Grandfather Mountain, known for its beautiful hiking trails, its annual Highland Games and its well known mile-high bridge, will become North Carolina's newest state park.
A bill allowing the mountain to become part of the state parks system got final approval today by the North Carolina General Assembly.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for the people of North Carolina to add to the state parks system a piece of property that is a treasure both for North Carolina and for the nation," said state Rep. Cullie Tarleton, D-Watauga.
The state is purchasing 2,456 acres of land, consisting mostly of the higher elevations and backcountry areas of Grandfather in Avery, Caldwell and Watauga counties.
The state is paying $12 million, but no budget appropriations were necessary, because the money is coming from two trust funds: the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund and the Natural Heritage Trust Fund.
The agreement also contains a conservation easement on 749 acres of land that includes the mountain's main tourist attractions, such as the nature museum and the mile-high swinging bridge. That part of the property will remain owned by the family of the late Hugh Morton.
Grandfather Mountain will be North Carolina's 34th state park.
It was announced last year by former Gov. Mike Easley and it was approved by the Council of State, a panel of top executive-branch officials.
The final step was approval by the General Assembly. The N.C. House passed the bill unanimously today, two and a half weeks after the N.C. Senate approved it.
The bill will now go to Gov. Bev Perdue, who is expected to sign it.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Perdue talks about Jobs and Education As a Priorities
Gov. Beverly Perdue said protecting education and creating jobs in North Carolina are her top priorities in the proposed state budget she'll release.
Perdue told the state's top education leaders Monday that she would propose spending more money in K-12 education and new initiatives designed to prepare students for the working world in the budget.
But Perdue said significant cuts were ahead for the university system in the proposed budget, due to be released Tuesday.
University of North Carolina system President Erskine Bowles said after the meeting at Wake Technical Community College he's worried that campuses would have to cut as many as a 1,000 positions under the governor's proposed two-year budget.
Perdue told the state's top education leaders Monday that she would propose spending more money in K-12 education and new initiatives designed to prepare students for the working world in the budget.
But Perdue said significant cuts were ahead for the university system in the proposed budget, due to be released Tuesday.
University of North Carolina system President Erskine Bowles said after the meeting at Wake Technical Community College he's worried that campuses would have to cut as many as a 1,000 positions under the governor's proposed two-year budget.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
North Carolina gets high marks for posting public info online
North Carolina is among the best states at posting public records on the Internet, but some information is often hard to find, infrequently updated or not entirely available, according to an analysis by The Associated Press released Sunday.
The survey examined how all 50 states provide online access to 20 different kinds of records, ranging from consumer complaints to teacher certifications. The report ties North Carolina for third with Kentucky in its accessibility to public records. Only Texas and New Jersey ranked higher in the Sunshine Week 2009 Survey of State Government Information, which was compiled by newspaper and broadcast journalists over a two-month period.
The report found that North Carolina provides information on 17 out of 20 categories surveyed such as death certificates, bridge inspection reports and disciplinary actions against medical physicians and attorneys. A visitor to the state's government Web site (www.nc.gov) can easily find links to state agencies on health, public education and transportation, but other links listed under "Online Services" and "State Agencies" can be confusing for a first-time user, the survey found.
There also are inconsistencies in the type and depth of public records department Web sites provide.
The Department of Health and Human Services Web site, for example, doesn't post comprehensive details about the safety inspection of all its institutions including adult care homes, nursing homes and mental health group facilities.
"Public records are public records. We're trying to make it easier as we go along," health department spokesman Mark Van Sciver said. "Let's be very clear, there's a lot of information out there. It is a wide, wide net that we have."
The state attorney general's office easily allows users to file consumer complaints and lists warnings about frauds and scams, but more detailed information is only available in press releases on a different page.
"All of the documents that are public records, we certainly put out there," said Attorney General spokeswoman Noelle Talley, acknowledging the information could be presented in a different way.
In some instances, requesting records online — such as safety reports on child care centers in the state — seemed tricky. The health department's Division of Child Development provides descriptions of child care centers and homes and each is rated on a 5-star system. But additional records must be mailed and requests can take weeks to process. Death certificates must be requested, and there is a fee.
The Department of Public Instruction lacks easily accessible information on school building inspections and school bus safety reports, but agency spokeswoman Vanessa Jeter said more than 130,000 pages of online content links to in-depth data on school testing, student enrollment and SAT scores.
"I think we do a pretty good job with the resources we have," she said. "We're always trying to do a better job. There's always something you can do better."
Other findings highlight some departments' ability to organize their content. The Department of Transportation's Web site, for example, lists status updates for every road project in the state.
DOT spokeswoman Dara Demi said the site has been revamped over the last year. In a technology-driven era, it's crucial for state departments to keep the consumer in mind when organizing page content, she said.
"People, instead of going to the yellow pages, they hop on the Internet," Demi said. "It's a massive undertaking. There just has to be a bunch of effort."
One of Gov. Beverly Perdue's campaign promises last year was to make government more accountable and accessible. She recently launched a Web site (www.NCRecovery.gov) where citizens can track how the state spends its $6.1 billion in federal stimulus funds. She also plans to list all state contracts and grant awards above $10,000 on another Web site set to launch this month.
The moves come about a year after some of former Gov. Mike Easley's officials were accused of telling workers to quickly delete their government e-mails, which are public record. Easley later ordered that all such e-mails be stored for at least 10 years.
