Ride operator killed at State Fair
A ride attendant was killed Thursday when he fell and was struck by part of the ride's machinery, state officials said. In addition, a teenage girl on the ride was also slightly injured.
The victim, a Philadelphia native and longtime midway operator for Amusements of America, was an attendant on the "Banzai" ride--a swinging, pendulum-type ride with seats at the bottom of a column. He was hit in the head by a steel footrest after he slipped from a platform, said Mike Blanton, spokesman for the state Agriculture Department.
The incident occurred shortly before 11 a.m., and the victim died instantly, Blanton said. The Banzai ride and several rides and concession stands nearby were closed.
The girl, who was in the seat that hit the ride operator, suffered a minor leg injury--possibly a sprained or broken ankle--and was taken to a hospital, Blanton said.
Amusement rides are required by state law to pass inspection by the state Labor Department's Elevator and Amusement Device Bureau before they can operate, agency spokesman Juan Santos said. The Banzai ride was inspected Oct. 16.
Bush makes campaign stop in Charlotte
President George W. Bush stopped in Charlotte Thursday to stump for Republican Senate candidate Elizabeth Dole. Motivated by the prospect of returning Senate control to Republicans, the President also made stops in South Carolina and Alabama to endorse GOP candidates.
In his third campaign appearance on Dole's behalf, Bush spoke admiringly of retiring Sen. Jesse Helms.
"[There's] no finer gentleman in the United States Senate [than Helms]," Bush said. "He represented North Carolina well, he's a credit to our country and the right person to follow Sen. Jesse Helms is soon-to-be-Senator Elizabeth Dole."
By election day, the president will have made campaign appearances in over two dozen states in what has been a record fundraising campaign for Republican candidates across the country. Some Democrats attended the rally in Charlotte to pass out statistics showing that 100,000 more people in the Carolinas and Alabama are without jobs since the president first took office.
Residents to get nuclear protection pill
Starting Nov. 1, people who live within 10 miles of a nuclear power plant south of Raleigh will begin receiving pills for protection in case of radiation leaks.
Residents of Wake, Chatham, Harnett and Lee counties who live near the Shearon Harris nuclear power plant will be given two potassium iodide pills for each family member.
After reviewing studies of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and also taking into account the increased risk of terrorist attacks following Sept. 11., state officials decided to hand out the pills. Gibbie Harris, community health director with the Wake County Department of Human Services, said the pill only provides protection for the thyroid gland against one form of radiation-it does not protect against whole-body radiation.
Earnhardt fans have road to remember
Gov. Mike Easley signed a bill Wednesday to renumber a state road "N.C. 3" in honor of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, who wore the number when he raced.
The 28-mile stretch of road--currently numbered N.C. 136--runs through Cabarrus County, where Earnhardt lived, and Iredell County, where he worked. The road's number 136 will be swapped with the current N.C. 3, which is in Currituck County.
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