Stark inducted into Coast Guard Academy

Riley Stark, granddaughter of the late Lydia Laird and niece of Kyle Laird, both Clemmons residents, will be inducted July 2 into the United States Coast Guard Academy Class of 2022. This will mark the beginning of six weeks of challenging basic cadet training as part of what is known as Swab Summer.

Riley is a native of Norcross, Georgia, is the daughter of Sarita and Joe Stark, and sister of Ryan Stark. She recently earned her Girl Scout Gold Award by completing a project based on awareness of Veterans’ Issues and appreciation of veterans in her community. She is also the former president of her Venture Crew and of Atlanta Area Council Venturing, and has staffed National Youth Leadership Training for four years. She is declining offers to several schools, including Georgia Institute of Technology and The University of Notre Dame to pursue her dream of entering the Corps of Cadets.

Riley has also been recognized as an honor graduate and IB diploma graduate of Norcross High School, where she graduated in May among the top ten in her class of over 700 students.

Congressman Rob Woodall of Georgia’s 7^th district held a luncheon congratulating students heading to the Coast Guard Academy, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, West Point and Merchant Marine Academy on June 4.

Governor Nathan Deal also honored the students with a “send off” at the Capitol in Atlanta followed by a luncheon at the Capital City Club on June 5.

Labor department recognizes businesses

The N.C. Department of Labor recognized area employers and employees at the agency’s annual safety awards banquet in Mount Airy on Friday.

“It’s really an honor for me to travel throughout the state and recognize these employers who are making a commitment to their employees’ safety and health,” Commissioner Cherie Berry said. “Over the past 17 years, North Carolina has experienced a declining injury and illness rate, which now rests at an all-time low 2.5 per 100 full-time workers for private industry. These employers continue to make North Carolina workplaces some of the safest in the country.”

The awards honor outstanding on-the-job safety achievements of each recipient during 2017. Recipients are located in Bermuda Run, Boonville, Clemmons, Dobson, High Point, Kernersville, Morrisville, Mount Airy, North Wilkesboro, Rural Hall, Wilkesboro and Winston-Salem.

Commissioner Berry spoke at the banquet and presented the awards. The event was co-sponsored by the Safety and Health Council of N.C.

Under program rules, companies must have been free of fatal accidents at the site for which the award is given to be eligible. The gold award criteria are based on a DART rate that is at least 50 percent below the statewide rate for its industry. The rate includes cases of days away from work, restricted activity or job transfer. The silver award is based only on cases with days away from work. They are recorded when the worker misses at least one full day of work, not including the day of the injury. The applicant must attain an incidence rate for cases with days away from work that is at least 50 percent below the rate for its industry.

The local recipients have met the stringent requirements necessary to receive a safety award. Recipients include:

• Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Davie Medical Center (Silver Award, first year)

• Forsyth County Government, Library — Lewisville Branch (Gold Award, first year)

• Goodwill Northwest North Carolina, Clemmons #25 (Gold Award, third consecutive year)

• Bahnson Inc. (Gold Award, sixth consecutive year)

• Bahnson Inc. (Million-Hour Award, Sept. 1, 2016 through Dec. 31, 2017)