Perdue has avoided public records criticism in her first three months in office. And so far, she's sticking to her campaign pledge.
"This has been one of Gov. Perdue's pledges from day one," said spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson. "It's the people's business, and she wants them to see how their state government runs."
The survey examined how all 50 states provide online access to 20 different kinds of records, ranging from consumer complaints to teacher certifications. The report ties North Carolina for third with Kentucky in its accessibility to public records. Only Texas and New Jersey ranked higher in the Sunshine Week 2009 Survey of State Government Information, which was compiled by newspaper and broadcast journalists over a two-month period.
The report found that North Carolina provides information on 17 out of 20 categories surveyed such as death certificates, bridge inspection reports and disciplinary actions against medical physicians and attorneys. A visitor to the state's government Web site (www.nc.gov) can easily find links to state agencies on health, public education and transportation, but other links listed under "Online Services" and "State Agencies" can be confusing for a first-time user, the survey found.
There also are inconsistencies in the type and depth of public records department Web sites provide.
The Department of Health and Human Services Web site, for example, doesn't post comprehensive details about the safety inspection of all its institutions including adult care homes, nursing homes and mental health group facilities.
"Public records are public records. We're trying to make it easier as we go along," health department spokesman Mark Van Sciver said. "Let's be very clear, there's a lot of information out there. It is a wide, wide net that we have."
The state attorney general's office easily allows users to file consumer complaints and lists warnings about frauds and scams, but more detailed information is only available in press releases on a different page.
"All of the documents that are public records, we certainly put out there," said Attorney General spokeswoman Noelle Talley, acknowledging the information could be presented in a different way.
In some instances, requesting records online — such as safety reports on child care centers in the state — seemed tricky. The health department's Division of Child Development provides descriptions of child care centers and homes and each is rated on a 5-star system. But additional records must be mailed and requests can take weeks to process. Death certificates must be requested, and there is a fee.
The Department of Public Instruction lacks easily accessible information on school building inspections and school bus safety reports, but agency spokeswoman Vanessa Jeter said more than 130,000 pages of online content links to in-depth data on school testing, student enrollment and SAT scores.
"I think we do a pretty good job with the resources we have," she said. "We're always trying to do a better job. There's always something you can do better."
Other findings highlight some departments' ability to organize their content. The Department of Transportation's Web site, for example, lists status updates for every road project in the state.
DOT spokeswoman Dara Demi said the site has been revamped over the last year. In a technology-driven era, it's crucial for state departments to keep the consumer in mind when organizing page content, she said.
"People, instead of going to the yellow pages, they hop on the Internet," Demi said. "It's a massive undertaking. There just has to be a bunch of effort."
One of Gov. Beverly Perdue's campaign promises last year was to make government more accountable and accessible. She recently launched a Web site (www.NCRecovery.gov) where citizens can track how the state spends its $6.1 billion in federal stimulus funds. She also plans to list all state contracts and grant awards above $10,000 on another Web site set to launch this month.
The moves come about a year after some of former Gov. Mike Easley's officials were accused of telling workers to quickly delete their government e-mails, which are public record. Easley later ordered that all such e-mails be stored for at least 10 years.
Perdue has avoided public records criticism in her first three months in office. And so far, she's sticking to her campaign pledge.
"This has been one of Gov. Perdue's pledges from day one," said spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson. "It's the people's business, and she wants them to see how their state government runs."
Friday, March 6, 2009
Mom and, boyfriend in North Carolina jail for 4-year-old's death
A couple accused of killing the woman's 4-year-old daughter and burying her in their backyard have been returned to North Carolina after five months on the run, authorities said Friday.
Olga Mendez, 25, and her boyfriend, 21-year-old Kevin Videa, arrived Thursday from Longview, Texas, after their arrest there last month, Alexander County Sheriff's Office Capt. Keith Warren said. Both have been charged with murder and are being held without bond at the county jail.
They face murder charges in the death of Mendez's 4-year-old daughter, Brilly. Warren said the couple fled shortly before the girl's skeletal remains were found Oct. 24 buried in a shallow grave in the family's backyard. Preliminary autopsy findings show the girl died of head trauma.
The couple was tracked down after FBI and sheriff's office officials traced the phone calls they had been making.
Officials from the state's Division of Social Services began investigating the couple after being told the girl had been sent to live with a relative.
"They could not give information about the relative in terms of contact information," Warren said. "We attempted to locate the alleged relative, too, and were unsuccessful."
In October, with a search warrant and cadaver sniffing dogs in tow, officials combed the backyard of the couple's home west of Taylorsville, a rural area in western North Carolina where they had lived for about eight months. Forensic anthropologists are working to determine when the girl died.
Officials say the pair had other children living with them, but won't say how many because of the investigation. None was with the couple in Texas.
No attorney was listed for either Mendez or Videa on Friday. They are scheduled to make their first court appearance Monday.
It's only the second case in recent years in Alexander County in which a parent has faced a murder charge in the death of his or her own child.
An infant died at a local hospital in September 2007, and officials said the child's injuries were consistent with child abuse. Officials charged the infant's father, Sergio Hernandez, in connection with the death — but he also fled and hasn't been found by authorities.
