A Moore County Summit task force is reviewing the McGill water study to determine the impact those recommendations might have on the county.

Frank Zamaroni, the new chairman of the task force, said his panel is still in the study stages and has reached no conclusions about future directions. However, the task force is continuing its work on the water situation.

Zamaroni succeeds Mike Fields, who was recently appointed to the Southern Pines Town Council. Zamaroni is a member of the Whispering Pines Village Council.

McGill Associates, an engineering firm with offices in Pinehurst, carried out a comprehensive study of the water situation throughout Moore County. The work was financed under contract with the county and municipalities.

The Summit is a consortium of leaders from the county, municipalities and other entities interested in enhancing the overall community's future.

HEARING -- The Moore County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing on March 16 to consider proposed text amendments to the county zoning ordinance.

The hearing will be held during the board's regular 6 p.m. meeting.

Amendments recommended by the Planning Board pertain to conditional uses and the table of uses defining emergency service facilities and child care facilities. The amendments are the work of the county planning staff.

EFFICIENCY -- The Moore County Government Efficiency Advisory Board will focus on the planning review process at a special meeting called for 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 11.

he board will meet in the commissioners' room upstairs in the historic courthouse in Carthage.

EDWARDS -- Former U.S. Sen. John Edwards' 2004 presidential campaign faces the prospect of a fine from the Federal Election Commission.

According to The Charlotte Observer, the campaign may be ordered to pay more than $170,000 for accepting excessive contributions and for violation of other campaign rules. These findings emerged from a routine audit by the FEC staff.

Such audits are routinely conducted for the campaigns of all candidates accepting public financing. Much of the problem apparently stems from contributions by some donors who exceeded the amount they may legally contribute, including some checks that were never cashed but not returned to donors.

Edwards is a former resident of Moore County. He served one term in the U.S. Senate before mounting the first of two unsuccessful bids for the Democratic presidential nomination. After dropping out in 2004, Sen. John Kerry tapped him as his vice presidential running mate.

Last year, Edwards admitted that he had an affair with a campaign videographer but denied fathering her child. His wife, Elizabeth, who has breast cancer, has written a book about her travails.

COBLE -- The office of Congressman Howard Coble has announced that artwork by a Davidson County high school student will be displayed in the corridors of the national Capitol from June until May of 2010.

She is Deborah Russell of Denton, who is the 6th District winner of the 2009-2010 Congressional Arts Competition. She is a senior at South Davidson and will enter the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in the fall to study studio art and Spanish.

The winning artwork is "Still Life," executed in mixed media of charcoal, marker, oil pastel and colored chalk.

Contact Florence Gilkeson at 947-4962 or by e-mail at florence@thepilot.com.