Families Can Sign Up Oct 25 – Nov 8 for Kids to Shop With A Cop

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Henderson Police Department Press Release – October 22, 2021

For the 2021 Holiday Season, the Henderson Police Department and the Vance County Sheriff’s Office have partnered with the Vance County Department of Social Services to assist children and families in the City of Henderson and Vance County during the holiday season through the “Shop with a Cop” program.

Funds raised through the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce “Shop with a Cop” raffle and by generous donors will be used to help underprivileged children and struggling families who otherwise would go without during the holidays. Individuals and families selected will have the opportunity to “Shop with a Cop” with one of Henderson’s and Vance County’s law enforcement officers.

Individuals or families wishing to participate in the “Shop with a Cop” program can pick up and return applications from October 25, 2021, to November 8, 2021, at Sadie’s Coffee Corner located at 324 S. Garnett Street.

Please send any donations to the Henderson Police Department make checks payable to the City of Henderson.

Completing a referral does not guarantee assistance.

Commissioners, School Board Set To Meet To Continue Redistricting Discussion

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The Granville County Board of Education and Board of Commissioners will hold a joint meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 27 beginning at 2 p.m. at the Granville County Expo Center.

The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss redistricting, according to a press statement from Dr. Stan Winborne, associate superintendent of curriculum & instruction and public information officer.

This meeting is open to the public, and masks and social distancing protocols are recommended.  A recording of the meeting will also be available to view on the GCPS website following the meeting, Winborne stated.

The Wednesday meeting of the two groups follows public hearings that have been held recently to hear from community members about several options regarding school reorganization and consolidation.

A public hearing was held at Tar River Elementary on Oct. 18 and school board members heard from teachers and parents about the idea of making Tar River Elementary a middle school to replace G.C. Hawley Middle in Creedmoor.

Speakers voiced their opposition to the idea and cited numerous reasons why it would be a bad idea, from splitting up school staff and losing teachers to other districts and charter schools to spending money to make the newest school campus appropriate for middle school students.

A called meeting of the school board is set for Monday, Oct. 25 at 4 p.m., Winborne stated, at which time the board will continue its discussion of school reorganization and consolidation. The meeting will be held at the Mary Potter Center of Education, 200 Taylor St., Oxford.

The meeting will be livestreamed at: https://live.myvrspot.com/st?cid=MDhkZj.
Winborne said that anyone who attends this meeting must wear a face covering and cooperate with social distancing requirements.  Anyone without a face covering will not be permitted to enter the building.  Face coverings must be worn at all times while inside the building.  Anyone who chooses not to comply with the above will be asked to leave the property.  There will be limited seating available.

SportsTalk: Success On The Field Keeps Vance Charter AD Lance Stallings Busy

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#1 in women’s volleyball, #2 in men’s soccer, a great cross country season and women’s golf coach and player of the year have certainly put a smile on Vance Charter’s athletic director Lance Stallings. “Kudos to the coaches and the kids,” Stallings said on Thursday’s SportsTalk with Trey Snide. “It’s great to get back to normal and I’m lucky to be a part of it all,” Stallings added.

Women’s golf at Vance Charter has been a great success with second year head coach Tyler Woodside being named Coach of the Year and golfer Grace Stovall grabbing Golfer of the Year honors this season. Three other golfers finished in the top ten for the school.

Men’s soccer is #2 in the Triangle North Athletic Conference and Vance Charter’s team will get a bye going into the tournament and will play on Monday at 4:30pm. If they come away with a win they will play for the conference championship later next week.

Meanwhile, volleyball also has their tournament going on and Vance Charter will begin tournament play this Saturday at 3pm taking on Carrboro. It all adds up to a busy fall sporting season for Vance Charter and AD Lance Stallings.

 

Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vipers Prepare For Southern Durham

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128 points…sounds like what a high school basketball team might score over a couple of games but, that is not the case here. This is what Southern Durham has scored in their last two football games and the high powered Southern Durham offensive show is coming to Henderson this week to take on the Vance Co. Vipers in what will most likely determine the champion of the Northern Lakes Athletic Conference.

