COVID-19 Vaccinations Update: Appointments Filled for Current Supply

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The Warren County Health Department has filled the COVID-19 appointment schedules based on current available supply of the vaccine. The public is asked to call the Warren County Health Department at 252-257-1185 after February 8, 2021 to check on the vaccine availability in Warren County at the Health Department.

If you already have an appointment scheduled to get your shot at the Warren County Health Department, you need to come at your scheduled time. If you do not have an appointment, but you have provided the Health Department with you name and contact information, you are on a waitlist and will be called when new appointments become available. The Health Department will inform the public as soon as additional vaccination clinics are scheduled.

Warren County residents can contact other local vaccine providers such as neighboring hospitals (Maria Parham, Granville Health Systems, etc.), health departments in other counties, and physician practices to see if appointments are available. You do not have to get your vaccine in your county of residence.

To help protect each other, our neighbors, families and loved ones, please continue to practice the 3Ws – wear a face covering, wait at least 6 feet apart from others and wash your hands frequently. These actions will help us to continue to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Warren County and save lives.

(Warren County Health Department Press Release)

Volunteers Needed for Vance County Teen Court

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Teen Court Club Volunteers – Henderson-Vance Recreation & Parks Department’s Youth Services Unit is looking for adult volunteers and youth volunteers ages 14-18 for Teen Court Club.  Teen Court Club is a group of youth volunteers that are trained under adult supervision to perform several duties during the Teen Court process. Youth volunteers serve as Defense Attorneys, Prosecutors, Bailiffs, Clerks and Jury Members.   Adult volunteer roles include Jury Facilitator, Court Room Monitor, Attorney Coach, Teen Court Trainer or Guest Speaker.  For more information, please contact Jaleel Johnson at 252.431.6099 (jjohnson@ci.henderson.nc.us).

— submitted by Tara Goolsby, Henderson-Vance Recreation and Parks Program Superintendent

Wheeler honored for leadership at VGCC

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Cecilia Wheeler, the Dean of Arts and Sciences at Vance-Granville Community College, recently received the President’s Excellence in Leadership Award, presented by the college president, Dr. Rachel Desmarais.

This honor is one of VGCC’s three Glen Raven Excellence in Teaching and Leadership Awards. Glen Raven, Inc., the custom fabrics manufacturer with a facility in Warren County, is a longtime partner and supporter of the college. In addition to sponsoring annual stipends to recognize excellence among VGCC instructors and staff members, Glen Raven has endowed several scholarships for students.

“Dean Wheeler is an exceptional leader for our School of Arts and Sciences, the largest division within credit instruction at VGCC,” Dr. Desmarais said. “She brings a flexible strength to her leadership position. She is known as a ‘problem-solver’ to students and a project leader to her colleagues. Dean Wheeler exemplifies bridge-building, truth-telling, dedication to the College mission, and true humility.”

A resident of Oxford, Wheeler has worked at VGCC for more than 30 years. She joined the college as assistant coordinator for VGCC’s South Campus in Granville County in 1989. In later years, she served as leader for that campus, as, progressively, its coordinator, director and dean. In 2018, Wheeler assumed her current role, in which she leads more than 40 full-time and adjunct faculty members in eight curriculum programs, offered on all four of VGCC’s campuses. For many years, she was an adjunct instructor herself, teaching courses such as American History and Southern Culture.

Wheeler holds a master’s degree in History from Appalachian State University and a bachelor’s degree in History from Mars Hill College. She is also a graduate of the N.C. Community College System Leadership Institute, conducted at N.C. State University.

Wheeler is also the current president of the Granville County Chamber of Commerce board of directors.

“I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this award,” Wheeler said. “I am very fortunate to work with very talented and dedicated faculty, staff and colleagues to help our students achieve their dreams and our communities to grow.”

VGCC Press Release

Cooperative Extension with Jamon Glover 01-21-21 – Giving Back

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Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 2 PM Monday – Thursday.

Coach's Corner Logo

SportsTalk 1-21-21 Cameron Stancil, Player Of The Week

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Hosts Trey Snide and Ron Noel speak with Cameron Stancil of Vance Charter School who received last week’s WIZS Player of the Week award. Stancil says that more playing time as been a benefit to her this season and said “I’m always playing a sport but with Covid, we didn’t do much.” Stancil has been averaging 17 points a game during her sophomore season.

For complete details and full audio click play.

 

Local News Audio

WIZS Local News Audio 1-21-21 Noon

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Click to Listen to Local News Audio.

WIZS Your Community Voice — 100.1 FM / 1450 AM

PRESENTED IN PART BY OUR SPONSOR DRAKE DENTISTRY

Fire Safety; Fire Budget; New Henderson Fire Station

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The airwaves these days may be filled with news of COVID-19 vaccinations, politics and the economy, which means more mundane topics such as fire safety can get pushed out of the spotlight. But Henderson City Fire Chief Steve Cordell urges everyone to continue to be mindful of potential fire hazards, especially during the cold winter months.

Be careful with any supplemental heat source, Cordell said in an interview on Wednesday. Make sure that they are UL-approved, and make sure that those space heaters or kerosene heaters have at least a 36-inch clearance on all sides. And please do not use your stove or oven to heat your home, he stressed. “There are programs…to assist you,” Cordell said. “I encourage folks to reach out if you need assistance with heating.”

If your smoke detector is making that annoying chirp that indicates it needs a new battery, he said, there is help for that, too. “We tell people to give their battery a birthday,” Cordell said. Change the battery every six months, such as when the time changes in November and in April. “If you have a battery that is bad, that’s what we’re here for,” he noted. At this time, because of COVID-19 restrictions, city residents must schedule an appointment for city fire personnel to come to their home to change that battery or perform a home safety inspection.

