WIZS Radio Local News Audio 1-26-22 Noon
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Community Health Opinion Survey Deadline Approaching Quickly
With just days left before the deadline, Granville Vance Public Health is asking community members to complete an online community health opinion survey.
You may have received a postcard in the mail about this as well.
The survey is confidential and may take about 20 minutes to complete.
Man Charged With Assaulting A Female And Sheriff’s Deputy Who Responded To Call For Help
One man has been charged with assault after a female victim was found in a home with stab wounds late last month.
The Vance County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call of a possible assault on Dec. 31, 2021 on Spring Valley Road.
According to a press statement from Sheriff Curtis R. Brame, a deputy was met at the door of the home by a male subject, who resisted and assaulted the responding deputy and then barricaded himself in the residence. The deputy had seen a woman lying on the kitchen floor with apparent injuries.
The victim has not been named, but she was taken by Vance County EMS to Maria Parham Medical Center for treatment of “numerous injuries consistent with a violent assault,” Brame’s statement read. The victim remained hospitalized as of mid-January, Brame told WIZS News.
Arrested was Roy Williams, 2611 Spring Valley Road, and charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and assault on a law enforcement officer. His secured bond was set at $500,000.
Brame said the investigation is continuing and urges anyone with information about the incident to contact the Vance County Sheriff’s Office or the local Crime Stoppers.
Peanut Roaster Fire
Firefighters responded to a call at the Peanut Roaster early Tuesday morning, and Deputy Chief Curtis Tyndall said that not many details are available, but that the business is not operational.
“When we got there, there was a fairly substantial fire,” Tyndall told WIZS News Tuesday by phone.
The call came in about 1:39 a.m. and two city engine crews, a ladder crew and one county engine responded to the blaze. There were no injuries reported.
Tyndall said local fire officials are continuing their investigation, adding that he and his team will gather information and then formulate a report as to the cause and the origin of the fire.
The Peanut Roaster, located at 394 Zeb Robinson Road, came to Henderson in 1995.
Montague Receives Governor’s Award For Excellence In Customer Service
North Carolina Forest Service Granville-Vance Area Ranger Robert Montague is a recent recipient of the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Customer Service – one of the state’s highest honors. The service aspect of his job is exactly what drives Montague.
“The service part is what is important to me,” Montague said. “I enjoy what I do every day, I enjoy coming to work, I enjoy the challenge of who’s going to call in today, who’s going to come to our office today that needs our help, and being able to fill the need that they have.”
For his tireless commitment to the community he serves, Montague deservingly was a recipient of the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Customer Service. He continues to embody and symbolize what it truly means to be a public servant each day that he puts on the NCFS badge.
Montague’s duties as an area ranger consist of protecting state forests by controlling and investigating wildfires, providing forest management services that help landowners manage their woodlands, and offering educational programs on wildfire prevention and why trees and forests are important throughout the community. He also supervises a team of four. But perhaps his biggest impact is not what his job description entails, but what he means to the community he serves and the significant and lasting impression that he’s made.
“Rob is a community asset, not just a local forest ranger,” said David Cottrell, Chief of Oxford Fire Department. “If he hears something on the radio that he feels he should be involved in – a tree is down, or someone’s been injured by a timber or cutting accident – he’ll call to see if he’s needed on the scene.”
There were 189 emergency response situations involving forest fires in Montague’s area alone during the 2020-2021 fiscal year, many of which ignited outside of traditional working hours. Montague personally responded to over half. Wildfires are only one of the many different types of calls county rangers may receive.
“When that need is there, especially in terms of emergency response, those aren’t scheduled. So, if we can do something to help the people, the cooperators, that’s what we’re here to do,” Montague said.
“He is all about serving his community. A lot of times landowners will call him with questions and he listens to them. He not only offers up the services that the North Carolina Forest Service can provide, but also what he can do to help them,” said supervisor and District Forester Jennifer Roach. “He offers empathy to them and they feel like they’re talking to more of a friend instead of just a government agency.”
Montague has been an NCFS employee for 18 years, all of which has been in service to Granville County with the addition of Vance County two years ago. He was named the 2020 Employee of the Year by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Community Services. To contact the NCFS Granville Vance County Office about programs and services available for landowners, call 919.693.3154 or email granville.ncfs@ncagr.gov
Montague’s story can be viewed on Youtube by following this link:
Cooperative Extension With Paul McKenzie: What Works in the Garden
Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.
Funds Available To Help Landowners Improve Waterways, Reduce Flood Hazards
The Granville County Soil and Water Conservation Office is looking for eligible properties to participate in a new program to fund preventative improvements to local waterways and reduce flooding hazards.