Both teams are 3 – 0 in the conference and while Vance Co. boasts an overall better record at 6 -1 to Southern Durham’s 4-4, the Spartan’s have played a much more difficult schedule and Vance Co. is coming off a poor performance in a 21 – 8 win over Granville Central last week that saw the Vipers struggle on offense against a winless team.

Coach Wilbur Pender felt his team didn’t have their best offensive game last week but thought the defense may have turned in its best performance.  “We couldn’t get out of our own way,” Pender said of the Viper’s offense. This week Pender and Vipers are working on those mistakes. “Let’s stop being our own worst enemy,” is what Pender has stressed to his team.

Pender says the key Friday night is to tackle, stop the big play and don’t allow Southern Durham to score on special teams. Practice has been much better this week so Pender hopes that will result in slowing the Southern Durham offensive machine down and will lead to a victory and likely conference championship.

WIZS will have live play by play of the games beginning immediately after the Joy Christian Center broadcast about 6:45pm with kickoff at 7pm.

 

Vance County Sheriff's Office

A Juvenile Suffering from a Gunshot Wound has Died

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Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame has informed WIZS News that a local 14-year-old juvenile suffering from a gunshot wound has died. Another juvenile, age 15, has been charged in the matter.

In a press release, the sheriff indicated an incident occurred Tuesday, Oct 19 shortly before 12:30 p.m. At that time, the Vance County Sheriff’s Office responded to 318 Foxfire Drive in reference to a gunshot victim, the release stated.

At the scene, it was discovered at the time that a 14 year old had suffered a gunshot wound “causing life threatening injuries and was transported to Duke University Hospital.”

Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigators were able to identify a suspect and obtain a secure custody order for the 15 year old, who was then charged with attempted 1st degree murder.

Thursday afternoon Sheriff Brame wrote by email to WIZS and said, “I am sorry that I have to inform you regarding the attached, the 14 year old gunshot victim died as a result of his injury.”

Sheriff Brame confirmed Thursday afternoon the charges would be upgraded or changed to 1st degree murder.

The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Vance County Sheriff’s Office (252) 738-2200 or Crime Stoppers (252) 492-1925. Anyone giving information can remain anonymous.

The Local Skinny! Warren County Tops State In Growth Of Visitor Spending – Two Years Running

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Pandemic or no pandemic, the numbers don’t lie – for the second year in a row, Warren County has grabbed the top spot in the state for growth in visitor spending, according to an annual report released by N.C. tourism officials.

The data comes from an annual study commissioned by Visit North Carolina, a unit of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina.

Warren County Community and Economic Development Director Charla Duncan points to several reasons why her county has shown positive growth when other counties are posting negative figures, not the least of which is Warren County’s relative proximity to major cities like Richmond, VA and the Raleigh-Durham area, she told WIZS News.

“Warren County has opportunities for day trippers, weekenders, and repeat visitors, and our local economy benefits from that,” continued Duncan.

People tend to overlook the quality of life in a rural county, she said. It’s not less quality of life, but it is a different quality of life that Warren County offers, Duncan said. “I think that people have looked for that a little more over the past year or so. Folks are having a chance to understand what we know to be true.” There’s a lot going on, she said, “it’s just a different kind of thing going on around here.”

“We are fortunate that Warren County’s travel and tourism industry has been able to demonstrate such resilience during a difficult year,” Duncan said. “Individually, many of our businesses have certainly experienced similar challenges as other small businesses across America during this pandemic. The strength in Warren County, particularly during 2020, is that our natural and cultural assets are a stable, safe, and desirable resource for visitors.”

It may be challenging to discern whether the $49.6 million spent in Warren County in 2020 is from visitors, tourists or simply residents who are spending more time within Warren County, Duncan noted. It’s probably a mixture of all three groups.

Duncan said a quick look at sales tax figures show that spending in the county is going fairly well. Gas sales, food and beverage sales, as well as retail and certain recreational spaces all contribute to the numbers, but whether those sales can be tied to a true tourist or a true visitor may be more difficult to track, she said.