"Normally, these types of things don't occur here that frequently," Warren said.
Olga Mendez, 25, and her boyfriend, 21-year-old Kevin Videa, arrived Thursday from Longview, Texas, after their arrest there last month, Alexander County Sheriff's Office Capt. Keith Warren said. Both have been charged with murder and are being held without bond at the county jail.
They face murder charges in the death of Mendez's 4-year-old daughter, Brilly. Warren said the couple fled shortly before the girl's skeletal remains were found Oct. 24 buried in a shallow grave in the family's backyard. Preliminary autopsy findings show the girl died of head trauma.
The couple was tracked down after FBI and sheriff's office officials traced the phone calls they had been making.
Officials from the state's Division of Social Services began investigating the couple after being told the girl had been sent to live with a relative.
"They could not give information about the relative in terms of contact information," Warren said. "We attempted to locate the alleged relative, too, and were unsuccessful."
In October, with a search warrant and cadaver sniffing dogs in tow, officials combed the backyard of the couple's home west of Taylorsville, a rural area in western North Carolina where they had lived for about eight months. Forensic anthropologists are working to determine when the girl died.
Officials say the pair had other children living with them, but won't say how many because of the investigation. None was with the couple in Texas.
No attorney was listed for either Mendez or Videa on Friday. They are scheduled to make their first court appearance Monday.
It's only the second case in recent years in Alexander County in which a parent has faced a murder charge in the death of his or her own child.
An infant died at a local hospital in September 2007, and officials said the child's injuries were consistent with child abuse. Officials charged the infant's father, Sergio Hernandez, in connection with the death — but he also fled and hasn't been found by authorities.
"Normally, these types of things don't occur here that frequently," Warren said.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
13 Marines, and driver hurt in NC crash of 3 buses
Authorities say three buses carrying Marines from Camp Lejeune crashed in North Carolina, injuring 13 Marines and one civilian.
Marine Corps Capt. Clark Carpenter said a bus driver was critically injured and air lifted to a hospital after Thursday's accident. He said none of the Marines was seriously injured, although two remain hospitalized.
Authorities say the accident occurred about 20 miles north of Camp Lejeune on U.S. Highway 17 near Maysville. Carpenter said investigators believe the third bus failed to stop for traffic and collided with the bus it was following.
Carpenter said 59 Marines and one sailor were on the buses traveling to Norfolk, Va. The troops are scheduled to begin training exercises March 10 in advance of their deployments.
Marine Corps Capt. Clark Carpenter said a bus driver was critically injured and air lifted to a hospital after Thursday's accident. He said none of the Marines was seriously injured, although two remain hospitalized.
Authorities say the accident occurred about 20 miles north of Camp Lejeune on U.S. Highway 17 near Maysville. Carpenter said investigators believe the third bus failed to stop for traffic and collided with the bus it was following.
Carpenter said 59 Marines and one sailor were on the buses traveling to Norfolk, Va. The troops are scheduled to begin training exercises March 10 in advance of their deployments.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
NC doctor helps colleagues track online reviews
The anonymous comment about a doctor on RateMDs.com was unsparing: "Very unhelpful, arrogant."
Such reviews are becoming more common as online consumer ratings services expand beyond restaurants and plumbers to medical care. Now, some doctors are fighting back.
North Carolina neurosurgeon Dr. Jeffrey Segal has made a business out of helping doctors monitor and prevent online criticism. Segal said consumers and patients need good information about doctors, but Internet reviews provide the opposite.
He said some sites "are little more than tabloid journalism" and sniping comments can unfairly ruin a doctor's reputation.
Segal said such postings say nothing about a doctor's medical skills. Privacy laws and medical ethics leave doctors powerless to do anything it.
Such reviews are becoming more common as online consumer ratings services expand beyond restaurants and plumbers to medical care. Now, some doctors are fighting back.
North Carolina neurosurgeon Dr. Jeffrey Segal has made a business out of helping doctors monitor and prevent online criticism. Segal said consumers and patients need good information about doctors, but Internet reviews provide the opposite.
He said some sites "are little more than tabloid journalism" and sniping comments can unfairly ruin a doctor's reputation.
Segal said such postings say nothing about a doctor's medical skills. Privacy laws and medical ethics leave doctors powerless to do anything it.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Governor taps into NC lottery funds early in term
During her campaign for governor, Beverly Perdue often said she wanted take extra steps to ensure profits from the North Carolina Education Lottery were spent solely on education.
She was worried lawmakers might tap the ready source of cash for something else. And less than two months in office, faced with a brutal economy that's sapping the state of revenue, both lottery critics and allies say she's become the prime example of her own fears.
Perdue said last week she would use $87.6 million in lottery profits to ensure there's money available in the state's day-to-day operating accounts to pay the bills through mid-April. Lawmakers who voted for the lottery law say they're frustrated by the decision, even though they know she made it to face the state's worst fiscal emergency in a generation.
"The commitment that I told the people was that this was an education lottery and it would never be used for (something else)", said Rep. Bruce Goforth, D-Buncombe. "I didn't know that we'd have the circumstance that we have now."
The lottery money was part of the $300 million Perdue shifted from four dedicated accounts to help close a $2.2 billion gap in the state budget caused by dwindling sales and income tax receipts. Her decision didn't surprise those who have long said requiring the lottery to benefit education was merely a statutory facade.
