RALEIGH &mdash; A furious comeback in just the second season of varsity basketball for the DASH United boys fell short Saturday afternoon as the host North Wake Storm held on for a 74-68 victory in the North Carolinians for Home Education Athletic Commission East region semifinals.
DASH (8-10) trailed by 22 in the fourth quarter, only to whittle the margin to just five with 2:03 remaining via the use of the full-court press. A pair of 3-pointers were off the mark to make it a one-possession game, allowing North Wake to hold on from the foul line.
DASH was paced by the 24 points of senior Elijah Skinner, while classmate Jacob Dienes had 13.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to say goodbye to these seniors,&rdquo; DASH head coach John Skinner said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve coached them since sixth grade when they were five feet tall. It&rsquo;s been an amazing run I&rsquo;ll never forget. These guys won the JV NCHEAC championship two years ago and that is something we will all cherish.&rdquo;
Skinner and Dienes earned all-conference acclaim, with Dienes, a former Wilson City Little Leaguer, getting Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Jay Pickett&rsquo;s 22 points led North Wake.

DASH rally falls short in NCHEAC East semifinal

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WASHINGTON &mdash; U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield voted with an eight-member House majority to pass a wide-ranging police reform measure on Wednesday.
The House approved H.R. 1280, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, on a 220-212 vote. Butterfield, D-Wilson, is a cosponsor of the legislation. 
&ldquo;Last summer, North Carolinians and all Americans were forced to reckon with the horrors of police brutality and racial injustice after witnessing the murder of George Floyd,&rdquo; Butterfield said in a statement released by his office Wednesday night. &ldquo;Led by the Congressional Black Caucus, the U.S. House of Representatives has once again passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. This bill will deliver urgently needed reforms to address systemic racism in policing and increase transparency and accountability.&rdquo;
A former Congressional Black Caucus chairman, Butterfield serves as one of House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn&rsquo;s top two lieutenants as a member of the chamber&rsquo;s Democratic leadership.
The bill seeks to ban police officers&rsquo; use of chokeholds to subdue suspects, eliminate no-knock warrants in drug cases, end the qualified immunity doctrine that blocks constitutional and civil rights lawsuits against officers and require law enforcement agencies to use body-worn cameras and dashboard cameras. 
It would also establish a registry of police officers disciplined for misconduct to ensure agencies can evaluate applicants&rsquo; career history as law enforcement officers. 
The bill&rsquo;s namesake, George Floyd, died in Minneapolis police custody on May 25 after then-Officer Derek Chauvin held his knee on Floyd&rsquo;s neck for 8 minutes, 46 seconds. Chauvin and three fellow officers who assisted with Floyd&rsquo;s arrest were fired.
Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd&rsquo;s death, and jury selection in his trial is scheduled to begin next week. 
&ldquo;I stand with countless North Carolinians to proclaim that Black Lives Matter and that the tragic killing of George Floyd must result in action to honor his life,&rdquo; Butterfield said. &ldquo;I remain committed to working with the Biden-Harris administration and the millions of Americans demanding action. We will not stop working until the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act becomes law.&rdquo;
The bill now advances to the Senate, where Democrats control the flow of legislation because Vice President Kamala Harris&rsquo; tiebreaking vote gives them a 51-50 advantage. President Joe Biden has signaled his support. 
The National Association of Police Organizations opposed the bill, contending that law enforcement groups weren&rsquo;t given input in crafting its provisions and that ending qualified immunity along with changing the standards for criminal intent could place well-meaning officers in legal jeopardy.
&ldquo;Combined, these two provisions take away all good faith legal protections for officers while making it easier to prosecute them criminally for good faith mistakes on the job, not just criminal acts,&rdquo; NAPO Executive Director William J. Johnson wrote in a Feb. 25 letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
Republican critics say H.R. 1280 would impose unfunded mandates on local police departments that have the practical effect of &ldquo;defunding&rdquo; the agencies, though the legislation doesn&rsquo;t prevent communities from boosting police budgets to cover extra costs.
&ldquo;House Democrats obviously didn&rsquo;t learn their lesson in 2020,&rdquo; National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Torunn Sinclair said in a statement. &ldquo;By voting to make it harder for local law enforcement to protect their communities, House Democrats just ignored every single American who told them they didn&rsquo;t want to defund the police.&rdquo;&nbsp; &nbsp;

