TownTalk: Vance GOP Chair Barrier Planning 9/11 Memorial Event

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So many Americans can remember exactly where they were and what they were doing on that morning almost 20 years ago when the 9/11 attacks occurred.

When Jimmy Barrier realized that there were no local plans to commemorate the 20th anniversary of that fateful day, he wasn’t about to let the day go unnoticed.

Barrier, chairman of the Vance County GOP, has planned a public memorial event on Saturday, Sept. 11 in Henderson to honor those whose lives were lost in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

“It was almost like war,” Barrier told John C. Rose on Thursday’s Town Talk, as he recalled the events of that day in 2001. “It was unfathomable to people – people were horrified by it and didn’t know what was going on.”

Anyone old enough to remember may have similar feelings as Barrier, but for those who may be too young to remember, Barrier said he wants to hear about what they think about the events of 9/11.

The public is invited to attend the event, which will begin at 10 a.m. and should run until about noon. It will be held outside the American Legion hut on Garnett Street and will include music and several different speakers, from local youth to state-level politicians.

Barrier said it’s actually an event for military veterans, firefighters, law enforcement officers and other front-line workers – people in these fields “who right now are the backbone and strength of America.”

— TownTalk Audio, Click Play —

One of the speakers is Will White, a 15-year-old from Henderson. Barrier said it’s important to hear the perspective of someone who wasn’t even alive in 2001.

Although Barrier said he is still working out details of the morning’s agenda, he said local pastor Bruce LeGates will offer an opening prayer, and Stephanie Cole is scheduled to sing the National Anthem. Steve Wilson is set to sing the Lee Greenwood hit “God Bless the U.S.A.” and Ronnie Lassiter, a retired firefighter and Navy veteran also is scheduled to speak.

If his schedule permits, Trey Allen, a UNC law professor and a candidate for the N.C. Supreme Court, will pay a visit to the event, Barrier noted.

And he’s invited Police Chief Marcus Barrow and Vance Sheriff Curtis Brame, as well as members of all the volunteer fire departments to come and have a presence at the event.

WIZS will broadcast the event live.

Sheriff Curtis Brame

Vance Sheriff Brame’s Advice To Avoid Phone Scams: “Don’t Do What I Did”

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When the phone rings, the first reaction many of us have is to anwer the call. These days, however, unless a name pops up on the screen that you recognize, perhaps the best thing to do is – let it ring. You just may avoid getting caught up in a scam.

Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame wishes he had followed the advice that he so often dispensed to others about that very thing; it may have saved him the inconvenience of contacting his bank and associated credit cards.

Brame told John C. Rose in an email Wednesday about getting a call from someone who claimed to be with Duke Energy. The caller said Brame’s electricity would be cut off, “due to delinquency and not paying my bill on time.”

At the time, the sheriff was in a hospital waiting room, and was in a vulnerable state because his wife had just undergone back surgery. “I was worried, concerned, not thinking straight,” Brame wrote in the email to WIZS News. He was waiting to go in and see his wife in recovery, and what he did next is what he tells others all the time NOT to do: He furnished information to that person on the other end of the phone.

The last thing he needed, after being at the hospital with his wife, was to return home to no electricity, he said.

When he was able to get to a computer and access his account online, he realized his mistake. Of course, “I had already paid my bills on time and had a zero balance with Duke Energy,” Brame said.

The worry and concern for his wife in the hospital shifted to Brame being “furious, upset and disturbed” for being a victim of a phone scam.

Now came the hassle of contacting his bank, put it on alert and cancel his cards.

“Please, please, please, don’t do what I did,” Brame said. “They are out there, regardless of who you are.”

— The Local Skinny! Audio, Click Play —

Vance Volunteer Fire Departments Awarded More Than $140,000 Through State Grant Fund

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Six volunteer fire departments in Vance County received grant funding from a state program designed to help smaller departments purchase equipment and make capital improvements.

In addition, two departments that serve Vance and adjoining counties received funding, which brings the total to more than $140,000, according to Vance County Manager Jordan McMillen.

Fire departments send requests each year for funding from the state’s Volunteer Fire Department Fund, which distributes money in the form of grants. The grants must be matched dollar for dollar, up to $30,000.

Here’s a breakdown by department:

  • Bearpond Rural Fire Department, Inc. –  $6,630
  • Cokesbury Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. – $28,530
  • Hicksboro Fire Department – $8,115
  • Kittrell Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. – $29,968.41
  • Townsville Rural Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. – $1,328.60
  • Watkins Community Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. – $30,000

The total amount for the Vance County departments is $104,572.01, but that number climbs to $140,696.74 when grant funding to Epsom Fire Department, serving Vance and Frankin counties, is added ($11,128.12) and grant funding to Drewry, serving Vance and Warren counties, is added ($25,440.50).

Granville County received grants totaling more than $176,000 in the most recent disbursement of funds.

Fire departments in Warren County received $213,576.50 and Franklin County departments were awarded $73,454.55, according to the complete listing from N.C. Department of Insurance.

The Volunteer Fire Department Fund was created to assist North Carolina’s volunteer fire departments with purchasing equipment and making capital expenditures. It is administered through the N.C. Department of Insurance/Office of the State Fire Marshal. Eligible volunteer fire departments must be rated/certified by the N.C. Department of Insurance.

Mike Waters

Deon Patrick Bobbitt Found Guilty of Second-Degree Murder

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— press release from District Attorney Mike Waters

In Granville County Criminal Superior Trial Court during the week of August 9, 2021, Deon Patrick Bobbitt was found guilty of Second-Degree Murder, Aggravated Felony Death by Motor Vehicle, Driving While Impaired, Driving While Licensed Revoked and Careless and Reckless Driving. Mr. Bobbitt received an active sentence of 180 to 228 months in the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Division of Adult Correction (DAC).

