The Athens, Ohio Fire Department received more than $48,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help cover the cost of protective gear, and the city has applied for $945,000 more to help pay for a new ladder truck.

The $48,852 will cover 90 percent of the cost for new gloves, helmets, boots and coats for 23 firefighters, said Fire Chief Bob Troxel. He added the city would have footed the bill for the gear without the grant because the department needed it regardless.

“It just saves the city about $50,000,” Troxel said.

After the city learned other Ohio fire departments received more than $100,000 from this year’s FEMA grants, officials decided to apply for more money next year to pay for a new fire truck, said Mayor Paul Wiehl. The current ladder truck is broken and will be out of commission for a few weeks, he said.

The city has been trying to get Ohio University to pay for part of the truck because one-third of the fire department’s calls come from the university, Wiehl said.

The city also asked the university to cover the cost of the fire truck with a student fee because a ladder truck is needed for OU’s tall buildings, according to a previous article in The Post.

The city and university still are working to come up with an agreement on how to help pay for the truck, and OU President Roderick McDavis wrote a letter of recommendation for the grant, said Paula Moseley, the city’s service-safety director.

“We seem to have a pretty good collaborative sharing going on with Ohio University,” Moseley said. “We’ve written letters in support of the expansion of the compost facility (and other projects).”

Wiehl said he has written letters in support of the university grants, especially when the grants will bring business to the city. Wiehl called the city and university intertwined.

“It is like a family. We agree on some things and disagree on others … but you keep on communicating,” he said.

Top Athens County Democrats gathered yesterday at the county courthouse steps to voice their opinions against the Republican gubernatorial candidate’s public safety tax plan.

The Athens news conference is one of many the Ohio Democratic Party is hosting around the state to oppose Republican candidate John Kasich, a nine-time congressman, and House Bill 400, which would eliminate the state income tax during a 10-year period.

A January 2010 study done by the Legislative Services Commission estimated Athens County would lose $900,000 if the bill passed, said Pat Kelly, Athens County sheriff and a Democrat.

“Ever since the effects of Congressman Kasich’s reckless plan were exposed by the non-partisan Legislative Services Commission, we have been holding some events across the state,” said Seth Bringman, spokesman for the Ohio Democratic Party.

After hearing about Kasich’s plan, community leaders are eager to spread the news in their neighborhoods, Bringman added.

Pat Lang, Athens City law director and a Democrat, said Kasich has been traveling around lauding House Bill 400, which was introduced Christmas Eve.

“I guess maybe on the surface it sounds like a Christmas gift – I mean nobody likes to pay income tax; I don’t like to pay income tax – until you look at the details and what they plan to replace this lost revenue with. And what they propose to replace this revenue with is nothing,” he said.

The bill was held for further deliberation as of May 26, which is music to the ears of Kelly.

“It would be devastating to local law enforcement if House Bill 400 passed… (The bill) will affect law enforcement, public services, fire departments, (emergency medical services) and all of us,” Kelly said.

Although the city of Athens does not receive money directly from the state income tax revenue, about 50 percent of the city’s general revenue fund comes from state money, said Kathy Hecht, Athens City auditor and a Democrat.

“We get hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state grants for transportation and buses … it could be affected in a lot of ways if we lose state income tax funding,” she said.

Kasich’s campaign could not be reached for comment yesterday.

An Ohio U. graduate student is proposing that the city of Athens use propane fuel and other alternative energy to lower its vehicle carbon dioxide emissions, which totaled about 1.5 million pounds in 2009.

Second-year graduate student Kyle Gumto worked with Athens’ Green Fleets Policy for more than a year as part of his masters of science in environmental studies. Through his work, Gumto improved reports on the city’s fleet of vehicles, adding elements like the price of gas per gallon, price averages, odometer readings and mileage in order to help the city gauge its fuel spending and environmental impact.

Through a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calculator, Gumto found it would take 17,081 trees grown from seedling to 10 years old to replace the environmental damage done by Athens’ vehicles in one year.

The highest amount of carbon dioxide emissions in 2009 came from the transportation department, meaning city buses, with the department releasing 446,996.64 pounds of the gas into the air, according to Gumto’s research. The streets department produced the second highest emissions weighing in at 317,548.51 pounds of carbon dioxide.