Butterfield votes to pass George Floyd police reform bill

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FARMVILLE &mdash; Before green energy technology advances made way for biomass plants, the disposal of poultry poop led to olfactory and environmental hazards.
&ldquo;The reason poultry litter is such a problem is the farmers put the wet litter on the ground as fertilizer,&rdquo; said Power Resource Group CEO Rich Deming. &ldquo;It is awesome for the nitrogen and the plants love that, but the problem is the potassium and phosphorus. The plants can&rsquo;t fix that, so all that goes in the waterways when it rains.&rdquo;
For nearly 18 months, truckloads of dried poultry litter &mdash; manure and wood shavings with less than 30% moisture &mdash; have been delivered to PRG&rsquo;s plant in Farmville. The door to the fuel hall is opened mere minutes for the unloading and the air intake for the boilers in an adjacent building causes negative air pressure, so the odor from the plant is limited.
The litter is slowly fed into giant boilers where it creates high-pressure steam to turn turbines and create electricity, which helps adjacent industries. In Farmville, that industry is a sweet potato farm, but in Wilson, it will help the city&rsquo;s wastewater treatment plant.
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Director of Water Resources Barry Parks said when the biomass plant on Stantonsburg Road is operational, the facility will produce electrical energy as well as hot water energy that the wastewater plant can harness. He said the hot water energy will reduce treatment costs and improve efficiencies.
&ldquo;We will use the excess energy to evaporate reuse water (up to 250,000 gallons per day) that would otherwise be counted as part of our discharge to Contentnea Creek,&rdquo; Parks said in a statement. &ldquo;Reducing this discharge saves the city money by delaying the need to expand the treatment facility or reduce the permitted flow by reducing our overall discharge by as much as 2% of our current permitted limit. This additional treatment capacity is very expensive, typically costing $10 to $14 per gallon in current capital costs to construct.&rdquo;
Deming said locating near an industry that has a problem to solve, such as the wastewater plant, is critical to the biomass facility&rsquo;s success.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re excited. For renewable energy certificates, these types of plants are a great win-win-win,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It is diverting pollution from the ground, offsetting coal use for energy and creating good green-collar jobs.&rdquo;
Once the litter is burned, it&rsquo;s transformed into nutrient-rich ash for the fertilizer industry.
&ldquo;Once it goes through the plant, that nitrogen is gone through the chemical process, but all the potassium and phosphorus ends up in the ash, and we sell that back to the fertilizer industry because plants need those but don&rsquo;t need so much, and this allows them to dose it right for them,&rdquo; Deming said. &ldquo;It is kind of nice in that it diverts the pollution, but nothing goes to a landfill. Everything is used.&rdquo;
PRG expects the project to be funded in the coming months with the two boilers specially built for Wilson&rsquo;s plant. Boiler construction takes 12 months, but once they&rsquo;re delivered, the plant buildings will be constructed around the boilers. Production is expected to begin sometime in 2022.
While the Farmville facility was PRG&rsquo;s first of its kind and includes three boilers, Wilson is expected to have two boilers. Deming said he hopes to include a rail spur in Wilson, which would reduce the usual traffic of roughly 10 enclosed trucks of litter a day.
&ldquo;We are happy that PRG has chosen to partner with us,&rdquo; Parks said. &ldquo;They will produce a large investment of $20 million and 10 good-paying jobs in Wilson.&rdquo;

