Home Care In Swepsonville, NC

Program Seeks to Improve Workforce Development and Gender Equity in North Carolina

Ahead of Women’s Equality Day on August 26, 2019, the NC Department of Administration (DOA) launched a new mentorship program on July 1 to address gender equity in North Carolina within the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The Lady Cardinal Mentorship Program, established by DOA Secretary Machelle Sanders, offers high school girls in North Carolina an opportunity to explore STEM-based careers within state government.

This year, nine local high school students, ranging from freshmen to seniors, were chosen to participate in the 4-week summer enrichment program. Students shadowed leaders within North Carolina’s Cabinet agencies and completed a research project based on Governor Roy Cooper’s Executive Order No. 80 that addresses climate change and transition to a clean energy economy in North Carolina.

Said DOA Secretary Sanders:

“My vision for the Lady Cardinal Mentorship Program is to create a foundation for young girls to develop leadership skills while learning more about STEM careers within state government. Offering such opportunities and training creates a better future for our state, improving both gender equality and our state’s economy. It is important that women in STEM-based positions be a model to young girls aspiring for careers in such fields. After all, you cannot be what you cannot see, diversity is strength and inclusion fuels innovation.”

The 2018 Status of Women in NC: Employment and Earnings Report, released by the DOA Council for Women and Youth Involvement in collaboration with the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, shows the growing disparity in employment and earnings among women and men in North Carolina. If unchanged, the gender wage gap would not begin to close until year 2060. Reducing occupational segregation in fields such as information technology and engineering — both high-growth and high-earning careers — will help improve the status of women in our state, allowing more families to achieve economic security, reduce the number of people in poverty and grow the state’s economy.

Data from the Status of Women report underscores Governor Cooper’s NC Job Ready Initiative, which advocates for more internships, trainings, and apprenticeships to prepare North Carolinians for the jobs of today and tomorrow. The Lady Cardinal Mentorship Program offers North Carolina’s best and brightest high school girls beyond the classroom learning experiences that challenge their problem-solving skills and creativity. On August 1, the program concluded with a presentation at the NC Executive Mansion. Before an audience of family and state government mentors, the mentees showcased their summer research projects on how to make North Carolina a more sustainable state. Recommendations included the use of more biodegradable products, modifications to current recycling infrastructure and the preservation of bees. DOA Secretary Sanders and NC Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan ended the event by congratulating the mentees for their work and commitment to working toward a better North Carolina.

For more information on the Lady Cardinal Mentorship Program, visit the NC Council for Women and Youth Involvement website for details.

2019 Lady Cardinal Mentorship Program Student Participants:

(Top Row, From Left to Right) Trinity Garza, Katherine Johnston, Brooke Chow, Zora Banks, and Taylor Davis

(Bottom Row, From Left to Right) NC DEQ Secretary Michael Regan, Layla Hamilton, Denette Thompson, Marissa Colbert, and DOA Secretary Machelle Sanders

(Not Pictured) Melissa Mavhura

Established in 1957, the Department of Administration acts as the business manager for North Carolina state government. Under the leadership of Secretary Machelle Sanders since appointed by Governor Roy Cooper in 2017, the department oversees Government Operations and advocacy programs. The department’s advocacy programs provide advocacy, assistance and services to diverse segments of the state’s population that have been traditionally underserved.

The North Carolina Council for Women and Youth Involvement (CFYI) is a division of the North Carolina Department of Administration. The mission of the Council is to advise the Governor, state legislators and state leaders on issues that impact women and youth.

Source: NC Department of Administration

The city of Burlington is apparently not the only local authority to have found itself in the crosshairs of the Haw River Assembly.

Earlier this month, the Pittsboro-based advocacy group showered its vitriol on Alamance County’s health department about the overflow from residential septic system that’s situated across the Haw River from the municipal limits of Swepsonville.

According to a blog entry that appeared on the organization’s website on September 7, this “failed” septic system “has been dumping raw septic waste” into a drainage channel or ditch and “threatening to contaminate neighboring drinking water wells.”

The Haw River Assembly goes on to suggest that this runoff may have entered the nearby Haw River and made its way to Swepsonville’s River Park, “which had incredibly high E.coli levels last week following a rain event.”

