CONTRIBUTED

Energy is getting more and more expensive, and fossil fuel resources are used at a fast rate. Everyone has heard of "alternate energy," but what are the positives and negatives of various energy sources?

North Carolina Senate Bill 3 provides subsidies for alternative energy -- solar, wind, hydro, and animal waste, etc.

Fibrowatt, an alternate provider of energy using chicken waste, has approached Robbins to locate there.

How does alternate energy get on the "energy grid," and what is the "grid" anyway?

Eventually 12.5 percent of power has to come from alternate sources. Are there any possible emissions or by-products and are they easy to tolerate?

Hopefully, some of these questions will be answered by a panel at the March 18 luncheon meeting of the League of Women Voters of Moore County. The topic will be "Alternate Energy Resources in Moore County." The panelists include: Mickey R. Brown, a former mayor of Robbins, Andy Honeycutt of Progress Energy and Dr. Paul Nicholas, a retired chemist.

Mickey R. Brown was born in Pinehurst and is a longtime resident of Robbins. He graduated from North Moore High School and Central Carolina Technical College. He was the mayor of Robbins for 12 years, and a Robbins Town Board member for two years. He is a trustee of Sandhills Community College and a board member of FirstHealth Regional Health Services.

Brown is currently the C.E.O. of Thigpen and Jenkins, LLP, Attorney at Law. He received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine from Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. He is married to Penny Brady Brown; they have three children.

Andy Honeycutt was born in Clinton, and moved with his family to Aberdeen in 1977. Following graduation from Pinecrest High School in 1987, Honeycutt attended Appalachian State University, where he received a bachelor's degree in public administration with a concentration in town, city and county management. He began his career in municipal management in 1991, as assistant to the Town of Troy manager, and then as town manager for the towns of Woodfin, Burgaw and Wrightsville Beach.

In late 2002, Progress Energy offered him the position of community relations manager, working out of Aberdeen and serving the communities of 10 counties in central North Carolina. Honeycutt has been a member or served on various boards, chambers, commissions and education foundations.

He was recognized by Rotary District 7730 in '99-2000 as President of the Year and selected as Wrightsville Beach's Person of the Year in 2002. He and his wife, Donna, have been married for 12 years. They have two daughters and reside in Pinehurst.

Dr. Paul E. Nicholas received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Muhlenberg College (Allentown, Pa.) in 1965 and his doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Maryland in 1978. He spent nearly 28 years working for the U.S. Customs Service, Office of Information and Technology, in Washington, D.C.

During that time, Nicholas and the teams of scientists that he supervised developed methods for the chemical and physical analysis of a wide variety of commodities being imported into the United States. His last four years at Customs were focused on the research, development and evaluation of physics-based techniques for detecting hidden narcotics and explosives. Nicholas retired in April 2003 and now resides in Seven Lakes with his wife, Jo.

The March League luncheon meeting is open to the public at the Longleaf Country Club, off of Midland Road in Southern Pines. Registration starts at 11:15; the meeting will start at 11:30.

Interested people can reserve by calling Charlotte Gallagher, at (910) 944-9611 no later than March 14. The cost is $12 each, payable by check made out to the LWVMC.

"As the lunch is catered, to avoid being billed, the cancellation deadline is March 15," says a spokesman.