Cordell said city residents should call Capt. Lee Edmonds, fire prevention coordinator, at 252.432.5108 or 252.438.7315 to make an appointment.

The pandemic has “really affected our message on the public safety side of our department and education…(and) definitely hindered what we do normally, on a day-to-day basis,” Cordell said, adding that their work with school children is what they may miss most, from reading with kindergartners and being mentors, to playing Dodge Ball or Duck, Duck, Goose with the younger students, he said. “Just seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces, we miss it,” Cordell said. Even the annual fire prevention campaign in the schools looked different in 2020. Instead of going into schools to talk about fire safety, the fire department had to deliver packets of information instead. Cordell said teachers got instructions on how to go over the materials provided.

Fire safety and prevention are priorities for Cordell and his staff, which has grown by 6 in the last year. The city budget allowed for 6 additional staff for the city fire department, which Cordell said came about after completion in 2020 of a study to assess needs. Those six additional hires allowed, for the first time ever, his department to fully staff two engines and a ladder company.

He is currently compiling budget information to present to the city manager and the city council that he hopes will result in progress toward the addition of a third fire station situated on the west side of the city. A third station “will give us better response time. We are providing great coverage throughout the city,” he said, but noted that there is “major growth” on the west side of Henderson. “When things start developing, you have to prepare for that in all aspects,” Cordell added, from sanitation to street maintenance to water and sewer and public safety, including, of course, fire departments.

The city fire department is staffed at sufficient levels during the pandemic, and Cordell said he has had his first dose of the vaccine. “We’re doing our very best to stay safe on calls and in the station,” he said. He encourages everyone in the community to be vaccinated, his fellow firefighters included. “Our job as first responders is to take care of the public,” he said.

Facts That Say A Lot From Health Director Lisa Harrison

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Of the many wonderful tasks that Granville Vance District Health Director Lisa Harrison has worked towards in recent months, one of them has been solid communication.

For example, an email January 19th from Harrison that contained bullet points that tell a story about what is going on right now.

  • There are 15 super-dedicated nurses working for Granville Vance Public Health across the district in both COVID-19 Communicable Disease Response and Vaccine Distribution Efforts.
  • (January 19th) alone, there were more than 13,000 calls to the vaccine hotline at Granville Vance Public Health.
  • We receive approximately 700 doses of (first dose) vaccine a week across the district – we only know the number of vaccines that will be shipped for the following week a few days in advance and we restrict our appointments to meet our vaccine allocation.
  • More than 2,500 vaccines have been given by our staff so far in the first four weeks.
  • Of the 100,000 population we serve in these two counties, there are a total of 17,265 people who are 65 years old and older across our health district – 7,746 in Vance and 9,519 in Granville.
  • We have 2 hospital partners across the district and are impressed by the work of Granville Health Systems and Maria Parham Health as we work together to serve our communities and get this important work accomplished – many thanks to their efforts and people too

Also, we quote Harrison as she wrote, “Second dose appointments will be added beginning this week so we will be doubling up our distribution capacity to keep going with first doses, and add in second doses of vaccine for people too – that’s the main reason for a slower start the first few weeks… we have to leave room in the schedule to add those second doses in and… here they come.”

Franklin County’s New Assistant County Manager Will Doerfer

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— press release

Franklin County, January 20, 2021: Franklin County has selected William “Will” Doerfer as Assistant County Manager. Mr. Doerfer comes to Franklin from the Town of Liberty in Randolph County, North Carolina where he served as Manager since November 2017. While in Liberty, Mr. Doerfer led the effort to secure more than five million dollars in infrastructure grants to improve the Town’s wastewater collection system. He also organized and spearheaded economic development efforts to revitalize historic downtown Liberty through the formation of a nonprofit corporation, Experience Liberty.

Among his duties as Assistant County Manager, Mr. Doerfer will provide direct supervision to departments as assigned, serve as lead on assigned projects, conduct budget research and development, assist in the development and implementation of policies, long-term planning and serve as Manager in the absence of the County Manager. He will assume his role effective February 15, 2021.

Mr. Doerfer is an Army 82nd Airborne veteran and alumni of both Guilford College and Appalachian State University where he earned his BA in Psychology and Masters of Public Administration, respectively. He is active in professional organizations including the International City / County Management Association (ICMA) and the North Carolina City & County Management Association (NCCCMA).

Mr. Doerfer was raised on a small family farm in rural Northeast Ohio where he learned the value of hard work and determination. A lifelong organized sports participant, he understands the importance of teamwork in the pursuit of a common goal. Mr. Doerfer brings with him his young family with wife Chelsea and sons Wesley (12), Liam (3), and Miles (4 months) and two dogs Ellie and Rigby.

“Mr. Doerfer’s experience and education will be an asset to Franklin County. I am delighted to have him join our leadership team,” County Manager Kim Denton said.

For additional information, please contact Kim Denton, Franklin County Manager, at (919) 496-5994.

Granville County Board of Education Academic Subcommittee Meeting Thursday, January 21

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— press release

The Granville County Board of Education Academic Subcommittee will meet virtually on Thursday, January 21, 2021, at 1:00 p.m.   The purpose of the meeting is to review the NCDPI 5-year Facility Needs Survey which was completed and submitted on January 8.  For more information or a link to the virtual meeting, please contact Dr. Stan Winborne, Assistant Superintendent of Operations and Human Resources at winborne@gcs.k12.nc.us or Mrs. Alston Shave at shavea@gcs.k12.nc.us to receive a link to the meeting.