|
Rollout Recycling Carts Being Delivered
Through March, the city is distributing blue, 96-gallon rollout recycling carts to households with curbside recycling. Residents should not use the carts until April, when all curbside recycling in Winston-Salem will switch to biweekly collection with the rollout carts.
Residents should continue to use their green carry-out bin through the end of March, said Johnnie Taylor, the city sanitation director. “The rollout carts require automated collection trucks that will not enter service until April,” Taylor said. “Residents will receive their carts sometime between January 9 and the end of March, because it will take about three months to deliver all of them. But they need to put the cart aside and continue to use their green carry-out bin until April.”
Through March, residents who live in neighborhoods with curbside recycling and who do not have a green bin may put their recycling in a paper or plastic bag and leave it at the curb.
The city has been testing rollout recycling in pilot neighborhoods for the past three years. “We saw recycling volume increase by 30 percent,” Taylor said. “Residents like the convenience of not having to separate their recycling and of only putting out their recycling every other week.”
When rollout recycling begins April 2, neighborhoods will be designated for “red week” or “blue week” collection. A brochure delivered to households with the carts will indicate their collection week.
Residents in the neighborhoods where the city tested 64-gallon recycling carts will have their carts replaced with the larger 96-gallon carts. For more information about rollout recycling, call CityLink 311 or go to www.Recycling.CityofWS.org.
|
Police Chief Offering Private “Chat with the Chief” Opportunity Monthly
Winston-Salem residents can have a private, one-on-one conversation with Police Chief Scott Cunningham under a new monthly “Chat with the Chief” initiative that started in January.
|
“If people have a question, a comment, a concern, they can come and talk to me personally about it,” Cunningham said. “Our goal is to enhance communication between the community and the Police Department.” Ideally, citizens each will have 10 to 15 minutes, if needed, to meet the chief, “depending on the number,” Cunningham said. “We want to make sure everyone who comes gets a chance to talk.” |
The mobile police station, a converted bus, will be set up at a different location each month to provide a place for Cunningham to meet with citizens in private. The location will be announced in advance. The next chat with the chief will be Friday, Feb. 17, at East Winston Shopping Center. Information about crime prevention and Police Department careers will also be available. For more information, call the Crime Prevention Unit at 773-7835. | |
Recipients of Young Dreamers Awards Honored at City Council Meeting
The City Council and the Human Relations Commission honored two city residents as the 2012 recipients of the Martin Luther King Jr. Young Dreamers Award at the City Council meeting Jan. 17.
The Young Dreamers Awards honor two emerging or proven young adult city residents between the ages of 18 and 40 who have made a tangible difference in the lives of those who otherwise might have been overlooked, ignored, or disadvantaged.
Honored this year are the Rev. Russell May, 32, a co-founder of Anthony’s Plot, a community ministry in the Sunnyside area; and Kenyetta Richmond, 40, a Victim Advocate/Outreach Specialist in the Safe Relationships Division at Family Services Inc.
The Human Relations Commission established the Young Dreamers Award in 2009 to encourage young adults to participate in philanthropic, altruistic community involvement that is in the spirit of how Martin Luther King Jr. lived and encouraged others to live.
Council Member Burke Awarded Honorary Doctorate by ECSU
Council Member and Mayor Pro Tempore Vivian H. Burke has received an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from Elizabeth City State University. Burke, an alumna of ECSU and former member of the board of trustees who has a scholarship named in her honor, received the honorary degree during the university’s fall 2011 commencement in December.
In awarding the degree, the ECSU Board of Trustees and Chancellor Willie J. Gilchrist noted Burke’s years of service as a school guidance counselor, field office manager for the N.C. Department of Environmental and Natural Resources, and coordinator of the Another Change program at Winston-Salem State University, in addition to her service on the Winston-Salem City Council since 1977.
This is Burke’s third honorary doctorate. In 2002 Livingstone College awarded her an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, and in 2004 Winston-Salem State also awarded her an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
|
|
Mayor Joines Elected to Executive Committee of N.C. Metro Mayors Coalition
Mayor Allen Joines has been elected to the executive committee of the N.C. Metropolitan Mayors Coalition, a group of mayors committed to promoting policies that support the state’s urban centers.
Founded in 2001, the coalition represents 27 of the state’s largest cities. Its members work together to develop strategies at both the state and national levels to foster vibrant, livable cities that drive growth and innovation. Specifically, the group is focused on economic development, transportation and public safety.
The executive committee sets the coalition’s agenda and works to promote the group’s priorities. Joines will meet with legislators and other state officials on issues facing North Carolina cities, and serve as a representative of the coalition to state government, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and organizations across the state. Joines was elected to the committee during the coalition’s annual meeting last month in Charlotte.
The coalition was a strong advocate for creation of the N.C. Mobility Fund, which generates new funding for major transportation projects of statewide significance. The group has also been active in pursuing new strategies to reduce the threat of gangs. The coalition is currently working with Rep. John Faircloth, R- Guilford, on legislation giving law enforcement additional tools to fight illegal gang activities. It passed the House unanimously and awaits Senate action in the short session. | |
Council Members Besse, Montgomery Join NLC Boards
Council Member Dan Besse was elected to the Board of Directors of the National League of Cities during its annual meeting in Phoenix in November.
The NLC board comprises the president, first vice president, second vice president and 40 members. Twenty board members are elected each year to serve two-year terms. Besse previously served as the chair of the NLC’s Large Cities Council, which comprises representatives of cities with populations of 200,000 or more, or the largest city in a state.
Also at the meeting, Council Member Derwin L. Montgomery was appointed the Region 18 director for the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials. The caucus represents the interests of African-American elected officials within the NLC.
The National League of Cities serves as a resource to and an advocate for the more than 19,000 cities, villages and towns it represents. |