Tag Archive for: #vancecountynews

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VGCC Foundation Hosts Holiday Tree Online Silent Auction

-information courtesy of VGCC Public Information Officer Courtney Cissel

The Vance Granville Community College Foundation is helping the community get into the holiday spirit with a Festival of Trees Online Silent Auction. Bids will be accepted Nov. 12-19 for the pre-decorated holiday trees, according to information from VGCC Public Information Officer Courtney Cissel.

All fundraiser proceeds will benefit the VGCC Foundation and to help provide scholarships, financial assistance and more to VGCC students.

The trees will be on display in the VGCC Main Campus Civic Center in Henderson from Nov. 13-17 between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Access photos of each tree on the VGCC Facebook Event page.

Winning bidders should pick their trees up by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 21.

Access the auction here: www.vgcc.edu/festival-of-trees.

In addition to student support, the Foundation supports a broad range of special projects involving education, training and economic development in the community. Tax-deductible donations to VGCCF have often been used to honor a person, group, business or industry with a lasting gift to education. For more information about the Festival of Trees auction or the VGCC Foundation, contact VGCCF at foundation@vgcc.edu or 252.431.5913.

 

 

The Salvation Army Launches Red Kettle Campaign In Henderson

Those familiar donation kettles are getting set up and ready for the holiday season in Henderson as the Salvation Army kicked off the Red Kettle Campaign Thursday morning in front of Belk department store.

This year’s goal is $75,000, but placing spare change and bills into the iconic kettles is just one way to contribute – The Salvation Army has QR codes and online donation sites available to make donating as quick as a couple of clicks of the computer, phone or tablet, according to information from Capts. Josh and Amanda Keaton.

The Red Kettle Campaign is The Salvation Army’s primary fundraiser each year, which helps to provide programming, food assistance, shelter, disaster response and more to those in need.

Volunteers are needed to ring the bell at each kettle location.

“We have integrated Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Venmo into donation options at the Red Kettle,” said Capt. Josh Keaton. “Fewer people carry cash these days and prefer the convenience of using their smartphones for giving. This technology simplifies the donation process and encourages people to contribute to The Salvation Army during Christmas and beyond!” he said.

Across the United States, the Red Kettle campaign raises millions of dollars during the holiday season each year to provide help to families that need support with basic needs – from ultility bills or food assistance.

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VGCC To Offer Students Access To Virtual Textbooks, Course Materials Beginning Spring 2024

-information courtesy of VGCC Public Information Officer Courtney Cissel

Vance-Granville Community College is making course materials more affordable and accessible for students. November 3 the college announced the launch of the new VGCC Textbook+ initiative, which lowers the cost of learning materials through a partnership with textbook publisher Cengage. Beginning in the spring 2024 semester, students will be able to access digital Cengage course materials through the Moodle platform starting on the first day of class.

“With textbook prices rising every year, VGCC wants to help students with the cost as much as possible,” said Dr. Kim Sepich, vice president of Learning, Student Engagement & Success at Vance-Granville. “We want our students to have what they need as quickly and as economically as possible, and VGCC Textbook+ makes this happen.”

VGCC’s Textbook+ initiative provides Cengage Unlimited Institutional subscriptions to students, which allows first-day access to a virtual library of thousands of e-books, online learning platforms and study materials covering hundreds of college-level subject areas in one place at a single price. Vance-Granville is helping its students save hundreds of dollars per semester on textbooks and course materials with the addition of the Cengage Unlimited Institutional program.

“Cengage has made a significant commitment to lowering course materials costs for students,” said Edwin Robles, senior vice president and general manager of U.S. Higher Education and Canada at Cengage. “Vance-Granville Community College shares this commitment. Working together, we will support VGCC students by making education more affordable and accessible for all.”

Since its August 2018 launch, Cengage Unlimited has helped more than 5.2 million students save nearly $630 million on the cost of course materials, with $230 million of that savings coming directly from institutional partnerships. For more information on institutional partnerships for Cengage Unlimited, visit www.cengage.com/institutions.

 

 

Oak Level UCC Hosts Community Program Saturday

Oak Level United Church of Christ in Manson is hosting a program on Saturday, Nov. 11 for the community to come out and learn about how to help young people stay safe from gangs, drugs and gun violence.

It’s called “Around the Table – Substance in the Community,” and Rayenna Wimbush said the two-hour event is free to attend and will begin at 10 a.m.