“We have spoken with Alamance County Health Department, who says they have been trying to address the situation since April,” the blog entry goes on to note before a sudden shift in its tone. “It is completely unacceptable that the county has knowingly allowed raw septic waste to reach the Haw for six months. [Emphasis in the original].”

With its meretricious expressions of outrage, the Haw River Assembly’s account of this septic catastrophe may seem to have a rather unsavory whiff of its own. It also differs considerably from the experiences of the local health department, whose environmental health section is tasked with regulating the septic systems that serve homes and businesses in rural parts of the county.

According to Rebecca Rosso, the environmental health section’s director, this septic tank at 1370 Geneva Albright Road has been one tough nut to crack despite her agency’s repeated attempts to staunch its periodic overflows.

“It’s not necessarily a failing septic system,” Rosso went on to explain in an interview Tuesday. “There’s excessive water going into the tank. So, what’s going on right now is that we’re following a systematic process to determine and diagnose the source of excessive water.”

Rather than simply “allowing” water seepage from the tank, Rosso insists that her agency has tried one approach after another in its struggle to bring the overflows to a halt.

“We have been working directly with the homeowners also with the septic installers, the septic product manufacturer,” she added. “We’ve been working with the DEQ and the state’s environmental health section, and over the many months we have tried many things…The homeowners have been very good to work with. We’ve rerouted their gutter drains; we’ve tried to make sure that water softener isn’t dumping extra water into the system, and made sure the AC condenser lines aren’t plumbed into the tank. We’ve looked at their toilet to make sure all of the components – the flappers and gaskets — are sealed property.”

Rosso conceded that the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality sent an inspector out to the site at about the same time that the Haw River Assembly became interested in the matter.

“Based on their initial findings,” she added of the state agency, “they are not taking any action at this time.”

Rosso’s assertions are largely borne out by Ron Boone, an environmental program consultant for the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality who actually visited the site earlier this month.

“I do not think there’s any contamination of the surface water or very little,” Boone explained in an interview Wednesday. “It’s obviously soaking into the soil however if there’s a downpour a real gully washer, it could carry it into the river. But by that time, the amount of contaminant is so low, it’s barely detectable.”

Boone added that the effluent’s dilution also casts doubt on the Haw River Assembly’s inference that the septic system may be responsible for E. coli contamination at Swepsonville River Park.

“I did not think that the contamination that the river assembly is measuring is coming from that home,” he insisted.

In its own account of the overflows, the Haw River Assembly puts a great deal of emphasis on the potential threat that the septic system could present to area wells. The organization adds that “neighboring community members” have repeatedly contacted the health department to share “serious concerns for the quality of their own drinking water wells.” It goes on to offer free water quality analysis to these concerned neighbors as an alternative to the health department’s tests, which would cost them $65 dollars a pop.

In response to these claims, Rosso contends that the prospect of well water contamination is unlikely, at best, due to the setbacks and spacing requirements that govern the placement of residential septic tanks. She added, however, that should anyone want their well water tested, her agency offers high-quality laboratory analysis at rates that compare favorably with private testing services.

In any event, Rosso insists that the environmental health section has been doing its best to attain the same outcome that the Haw River Assembly is also presumably seeking. “We’re still trying to determine the source of the excess water,” she added. “But they’re pumping the excess water which keeps effluent from getting to surface.”

“Our job is public health protection,” Rosso continued, “so we want [what the assembly is seeking] as well.”

For local fans in Mebane and around Alamance County looking for a cure to their no baseball blues this summer, they’ve had to look no farther than Swepsonville Ballpark - a beautiful structure of wood and metal that harkens back to another era.

Located at 1006 W. Main Street in Graham, tucked away a couple hundred yards off Swepsonvillle-Saxapahaw Road and separated from the banks of the Haw River only by a collection of large evergreen trees, Swepsonville Ballpark is a hidden gem - a place where more than just parents and girlfriends can settle in and enjoy a fun night at the ballpark.