On May 30, 2018, Mr. Bobbitt drove the wrong way on I-85 north near mile-marker 202 in Granville County. Multiple witnesses called 911 to report a van driving the wrong way in the northbound lane. Minutes later, Mr. Bobbitt crashed into Curtis Wilkerson, who was operating his car in the left lane of I-85 northbound. It was a head on collision and Mr. Wilkerson was killed. Bobbitt was impaired and not licensed to drive a motor vehicle at the time of the collision. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol investigated the case. The District Attorney’s Office was represented by Assistant District Attorneys Allison Capps and Brent Groce.

Local Departments Get More Than $176,000 From NC Volunteer Fire Department Fund

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There were lots of big checks – literally and monetarily speaking – in Granville County when a couple of state officials stopped by on Monday to leave more than $176,000 in grant funds for 11 local fire departments.

The ceremonial check presentation was held on Aug. 23 at the Granville County Expo and Convention Center, and county commissioners and representatives of the volunteer fire departments were on hand to receive the money from N.C. Insurance Commissioner/State Fire Marshal Mike Causey and Chief State Fire Marshal/Assistant Commissioner Brian Taylor, according to a press statement from Lynn Allred, county public information officer.

The grants ranged from $6,639 to $30,000 and are part of a statewide program that assists more than 500 volunteer fire departments across the state.

According to the statement, each one of the departments received 100 percent of their requests.

Here’s a breakdown by department:

  • Antioch-Fishing Creek Volunteer Fire Department, $11,000
  • Brassfield Volunteer Fire Department, $18,450
  • Bullock Volunteer Fire Department, $30,000
  • Corinth Volunteer Fire Department, $6,639.31
  • Cornwall Volunteer Fire Department, $15,927
  • Creedmoor Volunteer Fire Department, $24,737.50
  • Granville Rural Fire Department, $15,568.50
  • Providence Community Fire Department, $8,629.12
  • Stem Community Fire Department and EMS, $11,471.46
  • Total Community Fire Department of Berea, $10,454
  • Virgilina Volunteer Fire Association, $23,608.37

The Volunteer Fire Department Fund was created to assist North Carolina’s volunteer fire departments with purchasing equipment and making capital expenditures. It is administered through the N.C. Department of Insurance/Office of the State Fire Marshal. Fire departments approved for funding are required to provide a dollar-for-dollar match, up to $30,000. Eligible volunteer fire departments must be rated/certified by the N.C. Department of Insurance.

Two paid fire departments and 12 volunteer departments serve Granville County. Each department maintains and provides 24-hour fire protection services.

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TownTalk: Parolees and those on Probation Can Register to Vote in NC

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DEVELOPING…

State and local boards of elections are bound to comply with a court order issued Monday that restores voting privileges to convicted felons who are no longer incarcerated but are still on parole or probation.

Patrick Gannon, public information director for the N.C. Board of Elections told WIZS News Wednesday, “We are required to comply with court orders, so those who are (on) probation, parole, or post-release supervision are able to re-register to vote at this time.”

If the ruling stands, more than 55,000 people in North Carolina would be allowed to re-register to vote, Gannon noted. A three-judge panel of Wake County Superior Court entered a preliminary injunction Monday to restore voting rights to all North Carolinians on felony probation, parole or post-release supervision.

The ruling stems from a lawsuit Community Success Initiative v. Moore, which claimed that convicted felons who were no longer incarcerated but still on parole or probation, were unfairly denied restoration of their right to vote. Previously, convicted felons no longer in jail or prison were not allowed to register to vote if they were still on parole or probation.

Gannon said state elections board attorneys are reviewing the decision.

“If a court were to reverse the preliminary injunction, we would need to work with the department of public safety to update the felon data that we receive,” Gannon said.

It would fall to county boards of elections to perform regular list maintenance to remove ineligible voters.

Boards of elections and the department of public safety have regular voter roll list maintenance and automated checks of new registrants, Gannon said.

He said elections officials do not keep numbers of felon voters by county, so it is unclear just how many potential felon voters reside in the four-county area.

Melody Vaughan, deputy director of the Vance County Board of Elections, told WIZS News Tuesday that, as far as the upcoming municipal elections in Middleburg and Kittrell are concerned, only residents who live inside the towns’ city limits may cast ballots.

Local boards, including Vance, are waiting for guidance from the state board to allow this disenfranchised population to regain voter privileges. If and when that happens, Vaughan said individuals have until Oct. 8 to register. There is no same-day registration for the Nov. 2 elections, Vaughan said.

TOWNTALK AUDIO HERE

The Local Skinny! Home and Garden Show 8-25-21

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WIZS Home and Garden Show – Vance Co. Cooperative Extension

On the show today – Click Play Below

UPCOMING EVENTS: Fall Vegetable Gardening Monday August 30,2021 6:30pm VCRFM 210 Southpark Drive Contact Cooperative Extension 252-438-8188 for more info and to register.

  • Check vegetables growing now and in the fall for insects more closely. Loopers , cabbage worms, aphids.
  • Purchase seed and fertilizer for early Sept tall fescue care.
  • Fall vegetables need at least 1 inch of rain or irrigation per week.
  • It’s late to be planning a complete lawn renovation. May be best to wait until next year.
  • When broadcasting seed make sure you have good seed to soil contact. Use a roller or packer to get that seed into the soil.
  • Evaluate your landscape for late season blooms (goldenrod, asters, joe pye weed).
  • Cooperative Extension has a publication titled Carolina Lawns. Call Cooperative Extension 438-8188
  • Consider leaving dried flower heads in the garden for the birds.
  • Use labeled row markers when planting your fall garden, put planting date, variety, type of vegetable on each marker and place on each row and record in vegetable journal.