Florence’s aftermath continues to devastate most of southeastern North Carolina, turning it into an inland sea as rivers reach record flood stage. Wake Forest escaped with only intermittent rain and strong but not prolonged winds over a long weekend, Thursday night through early Monday. On Friday two trees were toppled, one in Deacons Ridge and one in Remington Woods, and there were three isolated power outages. Friday night South Main Street was closed between Ligon Mill Road and Capital Boulevard because of flooding caused by a traffic barrel caught in a storm drain. Town hall was open Friday and Monday; the Flaherty Park Community Center and the Alston-Massenburg Center were open those days and on Saturday; and all town parks and greenways, closed over the weekend, were reopened Monday after inspections showed they were safe. Public Works Director Magda Holloway said in an email, “We were not hit as hard

Do you know the first Wake Forest football team to win a state championship? It was the DuBois Lions who brought home the championship trophy in the fall of 1968. And Tuesday night the team was honored on the 50th anniversary of that win. Jolene Woods and Ray Hartsfield, president and treasurer of the National DuBois Alumni Association, stood next to Mayor Vivian Jones as she read the proclamation. The audience, a full house, stood to applaud when she finished. Terry Lucas, the team captain, lives out of town and could not attend, but Woods and Jones were quick to point out that there is a close relationship to the next state championships in 2016 and 2017. Terry Lucas is uncle to Reggie Lucas, coach of the Wake Forest High School Cougars who won those two championships. Only one team member from 1968 was present, Gregory Grant, who sat in

Last year, acting on a request from Ken Christie, a resident living in Heritage Spring, the Wake Forest commissioners and staff worked out a process by which private streets in town can be approved and added to the town’s street system. Tuesday night, however, the commissioners found themselves in a muddle because at some point in June or July the town decided to begin assessing inspection fees and requiring a surety bond to be returned after a one-year warranty period. This came as a shock to several groups living on private streets who had begun the process to change to public streets. Christie and the other Heritage Spring residents have met all the requirements and are ready to put up the green street signs signifying their streets are owned by the town. Thomas Taylor, Douglas Woods, Ken Harrison and Mary Whittemore all spoke about their surprise to learn – well

Hurricane Florence demonstrates why the proposed constitutional amendment to lower the state’s maximum personal tax rate from 10 percent to 7 percent is a terrible idea. There are and will be enormous costs from Florence’s wind, water and flood damages for the state’s people and its infrastructure. Roads and highways will have to be repaired along with electric systems, water and sewer plants and other infrastructure. What if there is a second hurricane this season that hits another part of the coast? Or an ice storm that covers half the state? Or what if the federal government decides to make each state pay all the costs of Medicaid? Our state government needs to have the ability to respond to different economic ills like these, and the most equitable method is through the state income tax. This amendment will tie the hands of future legislatures. The outcomes if this amendment is