The high emission count for the streets department is because the Department of Engineering and Public Works uses pick-up trucks, dump trucks and a street sweeper.

City officials said the new calculations will help lower costs and pollution for the city’s vehicles.

“It’s really going to allow the city to easily track our progress towards improving the fuel efficiency of our fleet,” said Councilman Elahu Gosney, who drafted the city’s Green Fleets Policy ordinance.

The Green Fleets Policy ordinance, which was passed by city council in April 2009, mandates the city lower carbon dioxide emissions and save money by decreasing the number of vehicles, developing an anti-idling policy, encouraging vehicle sharing, reducing the use of diesel and buying more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Gumto also compared a hybrid 2008 Toyota Prius and a regular 1991 Chevy Corsica and found the Toyota cost the city twice as much money in fuel for the 2009 year.

Gosney said the city already has two hybrids, but a more realistic option might be buying smaller vehicles.

Along with suggesting hybrids for the city, Gumto advocated the city use alternative fuel such as propane because hybrid vehicles can be costly to buy.

“I think his recommendations, we’ll use those to help our decision-making process,” said city planner Paul Logue, who worked with Gumto on the project.

The search for an Ohio U. football player charged with burglary ended today when he appeared in Athens County Municipal Court.

Melvin J. Payne, 21, of Mobile, Ala., voluntarily appeared in court this morning after he reportedly left Athens on a Greyhound bus over the weekend, according to court documents.

Payne is charged with one count of burglary, a second-degree felony, according to the documents.

A second-degree felony charge has a maximum fine of $15,000 and a maximum of eight years in prison, according to the Ohio Revised Code.

Payne waived his preliminary hearing and the case will move to the Athens County Court of Common Pleas, according to the documents.

Judge William Grim released Payne on his recognizance but ordered him to remain a law-abiding citizen and to have no contact with the residents at 159 Mill St., according to the documents.

Payne is charged with unlawfully breaking into 159 Mill St., on the night of May 29. A resident in the house woke up when Payne broke into the resident’s locked bedroom. Payne then fled through a glass door and sustained injuries, according to a previous article in The Post.

On Saturday, Athens Police officers investigating the case were unable to locate Payne at his dorm, Weld House residence hall. Officers learned that Payne had left Athens on a Greyhound bus, according to the documents.

Judge Grim issued an arrest warrant for Payne Tuesday, according to the documents.

Payne’s attorney Robert Toy had no comment on Payne leaving Athens after the break-in.

“He appeared in court voluntarily today and he will be at all future court appearances,” Toy said.

The Raleigh Sister Cities Association may not earn students college credits, but the connections and experiences learned will be beneficial in the long run.

According to Dave Kaber, professor and co-director of RSCA, international art displays from Compiegne in Raleigh, international student photography exchange exhibitions between Raleigh and Rostock, Raleigh secondary school student exchanges to all sister cities, local soccer team exchanges between Raleigh and Rostock, student choir visits and local university student summer exchange programs are among some of the events that students can look forward to by joining the organization.

RSCA is a nonprofit organization that seeks to promote friendship and understanding between the people of Raleigh and its sister cities. Raleigh currently has four sister cities, including: Kingston Upon Hull, England, Compiegne, France, Rostock, Germany, and Xiangfan, China.

According to the sister cities website, the program is designed to “enable citizens of Raleigh and its Sister Cities to exchange ideas and experiences in the areas of education, culture, the arts, and economics, and to promote exchanges between the cities.”

The organization, founded in 1950s under President Eisenhower, partnered with Raleigh in 1986.

Kaber explained the importance of the organization and its mission to establish and maintain relationships between the city of Raleigh and other international cities.

“The long-term goal of the association is to foster new international relationships for the City of Raleigh in terms of culture, education and commerce,” Kaber said. “In the near-term, we are currently developing education and industry connections with the new sister city of Xiangfan, China.”

Association membership is open to everyone. The participation from our University provides a way to connect academically with international countries.

Kaber explained that there are some requirements for membership, but that members will maintain connections with international education and business partners in the sister cities, as well as city and state government officials.