Guest speaker is Debbie Scott, who will share strategies to help those struggling with addiction, as well as identifying gangs in the community and putting a stop to gun violence.

Plan to be entertained with song, praise dance and more, Wimbush said.

Refreshments will be served.

The church is located at 5631 Jacksontown Rd., Manson.

Maria Parham Gets Another “A” Grade From Leapfrog For Patient Safety

-information courtesy of MPH Marketing & Communication Coordinator Donna Young

 

Maria Parham Health has received a third consecutive “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit upholding the standard of patient safety in hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. This national distinction celebrates Maria Parham Health’s achievements in prioritizing patient safety by protecting patients from preventable harm and errors.

“Maria Parham Health is proud to offer our community and region ‘A’ level care for the third consecutive review period,” said Bert Beard, Maria Parham Health CEO. “We feel it speaks to our commitment to excellence in the services we offer, and is a testament to the engagement of our team of caregivers.”

The Leapfrog Group, an independent national watchdog organization, assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” or “F” grade to general hospitals across the country based on more than 30 national performance measures reflecting errors, accidents, injuries and infections, as well as the systems hospitals have in place to prevent harm.

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospital prevention of medical errors and harm to patients. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.

To see Maria Parham Health’s full grade details and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit  https://www.leapfroggroup.org/  on Twitter, Facebook and via its newsletter.

 

 

Mayoral Runoff Election Tomorrow, Along With Kittrell, Middleburg Contests

Close to 2,000 Henderson residents voted during the early-voting period for tomorrow’s mayoral runoff election between Melissa Elliott and Greg Etheridge.

If you were NOT one of the 1,940 who has already voted in the runoff election, Election Day is tomorrow – Tuesday, Nov. 7. The polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.

Registered voters should be prepared to show a photo ID.

And we’ve done the math for you: 9,358 registered voters in Henderson minus the 1,940 who cast their votes early leaves 7,418 potential ballots to be cast in the 13-hour election day window across the city’s precincts.

Voters will cast ballots in the towns of Kittrell and Middleburg Tuesday, as well, said Vance County Board of Elections Director Jennifer Cocklin.

In Kittrell, incumbent Jerry C. Joyner is seeking another term as mayor and is running unopposed. The three candidates running for Town Council, also incumbents, are Mary Jo Floyd, Susan Pulley and Robert Tunstall.

Middleburg Mayor Ray Bullock is running unopposed for another two-year term, Cocklin stated. According to a list of candidates on the board of elections website, the candidates for Middleburg town commissioner are Hazel Baskett, Shirley Bullock and Mamie Turner.

Visit https://www.vancecounty.org/departments/board-of-elections/ to learn more.

U.S. DHHS Secretary Xavier Becerra Makes Stop In Henderson To Talk About Health Care In Rural Communities

The secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, made a stop at Medical Arts Pharmacy this afternoon on behalf of his boss – President Joe Biden. Becerra was joined by, among others, Dr. Mandy Cohen, whose reminder during the COVID-19 pandemic to “Wear, Wash, Wait” became second nature for many North Carolinians. Cohen, who during COVID was secretary of the state DHHS, became the new director of the Centers for Disease Control earlier this year.

Chocky White’s pharmacy on Ruin Creek Road provided the backdrop for Becerra and others to talk about access to health care in rural communities and how Medicaid expansion in North Carolina will help to close a gap for those who need access to health care.

In brief remarks to the gathering, Becerra said independent pharmacies like Medical Arts do so much more than dispense medicine. “You’re dispensing love and care and family” to patrons who come in seeking advice and consultation, he said.

Medical Arts is among other pharmacies that participates in the billion-dollar Bridge Access Program that provides COVID-19 vaccines at no cost to people on Medicare, which falls in line with Biden’s pledge to lower prescription drug costs including a $35 cap on monthly insulin for diabetics.

Today’s stop is part of an effort to share with the American public “what we’re trying to do to let rural communities…know that they’re included,” Becerra said. He said the President wants to make sure that, in rural America, you do have access to health care.

And he praised Gov. Roy Cooper’s efforts to get Medicaid expansion in North Carolina, which Becerra said would mean an additional 600,000 on the health care rolls. He said rural communities in states that don’t have Medicaid expansion are 50 percent more likely to lose their rural hospitals.

But it’s not just access to health care, he said. In independent pharmacies like Medical Arts, pharmacists and staff treat clients with respect and dignity.

