🗞️ Two water advisories now hit Abington in Kernersville

🗞️ Kernersville's regional council launches a new business hub

🗞️ Lewisville censures a councilman over crushed cans and a walkout

🗞️ NC's cyclospora outbreak hits 145 cases

🌞 Sunny and hot | High: 91°F | Low: 68°F

Full sun and back into the 90s, with a light southwest wind. Consider this the warm-up act. Thursday through Saturday run 94 to 96.

Residents of the Abington subdivision in Kernersville are now dealing with two separate water advisories from their private supplier, Carolina Water Service of North Carolina, which serves about 600 customers there.

The first is a boil water advisory, issued Tuesday after a water main break. Until it is lifted, residents are told to boil water for at least two minutes before drinking it, cooking with it, making ice, brushing teeth or washing dishes. The company says the advisory stays in effect until a satisfactory bacteriological survey comes back, and it expects the repair to be finished within three days. Customers will get a call when the advisory is lifted.

The second is a nitrite warning, and this is where it gets tricky. Routine sampling on July 7 found nitrite at 2.1 milligrams per liter, more than double the state drinking water standard of 1.0. Nitrite is a serious risk for infants under six months old because it reduces the blood's ability to carry oxygen. Symptoms include shortness of breath and a bluish tint to the skin. The wells that tested high have been pulled out of service while new testing is done.

Here is the part worth reading twice: boiling does not fix nitrite. According to the EPA, it actually makes it worse, because some of the water evaporates while the nitrite stays behind, which concentrates it. So infants under six months should not drink the water at all, boiled or not, and should not have it used to mix formula. Bottled water is the way to go for babies. Adults and children older than six months are fine with boiled water while the boil advisory is active.

The company says it is working with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and expects more lab results this week. Nitrite typically comes from wastewater plants, fertilizer runoff, failing septic systems, manure storage and some industrial discharges.

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If you are job hunting, hiring or trying to grow a small business, the Piedmont Triad Regional Council has a refreshed place to start. The Kernersville-based council relaunched its website as Piedmont Triad Biz Hub, at piedmonttriadbizhub.org. It was previously called Find Your Center NC.

The name is new and the site is easier to move around, but the services are the same ones the council has been running: recruitment help for employers, training and workforce programs for job seekers, and resources for business expansion, all pulled into one place.

"While the name has changed, our commitment has not," said Wendy Walker-Fox, workforce and economic development director at PTRC. She said the council is continuing the same programs that support workforce development and help local businesses grow.

Worth knowing simply because it is free, it is local, and it is headquartered right here.

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The Lewisville Town Council voted 5 to 1 on Monday to censure first-term councilman Mack Wilder, capping a strange stretch of small-town politics that started with a can of energy drink.

The censure stems from Wilder's conduct at a March 5 council briefing about a proposed community swimming pool. According to a nine-page investigation by the town attorney, Wilder grew frustrated during the presentation, crushed one or both of his energy drink cans in his hands, and abruptly walked out of the room. Witnesses described the behavior as petulant and disrespectful, and some council members said they were not sure whether he was resigning. A second alleged violation involved social media posts where he used "we" instead of "I" while gauging support for the pool.

Wilder did not dispute much of it. "I crush cans in my hands out of habit. It's something I do. It's not a show of strength," he told the Journal. He said he stepped out to calm down, and that he expected to be censured. "It is a way that they are going to try to embarrass me publicly."

Underneath the theater is a real fight about money. Town staff estimated a community pool could cost up to $12 million, which would take a 44-cent property tax increase to fund. No council member supported a tax hike that size. Wilder, who campaigned on the pool, argued it could be done for closer to $6 million and that waiting a decade to save up is not realistic. "All those kids now clinging to their parents' legs, those kids will be voting age by the time that pool gets built," he said.

Councilwoman Suzanne Newsome cast the lone no vote, noting Wilder did not raise his voice, curse or get in anyone's space. "He simply left the room abruptly," she said. A censure is a non-binding rebuke. It does not affect his salary, his seat or his committee assignments.

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North Carolina has at least 145 confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis, a foodborne illness caused by a microscopic parasite, putting the state among the top five in the country in a national outbreak that has topped 700 cases across 17 states.

The good news, per Dr. John Sanders, an infectious disease expert at Atrium Health, is that about 95% of cases are mild to moderate and do not require a hospital stay. The catch is that it can drag on. Symptoms show up one to two weeks after exposure, which makes the source hard to trace, and the illness can linger for weeks with people feeling better and then worse again. "We just recommend maintaining hydration, drink a lot of fluid, continue to eat, and most people just get over it and don't even know they have it," Sanders said. Cases that need treatment respond well to standard antibiotics.

The parasite does not spread person to person. It almost always arrives on fresh produce that is eaten raw: berries, herbs and vegetables. No common source has been identified yet, and no outbreaks have been declared in the Triad specifically.

The simplest protection is the one your grandmother already told you about. Wash your hands for 20 seconds before and after handling produce. Rinse fruit and vegetables under plain running water, rubbing gently, no soap needed. Scrub firm items like melons and cucumbers with a clean brush. Rinse produce before you peel it so the knife does not drag dirt onto the flesh. Dry with a clean towel, and pull the outer leaves off lettuce and cabbage.

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