Susie C. Spear
Low-head dams, such as the 8-foot-high structure at Duke Energyâs Dan River Steam Station, are a threat to public safety, claiming nearly 50 lives nationwide each year, say civil engineers and dam safety advocates.
Their aim: to educate the public about the hazards of low-head dams and convince dam owners to rehabilitate the structures.
On June 16, nine members of an Eden family set out on the Dan River in tubes for a two-hour float that turned deadly when the group went over the Duke Energy dam.
Four survived, and rescue teams worked for five days to recover the bodies of four of five missing tubers, including a 7-year-old boy. The search for Teresa Villano, 35, continued this past week near Draper Landing along the Dan River along N.C. 700.
Three bodies found in Dan River, two still missing after raft goes over dam in N C roanoke.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from roanoke.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Susie C. Spear
EDEN â Hundreds of Rockingham County residents are piercing their lawns with signs that read Bring Back Dr. S Â â a show of support for recently ousted Rockingham County Schools Superintendent Rodney Shotwell.
And a grassroots coalition of parents, teachers and members of the local NAACP chapter and county Democratic Party have launched a movement with protests and a 1,500-signature petition calling for the longtime district head s reinstatement. The students are shocked. The parents are outraged. The teachers are stunned and their morale has dropped, said Mary ED Ryan, a mother of a 16-year-old Rockingham Early College High School student who spoke at a Wednesday demonstration in Reidsville in support of Shotwell.