Green energy plant offers money, time savings

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SARATOGA &mdash; A family of three was displaced Wednesday afternoon when a fire severely damaged their rental home.
The fire was initially reported in a single-story wooden house at 7013 Main St. around 3 p.m.
&ldquo;We got here about four minutes after it was dispatched,&rdquo; said Chief A.J O&rsquo;Briant of the Sanoca Fire Department. &ldquo;Sanoca, Stantonsburg and East Nash were dispatched initially to a reported structure fire. The fire was in the kitchen.&rdquo;
&ldquo;The first arriving units got here and saw smoke showing, flames showing,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Briant said. &ldquo;The fire had already vented out of the roof. The crews used the fire hose streams to extinguish the fire. We probably brought the fire under control within about 10 minutes.&rdquo;&nbsp;
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O&rsquo;Briant said firefighters cut an access hole to ensure the fire didn&rsquo;t spread to the attic.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It appears that the structure is about a 25% loss,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Briant said. &ldquo;I am estimating the loss to be about $25,000. Most of the houses in this area were constructed in the 1930s, so I am assuming that this one was constructed around 1930.&rdquo;
OBriant said no one was hurt in the fire and a total of 12 firefighters from all stations joined the fight to put out the blaze.
&ldquo;The tenant said the fire started in the kitchen,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Briant said. &ldquo;It was a very efficient operation with all three of the departments. All three had a specific task, and all three of the tasks were carried out with ease and efficiency.&rdquo;
O&rsquo;Briant said the situation progressed quickly from the fire&rsquo;s detection to fire crews&rsquo; arrival.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Everything went down in probably less than 15 minutes from the call to extinguishment,&rdquo; OBriant said.
The fire&rsquo;s cause is under investigation, O&rsquo;Briant said.&nbsp;
&lsquo;PUT MY SHOES ON AND RAN&rsquo;
Stantonsburg Elementary School student Jody Williams was home alone and discovered the fire.
&ldquo;I was the only one there when it happened,&rdquo; the 10-year-old said. &ldquo;I was looking at TV. I heard a pop. I saw smoke. It was white. I went in my room because I didn&rsquo;t see anything wrong with the stove.
&ldquo;I checked again and it was on fire. I had heard something pop, and that&rsquo;s when I had heard a lot of mini pops. And that&rsquo;s when I looked, and that&rsquo;s when I saw that it was on fire. I didn&rsquo;t have time to put my socks on. I just put my shoes on and ran.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Jody ran into the street to a neighbor&rsquo;s house.
&ldquo;I rang the doorbell four times and nobody answered,&rdquo; Jody said.
Then Jody saw his sister returning from the store with the family friends.
&ldquo;I saw them come back and they was in the car,&rdquo; Jody said. &ldquo;I was running down the street yelling, &lsquo;Don&rsquo;t go in the house because it&rsquo;s a fire in the house.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Jody&rsquo;s big sister, 13-year-old Speight Middle School student Ashley Thompson, saw her brother running.
&ldquo;When I got to the house, we saw smoke, but I was thinking next door he was burning wood or something,&rdquo; Ashley said. &ldquo;But then when we got there, I looked at my mother&rsquo;s windows and the blinds were melted. I sensed something was wrong. As soon as my friend&rsquo;s dad opened the door, a gush of smoke came out.&rdquo;
The friend, Everton Taylor, saw the smoke when he arrived.
&ldquo;When we got closer, we saw that the house was on fire, and then Jody was running back across the street from my house,&rdquo; Taylor said. &ldquo;I opened the back door and I saw the kitchen was on fire. It was a lot of flames. It was coming out of the doors back and front. It was bad.&rdquo;
&lsquo;THE KIDS ARE SAFE&rsquo;&nbsp;
Janeen Speight, the children&rsquo;s grandmother, said her daughter Katherine Applewhite was at work when the fire started.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We have been talking to them about some electricity not working right in there. I am just a little shaken up,&rdquo; Speight said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you guys have even been here four months. It&rsquo;s just sad. The laptops are in there. The library books are in there. Now we will have to start over.&rdquo;
Speight said the family would appreciate clothing and school supply donations.&nbsp;
&ldquo;They are hard workers, and they love to study,&rdquo; Speight said. &ldquo;I wish they could be in school, but they have to stay home because of COVID and do what needs to be done. I just want to commend the fire department for coming and resolving the matter of the house burning down. I&rsquo;m just glad that the kids are safe. That is first and foremost.&rdquo;
Those who wish to help the family can call Speight at 252-289-4375.
Jody wears a men&rsquo;s size medium shirt and medium men&rsquo;s pants. His shoe size is 6 wide.&nbsp;
Ashley wears a size 14, women&rsquo;s large shirt and size 8 &frac12; shoes.&nbsp;
Their mother wears adult size medium women&rsquo;s clothing.&nbsp;
O&rsquo;Briant called the American Red Cross to arrange temporary lodging for the family Wednesday afternoon.&nbsp;
Saratoga resident Elizabeth Cobb Butts owns the building, according to Wilson County tax records. &nbsp;

