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WRAListens to Cary
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WRAListens made its latest stop in Cary to hear the concerns of residents in the Triangle town. The half-hour special WRAListens Cary will air on March 26, 2008, at 7pm on WRAL-TV. MIX 101.5 WRAL-FM will rebroadcast the program on the radio at 6:30am on March 30th.
An eight member panel discussed several issues of concern to Cary residents, including the demands of growth, the drought, safety, schools and illegal immigration. The program was taped at the Page-Walker Arts and History Center in Cary on Wednesday, March 19th.
Retired WRAL-TV Anchor Charlie Gaddy moderated the panel, which included:
- Ralph Ashworth, owner of Ashworth Drugs
- Glenda Westbrook, owner of Blue Heron Landscaping & member of Heart of Cary Association
- Don Frantz, owner of Frantz Automotive Center & town council member
- Nagi Reddy, owner of Udupi Café’
- Macro Zarate, president of the North Carolina Society of Hispanic Professionals based in Cary
- Chief Pat Bazemore of the Cary Police Department
- Eleanor Goetee, Western Wake County representative on the School Board
- Dick Domann, Cary Chamber of Commerce member
One hot topic was growth. Several panelists believe Cary’s early planning has made growth a positive for the area. The growth is orderly and controlled. Other panelists said Cary needs to moderate its growth. Goatee said the schools have a challenge to keep up with the increasing numbers of students.
The panel mentioned the talk about Cary starting its own school system, although the General Assembly would have to approve the measure, which doesn’t seem to support the split at this time.
About WRAListens
The WRAListens Tour is a series of town meetings throughout the WRAL viewing area to discuss community issues and how WRAL can address these issues in daily newscasts and public affairs programming. Each meeting is recorded and edited to air at a later date in the form of a half-hour public affairs program. |
The group also addressed the drop out rate among minority students. Although Hispanics and African-Americans are a small percentage of the school population, their drop out rates are higher than average. The panelists debated the topic of educating illegal immigrants who enroll in school.
To hear more about what the panelists had to say about these issues and the other topics of discussion, tune in to WRAL-TV on Wed, March 26th at 7pm or to WRAL-FM at 6:30am on Sun, March 30th.
