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News Releases September/October 2004 Click on subject to read news release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 21, 2004 Contact: John Link Orange County Manager (919) 245-2300
Jack Ball Appointed Orange County Emergency Management DirectorJohn Link, Orange County Manager, announced today that Jack Ball has been appointed as Emergency Management Director. Ball will begin work Monday, November 29, 2004. As Emergency Management Director, Ball will oversee the County’s emergency services, including 9-1-1 emergency communications, emergency medical services and fire marshal’s office. His responsibilities include directing Countywide response and recovery in times of disaster. Ball has over 30 years public safety experience. For the past seven years he has served as Director of Public Safety for Amherst County, Virginia. His responsibilities have included planning for and supervision of emergency communications, emergency medical services and fire. Ball began his career as a firefighter in Bluefield, West Virginia, progressed to increasingly responsible positions in fire safety, training and management in Chesterfield County Virginia, and then served as Coordinator of Emergency Services for Louisa County, Virginia prior to moving to Amherst County. County Manager John Link named an Assessment Panel to assist in the selection process. The Panel was made up of Orange County Commissioner Barry Jacobs, former Emergency Medical Director Dr. Tom Griggs, Person County Emergency Management Director Bill Gentry, White Cross Fire Chief Jerry Lloyd, Health Director Dr. Rosemary Summers and Assistant County Manager Rod Visser. The search process included national recruitment. It yielded 61 candidates. Link said: “We look forward to Jack Ball’s becoming Orange County’s Emergency Management Director. Jack has demonstrated a breadth of experience and leadership in emergency management that will be key to providing quality emergency services to our citizens now and in the future.” Visser said: “I'm delighted to have Jack Ball coming on board as Orange County's next Emergency Management Director. He brings a wealth of experience across the emergency management spectrum, and has built operations up from the ground floor in areas that present challenges to Orange County, such as communications interoperability and field verification of addresses for Enhanced 9-1-1. I believe his collaborative, team-oriented approach will empower the outstanding staff with which Orange County Emergency Management is blessed to produce even better results and customer service than the already high standards established by the department.” Ball said: “I am honored to be chosen as Orange County’s Emergency Management Director. It was a perfect fit with my background. It’s exciting for me to be joining the County’s progressive and visionary emergency management team. I look forward to serving the citizens of Orange County in maintaining the delivery of a high quality, efficient and effective emergency service program.” #
# # FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 6, 2004 Contact: Donna King Orange County Health Department (919) 245-2449
Flu vaccine limited due to lack of
availability
HILLSBOROUGH – The Orange County Health
Department is responding to yesterday’s news that due to a national
shortage, use of the flu vaccine in North Carolina is being targeted
only for those people who are most likely to be seriously affected by
the flu. The Health
Department will be following CDC recommendations for vaccinations and is
urging all community medical providers to follow these same guidelines. The
CDC recommends that the following people get the flu vaccine: · Children 6 to 23 months · Adults aged 65 and over · Persons aged 2 to 64 with underlying chronic medical conditions, like asthma, that may make them more susceptible to flu complications · All women who will be pregnant during the flu season · Residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities · Children aged 6 months to 18 years on chronic aspirin therapy · Health care workers involved in direct patient care, and ·
Out-of-home caregivers and household contacts of children
less than 6 months of age Persons
that fall into one of these eight groups, should call their primary care
provider to check on whether the provider has vaccine available. For
the first time in its history, the CDC is recommending that people
outside of those risk groups not
get the vaccine. “If
you aren’t in one of those groups, then unfortunately you need to
forego the vaccine,” said Dr. Rosemary Summers, Orange County Health
Director. “We need to get the limited amount of vaccine to the people
who need it the most. “The
Health Department is assessing the local community supply of vaccine by
calling medical providers and pharmacies to determine how much vaccine
is currently in stock. Once
that inventory is completed, we will have better information about the
potential effect on our community,” said Dr. Summers. The Orange County Health Department has set-up an Influenza Information Line that can be reached by dialing (919)-245-2479. The line will offer a recording on the status of the flu vaccine that will be updated daily by 5 PM. You cannot leave a message or schedule an appointment at this number. Daily updates are also available on the Orange County website at www.co.orange.nc.us . Health authorities will be seeking additional vaccine and will provide daily updates via these channels.
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# # FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 30, 2004 Contact: Milan Pham Orange County Commission for Women, Department of Human Rights and Relations (919) 960-3877 Orange County Women's Agenda Assembly On October 14, 2004, the “Orange County Women’s
Agenda Assembly“ will provide area residents with an opportunity to
learn more about the North Carolina Legislature, the issues affecting
women, and what women can do to make a difference. The Orange County Commission for Women, Department
of Human Rights and Relations, and NC Women United will host the Orange
County Women's Agenda Assembly on October 14, 2004 from 5:30-9:00 p.m.
at Cedar Ridge High School, 1125 New Grady Brown School Road,
Hillsborough. Residents of
Orange, Chatham and surrounding counties are encouraged to attend. Ann Johnson, a North Carolina women’s advocate
who has been honored for her work on aging, will be the keynote speaker.