Despite this, Duncan said, “this is our second year in a row topping the state in growth. We saw a lot of growth between 2018 and 2019, and the pandemic wasn’t in play.”

Warren County was the only county in its region to see growth; all other counties in the North Central region saw a decrease in visitor spending. The region includes Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Harnett, Johnston, Lee, Orange, Person, Vance, and Wake counties, according to a press release from Warren County Manager Vincent Jones.

Of the $49.6 million related to visitor spending, $12 million came from lodging, $15.5 from food and beverage, $6.7 from recreation, $4.8 from retail, and $10.6 from transportation, according to the statement.

In addition, people who have vacation homes or retirement homes on both Kerr Lake and Lake Gaston may figure in the positive numbers for Warren County since the onset of the pandemic. “If they were going to be allowed to work from home, they were going to do it from their lake house,” Duncan said.

The appeal of agritourism and agribusiness also contributes, she said. For example, Seven Springs Winery near Norlina opened for business right about the time that the pandemic was shutting everything down.

“That business has been incredibly successful, despite challenges that face small businesses. People were looking for more things to do outside, she said, and Seven Springs provides that opportunity. “They opened up at a time when that was a sought-after thing,” she added. “They’re a great asset for us. They are achieving their dream – they have a great story to tell.”

“It is great to see this positive news, as we adjust to the long-term impact of the pandemic,” stated County Manager Vincent Jones. “We hope that this new energy we are seeing as people discover and rediscover the charm of Warren County is sustained going forward.”

According to Visit NC date, the Warren County travel and tourism industry directly employees 231 people; this is an increase in employment related to visitor spending since 2019. The total payroll generated by the tourism industry in Warren County in 2020 was $10.1 million.

In 2020, state tax revenue generated in Warren County totaled $1.6 million through state sales and excise taxes, and taxes on personal and corporate income. Approximately $3.4 million in local taxes were generated from sales and property tax revenue from travel-generated and travel-supported businesses.

The breakdown by county is available at partners.visitnc.com/economic-impact-studies. The study was prepared for Visit North Carolina by Tourism Economics in collaboration with the U.S. Travel Association.

Warren County has seen an increase in visitor spending every year since 2016.

Cooperative Extension with Jamon Glover: Disobedience Pt. 3

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Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

 

TownTalk: Ruin Creek Animal Protection Society Pays Tribute To Ricky Overby

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Most Friday evenings for almost a decade, Ricky Overby would climb into the Ruin Creek Animal Protection Society van, put it in Drive and head out of town on a freedom ride. The thousands of dogs and cats that left Vance County for rescue and adoption groups up and down the East Coast owe their lives – literally – to Captain Ricky.

Overby died Tuesday after a short battle with cancer. But Brandon Boyd, RCAPS President, holds Overby up as an example as someone who selflessly gave of his time to further the RCAPS mission of saving animals.

Overby started out as a driver, Boyd told John C. Rose on Thursday’s Town Talk, but as the single van grew to a fleet of vans, Captain Ricky took on more responsibilities with RCAPS.

Boyd remembered his employee – and friend – as loyal and dependable. “He took pride in his work, in his job,” he said. “And he loved saving animals.”

He’d take off usually by 9 p.m. on Fridays, with dozens and dozens of dogs and cats loaded in the van. He’d make numerous stops along his way up the East Coast, his destination sometimes as far North as Albany, New York.

Sometimes, Boyd said, when he found himself awake in the wee hours of a Saturday morning, “I’d call the Captain.” The calls sometimes lasted five minutes; others lasted upwards of an hour, Boyd recalled.

His reputation for a loving, caring person grew as his transports continued – Boyd said it’s difficult to grasp just how widespread that reputation reached.

James Jackson, another local volunteer, stepped in when Capt. Ricky got sick. And Friday night, when Jackson settles in behind the wheel of the van loaded with 50 or 60 dogs and cats headed for New York, he and the other RCAPS volunteers will continue Capt. Ricky’s mission of doing God’s work of caring for animals.

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