“Members of the association are asked to participate in existing sister subcommittees and to participate in international organization events,” Kaber said. “Members are also involved in committees for fundraising for the association, and evaluating new sister city applicants.”

For more information on the RSCA and details on becoming a member are available through the association’s website visit https://raleighsistercities.org .

Since the new chancellor, Dr. Randy Woodson, officially started at N.C. State, he has made several changes to the hierarchal system that was already in place.  He has changed the system making it similar to Purdue University, as well as most of the universities in the UNC system.

Dr. Thomas Stafford, who has been the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at N.C. State University for 27 years, will no longer report directly to Chancellor Woodson.  Instead, he will make his reports to the yet to be hired Provost.

According to Chancellor Woodson, he moved Dr. Stafford to reporting to the provost starting July 1, 2010 for several reasons including honesty in advertising the provost position as well as lessening the amount of direct reports to him.

“Here’s the bottom line, in advertising for the new provost, I want it to be as honest as possible.  We had to move Dr. Stafford to reporting to the provost, so we could advertise the position and show what the person we hire as provost would be responsible for,” said Chancellor Woodson.

Dr. Stafford has about forty different University departments reporting to him.  Some of these include the arts programs, like Center Stage and ARTS NC State, the ROTC programs, CSLEPS, University Scholars, Caldwell Fellows, and Campus Recreation.

Dr. Stafford said, “The primary reason that Chancellor Woodson changed certain parts of the hierarchal system is because he felt there were too many direct reports to him.  He decided to reorganize a bit to relieve some of these direct reports.”

Along with Dr. Stafford, the dean of the graduate school and the director of institutional research will also be reporting to the provost instead of Chancellor Woodson.

“Making this change is not going to have a negative impact on the students, if it was, I wouldn’t do it.  This change will make sure Student Affairs is an integral part of the university,” said Woodson.  “We want to increase the retention rate of students as well as the graduation rates, and Student Affairs plays a big role in this.  This will help us to focus our attention in Student Affairs on academic success.”

According to Woodson, N.C. State administration is categorized into four “silos.”  They are academic affairs, business, research and engagement.

“These silos are organized along the four pillars of the University; therefore it is important for Student Affairs to be a part of the academic side of the University.” Woodson said, “I’m trying to get everything organized along those four pillars to make things run smoother.”

The current University hierarchal structure is set so that the inter-collegiate sports will report to the athletic director, who reports directly to the Chancellor.  Intramural and club sports are under campus recreation and will report to Dr. Stafford.

Chancellor Woodson said, “The rearrangement of the hierarchal structure is coming from the fact that we want our organizational structure to be so that the success of the students is central to everything we do at the University.”

The provost is considered the chief academic officer under the Chancellor for the University.  Currently, a search is underway for the new Provost.  Marjory Overton, the chair for the faculty, is in charge of the search and targeting on-campus interviews to start in September.

“The provost has responsibility for all the deans, all the colleges, and therefore all the students and faculty,” said Woodson.

According to Chancellor Woodson, he has the most direct reports of any Chancellor in North Carolina and this rearrangement will alleviate some of that from him.

Woodson said, “I want to stress that this move is not showing a lack of support of the students at N.C. State, it’s showing the opposite.  We want to make sure Student Affairs is an integral part of academic affairs and helping students succeed.”

Chancellor Woodson officially began work at N.C. State on April 5, 2010.  With the rearrangement of the hierarchal system, Lee Fowler, the athletic director, stepping down from his position before the end of his contract, and the current legislative meetings, Woodson has been busy.  He has also been traveling around North Carolina meeting with alumni from N.C. State and visiting places that will hire graduates.  He has also testified for North Carolina’s Senate and House about the budget and the University’s need to continue to develop Centennial Campus.

The search for Lee Fowler’s replacement is on, even as the N.C. State athletics director finishes out his tenure with the Wolfpack.

In a May 12 press release, N.C. State chancellor Randy Woodson announced the formation of a nomination committee to start searching for candidates to replace Fowler. The release came on the heels of Fowler’s decision to step down, which he announced May 4.

“Selecting our next athletics director is an important decision for the future of the athletic program and for the university,” Woodson said in a prepared statement. “We are looking for a proven administrator and leader, who will help our student-athletes be successful in the classroom and on the field of competition.”