"This isn't so much an 'I told you so' moment as a 'no kidding,'" said John Hood, president of the conservative-leaning John Locke Foundation and a lottery opponent. "The lottery was truly sold as an un-tappable pot. You weren't supposed to use this money for another purpose."
The new governor defends the transfers as a precautionary move but said she couldn't guarantee the money would be returned "if things continue to go downward." Perdue argued the lottery money would still be used for its intended purpose, since more than half of the state's $21.4 budget is dedicated to public education.
She was worried lawmakers might tap the ready source of cash for something else. And less than two months in office, faced with a brutal economy that's sapping the state of revenue, both lottery critics and allies say she's become the prime example of her own fears.
Perdue said last week she would use $87.6 million in lottery profits to ensure there's money available in the state's day-to-day operating accounts to pay the bills through mid-April. Lawmakers who voted for the lottery law say they're frustrated by the decision, even though they know she made it to face the state's worst fiscal emergency in a generation.
"The commitment that I told the people was that this was an education lottery and it would never be used for (something else)", said Rep. Bruce Goforth, D-Buncombe. "I didn't know that we'd have the circumstance that we have now."
The lottery money was part of the $300 million Perdue shifted from four dedicated accounts to help close a $2.2 billion gap in the state budget caused by dwindling sales and income tax receipts. Her decision didn't surprise those who have long said requiring the lottery to benefit education was merely a statutory facade.
"This isn't so much an 'I told you so' moment as a 'no kidding,'" said John Hood, president of the conservative-leaning John Locke Foundation and a lottery opponent. "The lottery was truly sold as an un-tappable pot. You weren't supposed to use this money for another purpose."
The new governor defends the transfers as a precautionary move but said she couldn't guarantee the money would be returned "if things continue to go downward." Perdue argued the lottery money would still be used for its intended purpose, since more than half of the state's $21.4 budget is dedicated to public education.
Ferocious storm dumps heavy snow on East Coast
A ferocious storm packing freezing rain, heavy snow and furious wind gusts paralyzed most of the East Coast on Monday, sending dozens of cars careening into ditches, grounding hundreds of flights and closing school for millions of kids.
The devastating effects of the storm were seen up and down the coast. A crash caused a 15-mile traffic jam in North Carolina, forcing police and the Red Cross to go car-to-car to check on stranded drivers. The storm was blamed for more than 500 crashes in New Jersey, and a Maryland official counted about 50 cars in the ditch on one stretch of highway.
By Monday, the storm had moved north into New England, and most areas in the storm's wake expected to see at least 8 to 12 inches of snow. The weather contributed to four deaths on roads in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and on Long Island.
Diane Lugo, of Yonkers, N.Y., got a ride with her husband to avoid walking 10 minutes in the slush to her bus stop. "Getting out of the driveway was pure hell," Lugo said. "He got to work late. I'm obviously late."
The South was especially hard hit, dealing with record snowfalls, thick ice and hundreds of thousands of power outages in a region not accustomed to such vicious weather.
In North Carolina, Raleigh got more than 3 inches of snow; the March snowfall for the city has exceeded 3 inches only 11 times in the last 122 years. The Weather Service said parts of Tennessee received the biggest snowfall since 1968.
The 15-mile traffic jam in North Carolina caused no serious problems and authorities were able to get traffic moving again.
Travelers were stranded everywhere, with about 950 flights canceled at the three main airports in the New York area and nearly 300 flights canceled in Philadelphia. Boston's Logan International Airport had to shut down for about 40 minutes to clear a runway, and hundreds of flights were canceled there.
Philadelphia declared a Code Blue weather emergency, which gives officials the authority to bring homeless people into shelters because the weather poses a threat of serious harm or death.
Dozens of schools across North Carolina, South Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Maine gave children a snow day. Schools in Philadelphia, Boston and New York City did the same. It was the first time in more than five years that New York City called off classes for its 1.1 million public school students.
Some New York parents complained that the city waited until 5:40 a.m. to call off classes, saying they didn't have enough notice. Mayor Michael Bloomberg brushed off the criticism and praised the city's storm response, which included dispatching 2,000 workers and 1,400 plows to work around the clock to clean New York's 6,000 miles of streets.
"It's like plowing from here to Los Angeles and back," Bloomberg said at a news conference, standing in front of an orange snow plow at a garage. Central Park recorded 7 inches of snow, and more than a foot was reported on parts of Long Island, where high winds caused 2-foot drifts on highways in the Hamptons.
The storm offered a hint of irony in a couple of cities. People had to brave the snow and cold to attend the annual Philadelphia Flower Show, an indoor exhibition that provided a fragrant, spring-like glimpse of yellow daffodils, crimson azaleas and white tulips. In the nation's capital, hundreds of protesters gathered on Capitol Hill to protest a power plant and global warming during one of the worst storms of the year.
In Fairfax, Va., 8-year-old Sarah Conforti said Monday's day off was just what she'd been hoping for, and planned to "make a snowman or play in the snow with my friends," she said.
Her mother, Noelle Conforti, said Sarah and her 10-year-old sister couldn't be happier about the school-free day. "The kids are against the window, just looking out the window like a cat," she said. "It's hilarious."
