True Bill of Indictment Returned for Ellington Murder

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True Bill of Indictment Returned for Ellington Murder

A grand jury returned a true bill of indictment for Kevin Burton Munn with 1st degree murder listed as one of the offenses.  The indictment is dated April 16, 2018.

Jurors for the State of North Carolina presented that on or about October 2, 2017 in Vance County the defendant unlawfully, willfully and feloniously did of malice aforethought did kill and murder James Thomas Ellington, Jr.

Munn is listed as a white male born in 1987.

A second offense listed was for robbery with dangerous weapon.  Jurors presented that on or about October 2, 2017 in Vance County the defendant unlawfully, willfully and feloniously did steal, take, and carry away another’s personal property, the wallet and keys of James Thomas Ellington, Jr., of the value of $75, from the presence of Ellington.  The defendant committed this act having in possession and with the use and threatened use of firearm, a shotgun, wherby the life of Ellington was endangered and threatened.

A second true bill of indictment for Kevin Burton Munn was also returned dated April 16, 2018.  The offenses listed include break and/or enter and felony larceny.

Jurors presented that on or about September 11, 2017 in Vance County the defendant unlawfully, willfully and feloniously did break and enter a building occupied by James Thomas and Cheryl Ellington used as a residence located on Stewart Farm Road, Henderson, NC with the intent to commit a felony therein.

Jurors presented also that on or about September 11, 2017 in Vance County the defendant unlawfully, willfully and feloniously did steal, take and carry away purse, wallet and contents the personal property of Cheryl Ellington, such property having a value of $1,500.00.

The investigation is ongoing.

In an earlier and separate report listed on wizs.com and in other media, an order for arrest was issued (click here) for Kevin Munn, where he is accused in the death of Nancy Alford, with the incident having occurred in Warren County.

Defendants are presumed innocent until determined otherwise in a court of law.

Consolidated Schools Named; Principals Named

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— information obtained by press release from Vance County Schools

The Vance County Board of Education has approved naming the newly combined middle and high schools for the 2018-2019 school year Vance County Middle School and Vance County High School.

The board members took the action during their regular monthly meeting held on Monday, April 16.

Also at the meeting, the board approved Rey Horner as the principal for the new Vance County High School and Heddie Somerville as the principal for the new Vance County Middle School for the 2018-2019 school year.

Horner currently serves as the principal of Southern Vance High School and Somerville is the principal of Pinkston Street Elementary School.

Horner has worked with Vance County Schools since August of 1997 when he began work as a science teacher at Southern Vance High School. He served as a teacher at the school until he was named an assistant principal/lead teacher in August of 2012. Horner became principal of the new STEM Early High School in July of 2014 when the school was located on the campus of Northern Vance High School. He remained in that position until becoming the Southern Vance principal in January of 2017. Horner was a finalist for the district’s Principal of the Year award for the 2017-2018 school year.

Somerville has worked in the school system since August of 1994. She began her career as a fifth-grade teacher at Pinkston Street Elementary School. She also became a lead teacher at the school in July of 2004. Somerville became the assistant principal at Pinkston Street Elementary School in November of 2011. She also has served as an interim principal at Pinkston Street Elementary. She became the principal of the school in July of 2012. In 2015-2016, Somerville was selected as the Vance County Schools Principal of the Year.

Horner and Somerville will now lead efforts to establish the new schools. They will be working collaboratively with their staffs to develop comprehensive school programs.

“I am excited that we have such talented leaders who are proven educational leaders at successful schools,” said Superintendent Anthony Jackson. “I’m extremely excited about the future of our new Vance County Middle School and Vance County High School.”

Vance County Middle School will be housed in the facility currently known as Northern Vance High School and will serve students who now attend Eaton-Johnson and Henderson middle schools.

Vance County High School will be located in the building now known as Southern Vance High School and will serve students who now attend Northern Vance and Southern Vance high schools.

