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State awards funding for park acquisitions and development

State and local parks in North Carolina are getting a boost thanks to nearly $14 million in end-of-year funding. 

The money was announced last week by the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation. It’s allocated both for land acquisition and for a variety of park improvement projects.

In Guilford County, the town of Summerfield will receive $500,000 toward the development of Bandera Farms Park. Town officials say the park will be a critical part of the Piedmont Greenway, which is expected to connect Greensboro and Winston-Salem. Planners also hope to develop over four miles of dedicated horse trails.

Elk Knob State Park in Watauga County will receive $330,000 to protect high-value conservation land along the eastern rim of Long Hope Valley. Elk Knob is one of the newest state parks, having been established in 2003, and is a popular destination for visitors seeking to view fall foliage.

And over $700,000 is being directed to Lumber River State Park in Robeson County to protect forested areas along the river.

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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