At a Lowe's home improvement store in Glen Burnie, Md., snow shovels and bags of salt were sold out before noon, employee Eric Pennington said. But Pennington wasn't too busy — he works in the garden section, where an order of azaleas just arrived.
"Nobody expects 6 to 8 inches of snow outside on March 2," Pennington said. "We know there aren't going to be people here buying soil and mulch and plants and roses."
The snow began to accumulate in New Hampshire and Massachusetts as the storm moved north, but most residents there were taking it in stride.
The devastating effects of the storm were seen up and down the coast. A crash caused a 15-mile traffic jam in North Carolina, forcing police and the Red Cross to go car-to-car to check on stranded drivers. The storm was blamed for more than 500 crashes in New Jersey, and a Maryland official counted about 50 cars in the ditch on one stretch of highway.
By Monday, the storm had moved north into New England, and most areas in the storm's wake expected to see at least 8 to 12 inches of snow. The weather contributed to four deaths on roads in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and on Long Island.
Diane Lugo, of Yonkers, N.Y., got a ride with her husband to avoid walking 10 minutes in the slush to her bus stop. "Getting out of the driveway was pure hell," Lugo said. "He got to work late. I'm obviously late."
The South was especially hard hit, dealing with record snowfalls, thick ice and hundreds of thousands of power outages in a region not accustomed to such vicious weather.
In North Carolina, Raleigh got more than 3 inches of snow; the March snowfall for the city has exceeded 3 inches only 11 times in the last 122 years. The Weather Service said parts of Tennessee received the biggest snowfall since 1968.
The 15-mile traffic jam in North Carolina caused no serious problems and authorities were able to get traffic moving again.
Travelers were stranded everywhere, with about 950 flights canceled at the three main airports in the New York area and nearly 300 flights canceled in Philadelphia. Boston's Logan International Airport had to shut down for about 40 minutes to clear a runway, and hundreds of flights were canceled there.
Philadelphia declared a Code Blue weather emergency, which gives officials the authority to bring homeless people into shelters because the weather poses a threat of serious harm or death.
Dozens of schools across North Carolina, South Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Maine gave children a snow day. Schools in Philadelphia, Boston and New York City did the same. It was the first time in more than five years that New York City called off classes for its 1.1 million public school students.
Some New York parents complained that the city waited until 5:40 a.m. to call off classes, saying they didn't have enough notice. Mayor Michael Bloomberg brushed off the criticism and praised the city's storm response, which included dispatching 2,000 workers and 1,400 plows to work around the clock to clean New York's 6,000 miles of streets.
"It's like plowing from here to Los Angeles and back," Bloomberg said at a news conference, standing in front of an orange snow plow at a garage. Central Park recorded 7 inches of snow, and more than a foot was reported on parts of Long Island, where high winds caused 2-foot drifts on highways in the Hamptons.
The storm offered a hint of irony in a couple of cities. People had to brave the snow and cold to attend the annual Philadelphia Flower Show, an indoor exhibition that provided a fragrant, spring-like glimpse of yellow daffodils, crimson azaleas and white tulips. In the nation's capital, hundreds of protesters gathered on Capitol Hill to protest a power plant and global warming during one of the worst storms of the year.
In Fairfax, Va., 8-year-old Sarah Conforti said Monday's day off was just what she'd been hoping for, and planned to "make a snowman or play in the snow with my friends," she said.
Her mother, Noelle Conforti, said Sarah and her 10-year-old sister couldn't be happier about the school-free day. "The kids are against the window, just looking out the window like a cat," she said. "It's hilarious."
At a Lowe's home improvement store in Glen Burnie, Md., snow shovels and bags of salt were sold out before noon, employee Eric Pennington said. But Pennington wasn't too busy — he works in the garden section, where an order of azaleas just arrived.
"Nobody expects 6 to 8 inches of snow outside on March 2," Pennington said. "We know there aren't going to be people here buying soil and mulch and plants and roses."
The snow began to accumulate in New Hampshire and Massachusetts as the storm moved north, but most residents there were taking it in stride.
NC body parts supplier's alleged fraud detailed
When a North Carolina company that collected human body parts for transplants and other medical procedures was shut down in 2006, federal regulators cited inaccurate paperwork and poor record-keeping.
But new court documents illuminate a more malicious story line: Federal prosecutors contend the company's owner falsified medical histories, identities and blood samples of harvested cadavers to ensure the risky tissue could be sold.
Court papers accuse Philip Guyett Jr. of forging the age and cause of death of cadavers he gathered from North Carolina funeral homes because tissues can be rejected for a number of reasons to protect the health of transplant recipients. Prosecutors claim Guyett's Donor Referral Services Inc. hid instances of disease or drug use and say that if Guyett knew a blood sample would be rejected, he would submit one from a different cadaver donor.
Guyett faces three counts of fraud. He has not been formally indicted, but the "criminal information" documents from prosecutors can only be filed with the defendant's consent and typically signal a plea deal is forthcoming.
Guyett has previously denied any wrongdoing. His attorney declined to comment.
An arraignment is scheduled for Monday.
The new details renew concerns raised a couple of years ago after Guyett's facility was shut down and in a separate case, a New Jersey company was accused of plundering corpses for body parts.
In the wake of those cases, thousands of Americans who had routine procedures like knee and back operations were urged to get tested for HIV and hepatitis. More than 1.3 million procedures each year use tissue from donated cadavers in what has become a billion-dollar industry.