Operations at all 10 of the district’s elementary schools will be unchanged for the new school year. The STEM Early High School will continue to serve students in grades 6-8 on the current campus of Southern Vance High. The Vance County Early College High School will remain in operation on the campus of Vance-Granville Community College near Henderson and the district’s alternative school, AdVance Academy, will remain in operation next door to the current Henderson Middle School on Charles Street in Henderson.

With combining the middle schools and high schools next school year, the Eaton-Johnson and Henderson middle school buildings will no longer be used by the school system.

Board members took action in naming the schools following a presentation by Superintendent Anthony Jackson who proposed several names for the new schools. Among the potential names offered for the middle school were: Vance Henderson, Vance Central, Vance Community and Vance County Preparatory. These names also were proposed for the high school in addition to Henderson High and Henderson Preparatory.

(The above information is a blending of two press releases written by Terri Hedrick, Public Information Officer, with Vance County Schools.)

$400K from Golden Leaf Foundation to VCS for Technology

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— Vance County Schools press release

Mark Sorrells, senior vice president of the Golden Leaf Foundation, presented Darlynn Oxendine, chairwoman of the Vance County Board of Education, and Superintendent Anthony Jackson with a check for $400,000 in grant allocations to fund technological innovations for students at the board’s meeting on April 16.

Jordan McMillen, county manager for Vance County, also participated in the presentation.

The grant funding from the foundation will be used to equip zSpace laboratories in our middle and high schools for the 2018-2019 school year.

The zSpace STEM Learning Initiative represents a new direction for instructional delivery and academic outcomes for the students in Vance County. This initiative will systematically and intentionally embed the technical and essential skills into our instructional programs to ensure student readiness for the local, regional and global workforce.

This funding will support the establishment of 24-30 digital student-learning stations in the middle school and high school, as well as 12-15 digital stations at the STEM Early High School.

Mark Sorrells, senior vice president of the Golden Leaf Foundation, far left, presents a large replica of the $400,000 grant check for Vance County Schools for technological innovations to, from left, Superintendent Anthony Jackson, Board of Education Chairperson Darlynn Oxendine and Vance County Manager Jordan McMillen.

Teachers will be trained on specific skills to utilize virtual reality technology in the delivery of their individual content areas. Wikis, blogs and an e-lesson repository will be constructed to allow teachers to share and collaborate as they train and implement new strategies. Business and industry partners will engage with our Career and Technical Education program teachers to develop a functional profile of the worker needed to support their industry. These skills and attributes will be embedded in the core competencies and outcomes of each learning module. Students will have direct interaction with virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) software to enhance their level of knowledge, understanding and application of science, career and technology course work.

“This partnership with Golden Leaf represents a game-changing opportunity for our schools, our students and most of all our community,” said Superintendent Anthony Jackson. “Implementation of the zSpace technology, along with the high quality professional development and support from our partners at the Friday Institute, will ensure our students are both future ready and workforce prepared. Once this project is fully implemented, Vance County will have the largest and most robust deployment of this cutting-edge technology in the state and potentially the country. We are indeed fortunate. I would like to thank the Golden Leaf Foundation, the Board of Education and especially our County Administrator and Board of County Commissioners for their support of this initiative.”

“Using artificial intelligence and virtual reality is a major part of the world of work today,” said Dr. Cindy Bennett, assistant superintendent for Student Support Services and Strategic Planning. “Students in Vance County Schools deserve the opportunity to experience firsthand the world today and the possibilities of tomorrow.”

Franklin County Logo

Franklin County Solid Waste Facilities to Close May 28th for Maintenance

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— press release from Franklin County Government

Franklin County Solid Waste Facilities to Close May 28th for Maintenance

State Required Maintenance will close transfer station and convenience centers

Franklin County’s Solid Waste Transfer Station and 12 residential convenience centers will be closed Memorial Day, Monday, May 28, 2018 to perform State of North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality required maintenance and safety improvements inside the transfer station and its disposal tipping floor. Franklin County residents and commercial customers of the transfer station are encouraged to adjust their disposal plans in the days leading up to the one-day closure to avoid any inconveniences.