The Streamflow Rehabilitation Assistance Program (StRAP), administered by the N.C. Soil and Water Conservation Commission, has $38 million to be used to reduce flooding across the state’s waterways. The N.C. General Assembly approved the money to create the StRAP, which will allocate money for projects that protect and restore the integrity of drainage infrastructure.
Projects could include:
- Clearing debris or sediment that has blocked streams and drainage ways
- Stabilizing and restoring streams and streambanks
- Rehabilitating or improving certain small watershed structural projects that were previously constructed
“This is a monumental step to help us prevent future flooding,” said N.C. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “While we have previously secured federal and state money to clear debris from waterways after flooding events such as hurricanes, those efforts were reactive approaches that were part of disaster recovery funds. StRAP now allows us to be proactive in clearing waterways so we can hopefully reduce flooding and protect people’s property before the next big flood event happens. I’m grateful that the General Assembly understood the need for this program.”
Interested property owners are encouraged to contact Granville County Natural Resource Conservationist Byron Currin at 919.693.4603 or byron.currin@granvillecounty.org to explore the feasibility for StRAP funded projects.
TownTalk: Red Cross Makes A Difference In The Life Of Mike Peoples
It was March 2002 and Navy veteran Mike Peoples was getting a tour of an American Red Cross facility, mainly just so he could get a couple of persistent staffers off his back. Little did he realize that it would be that day – March 22, 2002 – that he says the Red Cross saved his life.
“I was broken,” he said, reflecting on those days a couple of decades ago. But since then, his full-time volunteer work has helped to make him whole again. He works with veterans and Red Cross staffers to create meaningful, healthy programs that can help others feel whole again, too.
Being part of an organization, he says, can help get you out of your funk.
He knows that first-hand. Peoples spoke on Tuesday’s Town Talk with John C. Rose and guest co-host Phyllis Maynard to share his experiences as a veteran and as a Red Cross volunteer.
Peoples said he missed out on an overseas station assignment because of some physical problems that ultimately resulted in him having several back and knee surgeries. He was in a body cast for two and a half years, he said.
He was discharged from the Navy, and had to live with his parents because he physically couldn’t manage by himself.
“I was in a pretty dark place,” he recalled.
In an effort to help her son, Peoples said his mother “schemed up this idea with a local board she was on.” It was at these board meetings of a housing improvement program that he met a couple of folks from the Red Cross.
Topics like building resiliency and preparedness in the community were right up his alley, Peoples said, and it didn’t take long for him to raise his hand to contribute to the conversation. “I felt sorta, kinda, close to my old self,” he said. One of the Red Cross reps approached him after a meeting and said, “you know, the Red Cross really likes military folks. Come be our disaster chairman and our disaster action team coordinator.”
He protested, saying that his daily doctor visits and physical therapy six days a week would interfere with his ability to do a job. “They were persistent,” Peoples said. He was floored when, during the tour, one of the staffers pulled a key ring full of keys out of her desk and gave them to Peoples. “We made you a set of keys because we know that you’ll have to come and go” on your own schedule,” he said.
He is the Central Atlantic Division’s hospital recovery veterans and caregiver services lead, and supports Red Cross personnel primarily in hospitals. There are volunteers and programs in VA hospitals, medical facilities and Department of Defense medical facilities. “I support the folks on the ground, building capacity, programming, and executing those program and making sure they’re executing healthy programs for the military-connected communities.”
He also serves on the disaster cycle services side of things, reconnecting people who have been separated by disaster.
Another program he helped roll out, designated by the VA as a signature program for the Red Cross, pairs volunteers with veteran patients. A check-in by phone to make sure the person on the other end is doing ok can be a lifesaver. Literally.
“I’ve made a phone call and I’ve taken a phone call,” Peoples said.
He knows what it feels like to be broken and in a dark place. And he also knows that those feelings can be temporary.
Watch the Youtube video featuring Peoples here: https://youtu.be/QkWj6SCfYhM
Franklin County Seeks Input regarding EMS
Franklin County is seeking community input in regard to Emergency Medical Services
(EMS) within Franklin County via a brief survey. The survey can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CGCZR2W or on the County’s EMS website at https://www.franklincountync.us/services/emergency-services. If you are interested in sharing your
input, this brief survey will be available until Wednesday, February 2, 2022.
The survey is part of a comprehensive EMS Study funded in the FY22 Budget by the Franklin County Board of Commissioners. The study seeks to assess the current EMS service and develop recommendations for the future. The study is being conducted by the Center for Public Safety Management (CPSM), a public safety consulting firm with both former practitioners and current EMS
leaders with first-hand knowledge and expertise in the emergency medical services field. All survey responses will be delivered directly to CPSM.
For additional information, please contact William Doerfer, Assistant County Manager, at (919) 496-5994.