The Food and Drug Administration said in 2007 it rushed inspections on all 153 companies that recover cadaver parts and found no major problems. Regulators oversee some 2,000 business that handle tissues and generally only inspect a few hundred each year. The agency declined this week to say whether transplants linked to Guyett led to illnesses, saying that information could only be released through a Freedom of Information Act request, which is pending.
Industry officials said no transplant recipients were affected, but worry there is still not enough federal regulation.
"The part that concerns myself and other state licensing boards is the idea that (the tissue recovery business) is still not regulated like transplantable organs are regulated," said Paul Harris, executive director of the North Carolina Board of Funeral Service. "And I haven't seen anything to indicate that it's headed toward regulation."
Transplantable organs are tested and regulated under a more rigorous system.
Robert Rigney, head of the American Association of Tissue Banks, said his group regulates member companies separate from the FDA, requiring onsite inspections and reviewing operating procedures. Companies voluntarily join the association, and while Rigney said the most transplantable tissues firms are members, Guyett's business was not.
Rigney said he doesn't think the FDA inspects new businesses soon enough, but said tissue transplant procedures are among the safest in medicine and that there hasn't been a transmission of disease since 2002. He thinks the chances of another case like Guyett's are minimal.
"What these people are accused of doing violates everything that we stand for," Rigney said.
FDA spokeswoman Susan Cruzan said a 2007 report found no major deficiencies in the industry and a 2005 report found low risks for disease transmission in tissue transplants.
Guyett has been in trouble with authorities before. He was sentenced a decade ago to community service and probation after police accused him of pocketing cash from the sale of a cadaver. And while working in Las Vegas, Missouri police discovered human limbs in a leaky FedEx container Guyett's company had shipped.
But new court documents illuminate a more malicious story line: Federal prosecutors contend the company's owner falsified medical histories, identities and blood samples of harvested cadavers to ensure the risky tissue could be sold.
Court papers accuse Philip Guyett Jr. of forging the age and cause of death of cadavers he gathered from North Carolina funeral homes because tissues can be rejected for a number of reasons to protect the health of transplant recipients. Prosecutors claim Guyett's Donor Referral Services Inc. hid instances of disease or drug use and say that if Guyett knew a blood sample would be rejected, he would submit one from a different cadaver donor.
Guyett faces three counts of fraud. He has not been formally indicted, but the "criminal information" documents from prosecutors can only be filed with the defendant's consent and typically signal a plea deal is forthcoming.
Guyett has previously denied any wrongdoing. His attorney declined to comment.
An arraignment is scheduled for Monday.
The new details renew concerns raised a couple of years ago after Guyett's facility was shut down and in a separate case, a New Jersey company was accused of plundering corpses for body parts.
In the wake of those cases, thousands of Americans who had routine procedures like knee and back operations were urged to get tested for HIV and hepatitis. More than 1.3 million procedures each year use tissue from donated cadavers in what has become a billion-dollar industry.
The Food and Drug Administration said in 2007 it rushed inspections on all 153 companies that recover cadaver parts and found no major problems. Regulators oversee some 2,000 business that handle tissues and generally only inspect a few hundred each year. The agency declined this week to say whether transplants linked to Guyett led to illnesses, saying that information could only be released through a Freedom of Information Act request, which is pending.
Industry officials said no transplant recipients were affected, but worry there is still not enough federal regulation.
"The part that concerns myself and other state licensing boards is the idea that (the tissue recovery business) is still not regulated like transplantable organs are regulated," said Paul Harris, executive director of the North Carolina Board of Funeral Service. "And I haven't seen anything to indicate that it's headed toward regulation."
Transplantable organs are tested and regulated under a more rigorous system.
Robert Rigney, head of the American Association of Tissue Banks, said his group regulates member companies separate from the FDA, requiring onsite inspections and reviewing operating procedures. Companies voluntarily join the association, and while Rigney said the most transplantable tissues firms are members, Guyett's business was not.
Rigney said he doesn't think the FDA inspects new businesses soon enough, but said tissue transplant procedures are among the safest in medicine and that there hasn't been a transmission of disease since 2002. He thinks the chances of another case like Guyett's are minimal.
"What these people are accused of doing violates everything that we stand for," Rigney said.
FDA spokeswoman Susan Cruzan said a 2007 report found no major deficiencies in the industry and a 2005 report found low risks for disease transmission in tissue transplants.
Guyett has been in trouble with authorities before. He was sentenced a decade ago to community service and probation after police accused him of pocketing cash from the sale of a cadaver. And while working in Las Vegas, Missouri police discovered human limbs in a leaky FedEx container Guyett's company had shipped.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Monday at the North Carolina General Assembly
Gov. Beverly Perdue will soon receive an invitation to deliver her first speech to the North Carolina Legislature. The General Assembly will invite Perdue to give the "State of the State" address on March 9 at 7 p.m. in the House chambers in Raleigh. A resolution with the invitation date was filed in the House. A governor gives such an address every two years, often giving hints in the speech about her budget priorities.
WINTRY MIX: The snow that covered the western two-thirds of the state didn't prevent most members from getting into Raleigh for the evening sessions. But the already abbreviated agendas for House and Senate were shortened as only one of the four bills on the chamber calendars were heard. Sen. Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, the Senate Rules Committee chairman, delayed debate on two bills until Tuesday because a few senators couldn't make it into town due to the inclement weather.