House fire displaces mother, 2 children

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The Wilson Planning and Design Review Board has granted preliminary approval for a developer&rsquo;s plan to include rental homes in a new western Wilson apartment complex.
Evolve at Heritage was rezoned under a conditional district in 2019 to build more than 500 apartments on 45 acres on the 3700 block of Raleigh Road Parkway. Construction on the first phase is nearly complete, but the developers submitted a change request to the city in hopes of changing the third phase from nine buildings with 216 apartments into 89 rental cottages.
&ldquo;It looks like a lot of density with this concept plan, but in reality, it is going from 216 units in three-story apartments that was approved for this phase to only 89,&rdquo; engineer Robert Bartlett told planning board members on the developers&rsquo; behalf during a Tuesday meeting. &ldquo;It is less and a different type of product we haven&rsquo;t seen in Wilson. It is almost like a townhome or patio home, but instead of being individually owned, they&rsquo;d be managed under one company and rented out.&rdquo;
Planning board members voted to approve the proposal, which will be the subject of a public hearing at the Wilson City Council&rsquo;s 7 p.m. March 18 meeting. Also on that agenda will be a request to rezone nearly 27 acres at 3944 Wiggins Mill Road from rural agricultural to open space.&nbsp;
Janet Holland, the city&rsquo;s land development manager, noted the land had two homes flooded during Hurricane Floyd that were part of a Federal Emergency Management Agency buyout program.&nbsp;
The homes were demolished and the land was turned over to Wilson County with development restrictions, but last fall, the city acquired the land from the county as part of a plan to develop Wiggins Mill into a recreational park.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Developer wants to add rental homes to apartment complex

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We are about to enter one of my favorite times of the year. You will soon begin to see a variety of foods that are in season at farmers markets, roadside stands and perhaps even in your own garden.&nbsp;
Foods grown locally tend to taste better and spend less time in transit, and their bright colors indicate delicious flavor and nutrients.
Last year, we saw an incredible rise in consumers seeking to learn how to preserve their own foods through freezing, home canning and fermentation. This was largely sparked by fears of food shortages due to COVID-19. Manufacturers of canning supplies were caught off guard, leading to a shortage in jars, lids, pectin and canners.&nbsp;
The word on the street is that manufacturers of these products are better prepared this year, and we hope shortages are a thing of the past. If you are anticipating your own abundance or simply interested in learning how to preserve foods grown locally, now is the time to get prepared.&nbsp;
In an extremely small nutshell, you are going to need freezer bags for freezing produce, a water bath canner for high-acid foods such as berries and fruit products, a pressure canner for vegetables and appropriately sized jars.&nbsp;
You will want to be sure to get your pressure canner inspected and have the gauge tested for accuracy. This step is crucial for ensuring a safe product. If your gauge is inaccurate, you&rsquo;ll risk failure to achieve the correct pressure and jars that don&rsquo;t seal due to incorrect pressure, as well as spoilage of foods and potentially foodborne illness. It is important to note that pressure canners and pressure cookers are similar, but not the same. You may cook in a canner, but you may not can in a pressure cooker.&nbsp;
To have your pressure canner inspected and tested, call the Wilson County Cooperative Extension office at 252-237-0111 to make an appointment; we only have the ability to test gauges made by Presto and Mirro. All other brands can have the gauge sent back to the manufacturer for testing.&nbsp;
Presto and Mirro testing services will be offered from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on March 15 and March 29 at the Wilson County Agriculture Center. There is no charge for this service; masks are required. &nbsp;
In addition to having the correct equipment and supplies, you&rsquo;ll want to freshen up on the latest information and recipes tested for quality and safety. There is far more to canning than simply placing food in a jar and listening for a pop. In fact, just hearing a pop does not indicate your food is properly sealed and safe.&nbsp;
You could leave jars with lids in a hot car and as soon as they cool back down, you&rsquo;ll hear a pop. The &ldquo;popping&rdquo; noise means the wax on the lid melted and sealed, but it is the correct canning process that ensures the oxygen is driven out of the jars before they seal, which is paramount to avoiding spoilage.&nbsp;
Choosing the correct canner is crucial to ensure the temperature inside the jar is hot enough to kill bacteria leading to foodborne illness. This temperature is heavily influenced by factors such as size of the food, texture of the food, initial temperature of the food, acidity of the food, sugar content and whether or not there is the addition of acids, such as lemon juice, for example.&nbsp;
There are certain foods that are not approved for canning. Items that do not hold up well, such as yellow squash and zucchini, as well as foods that are not safe for home canning due to the inability of heat to properly penetrate to the inside of the jar such as sweet potato puree.&nbsp;
In terms of freezing foods, it is important to be aware that some foods do not freeze well, and blanching is necessary for all vegetables. Blanching foods ensures that foods are cleansed of dirt and debris, and it stops an enzyme responsible for loss of texture, color and flavor.&nbsp;
Be sure to check out https://nchfp.uga.edu/ to get up-to-date information and recipes for all things related to home food preservation. Later in the year, workshops will be available through the N.C. Cooperative Extension&rsquo;s Wilson County Center to learn how to properly preserve foods.&nbsp;
Be sure you spend this month getting prepared for home food preservation by securing supplies, having your pressure canner inspected and tested and reviewing the latest information and recipes from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. &nbsp;
Cassidy Hall is area agent, family and consumer sciences for the N.C. Cooperative Extension.&nbsp;

