CHAPEL HILL -- Mayor Kevin Foy plans at Monday night's Town Council meeting to recommend council consideration of a petition by the NAACP over the Police Department's handling of an alleged racial profiling case in which barbershop owner Charles Brown was mistakenly handcuffed and detained.
"I am making the recommendation regarding a petition for two reasons: first, this follows the normal procedure that the Council would undertake in response to a similar request from citizens; and second, because the letter addresses several different matters, I believe it would be useful for the staff and Council to consider and deal with them separately," Foy wrote Friday in a letter to Michelle Laws, president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP branch.
The NAACP had asked the town for a meeting to discuss the findings of a Police Department internal investigation into the case, for a report on the status of a civilian review board to examine police conduct, for a detailed five-year review of officers' stops and arrests, and for a report on the number of black business owners in town and how they have been included in the town's development plans.
Peace Corps recruits Oct. 20
CHAPEL HILL -- Peace Corps recruiter Chinyere Alu will host an information session from 6-7:30 p.m. Oct. 20 at the Chapel Hill Library, 100 Library Drive. Alu will explain why today's Peace Corps is more relevant than ever and how volunteers from all backgrounds can make a difference in other people's lives, as well as their own.
Peace Corps is looking for qualified applicants to spend two years working in one of more than 70 countries. Peace Corps Volunteers have a chance to learn a new language, live in another culture, and develop career and leadership skills. Last year there were more than 225 Peace Corps Volunteers from North Carolina, and more than 3,500 North Carolina residents have served in the Peace Corps since its inception in 1961.
Other benefits of two years of Peace Corps service include medical and dental care, a living allowance, 24 paid vacation days per year, student loan deferment opportunities, and the experience of a lifetime. Upon completion of service, Volunteers receive non-competitive eligibility status for most government jobs. The agency has also established partnerships with colleges and universities that offer academic credit and financial incentives to Volunteers during or after Peace Corps service.
Doses arrive of nasal mist vaccine
HILLSBOROUGH -- The Orange County Health Department has received 700 doses of H1N1 nasal mist vaccine. Following federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, the department plans to distribute a portion of this first vaccine shipment to medical practices not receiving vaccine directly form the state and to Orange County Emergency Services for eligible first responders.
The department will also vaccinate eligible Health Department clients and staff providing direct patient care.
The CDC's Vaccination Information Statement for live H1N1 explains that nasal mist is a live, attenuated intranasal vaccine. It is licensed for healthy, non-pregnant people from 2 through 49 years of age. The live vaccine virus is attenuated (weakened) so it will not cause illness. People should not get nasal mist if they have a severe (life-threatening) allergy to eggs.
While certain groups should not get live virus vaccines -- for example pregnant women, people with long-term health problems, and children from 6 months to 2 years of age -- it is important that they be vaccinated. They should get the inactivated form of H1N1 (vaccine that has killed virus in it) when it becomes available. For more information on H1N1 vaccine restrictions and eligibility requirements visit the CDC's website to the review the latest H1N1 vaccination information statements at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/default.htm.
County public health officials anticipate that local medical providers will begin receiving H1N1 vaccine shipments within the next two weeks. The Health Department expects future vaccine shipments, but has no delivery date. For local flu updates visit www.co.orange.nc.us/health.
