Everett's folks still live right there in that big old white farm house, and he's been farming tobacco on these acres since he was strong enough to wave a tobacco stick around and actually be dangerous with it. Right now, they're lopping off the tops of some tobacco seedlings with a suspended mower on a track, to "make the plants hardy" before putting them in the ground to fare for themselves. Everett makes note that he recently spent the exorbitant price of $234 a ton for fertilizer and...

High resolution and fast scanning speed provide accurate air permeability profiles leading to better control of paper and board properties important to the end user. The accurate porosity profile measurement provides valuable information of refining, wet end, press and calender operations that affect coating pick-up and printability in addition to the key properties for sack, filter and cigarette paper applications. Six new modules not only keep the promise but also continue to put the...

North Carolina's manufacturing sector has taken a beating in the past decade as cheaper competition forced restructuring that threw thousands out of work. Furniture builders, cigarette makers and textile mills have survived and prospered through automation and innovation. The companies represent a small fraction of the state's manufacturers, most of which are small and privately held, but they symbolize an overhaul that's reshaping the industry. Reynolds Tobacco's plant in Tobaccoville,...

Bars owners across the state have teamed up to fight the ban and need 402 thousand signatures to place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot. Since the ban took effect they've had to close one of their biggest money makers--bingo because the people just haven't been coming. Bar owners are launching a petition drive in hopes of rolling back part of the state's smoking ban. Voters approved the ban back in November, but many area businesses are fighting it because they say the law...

Cigarettes, cigars and pipe smoke contain more than 4,000 dangerous chemicals, many of which are known to cause cancer. The campaign includes a public service announcement that will run on major media outlets, as well as a supplement in major newspapers urging Canadians to improve their lives by butting out. What's more, every puff a smoker takes releases these chemicals into the air and seeps into the hair, clothing and lungs of those around them. Smoking is also the main preventable...