Smedes York, a former chair of the N.C. State Board of Trustees, will be committee chair, the release announced. Also appointed to the 13-member nomination committee were: Steve Carlton, chair of the Staff Senate, Derick Close, former trustee, Eileen Goldgeier, vice chancellor and general counsel, Kellie Harper, women’s basketball coach, Kelly Hook, student body president, David Horning, senior associate athletics director, Charles Leffler, vice chancellor finance and business, Margery Overton, chair of the faculty, Sam Pardue, faculty athleics representative, Ray Rouse, president of Student Aid Association, Steve Warren, Board of Trustees, and Cassius Williams, Board of Trustees.

The committee held a meeting May 17 at the Park Alumni Center, and elected to hire Parker Executive Search to assist in the candidate nomination process. Under president Daniel Parker, the firm has a proven track record helping universities nail down candidates for athletic directors and other university administrators.

The firm, based in Atlanta, recently helped the NCAA during its search for new president, Mark A. Emmert, who formerly held the same post at the University of Washington. Parker Executive Search has also aided in the searches for athletic directors at Notre Dame, Washington, and Mississippi State.
“Daniel Parker is part of an established search firm that has worked with N.C. State before, and he has helped with many other universities’ national searches,” Carlton said.

During the nomination process, Parker will work with the committee to identify the best candidates for the position, York said.

The nomination committee plans to conduct the first round of interviews with fewer than 10 candidates, said York. The committee then plans to recommend three or four candidates to Chancellor Woodson for the second round of interviews, after which the chancellor would make a final decision.

There is no timetable for naming the new athletics director, but “we’d like to get it done within 30 to 60 days; a lot of it depends on how things come together,” said York.

The nomination committee will meet June 8 via conference call and hold a face-to-face meeting June 14 at the Park Alumni Center.

The university said it plans to honor Fowler’s contract, which pays him $280,000 annually until September 2013. He will stay on the job until June 30, when an as-yet-unnamed interim athletic director will take over.

For 10 hours, I waited outside a closed Krispy Kreme store in the hopes of winning a prize of free doughnuts for a year and no amount of rain or sketchiness of downtown Raleigh was going to stop me from fulfilling my dream of free Krispy Kreme.

Tuesday morning at 6 a.m. the Krispy Kreme store on Peace Street reopened after renovations caused the store to be closed for about two months. For the grand reopening, Krispy Kreme offered prizes, ranging from free T-shirts to free doughnuts for a year. The most coveted prize was for the first person in line: one dozen free doughnuts every week for a year.

My love affair with Krispy Kreme doughnuts began roughly at the age of four, when my father handed me a hot, gooey doughnut and I proceeded to smear sugar all across my face and clothes. Therefore, when I learned of this opportunity to win the delicious confections for a year, I jumped in headfirst with Operation All-Nighter. Don’t laugh. I took the Operation very seriously, even recruiting several of my friends to protect me from the evils of downtown Raleigh.

My all-nighter began at 9 p.m. Monday night with me, three friends, and one GPS which got us lost as soon as we hit Hargett Street. After using a different GPS, we finally arrived at the store only to face defeat. There were already seven people there, and they had been there since 12:30 that afternoon. Disheartened, we lugged our trunkload of blankets, pillows, activities, warm clothes and sunken spirits to the forming line.

Our hearts soared, however, when we found out the first 12 customers would win a free dozen for a year – not every week, but every month. This news came like manna from heaven because it meant I would still win the precious bounty. All I had to do was defend my spot in line for the next 10 hours.

For starters, my dear friend Jenny created a claustrophobic fort of lawn chairs and blankets, which we used as a hideout for an hour before tearing it down so we could actually sit in comfort. The fort was an interesting idea, but not very practical.

The hours passed by somewhat eventfully: a carload of friends also got lost on their way to the store, and as I was trying to get them back on track, all of a sudden I experienced hearing loss from the deafening screeches resonating from the cell phone. Apparently, a homeless man came up to their car in the middle of an abandoned parking lot and they freaked out, nearly running over the poor guy in their haste to get away. When the rest of my crew finally arrived, a gigantic game of Phase 10 ensued, a gigantic hissy fit by me over the ineptness of my friends to play a simple card game ensued, and then the rain ensued.