Caroline Wood, Chair of the Women’s Agenda Assembly Planning
Committee, believes that “this event promises to be an informative and
inspiring event for the people of Orange County who are concerned about
economic and social justice for North Carolina women.
It is an open forum for the people to prioritize key policy
issues that affect Orange and Chatham County women and children.
It is our hope that many residents will participate and make
their voices heard.” The Orange County Commission for Women is a volunteer commission of The Orange County Department of Human Rights and Relations. It serves as a resource to expand knowledge and understanding of women’s issues and to make recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners. NC Women United is a consensus-based coalition of organizations committed to achieving full equality and empowerment of women through grassroots activism, community organizing, legislative advocacy, and engagement in the political process. # # # FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 27, 2004 Contact: David Stancil Orange County Environment & Resource Conservation (919) 245-2590 Twin Creeks (Moniese Nomp*) Open House * Tutelo-Saponi for Twin Creeks. Come and
join us on For your convenience, two
60-minute sessions will be held at 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. at the Homestead
Community Center, 600
Homestead Road, Chapel Hill. You may drop-in and leave as your
time allows. A brief presentation of two possible draft plans and a
question and answer session will be followed by an informal opportunity
to peruse maps and ask individual questions. Written feedback on the
plans can also be submitted at the meeting.
# # # FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 21, 2004 Contact: Blair Pollock Orange County Solid Waste Management (919) 968-2778 Orange County Wins National Recycling Award On August 30, at its annual
national congress, the National Recycling Coalition (NRC) gave Orange
County the Beth Brown Boettner Award for Outstanding Public Education
Recycling Program in the United States. The award is named for an
Austin, Texas city employee who developed one of the first major city
recycling programs in the nation. This competitive award is given
annually along with awards for "Recycler of the Year",
"Outstanding Corporate Leadership", "Outstanding
Community or Government Program" and seven other categories.
A panel of expert judges
chosen from the recycling field makes the decision.
One of the judges, Meg Morris, of Energy Answers, stated,
"Orange County's program covers a lot of territory physically as
well as programmatically and its educational materials cover all
demographics, which is hard to do. Your all-inclusive programs were
far-reaching, covering not just a single town, but the entire
county." Another judge, Jerry Powell, editor of Resource Recycling
magazine said, "Orange County has an impressive program of broad
national interest." Chair
of the NRC Awards Committee and Board Member Lisa Skumatz added, "The
judges reviewed a number of excellent programs from around the nation,
but they agreed that Orange County's program was outstanding.
We particularly recognized that the County had undertaken a wide
range of activities with a focus on really engaging citizens.
We believe this made the program a model for other counties
around the country." The County's comprehensive
education and outreach effort includes the annual newsletter, Waste
Matters which is now bilingual, three monthly newspaper columns on waste
management, regular print advertising to inform the public of events,
holiday schedule changes and new programs, compost demonstration sites,
workshops and bin sales, a web site, information boxes and kiosks at all
11 recycling drop-off sites, landfill tours, school programs, special
events recycling and information tables and technical assistance to
residential and commercial customers.
Earlier this year, Orange County Solid Waste Management received
an award for its outstanding public education program from the North
Carolina Association of County Commissioners. # # # FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 9, 2004 Contact: Donna Baker Orange County Clerk's Office (919) 245-2130 Additional Meetings for Orange County Board of Commissioners The Orange County Board of Commissioners added two meetings for the month of October in addition to previously announced meetings. A work session will be held on 10/7/04 at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill at 7:30 p.m. A dinner meeting has been added at 5:30 p.m. on 10/19/04 with the Department of Social Services Board at the Southern Human Services Center prior to the regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. The calendar for all Commissioner meetings can be found from the main Orange County website. # # # FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 1, 2004 Contact: Sharron Hinton Orange County Manager's Office (919) 245-2302 Forum Examines Improving Volunteerism
A Volunteer Defibrillator to Shock Life back
into the Heart of your Organization! The 15th Annual Human Services Advisory Commission
Forum is titled, Volunteers - New Answers to the Same Old Questions:
“How Do You Get ‘Em? Keep ‘Em? And Rev ‘Em Up?”
The forum will be held on Wednesday,
September 8, 2004 from 8:00 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. at the Friday
Center in Chapel Hill. The
public is invited. Each year, the forum highlights an issue in the
community and provides governmental agencies, nonprofit partners, civic
groups, business leaders, and individual citizens with an opportunity to
share ideas. This year the
forum tackles the challenges of volunteer support. Given fiscal challenges across government and
non-profit sectors, this year’s forum is especially designed to
further an organization’s abilities to actively engage individual
citizens in helping improve human and social conditions throughout the
community. Guest panelists
will represent multiple groups including; NC Commission on Volunteerism
& Community Service, Blue Ribbon Mentors, Ronald McDonald House, and
Corporation for National Service. A registration fee of $12.50 includes a buffet
lunch and all forum materials. Contact Corinthia Barber in the County
Manager’s Office at 245-2300 for additional details.
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