The old park is home to the Swepsonville Sweepers, a collection of local recent high school graduates and small college players looking for more experience and exposure. Members of the Olde North State League, an all-wooden bat league featuring college players from all over the East Coast and beyond, the Sweepers have put together a solid 2020 season, aided by numerous Eastern Alamance High graduates. It’s only six bucks to get in, and the competition is solid.

A total of four former Eagles - Matt Stanley, Will Austin, Trevor Moore, and John Hudson - have all made appearances at various points this spring for the Sweepers. Stanley is a rising sophomore at North Carolina Central University in Durham, while Moore, Austin, and Hudson are all about to enter their respective freshman seasons of college baseball - Moore at Roanoke College in Virginia, and Hudson and Austin at Fayetteville Technical Community College in Cumberland County.

With the Burlington Royals’ season cancelled - and their long-term future in jeopardy - the Sweepers have suddenly become the only game in town. And they’ve been playing games worth watching.

Although the Sweepers got off to a slow start this summer, dropping four of their first five games in late June, Swepsonville went on to win four of five games, including a 12-3 rout of the Triad Tribe, and back-to-back one-run wins over the Mocksville Muscadines. Through 22 games, the Sweepers held strong at 11-11.

Moore and Stanley played key roles in the blowout win over the Triad Tribe on June 29, with Moore scoring two runs and drawing a pair of walks, and Stanley adding three strikeouts with two runs allowed in 1.2 innings of work on the mound. Moore also came through with two hits, a run, and a walk in Swepsonville’s 4-3 triumph over Mocksville July 1, while Stanley added a strikout in two-thirds an inning. Moore added three hits in a four game stretch between July 9 and July 12, including an RBI double.

Starting with a win July 7 over the Carolina Coyotes the Sweepers got hot, winning five straight home games.

Swepsonville picked up back-to-back 16-6 and 5-1 victories over the Triad Tribe July 8 and 9, leading up to a 12-1 blowout of the Bull City Crash on July 10. The Sweepers next split a doubleheader July 12 with the Deep River Muddogs, earning a 1-0 victory in eight innings in the opener, but then having their winning streak snapped with a 15-5 setback in the nightcap.

Former EAHS standouts Austin and Moore came up huge in Swepsonville’s 5-1 triumph over the Triad Tribe at home on July 9. While Austin picked up the victory on the mound - going seven innings, allowing just three hits and one earned run with 11 strikeouts and a walk - Moore ripped an opposite-field RBI double to give his former Eagles teammate some run support.

For his pitching efforts against the Tribe, Austin was named the Olde North State League’s Pitcher of the Week. Austin also contributed a hit and a run in Swepsonville’s 10-0 wipeout of the Carolina Coyotes on July 7, and was hitting over .360 for the Sweepers as the season wound into its final week.

Hudson had a big night for the Sweepers on July 8, as he picked up two RBIs and scored a run in Swepsonville’s 16-6 victory over Triad. Hudson added a hit and a run in a 7-4 loss to Mocksville July 2, and picked up two more RBIs on a hit July 15, though the Sweepers suffered a 6-5 setback to the Carolina Coyotes.

Although Stanley struggled in his first two outings with the Sweepers, giving up a combined five earned runs in two of his first three appearances of the summer, he’s been coming on strong as the summer has worn on. Over a stretch of 3 and two-thirds innings between July 1 and July 12, Stanley allowed just one hit.

For a collection of players in Austin, Moore, and Hudson, who saw their high school senior seasons washed out by the COVID-19 pandemic, and another in Stanley who saw his first collegiate season go away abruptly, the Olde North State League has been a wonderful thing. Not only has it gotten them all a chance to get back on the field this summer, but it’s provided them an additional opportunity to play the game they love in front of hometown spectators.

The spectators have been respectful this summer at Swepsonville Ballpark, following proper social distancing guidelines, and avoiding the huge numbers of spectators that have gotten other local venues into issues with state and local authorities. While mostly parents, friends, and acquaintances of the players themselves, there have been some die-hard baseball fans in attendance, desperate to see some kind of baseball this summer. Any baseball at all.

Fortunately for those baseball-starved fans, neither the Olde North State League nor the Swepsonville Sweepers have disappointed.

