Dixie invites audiences to a party of laughs
Q&A with Independence football coach Justin Hardin
page 3
Locally Owned & Operated www.thecharlotteweekly.com
Volume 15, Number 25 • July 3 to 9, 2015
Heat wave sends area residents indoors
N.C. Senate seeks to
eliminate driver’s education requirement
Record-breaking temperatures sweep the region by Josh Whitener josh@thecharlotteweekly.com
passing score on the written test for the learner’s permit. With the learner’s permit, a teen driver then would be required to complete 85 hours of parent supervised driving, instead of the current 60 hours. Sessoms said the increase in supervised hours doesn’t make him feel confident in teens establishing safe driving habits, as Department of Motor Vehicle examiners have told him parents simply sign off on the paperwork for their students to receive a license without actually carrying out the required hours. Janice Williams, safe communities coordinator of Mecklenburg County for Carolina Center for Injury Prevention, believes legislators and parents might not realize driver’s education’s purpose.
The effects of a mid-June heat wave were pervasive throughout the Charlotte area, as record-breaking temperatures swept the region last month. From farmers to utility workers to everyday citizens of all ages, area residents fought to beat the heat when temperatures neared or hit triple-digit figures for nearly two consecutive weeks. May 30 to June 28 was the third warmest 30-day period on record for the Charlotte area, according to the State Climate Office of North Carolina. The average daily temperatures were 5 degrees above the normal average for the area in mid-June (91.5 degrees), with the maximum highs at 6 degrees above normal. “Generally, looking over the past month, the lows haven’t gotten below 70 degrees,� said Corey Davis, applied climatologist with the State Climate Office of North Carolina. Davis said the heat was even “more impressive� when zeroing in on the second, third and fourth weeks in June. June 8 to 28 was the warmest period on record for the Charlotte area, with several
(see Drivers’ Ed on page 9)
(see Heat on page 7)
Professionals weigh in on consequences of young drivers behind the wheel Courtney Schultz/SCW photo
by Courtney Schultz education@thecharlotteweekly.com
Fifteen-year-old students across the state could legally be able to hit the road without any previous behind-thewheel training, thanks to a recent North Carolina Senate budget provision. The state Senate added a rider to the state budget that would eliminate driver’s education classes as a requirement for a Division of Motor Vehicle learner’s permit. That means on average 120,000 North Carolina teens a year would no longer need 30 hours of classroom instruction and six hours of behindthe-wheel training before taking steps toward their licenses. “That is not a good look for novice teen drivers in this state,� said Connie
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Serving The Arboretum, Ballantyne, Blakeney and SouthPark communities
Sessoms, director of driver education for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. “The (North Carolina) Senate is – intentionally or not – putting all drivers at risk on our state roads because (eliminating driver’s education) goes right past the Graduated Driver’s License (GDL) process.� The North Carolina General Assembly stated last year it would eliminate state funding for driver’s education at the end of the current budget year, leaving parents to foot the bill, which would amount to at least $300. School systems are currently required to offer driver’s education to their students even without any state financial backing, and the state only allows districts to charge up to $65 per driver for the course. Senators hope to eliminate the unfunded mandate in place of a higher
INDEX: News Briefs, 5; Education, 9; Rev. Tony, 10; Calendar, 11; Sports, 12; Classifieds, 15
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