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Hardwood action Pender County basketball teams are busy with games before the Christmas break. Read about all the action in sports on page 1B.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Volume 44, No.12
50 Cents
The Media of Record for the People of Pender County
NCDOT project updates
It’s a holiday family affair
By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher The North Carolina Department of Transportation has several projects that are underway or are in the planning stages in Pender County. Pender County Commission Chairman David Williams provided updates on several of the projects. s7ASHINGTON !CRES AND 5 3 17. The traffic signal will be installed by the end of January with wooden poles. The contractor has a deadline by the end of January for the wooden poles. The wooden poles will be upgraded to metal poles once they have been fabricated. This work should be completed by April. “We are utilizing the wood poles due to safety reasons and we had committed to having a signal up by January. The wood poles can be
utilized again, so costs were very minimum for this transition,� Williams said. s (AMPSTEAD MEDIAN PROJect. The new NCDOT draft state transportation improvement plan from 2015-2025 was released this month for the public. The Hampstead MEDIAN PROJECT 5 WAS picked up in this draft and the right of way and utilities is scheduled for 2019 and construction is 2021. “We have done a lot of work on this project and we hope this can be accelerated due to preliminary design already completed. However, all of this is draft, but it does look pretty promising,� Williams said. “This will greatly IMPROVE THE 5 3 CORRIDOR in Hampstead, including the 53 AND &ACTORY 2OAD INTERsection.
Continued on page 3A
Everybody loves a parade
Staff photo by Andy Pettigrew
Breakfast with Santa at the Surf City Community Center brought family together to ip pancakes. Larry Steffee handles the spatchula, while Johnnie James helps. Johnnie’s daughter and Larry’s daughter-in-law Misty Steffee along with Larry’s wife Ester, help as well. See more photos of the event on Facebook.
Topsail Island Shoreline Protection Committee
State insurance commissioner visits Topsail Beach By Tammy Proctor Post & Voice Staff Writer Wayne Goodwin, the North Carolina Insurance commissioner, was the featured speaker at the Dec. 11 meeting of the Topsail Island Shoreline Protection Committee. “The job I have is a tough job,� said Goodwin, adding that he must balance consumer protection, follow the law and be fair to commerce. Goodwin said when the insurance companies, through the N.C. Rate Bureau, request a rate increase, his office has the option to approve the rate as filed, ask for a settlement, or ask for a hearing. When insurers requested a 23.5 percent homeowner’s rate increase last October, Goodwin asked for a hearing. He said there had not been a hearing or a trial in more than 20 years. The process included 12 days of expert testimony. “We had more than 3,500 pages of testimony, not counting the exhibits,� Goodwin said of the hearing. He said a ruling on the home insurance rate increase is expected soon, adding that information can be found on the Department of Insurance website, ncdoi.com. “We recently added a public comment period,� Goodwin said. “We had more than 10,000 comments and 90 in-person comments.�
said after finding the correct department, consumers will talk to a “human,� and expert in that area. Goodwin reminded the audience that North Carolina
Continued on page 2A
Read about this year’s Burgaw Christmas parade and see photos on page 1C.
Staff photo by Tammy Proctor
N.C. Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin talks to the Topsail Island Shoreline Protection Committee Dec. 11. Goodwin said coastal property insurance affects the entire state. He also discussed the beach plan, in which insurance companies used to collect state reserves from the beach plan. Through House Bill 1305, passed in 2010, insurance companies can no longer take the money from the fund. He said it was more than $16 million. “My job is a balancing act,� he said. “We balance between a stable insurance market and consumer protection.� He said a stable insurance market allows companies to make reasonable profits and creates jobs. But ultimately he is driven by consumer protection. The department of insur-
ance actively pursues fraud cases. “Ten cents of every dollar is a fraudulent claim,� said Goodwin. “We have saved more than $1.8 billion for residents. There have been more than 300 arrests and more than $61 million recovered from fraud cases.� As commissioner, Goodwin’s department of insurance oversees car, fire, health, homeowners, and life insurances, as well as the state fire marshal’s office. Goodwin was elected in 2008. During his tenure he has added more transparency to the department, publishing more information on the state website, as well as providing a new toll free telephone number. He
Staff photo by Andy Pettigrew
Burgaw Police Department administrative assistant Gayle English and Police Chief Montrina Sutton stand with toys collected for the department’s Cops for Kids program. The program, which has been in operation every Christmas for more than 10 years, had the most applicants ever this year and will help about 45 children this season. Sutton says this is one of the largest collections of toys received by the program. The toys will be distributed Dec. 18.
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