School Board Passes Budget
The Wake County School Board has passed a $1.5 billion budget. The School Board found its funding $12 million short of what it requested from the County Commissioners. The School Board has stated it aims to raise teacher salaries to the national average by 2020, but without all the money requested the district could have to slow down that plan. The School Board will try to bridge the gap by postponing new hires and cutting back on janitorial expenses.
Wake School Board purchases Land from Chevy Dealership for new High School
The School Board agreed to pay $6.4 million to the Murray Investment Company for a 12.13-acre property on 1820 Capital Boulevard, just south of the Beltline. School leaders plan to put a small high school on the property. With large sites now being very rare in Wake County, the School Board is starting to focus on building smaller high schools that do not have amenities such as football fields.
Wake Tech breaks ground in RTP
Wake Technical Community College broke ground on its sixth campus for a facility on Chapel Hill Road in Morrisville that is expected to open in 2018. The campus will span 28 acres and is designed to accommodate 1,350 students. The campus will provide instruction in computer programming, business administration and other technical programs.
North Carolina Residents will have Obamacare Options
Aetna has announced that it will soon no longer be offering Obamacare plans. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is also considering cutting back on the number of Obamacare plans that it offers.
Raleigh receives a $50 million loan for Neuse River Bioenergy Program
Raleigh has been awarded a $50 million low-interest loan to build an anaerobic digester system at its Neuse River Resource Recovery Facility, a wastewater treatment plant. The project will transform the facility from a large energy-consuming process to a large energy-generating process. The project is expected to take five years to complete.
Crabtree Incident may not be Gun-related
An incident that was originally reported as a gun shot at Crabtree Valley Mall on Glenwood Avenue last Saturday appears not to have involved any guns at all. So far, there is no evidence of any gunshot victims, shooter or shell casings. An audio forensics analyst does not believe the sound was actually gunfire, so it appears that the sound was in fact something else entirely.
Duke Researchers help Paraplegics Regain Partial Control Of Limbs
Eight paraplegic patients have regained partial control of their lower limbs, according to a recent rehabilitation study led by a Duke University neuroscientist, Dr. Miguel Nicolelis. Researchers say the patients are making impressive breakthroughs with the help of a brain-machine interface.