongs the recession, where are the statesmen dealing with N.C.’s budget?

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Recently, Durham residents raised concerns on a community e-mail forum about the handcuffing of a 9- to 10-year-old described as being “obviously distraught” and “straining against the restraints” while in a local emergency room.

Initial impressions were that a Durham Police officer unjustly and inhumanely handcuffed the youth and subjected him to public ridicule. Arguments were made that no circumstances could adequately justify the handcuffing of the youth and the actions of law enforcement.

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ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — The decision was not an easy one for the Coleys.
Lillie Coley did not want to go in a nursing home, but a stroke suffered in 2000 had left her unable to move her left side, said Deborah Coley, her daughter-in-law. She stayed with family members after her husband died in 2003, but she needed around-the-clock care.

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We have been hearing much about the proposed health care changes from the Obama administration over the past few months. Whatever the outcome, one thing is certain – the health care industry in Henderson County plays a critical role in both the quality of life for our residents and the vitality of our local economy.

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As legislators finish work on a budget that almost surely won’t contain enough money to correct the state’s failed overhaul of its mental health-care system, they should consider how much the broken system endangers both the mentally ill and the people who battle endless red tape as they try to help them. Just ask Cpl. Lori Gortman of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.

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Includes providing mental health services.

Morganton – Burke County Public Schools has won a federal grant that will bring the district $5.8 million over the coming four years.
Superintendent David Burleson said the “Safe Schools/Healthy Students” grant — a longtime goal of his — “will have some impact on all 14,000 children in the school system.”

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Starting next school year, all children entering kindergarten in Wilson County Schools will take a skills test to determine what extra help or interventions are needed to help them be successful in a regular class.

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When I walked into the Weavil house Thursday evening, Max Weavil III broke into a wide smile of welcome.
That’s about as far as his communication skills go. At 24 years old, he suffers from a severe developmental disability. Family members’ lives revolve around caring for him.

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Construction of a nine-bed substance abuse treatment facility for adolescents in Burgaw could start by summer’s end.

The Pender County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously this month to apply for a $144,000 rural health care initiative grant on behalf of PORT Human Services.

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“Nothing’s worse than seeing someone else’s trash from where they slept,” said Ryan Brandon, a Wilmington police officer who set out on a hot June morning for a special assignment at Greenfield Lake Park.

Brandon and fellow officer Ed Fritz dressed in plain clothes and were part of a larger group of officers commissioned to fan out and make sure people were abiding by park rules.

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Order slowly being restored to the NC Mental Hope website (see “Einstein on Stupidity” to the right). Fortunately, as with any rebuilding (well, being a mental health advocate, one would have to say “most” rebuilding), you learn new techniques that help build a better structure. Stay tuned.

Video – Perdue keeps pushing  for state revenue

RALEIGH, N.C. — With state budget negotiations at a stalemate and lawmakers gone home for the weekend, Gov. Bev Perdue says she’s hopeful the General Assembly will reach an agreement soon on how to raise more money.

“We’ll have a budget. It may take us 10 days longer than I want it too,” she said Friday. “But at the end of the day, it’s all going to work out, and we’ll have a revenue stream.”

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On a spring day in 2006, as the sun set on the Duke University campus in North Carolina, novelist Kaye Gibbons strode across the lawn. She had just finished speaking at the Festival of the Book, and two of her three daughters trailed behind her. A bevy of fans awaited her book signing.

“She looks like a rock star,” said festival organizer Aaron Greenwald.

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Supporters of Hope Station’s ministry in Wilson celebrated Friday the opening of the nonprofit organization’s new facility, which they hope will enable it to better serve those in need.

Hope Station board members, public officials and one of the nonprofit’s founders met at the new 6,000-square-foot shelter for a ground breaking ceremony Friday afternoon. The facility includes a homeless shelter, food pantry and clothing closet for people living in the Wilson area.

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Greensboro, NC — A special apartment complex for a special group of people is about to be built in Winston-Salem.

The Hunters Hills Apartments will house people with mental and physical disabilities. The community will consist of an apartment building, a community building, and community garden.

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The legislature isn’t going to make a deadline to get a final budget for state government approved by early next week.

The House Appropriations Committee agreed Thursday to a temporary spending measure that directs how government agencies keep operating after the new fiscal year begins Wednesday.

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