MONDAY'S SCORECARD:
In the House:
- H43, to make it a misdemeanor for a school board member to fail willfully to discharge duties of the office. Approved 96-1. Next: To the Senate.
Introduced in the House:
- H361, to amend the state constitution to declare that marriage between a man and a woman is the only valid domestic legal union in North Carolina. Various sponsors.
- H362, to prevent the University of North Carolina Board of Governors and state community college system from seeking information about the immigration status of potential students. Sponsor: Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford.
Introduced in the Senate:
- S362, to reduce the amount of time a retired teacher must stop working as a state employee before the teacher can return to the classroom without a loss of retirement benefits. Sponsor: Sen. A.B. Swindell, D-Nash.
AROUND THE STATEHOUSE:
- Sen. David Weinstein, D-Robeson, got married over the weekend. Weinstein was a widower whose former wife died while he was in office.
ON THE AGENDA:
A Christian conservative group called Return America has scheduled a "Stand Up for Traditional Marriage" rally on Tuesday on the Halifax Mall in downtown Raleigh. A similar outdoor event attracted thousands in 2007. The participants want to vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would make marriage between a man and a woman the only recognized domestic legal union in North Carolina.
WINTRY MIX: The snow that covered the western two-thirds of the state didn't prevent most members from getting into Raleigh for the evening sessions. But the already abbreviated agendas for House and Senate were shortened as only one of the four bills on the chamber calendars were heard. Sen. Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, the Senate Rules Committee chairman, delayed debate on two bills until Tuesday because a few senators couldn't make it into town due to the inclement weather.
MONDAY'S SCORECARD:
In the House:
- H43, to make it a misdemeanor for a school board member to fail willfully to discharge duties of the office. Approved 96-1. Next: To the Senate.
Introduced in the House:
- H361, to amend the state constitution to declare that marriage between a man and a woman is the only valid domestic legal union in North Carolina. Various sponsors.
- H362, to prevent the University of North Carolina Board of Governors and state community college system from seeking information about the immigration status of potential students. Sponsor: Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford.
Introduced in the Senate:
- S362, to reduce the amount of time a retired teacher must stop working as a state employee before the teacher can return to the classroom without a loss of retirement benefits. Sponsor: Sen. A.B. Swindell, D-Nash.
AROUND THE STATEHOUSE:
- Sen. David Weinstein, D-Robeson, got married over the weekend. Weinstein was a widower whose former wife died while he was in office.
ON THE AGENDA:
A Christian conservative group called Return America has scheduled a "Stand Up for Traditional Marriage" rally on Tuesday on the Halifax Mall in downtown Raleigh. A similar outdoor event attracted thousands in 2007. The participants want to vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would make marriage between a man and a woman the only recognized domestic legal union in North Carolina.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Some North Carolina nonprofits can't touch their money
The North Carolina Symphony has all the money it needs. But in this economy, the orchestra isn't allowed to touch it.
The value of its endowment stands at nearly $6.9 million, a fund the symphony planned to tap this year to help pay its musicians and put on concerts. But because of the slump on Wall Street, the endowment is worth less than the original donations that created it. That means, under North Carolina law, that the money is off limits.
It's a frustrating quandary for universities, orchestras and other nonprofit organizations in two dozen states. They have the money they need to save jobs, offer scholarships and put on a solid schedule of programs, but face state laws that keep them from using any of it.
"I don't imagine the donors anticipated a situation where the market would fall so dramatically that the money would be held hostage and unable to support the symphony at all," said David Chambless Worters, the symphony's chief executive.
Rules governing how nonprofits in North Carolina and 23 other states use their endowments date to the 1970s, when most states adopted a uniform law that prohibits withdrawing money from endowments that fall below their "historic dollar value" — the money given to create the endowment, plus any later gifts.
The law is designed to protect endowments by preventing institutions from dipping into the principal. An endowment is supposed to be a perpetual source of revenue, with institutions drawing off only the earnings.
The rule affects newer funds most severely, since they have had less time to invest a gift and build the endowment's value.
Neither the National Council of Nonprofits nor the Council on Foundations, both based in Washington, keeps track of how many of its members are struggling with endowments that are now underwater.
But "anecdotally, it is a serious problem. And if the current financial downturn continues, the problem will only get worse," said Harvey Dale, director of the National Center on Philanthropy and the Law at New York University.
The North Carolina Symphony started 2008 with an endowment of $9.3 million, well above its historic dollar value of $7.25 million and enough to allow for a planned withdrawal of $600,000. But with the endowment now underwater, the orchestra is looking for new ways to make money to cover than gap, including scheduling four June performances with the visiting Bolshoi Ballet that should bring in $100,000.
Among the hardest hit are colleges and universities. In the University of North Carolina system, where as many as 70 percent of the endowments at one campus are underwater, some of the system's 16 schools are going back to donors and asking them for one-time donations to pay for what would normally be covered by the endowment.
The University of Wisconsin system suspended payments this month from 38 underwater endowments, taking away $700,000 that would have gone for scholarships and other programs at campuses across the state. At New York University, about $10 million of $16 million in scholarship endowments is untouchable.
