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Three North Carolina Airports Receive Grants for Safety Improvement Projects

Photo courtesy of Wilkes County.

The North Carolina Board of Transportation has approved funding for safety improvement projects at three regional airports. 

Nearly $3.5 million of state and federal funding will go toward projects that will improve taxiways, enhancing safety for pilots and their aircraft.

According to a press release, the bulk of the grant money will go to Wilkes County Airport, where it will be used to bring the airfield up to date with current FAA standards.

Airport manager Robert Gross says larger aircraft will be able to fly into Wilkes County directly, making it easier for people to do business in Wilkesboro, Boone, and other communities in the foothills and High Country.

The remainder of the funding will go toward airfield rehabilitation at Elkin Municipal Airport and at Michael J. Smith Field in Beaufort.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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