After soaking most of the chairs, blankets, games and people, the short shower effectively ruined the playful mood. However, we all persevered, thanks to a much-appreciated Cook Out run that brought deliverance in the form of a peanut butter milkshake.

The rest of my morning was spent chatting with a random man about life and religion, every so often opening the umbrella to avoid the rain, which became more frequent as the sky began to lighten, and eating both the fresh free doughnuts the employees brought out for us and the grilled doughnuts the first person in line grilled for us.

At 5:30 a.m. the moment of truth arrived when a Krispy Kreme employee came out to take names for the drawing to determine who would turn on the Hot Now sign for the first time since the store closed (which is a lie because they totally tested the sign around 4 a.m. that morning). Everyone that had camped out began packing up their belongings to accommodate the growing line of soon-to-be customers.

Sadly, some little girl in a pink Snuggie and rainboots won the honor of turning back on the Hot Now sign (I myself had my own leopard print Snuggie and rainboots with me). But at 6 a.m. when that sign came on, the giddy audience erupted in cheers; alas, Krispy Kreme was open for business again!

After collecting my T-shirt, coupon for a free ice-cream, voucher for my free dozen doughnuts every month for a year and my paper Krispy Kreme hat, I rushed to buy more doughnuts for my parents, who were at home expecting sugary goodness.

After dropping my friends off at home, the plan was to continue my day working at my 9-to- 5 job. That never happened. Deciding I didn’t want to see any more rain for the rest of the day, I took the day off and slept. And slept. And slept.

Operation All-Nighter was mostly a success ñ and for those who deny it, I only have to shove my voucher for free doughnuts in their faces to prove that in the end, all I do is win.

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center awarded two N.C. State students the NCBC Research Fellowship, a one-time grant of $5,000 for recipients to use over a one year period in the field of biotechnology research.

Brian Schuster, a sophomore in chemical engineering, said he was looking on the Internet for different research grants when he saw the NCBC one.

“I’m doing research on ethanol production using a bacteria to do consolidated bioprocessing, which is a way of combining the steps of ethanol production into fewer steps,” Schuster said.

Schuster said the research with ethanol he is working on is “kind of a new thing.”

“Ethanol has always been produced… and for a while it’s been produced on a large scale, even for fuel. So now we’re trying to get it from cellulosic feedstock, like from trees or sweet sorghum, grasses, things like that,” Schuster said.

Jason Whitham, a senior in biochemistry, said he got an email about the NCBC opportunity and felt it was perfect.

“It was an opportunity to get money to do collaborative research related to the biotechnology industry in North Carolina and the industry in North Carolina is highly tied to alternative fuels. Research Triangle Park has a ton of biotechnology companies. Another thing is we’re a huge agriculture state,” Whitham said. “The two industries nowadays are very much connected. They take waste products from farms and stuff and convert it to biotechnology products and alternative fuels. With the economy the way it is, the more solutions we bring by doing research, the more employment we’ll have.”

Whitham said he is doing work with Methanogens and Clostridia, both of which are really important for upcoming alternative fuel research.

“The Clostridium that I worked with last year was able to take smoke stack gas, synthesis gas, and convert it to ethanol and acetate. Ethanol is an alternative fuel that is becoming more and more important for this country,” Whitham said. “The other part they make is acetate, but acetate is not an alternative fuel.”

The hope is, Whitham said, in the future we’ll be able to take pollution and remove all the carbons from it, which would normally go into the atmosphere as greenhouse gases, increasing the temperature around the globe, and convert it to useful products like alternative fuels.

“This summer and the following semester my grant is providing money for me to look at Methanogens, which will take the acetate – that is, the byproduct of the Clostridia — and convert it to methane — which is also known as natural gas — which is also an alternative fuel,” Whitham said.

Schuster said corn is the number one feedstock right now, and the reason they use it is because it has a lot of starch in it.

“You can get the starch out and then convert that to ethanol a lot easier than you can convert cellulose to ethanol,” Schuster said. “As we move on and stop using corn — it’s mainly a food crop so that’s a big problem with it; people also demand it for food — and hopefully we can use a lot more cellulose and feedstock; especially sweet sorghum since that’s grown in North Carolina.”

