Wake Electric is now accepting applications for Bright Ideas education grants of up to $3,000 for creative classroom projects. The early-bird deadline with a chance to win $100 has passed; the final deadline for applications is Sept. 13. Learn more and apply online at www.ncbrightideas.com. The grants of up to $3,000 reward creative, classroom-based learning projects. More than $600,000 in Bright Ideas funding will be awarded to teachers across the state through the North Carolina electric cooperatives. Last year Wake Electric awarded $50,000 in Bright Ideas grants to teachers at qualifying schools in Durham, Franklin, Granville, Johnston, Nash, Vance, and Wake counties. Teachers can apply individually or as a team.

Forest Moon Theater will present “California Suite” Sept. 15 through 17 and 22 through 24 at the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre for the Arts on Brooks Street. Friday and Saturday show times are 7:30 p.m.; Sunday show time is 3 p.m. If the walls in room 203 of the Beverly Hills Hotel could talk, these are four comic stories they would tell of couples who crossed the threshold. Confrontations over custody, sexual orientation, infidelity, and disastrous vacations are all material for Neil Simon’s incisive humor. Wrap up your summer with this trip to comedy in California. Please note: This production, contains adult situations and strong language. It is recommended for mature audiences only. Advance tickets are $15 plus tax for adults and $13 plus tax for students and seniors. These prices reflect a savings of $3 per adult and student/senior “day of” admission tickets. For more information, visit www.wakeforestrencen.org or

The Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation is currently accepting applications for the 2017/18 class of Leadership Wake Forest. The comprehensive program is designed to engage, cultivate, and motivate individuals interested in a strong, sustainable community. “The program is appealing to long-time residents as well as those who have recently relocated to the area,” said Corey Hutcherson, vice president of community relations for the chamber. “It gives participants the opportunity to learn from community leaders and industry experts. At the same time, they make new friends and business contacts.” Participants meet for a day, once a month, from September through May, culminating in a class project. Participants are involved in seven interactive classes, looking at the town’s history and discussing current and future issues facing Wake Forest. Information is presented through panel discussions, on-site tours, hands-on activities, simulations, and informal sessions with local leaders. Applicants with diverse backgrounds are

A struggle that the many consumers have with scammers is that they just don’t quit. Scammers often call from different numbers trying to pitch various scams time and time again. Even with technology and resources in place to keep them from calling back, Better Business Bureau serving Eastern North Carolina (BBB) is offering tips to consumers for stopping scam phone calls. “According to the BBB’s Scam Tracker, scam calls have increased this year, compared to last year, with over 5,700 phone scams  reported in the U.S. and Canada already,” said Mallory Wojciechowski, president and CEO of BBB serving Eastern NC. “In total, only 6,700 scam calls were reported for all of 2016.” BBB warns that blocking one phone number from calling won’t necessarily stop scammers from calling. Unfortunately, as soon as a consumer answers a call, their phone number is registered as active and can be sold to other scammers.

Matthew Starr is the Upper Neuse Riverkeeper at Sound Rivers, Inc., a Waterkeeper Alliance member organization. Will Hendrick is a Campaign Manager and Staff Attorney at Waterkeeper Alliance, the largest and fastest growing nonprofit solely focused on clean water.    Reposted with permission by Waterkeeper Alliance.   (The Gazette editor and most thoughtful Tar Heels have an ever present concern about the health of the state’s creeks and rivers. That the state has agreed to continue the hog-farm buyout program, helping to move hog waste lagoons and barns out of the Neuse River floodplain, is indeed good news.) In North Carolina, industrial hog facilities located near rivers, lakes, and streams in the 100-year floodplain are, especially during hurricane season, an ever-present threat to environmental quality and community health. The state permit governing industrial swine farms requires them to be designed, constructed and operated to contain all waste onsite in the event of the “maximum 24-hour precipitation event