"Our primary mission is to hold our students harmless," said Martin Dorph, NYU's senior vice president for finance and budget. "As a result, we may have to make choices about other things we may have to eliminate or reduce. By implication, the problem then shifts somewhere else."
That's what happened at Brandeis University, which originally planned to close its Rose Art Museum and sell its more than 7,000 works, including pieces by Willem de Kooning and Jasper Johns. After much criticism, the school backed off.
There are ways to get around the law. In creating an endowment, nonprofits can enter into an agreement with the donor that allows for the use of principal in emergencies. They can also ask the donor to change the endowment's terms retroactively, which requires a trip to court if the donor has died.
Dale said that while some donors may have intended for the principal to remain intact, others may be asking "Was it my intent that the students I want to help won't get any help?" Dale said that most donors, if asked, would probably agree to loosen the strings attached to their gifts.
Since early 2007, 26 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws that give nonprofit organizations more flexibility in using money from endowments that are underwater. Because of the economic meltdown, 12 other states are considering such laws, according to the National Conference of Commissioners of Uniform State Laws.
Still, some nonprofits aren't willing to dip into their endowments even when the law allows.
The American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco has watched its endowment, with a historic dollar value of about $22 million, drop to $18 million. It decided to focus on raising money to rebuild the endowment, rather than draw it down to pay salaries.
Two theater employees were laid off in January and four other positions remain unfilled, said theater executive director Heather Kitchen.
"Making the endowment even smaller wasn't the key," Kitchen said. "It might be worth $13 million when the recession is over, and it would take even longer to get it back where we want it to be."
The value of its endowment stands at nearly $6.9 million, a fund the symphony planned to tap this year to help pay its musicians and put on concerts. But because of the slump on Wall Street, the endowment is worth less than the original donations that created it. That means, under North Carolina law, that the money is off limits.
It's a frustrating quandary for universities, orchestras and other nonprofit organizations in two dozen states. They have the money they need to save jobs, offer scholarships and put on a solid schedule of programs, but face state laws that keep them from using any of it.
"I don't imagine the donors anticipated a situation where the market would fall so dramatically that the money would be held hostage and unable to support the symphony at all," said David Chambless Worters, the symphony's chief executive.
Rules governing how nonprofits in North Carolina and 23 other states use their endowments date to the 1970s, when most states adopted a uniform law that prohibits withdrawing money from endowments that fall below their "historic dollar value" — the money given to create the endowment, plus any later gifts.
The law is designed to protect endowments by preventing institutions from dipping into the principal. An endowment is supposed to be a perpetual source of revenue, with institutions drawing off only the earnings.
The rule affects newer funds most severely, since they have had less time to invest a gift and build the endowment's value.
Neither the National Council of Nonprofits nor the Council on Foundations, both based in Washington, keeps track of how many of its members are struggling with endowments that are now underwater.
But "anecdotally, it is a serious problem. And if the current financial downturn continues, the problem will only get worse," said Harvey Dale, director of the National Center on Philanthropy and the Law at New York University.
The North Carolina Symphony started 2008 with an endowment of $9.3 million, well above its historic dollar value of $7.25 million and enough to allow for a planned withdrawal of $600,000. But with the endowment now underwater, the orchestra is looking for new ways to make money to cover than gap, including scheduling four June performances with the visiting Bolshoi Ballet that should bring in $100,000.
Among the hardest hit are colleges and universities. In the University of North Carolina system, where as many as 70 percent of the endowments at one campus are underwater, some of the system's 16 schools are going back to donors and asking them for one-time donations to pay for what would normally be covered by the endowment.
The University of Wisconsin system suspended payments this month from 38 underwater endowments, taking away $700,000 that would have gone for scholarships and other programs at campuses across the state. At New York University, about $10 million of $16 million in scholarship endowments is untouchable.
"Our primary mission is to hold our students harmless," said Martin Dorph, NYU's senior vice president for finance and budget. "As a result, we may have to make choices about other things we may have to eliminate or reduce. By implication, the problem then shifts somewhere else."
That's what happened at Brandeis University, which originally planned to close its Rose Art Museum and sell its more than 7,000 works, including pieces by Willem de Kooning and Jasper Johns. After much criticism, the school backed off.
There are ways to get around the law. In creating an endowment, nonprofits can enter into an agreement with the donor that allows for the use of principal in emergencies. They can also ask the donor to change the endowment's terms retroactively, which requires a trip to court if the donor has died.
Dale said that while some donors may have intended for the principal to remain intact, others may be asking "Was it my intent that the students I want to help won't get any help?" Dale said that most donors, if asked, would probably agree to loosen the strings attached to their gifts.
Since early 2007, 26 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws that give nonprofit organizations more flexibility in using money from endowments that are underwater. Because of the economic meltdown, 12 other states are considering such laws, according to the National Conference of Commissioners of Uniform State Laws.
Still, some nonprofits aren't willing to dip into their endowments even when the law allows.
The American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco has watched its endowment, with a historic dollar value of about $22 million, drop to $18 million. It decided to focus on raising money to rebuild the endowment, rather than draw it down to pay salaries.
Two theater employees were laid off in January and four other positions remain unfilled, said theater executive director Heather Kitchen.
"Making the endowment even smaller wasn't the key," Kitchen said. "It might be worth $13 million when the recession is over, and it would take even longer to get it back where we want it to be."
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