Seven who will matter in 2007

One's an advocate for the priesthood, another an advocate for better educational opportunities. One legislator looks to be a peacemaker in his party, another to pull together different camps on a Dorothea Dix deal. One is a rising star in technology, another in politics and conservation. Whatever makes news in the coming year, here are seven Triangle residents who will make themselves heard.

Bishop Michael Burbidge, Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh

Roman Catholic Bishop Michael Burbidge has wasted no time since his installation in August. He has celebrated Mass in each of the eight regions in the 54-county diocese stretching from Chatham to Dare counties, and he expects to visit all 33 Catholic schools before long.

He is making his face known to those outside the Roman Catholic fold with 30-second network TV, cable and radio spots inviting people to church. After a hiatus this winter, the TV and radio greetings are to return during the 40-day Lenten season preceding Easter.

But the new bishop's foremost initiative in 2007 will be to increase the number of men entering the priesthood. The Catholic Church has long suffered from a shortage of ordinations, and Burbidge made clear he will work to change that. Shortly after arriving in Raleigh from Philadelphia, he started a monthly hour of prayer for vocations to the priesthood. This Friday, he is refereeing a basketball game between the diocese's seminarians and the basketball teams at Cardinal Gibbons High School and St. Thomas More Academy. During halftime, he will talk about the call to be a priest.

"I told the seminarians, any close call goes against the seminarians," he joked.

At a dinner he is planning with 30 college students early in the new year, he will likely sound the same theme.

"I'm really trying to invite people to learn more about what the priesthood is," said Burbidge, 49. "That's a constant message wherever I go."

(Yonat Shimron)

Dr. Leah Devlin, state health director

Dr. Leah Devlin has been in constant motion since pandemic flu jumped to the top of of the list of state and federal public health priorities. In 2007, she'll try to maintain the state's momentum in planning for a possible outbreak of deadly flu.

No one knows when or even whether a flu pandemic -- a new and virulent flu virus to which humans have no immunity -- will hit. But public health leaders say a flu pandemic is overdue, and they are on high alert because of a fast-moving bird flu virus that has infected wild and domestic fowl in Asia and Europe. That virus is not yet easily contracted by humans, but medical experts fear that it could mutate into a form that is passed easily among people.

"This is the public health issue of our time," Devlin said.

This year, North Carolina and the other states will get a one-time infusion of federal money to prepare for a flu pandemic. Devlin will oversee how North Carolina spends its $8.5 million.

Also on her flu to-do list:

* Securing $13 million in state dollars to buy 840,000 doses of antiviral medication, which would be saved for a possible outbreak.

* Reviewing pandemic flu plans from each of the local public health departments, due March 1.

* Meeting with businesses, particularly utilities, grocery stores and banks, across the state about their strategies to remain open during an outbreak.

"You will see us continue to spend a lot of time on early detection and rapid response," Devlin said. "It's going to be the way we save lives."

(Jean P. Fisher)

The Rev. William Barber II, President, N.C. NAACP