According to Brian Haynesworth, Franklin County’s Solid Waste Director, “It can be challenging to find a window of opportunity to perform two consecutive days of required maintenance and safety improvements at a busy facility such as ours and minimize disruption of disposal services for residents and the commercial customers. By choosing to close the transfer station on Memorial Day, we selected a day that normally has a significantly reduced number of customers because of holiday events or out of town travel as opposed to a non-holiday where more customers would be inconvenienced.”

Solid waste facilities are open with abbreviated operating hours at the transfer station but normal operating hours at the residential convenience centers on most holidays with the exception of Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.

The transfer station’s operating hours for the Memorial Day Holiday weekend will be as follows: Friday, May 25 – 7am to 3:30pm; Saturday, May 26 – 7am to 1pm; Sunday, May 27 and Monday, May 28 – Closed. The convenience centers’ operating hours for the same period are: Friday, May 25 – 7am to 7pm; Saturday, May 26 – 7am to 7pm; Sunday, May 27 and Monday, May 28 – Closed.

For more information about the schedule change or Franklin County’s solid waste management, recycling and waste reduction programs, please visit https://www.franklincountync.us/recycles or contact the Solid Waste Information Line at 919-496-5002.

Vance County Schools 04/16/18

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Town Talk 04/17/18

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NC Coop Extension

Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland 04/17/18

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News 04/17/18

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MADD’S HIGHEST HONORS TO TROOP C DISTRICT 4

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— submitted by Lorraine Watkins, MADD President

MADD’S HIGHEST HONORS BESTOWED
ON NC HIGHWAY PATROL
TROOP C DISTRICT 4

MADD’S 2017 Annual Awards Banquet was held Thursday, April 5th in Cary, North Carolina. Vance, Franklin and Warren counties “Troop C District 4,” led by 1st Sergeant Jeff Rowan, had three troopers to receive the highest honors for the number of arrests made for keeping our highways safe from drunk and impaired drivers. Flanked by the Governor’s Highway Safety Program Director Mark Ezzell, Col. Glen M. McNeill, State Highway Patrol Commander, a judge, district attorneys, lawyers as well as state police officers, sheriff’s and deputies and other state highway patrol officers, the “2017 Enforcer Award” was presented to three of our troopers: Trooper Joseph Thomas, 154 arrests; Trooper Joshua Southerland, 128 arrests; and Trooper Eugene Burrell, 122 arrests. These troopers will tell you it’s not about numbers but saving innocent lives from being ripped from families by senseless acts of an impaired individuals. Our sincere congratulations to all three of these deserving men for a job well-done.

The final highlight of the evening was the presentation of the “Trooper Brandon Peterson Hero Award.” This first-time award was in memory of Trooper Peterson who lost his life in 2017. 1st Sergeant Rowan and his troopers were the recipients of this prestigious award representing the sincere heartfelt compassion of an officer and his team during difficult times for the family of a lost one as well as the perpetrator.

It is very humbling for MADD of Henderson, as young as we are as an organization, to have the honor of such caring troopers at our fingertips. Thank you, 1st Sgt. Rowan, for your sincere dedication and compassion, as well as that of your troopers. It is an honor for me and our team of volunteers to initiate this program, to support you, your men and all law enforcement officers in our city and county that selflessly make the effort to keep our travels safe.

MPH Volunteer Services April Fundraiser

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— submitted by Lisa Radford, MPH volunteer coordinator

Volunteer Services of Maria Parham Health announce their April fundraiser. The Masquerade Sale, where everything is $5.00, will be in the JT Church Classroom Wed. April, 18 (7am-4pm) and Thursday, April 19 (7am-2pm). Necklaces, bracelets, ear rings, rings, scarves, watches, bags and so much more. Come check it out. Something for everyone…come experience the FRENZY!

(This is not a paid advertisement.  However, Maria Parham Health is an advertising client of WIZS Radio and WIZS.com.)