QUESTION: Why hasn’t the town of Swepsonville done anything about an illegal junkyard that has metastasized at 1136 Grove Lane?

ANSWER: Complaints about accumulations of junk aren’t automatically consigned to the dumpsters at Swepsonville’s town hall – at least not according to Brad Bullis, the town’s municipal administrator.

Bullis nevertheless concedes that it isn’t always easy for the town to address the problem of illegal junk – even when the alleged blight seems to be unequivocally prohibited under the town’s code of ordinances.

According to Bullis, the town’s ongoing struggle with the junkyard on Grove Lane is a case in point of the difficulties inherent in the whole business of code enforcement.

“We actually have issued that homeowner a notice of violation of our nuisance ordinance,” the town’s administrator went on to explain in an interview. “We sent one a couple months back, and some progress was made, but it wasn’t officially resolved.”

Bullis said that the homeowners – whom tax records identify as Jared and Jennifer Gibson – went so far as to bring in a dumpster to dispose of the illegal debris, although it he acknowledged that things seem to have gotten bogged down since this promising start. He added that the poor follow-through has prompted the town to issue a second notice of violation, which he said should arrive in the homeowners’ mailbox any day.

Bullis said that, with the issuance of this second notice, the homeowners will have 14 days to rectify the alleged violation under the town’s nuisance control ordinance. Should they fail to comply within the allotted period, the town will be able to calls in a contractor to expedite the process.

The town’s administrator added that there’s also some discussion about updating the town’s code of ordinances to provide the means to better address these violations in the future.

Meanwhile, as a reporter with the newspaper took a photo of the yard, including the dumpster, someone from the yard yelled out, “I’m cleaning it up. I’ve got a dumpster.”

Call The Alamance News at 228-7851; write to the newspaper at P.O. Box 431, Graham, NC 27253; or e-mail [email protected].

If it’s a topic in the public domain — a matter of public record, including issues of government, courts, etc. — we’ll try to find the answer and print it in ‘The Public Asks’ column. (Please furnish as much complete and specific information as possible.)

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By Bob Sutton

Special to The Alamance News

The Swepsonville Sweepers, who had been a summer collegiate baseball team for three years, no longer exist as town officials assess the next move for the town’s aging ballpark.

The condition of Swepsonville Ballpark and low attendance appeared to be factors in the disbanding of the team.

The Sweepers were members of the Old North State League (ONSL), which is a lower-level league on the collegiate summer scale. Players generally played for Division III teams or junior colleges, with some coming directly out of high school to play.

The team’s departure didn’t come as a surprise to Swepsonville town administrator Brad Bullis.

Bullis said ONSL representatives spoke to the town council prior to the 2022 season and there were indications that there were plans to move out of Swepsonville after the season.

Last June, the Town of Swepsonville received an assessment from a structural engineer regarding the bleachers and canopy at the ballpark. Based on a recommendation, the bleachers were closed off based on safety concerns.

The season for the Sweepers continued despite the inconveniences for ballpark visitors.

Bullis said it’s possible the bleachers will be removed. The town is seeking input from residents regarding the future of the ballpark. He said any major decisions would be part of a parks and recreation masterplan.

Blending the past and present will be considered as the ballpark’s future is determined, Bullis said.

“It has played a prominent role in the town,” he said.

The ONSL runs from late May through late July. It began in 2019 with eight teams, with Swepsonville joining the following year. There were 13 teams with about 400 total players last year and it has grown to 15 teams for this year.

Former ONSL president Alec Allred said it takes about $40,000 annually for operations for each team. Allred has shifted to a different title as chief executive officer of The Players League, which purchased ONSL. Allred was based in Ramseur, though he now lives in Whispering Springs.

ONSL teams are spread across the state ranging from Brunswick County to Hendersonville. There are teams in Reidsville, Sanford, High Point, Lexington and Raleigh. High school fields are used for some ONSL teams.

In part, the neat thing for Swepsonville was being linked in a league with teams from larger cities such as Raleigh and Fayetteville.

“It was nice to say we had a team,” Bullis said.

With about 30 players per team, some players came from local schools or nearby counties. Others on the roster came from around the country, with last year’s Sweepers consisting of players from Iowa and Wisconsin.