Wednesday, October 31, 2007

NC business goes for $925 million

One of North Carolina's home grown businesses sells for $925,000,000!

Burt's Bees has been on the market for one month and Clorox corporation plans to purchase it for $925 million. The deal will close by the end of 2007 and will remain in Durham, NC, and keep it's current chief executive, John Reploge. Burt's Bees has a strong reputation in health and wellness directions and compliments Clorox company's new Green Works line of natural cleaning products.
News & Observer
October 31, 2007
Vicki Lee Parker

Clorox to buy Burt's Bees for $925 million

Just over a month after being put up for sale, Burt's Bees, the Morrisville-based maker of natural personal-care products has a buyer.

Clorox Co., of Oakland, Calif., said this morning that it plans to purchase Burt's Bees for $925 million.

Clorox executives said the purchase will allow it to expand beyond its core business into the fast-growing consumer care market.

"The Burt's Bees brand is well anchored in sustainability and health and wellness," Donald R. Knauss, Clorox chairman and chief executive said in an statement. "Combined with our new Green Works line of natural cleaning products, and Brita water filtration products, we can leverage Burt's Bees extensive capabilities and credibility to build a robust, higher-growth platform for Clorox."

The company also reported said that Burt's Bees, which was founded in 1984, will remain based in North Carolina and continue to be headed by John Reploge, its current chief executive.

The deal is expected to close by the end of the year and is subject to regulatory approval. Original article...


Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Sign of the times - re-elect nobody

Running for elected offices these days requires candidates to deal with a lot of public hostility toward government and elected officials. This sign was placed along area roads along with those of candidates running for Cary and Wake County offices in October 2oo7 and encouraged voters to not re-elect anyone already on the Cary council.

This sentiment is becoming a factor anyone running for public office must consider and may bring significant change in local, state and national government, even for some that have worked hard to serve the public faithfully. Now, more than ever, candidates need to listen to constituents and tune campaigns to provide a choice voters will believe and make at the polls.

Much of the public is so unhappy with all levels of government and how things have been handled by the Bush administration that the handwriting is on the wall for anyone in office that has supported the current administration. The possibility for a tidal wave of change in government is looming and the elections in 2007 and 2008 will bring a complete change in who leads and makes decisions for the foreseeable future in local and national government organizations.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

NC couple offers land for research and environmental education

One NC couple finds a way to share and preserve their land so others can learn more about the environment.

John and Nancy Bray spend lots of time walking through their estate learning about plants, trees and learning about the environment around them. Since their land connects to parcels owned by Pitt County, the couple is working with the soil and water conservation department to provide a setting conducive for environmental education. If all goes well, John Bray says, people will be studying there by the end of the year.

Read more about how one couple can make a difference and about this exciting opportunity...
The Daily Reflector
October 9, 2007
Brock Letchworth

Ayden couple to open more than 100 acres of their land to researchers, students

Ayden couple hope to open more than 100 acres of their land to researchers, students


The Daily Reflector

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

AYDEN — When John and Nancy Bray trek through the land across from their Contentnea Creek Estates home, the couple speak of the wildflowers, ponds and trees as though they are family members.

Nancy's excitement over the vibrant colors of wild berries and John's concern for the low water levels are as real as their passion for nature.

The Brays hope to share that passion by opening the more than 100 acres to researchers and students soon.

"You can go through a lot of different eco-systems in a very short walk," said Nancy, a former teacher. "It is really pretty back there, and you can learn a lot."

With the Brays' land connecting to parcels owned by Pitt County, the couple is working with the soil and water conservation department to provide a setting conducive for environmental education. If all goes well, John Bray says, people will be studying there by the end of the year.

Going green

For 27 years, John and Nancy, now retired, lived in Lake Glenwood near Eastern Pines because they enjoyed the rural setting.

The skies were clear for telescopes, and trails were plentiful for exploring.

But as the land around them gave way to development, the Brays recognized a pattern.

"We lived in two other cities where we've seen development wipe out everything green," Nancy said.

"It was happening around us again."

In 2003, the Brays found another home nestled a couple of miles off of N.C. Highway 11 in southern Pitt County.

There, flooding from Hurricane Floyd in 1999 had wiped out several houses and left a large chunk of the land desolate.

With its unique vegetation and wildlife, the spot was perfect for the Brays.

Planning begins

Not long after moving into their new home, John and Nancy began exploring the land spread beyond their huge front porch.

"We used to walk through some of the trails back there and we would say to each other how it would be nice to own all of the land so it wouldn't get developed," said John, co-founder of Greenville-based Metrics, Inc.

One year after moving in, the Brays began to buy more land. Homeowners and farmers started selling their properties and the Brays began buying them to ensure that everything that was green would stay that way.

"We wanted to keep everything natural," Nancy said. "We both have science backgrounds so nature is natural for us."

County officials already have marked nearly 20 different points of interest in the area.

Among them are rare trees and plants, Nancy said.

Also included in the project is access to Jackson's Point — a connection of Pitt, Lenoir and Greene County where N.C. pioneer John Lawson reportedly was murdered by a Tuscaroran tribe in 1711.

John Bray says when the park opens, it will be by appointment only.

"It will be by permit and be controlled," John said. "We allow some hunters out here along with the hikers so we have to be sure hunters and hikers aren't out here at the same time. Hunters and hikers don't mix."

Staying busy

Along with the preservation work with the county, the Brays are helping with the development of the Eastern North Carolina Regional Science Center in Greenville — a project that aims to enhance the level of science and math literacy in eastern North Carolina.

The couple also travels with a portable planetarium to schools teaching kids about astronomy.

Their schedule doesn't resemble that of most retired couples.

"I think we kind of recognized that science and technology and the literacy of the two is a requirement for the 21st century," John said. "There is a need for more scientists and engineers in this country, and we want to help with that."

John spends many of his days keeping the trails clear. When Nancy is not in her organic garden, she searches for rare vegetation and documents her findings back home.

"We have a really nice porch and we spent some time on it, but I think we get bored easily," Nancy said. "We always have to be up to something."

Brock Letchworth can be contacted at 329-9574 or bletchworth@coxnc.com. Original article...

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Women treated differently from men for heart problems

According to two new studies by Duke University, men are far more likely to receive needed heart treatment than men when having similar risk factors. The study highlights the finding that women and minorities are treated differently from the way men patients are treated and the difference requires more diligence in seeking our second opinions and equal treatment.

The new findings show that the use of implantable cardioverter defibrillators, small devices that shock an irregularly beating heart back to a normal rhythm, "are used two to three times more in men than in women with similar symptoms, even though heart disease is the leading cause of death among women. The device is also used more in white men than black men".

Researchers found that the devices were "vastly underused among patients who appeared to be eligible for them, and when they were used, men were most often the beneficiaries". For every 10 men who got the device, only three or four women did. Seven black men got the device for every 10 white men. It was also found that only 35 percent of those eligible for the defibrillators devices got one - women were 50 percent less likely than men to receive them, and black men were 25 percent less likely than white men.

Read the entire article...
News & Observer
Kristin Collins, Staff Writer
October 2, 2007

Study: Women less likely to get heart device

Men are far more likely than women to receive a simple life-saving heart treatment, even when they have similar risk factors, according to two Duke University studies released today.

The studies, to be published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, are the latest in a growing body of research showing that doctors still treat women and minorities differently from the way they treat white men.

"Unfortunately, there's one recurring theme from all these kinds of studies," said Kevin Schulman, a Duke internist who worked on the new studies. "It's that you really have to take care of yourself, be aggressive, get a second opinion. The system's not consistent." Read more...