When White opened Medical Arts in 1971, he was the sole employee in a 600-square-foot space just a short distance from the present location. Now he has five full-time pharmacists, one part-time pharmacist and 27 other employees that work every day to meet the needs of clients across a six-county area.

There are two immunization areas within the pharmacy, and White said folks are welcome to just drop in and get immunized, which surely got Cohen’s attention.

Her persistence in suggesting that North Carolinians stay up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations has been elevated to the national level as CDC director. And now she wants to make sure that everyone get the updated COVID-19 vaccine, influenza and RSV.

“Right now is the right time,” Cohen said. With Thanksgiving just three weeks away, she encourages everyone to be immunized to protect yourself and others.

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VGCC Announces Ramona Cox As New Associate VP Of Student Services

Information courtesy of VGCC Public Information Officer Courtney Cissel

Vance-Granville Community College has announced that Ramona Cox, Ed.D. will join the college as associate vice president of Student Services, with a start date of Nov. 13.

With more than 20 years’ experience in higher education administration and student and academic support services, Cox most recently was dean of Student Affairs at Rio Salado College in Tempe, AZ, according to information from VGCC Public Information Officer Courtney Cissel.

Prior to her role at Rio Salado College, Cox was the executive director for the Department of Defense STARBASE Maxwell program in Alabama. STARBASE is a nationally recognized STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education program for underserved and/or underrepresented student populations across the nation.

Cox has held several senior administrator positions within higher education, including dean of Faculty & Student Services for Florida’s Miami Dade College and division director of Arizona’s Maricopa Center for Learning & Instruction. During her time at Maricopa Community College, she and her team successfully supported the strategic efforts of 10 college presidents, the executive vice chancellor/provost, associate vice chancellor of Student Affairs and division administrators.

Cox previously spent more than a decade working at various North Carolina educational institutions, including the state’s public school and community college systems. In addition, she served as the director of University – K-12 School Partnerships for N.C. Central University and the coordinator of Student Recruitment & Retention for the School of Education at UNC-CH.

Cox holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership & Cultural Foundations from the UNC-Greensboro, as well as a post-master’s certificate in College Teaching & Adult Learning from the same institution. She also holds two master’s degrees, including a Master of Arts in Instruction & Curriculum from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

 

 

 

 

Battalion Chief Doug Owen Retires From Henderson Fire Department With 30+ Years Of Service

It’s been a couple of hours now, probably not long enough for it to really sink in, but as of 3 p.m. today, Battalion Chief Doug Owen is officially retired. Central Fire Station on Dabney Drive was filled with a hundred or more family, colleagues and government officials Tuesday afternoon to wish Owen well as he begins a new chapter of his life.

“I’ve had the best years of my life right here,” Owen said during the ceremony. “I’ve really enjoyed my career.”

Amy Colbert and Fire Chief Tim Twisdale presented Owen with a fireman’s axe to say thank you for the 30-plus years Owen devoted to the fire service.

“Chief Owen has been an asset to our department for more than 20 years,” Twisdale told WIZS News after the ceremony, adding that he was always an effective leader and always brought a good work ethic to the job.

“He expects a lot out of his crew and encourages all of us to do our best” when headed out on calls.

For these reasons, and more, Owen has earned the respect of his peers within the local fire department and across other jurisdictions, Twisdale said.

Owen may be retiring from his full-time fire job, but he told WIZS News that he’s planning to stay part-time. “This is the best career anybody could have,” he reiterated.

“If you’re a fireman, you know that bond,” Owen said. “The brotherhood in the fire service is unreal – unbelievable,” he said. “It becomes a bond you can’t break.”

Four Injured By Gunfire Following Argument Friday Night On East Winder Street

A late-night argument Friday among a group of people resulted in four people being struck by gunfire, and Henderson police are sorting through information to determine just what happened.

The altercation took place about 10:15 p.m. near 328 E. Winder St., according to Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow. The argument escalated quickly, Barrow stated. Three of the four victims sought medical treatment for their injuries.

The victims’ conditions are not known at this time, but Barrow said the following men, all from Henderson, were hit by gunfire: Marcus Hayes, 38; James Davis, 26; Carl Williams, 36; and Tyrese Marshall, 20. Barrow did not specify which three individuals received medical treatment.

The police department’s investigative Division is vigorously working to develop leads and information about the incident, Barrow said. He requests that anyone with information contact  Henderson-Vance Crime Stoppers at 252.492.1925, use the P3 app, contact the police department at 252.438.4141 or contact the police department through Facebook Messenger.