Gearing up for local foods in season

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Blueberries can be grown in home gardens and are typically used in the landscape as hedges, mass plantings or as single specimen plants. Blueberries are an ideal year-round addition to the landscape. They have delicate white or pink flowers in the spring. The summer fruit has an attractive sky-blue color, and the fall foliage adds red and yellow colors to the landscape.&nbsp;
Blueberries require a lower pH than many other small fruit crops. Before planting, take a soil test to determine lime, sulfur and fertilizer needs. You may also need to incorporate 3-4 inches of compost.&nbsp;
Blueberry plants require excellent soil drainage. Full sun is desirable, but up to 50% shade is usually acceptable. Yield is reduced with increasing shade.
Rabbiteye (V. ashei) types of blueberries can be grown best in our area. The rabbiteye is resistant to drought and heat and will tolerate a wider range of soil types. Rabbiteye varieties begin to bear in mid-June. More than one rabbiteye variety must be planted to provide the cross-pollination required for maximum yields. The following varieties are in order of ripening from early to late that are successful for home gardeners: Climax, Premier, Tifblue, Powderblue and Centurion highbush.&nbsp;
To plant, purchase 2- or 3-year-old nursery plants, 12-36 inches tall, in late winter (February and March). Plant rabbiteye varieties every 6 feet in the row and 10 to 12 feet between rows. Plant to the same depth as the plants were growing in the nursery.&nbsp;
Prune about&nbsp;two-thirds of the top growth on bare-root plants and&nbsp;half&nbsp;on potted plants, leaving only one to three of the most vigorous upright shoots. Remove any remaining flower buds (plump rounded buds), so that the plants will not flower the first year. Do not fertilize immediately after planting. Wait until the first leaves have reached full size, then apply 1 tablespoon of a special azalea fertilizer, 12-12-12 or 10-10-10, within a circle 1 foot from the plants. Repeat application of fertilizer at six-week intervals depending upon rainfall or irrigation until mid-August. Mulch plants with bark, wood chips, sawdust or pine straw, 3-4 inches.
If the plants are cut back severely as recommended following planting, little pruning will be required the second year except removing all flower buds and any weak, damaged or diseased growth. Use a similar pruning strategy the third year with the exception that several flower buds can be left on vigorous shoots.&nbsp;
In the fourth year, the bush should be 4-5 feet tall and capable of handling a crop, but carefully thin flower buds to prevent over-fruiting and severe permanent bending of young canes under the fruit weight.&nbsp;
When bushes are mature, remove old canes that are weak, diseased or damaged. Cut back tall, vigorous shoots to force branching at a lower level and to control bush height and thin fruiting shoots to reduce the number of flower buds by about 50%.&nbsp;
Excessively tall and limber shoots will need cutting back to stimulate branching and strengthen the shoot. With mature bushes that are excessively vigorous, cutting back the excessively vigorous shoots in late July will help control bush height and increase yield. Remove suckers (shoots developing a distance from the crown). Prune during the dormant season.&nbsp;
For more information on blueberries see the N.C. State University website (search &ldquo;blueberries&rdquo;) or contact the Wilson County Master Gardener volunteers at 252-237-0113 or email wilsonemgv@hotmail.com.
Cyndi Lauderdale is a horticulture extension agent for the N.C. Cooperative Extension.&nbsp;

DASH rally falls short in NCHEAC East semifinal

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Gearing up for local foods in season

Growing blueberries in the home garden