Whitham said since grain is being converted to ethanol more and more, and grain is food, food prices are now connected to fuel prices because of that trend.

“But if we can do things like use waste products like smoke stack gas then we will be a lot better off,” Whitham said.

Looking at studies on biofuels, Schuster said ethanol and biofuels do reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Some people think it doesn’t come out with a net energy gain, but it does come out with 100 percent energy that is in the plant into ethanol. It does release energy, and you can harvest that. Gasoline needs an oxygenate to be added to it and ethanol is one of those,” Schuster said. “Most people just hear that [ethanol] is not producing any energy. I’ve looked at different technical documents and studies and the actual studies show that it does come out with more energy if you analyze the whole process.”

Only one week removed from narrowly making its own conference tournament, the baseball team now finds itself in a fortuitous double-elimination NCAA regional. The pack will join top-seeded host Coastal Carolina, College of Charleston and Stony Brook in Myrtle Beach for regional play, which will kick off Friday. The site of the regional will be the familiar BB&T Coastal Field in Myrtle Beach, S.C., the same ballpark where the Wolfpack beat then-No. 5 UC Irvine and James Madison in the Baseball at the Beach Classic in February.

“We’re excited to travel to Myrtle Beach,” coach Elliott Avent said. “We knew we were not hosting so our guys would have been happy to go anywhere. We’re going to have a good fan base down there and we played there back in February so we’re familiar with the ballpark.”

Dating back to the series against Georgia Tech, the Wolfpack (38-22) has been one of the hottest teams in the country, winning 10 of its final 13 regular season contests, making it all the way to the ACC championship game before falling to Florida State Sunday.

Perhaps the most important ingredient in State’s success this upcoming weekend will be rest. The Wolfpack is attempting to recover from a three-game stretch in the ACC tournament that spanned nearly 36 hours.

“It’s not about wins and losses right now,” Avent said. “It’s about how you are playing. Even though making it to the ACC championship game beat our kids up a little bit physically, it toughened them up mentally. A couple of guys were able to get some experience in big-time pressure situations that will help prepare them for this upcoming weekend.”

The Myrtle Beach regional features a slew of talented players including Big South pitcher of the year Anthony Meo, who helped Coastal Carolina (51-7) earn the Big South championship. Meo boasts an impressive 13-1 record for the Chanticleers this season to go along with a 1.80 ERA.

College of Charleston (42-17) is led by the Southern Conference’s player of the year, third baseman Matt Leeds. Only a sophomore, Leeds has been the spark to the Cougars’ potent offense all year, batting .340 with 20 homeruns and 80 RBIs.

Stony Brook (29-25) is led by No. 1 starting pitcher Nick Tropeano, who helped the Seawolves claim the American East conference championship. Tropeano has an 8-3 record with a 2.36 ERA and also threw an astounding 101 strikeouts in 91 innings.

In order for State to repeat the success it had in 2008, when it advanced to the Super Regionals, the Wolfpack must continue to pitch well and maintain its torrid hitting.

Slimmed-down first baseman Harold Riggins has been the Wolfpack’s hottest hitter as the season has unfolded. The sophomore became only the second State player to be honored as the ACC tournament MVP after an impressive weekend at the plate. Riggins went 9-for-16 in Greensboro with three RBI in four tournament games.

The Wolfpack pitching staff has been revitalized with strong efforts from senior lefthander Alex Sogard. The lefty turned in two strong performances during the ACC tournament and will be depended on as State looks to advance out of the Myrtle Beach regional.

“Alex has just been phenomenal,” Avent said. “He’s been phenomenal since he’s gotten here but the off-season shoulder surgery, which set him back, was something he’s had to deal with to try and come back and pitch in his last year of college. At times he just was not up to full strength and that was frustrating for him, but he’s a competitor in every way, shape and form, and that’s why he has been pitching so well lately.”

The Pack’s first game is slated for Friday at 7 p.m. against College of Charleston.

“We’re just trying to give our guys some rest right now so they will be sharp for this weekend’s games,” Avent said. “If we play the way we are capable of playing, I don’t see any reason why we can’t make it out of this regional.”