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Florence Disrupting Public Health In North Carolina
Florence has had a huge impact on public health since roaring through the Carolinas last month. Disruptions have led state officials to extend the deadline for school and daycare immunizations.
Students statewide have until Dec. 1 to provide documentation showing they've received the proper vaccines. Typically the cutoff is at the 30th day of school.
The state Department of Health and Human Services says some immunization clinics were canceled because of Florence, and some records might have been lost in the flooding.
Health officials also say it's now safe to swim along some North Carolina beaches. Swimming had been discouraged over concerns that excessive rains and flooding from the storm may cause high bacteria levels.
After Florence, Communities Work To Keep Mosquitoes At Bay
Communities inundated by flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence are bracing for an onslaught of mosquitoes.
The StarNews of Wilmington reports that the state of North Carolina has identified 27 counties that will split $4 million in emergency mosquito-control funding. The counties include New Hanover, Pender and Brunswick, which were among areas hit by heavy rains after Florence smashed ashore Sept. 14 and nearly stalled for days over parts of the Carolinas.
Stagnant floodwaters provide breeding grounds for the pests.
Crews completed a first round of spraying in New Hanover and Brunswick counties last week.
Triad Father Pleads Guilty To Abusing Infant Daughter
A North Carolina man has pleaded guilty to charges that he punched his infant daughter in the face and left her with broken bones.
The Winston-Salem Journal reports 26-year-old Michael Dion Coleman II pleaded guilty in Forsyth Superior Court to three counts of felony child abuse.
Coleman had been scheduled to go on trial this week. As part of a plea arrangement, the judge sentenced him to a minimum of three years and two months and a maximum of four years and 10 months in prison.
Search For Hiker Underway In Great Smoky Mountains Park
Search efforts are continuing for an Ohio woman who went missing while hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the North Carolina-Tennessee border.
The National Park Service said in a news release over the weekend that personnel from agencies in Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia are aiding in the search for 53-year-old Mitzie Sue "Susan" Clements.
Clements was last seen in the Clingmans Dome area of the park on Tuesday. She was hiking with her daughter when they were separated.
North Carolina History Group In Search Of Civil War Stories
A North Carolina history group is searching for stories about the Civil War.
The N.C. Civil War History & Reconstruction Center has been gathering oral histories from North Carolinians with a goal of recording stories from each of the state's 100 counties. The center says in a news release it wants to build a mosaic of what life was like in North Carolina from the people who lived it.
The stories will be used to teach schoolchildren what the Civil War was really like through stories which were passed down through generations.
A panel of North Carolina students in grades 4 through high school ranked the subjects they most wanted to hear about, and among them were culture, law and politics, women and the home front.
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