WIZS Radio Local News Audio 09-29-22 Noon
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Cooperative Extension With Jamon Glover: Sharing Pt. 2
Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.
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TownTalk: DMV Commissioner Goodwin Discusses REAL ID
The REAL ID looks like any other state-issued driver license, but that gold star emblem in the upper corner is what makes it different from a regular driver license. Beginning in May of next year, having a license in your wallet with a REAL ID enhancement could save you time at the airport or if you need to gain access to a military base, federal courthouse or federal prison, according to N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Wayne Goodwin.
Goodwin spoke with John C. Rose on Wednesday’s TownTalk to discuss details of the REAL ID.
The REAL ID is a way “to verify cardholders’ identities and lawful presence in the United States,” Goodwin explained.
There are specific supporting documents that individuals must provide to initially obtain a REAL ID, but drivers or others who already are in the DMV system may find the process less complicated than someone applying for the first time, he added.
Applicants must apply in person at their local DMV office; the initial process cannot be completed online because the documents must be scanned and stored in the DMV system.
Following is a list of documents needed to apply for a REAL ID:
- One document that states your full name, proving identity and date of birth;
- One document that states your full name and full Social Security Number to confirm SSN;
- Two documents that contain your current physical address to prove residency;
- Non-U.S. citizens must provide one document that states their full name proving legal presence/lawful status;
- If applicable, one or more documents that verify any name changes
Although May 3, 2023 has been designated as the date that enforcement of the 2005 REAL ID Act will begin, Goodwin said “it’s not really a deadline, per se, but that’s when federal authorities will begin enforcing it.” He added those with REAL IDs can “visit efficiently” facilities such as nuclear power plants, military bases, federal courthouses and federal prisons.
Domestic airline travelers can show a current passport along with their driver license in lieu of carrying a REAL ID; Goodwin said it is not necessary to have the special ID to vote or to apply for, or receive, any federal benefits.
“It’s a special type of identification issued by each state that is a product of our need as a country to protect ourselves from a national security standpoint after 9/11,” Goodwin explained.
Goodwin recently completed the process of obtaining his own REAL ID, and said any of the 117 DMV agencies across the state can help individuals do the same.
Visit https://www.ncdot.gov/ to learn more about NC REAL ID, the necessary documents and the process for obtaining a REAL ID.
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VGCC Hosts Oct. 20 Conference To “Imagine The Future Of Work”
Vance-Granville Community College is hosting a daylong conference in October designed to help the region’s employers and business leaders to learn more about important workforce issues and how to create innovative programs to offset the challenges employers and employees face.
The “Business/Industry Connect 2022: Imagine the Future of Work” is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 20 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Civic Center on the college’s main campus in Vance County. The event is free, includes lunch, but registration is required. To register, visit BIC2022.eventbrite.com.
VGCC officials hope that the event can help businesses attract talent, understand the neuroscience behind successful hiring, institute highly motivating onboarding programs and develop a company culture that energizes coworkers, unlocks their potential and leads to higher retention rates. Many organizations are finding it difficult to find and keep skilled workers, according to a press statement from Jerry Edmonds, III, VGCC’s vice president of Workforce & Community Engagement.
Two special guests will help facilitate the conference: Phil Dixon and Bryan W. Mattimore.
Dixon graduated from Warwick University with a degree in Computer Science. His career in the Information Technology field included a stint with Apple before launching his own consulting firm. In 2010, he earned a master’s degree in Consulting and Coaching for Change in England at a program run jointly by HEC Paris and Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. He found his life’s passion in studying neuroscience and the brain.
Today a resident of Oxford – in Granville County – Dixon has published several articles and books about the brain, and is a frequent and international speaker on the topic of brain-based leadership.
Mattimore is cofounder and “Chief Idea Guy” of the Growth Engine Company, based in Connecticut. In his business consulting career, Mattimore has given more than100 keynote addresses, facilitated over a thousand brainstorming sessions, and managed 200 successful innovation projects, leading to over three billion dollars in new sales annually for one-third of the Fortune 100 companies. He is also a Senior Fellow with The Conference Board, an innovation and marketing instructor for Caltech in their Executive Education Department, and the author of several books. His new book, “Islands of Invention, How to Create Extraordinary Innovation Centers,” co-authored with McKinsey consultant Claus Raasted, is set to be published later this year.
“We look forward to this opportunity for the local business and economic development community to gather, learn and collaborate on ways to not only find new team members, but also to develop and engage the employees they already have,” said VGCC Grants Administrator Ken Wilson, who is coordinating the conference. “VGCC and our partners in education and workforce development are here to help local organizations successfully hire and train their talent.”
For more information, contact Ken Wilson at wilsonk@vgcc.edu.
TownTalk: Hispanic Heritage Festival Postponed To Oct. 8
Add the second annual Hispanic Heritage Festival to the growing list of event postponements created by the threat of Hurricane Ian. But fear not, organizers have arranged for the festival to take place on Saturday, Oct. 8 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the area near the police department and library on Breckenridge Street. Melissa Elliott, Henderson City Council member and president of Gang Free, Inc. said the stage is set to provide the community with the sights, sounds and flavors of different Hispanic/Latino cultures – just a week later than planned.
“We’re grateful that everyone has agreed to participate” even though the date had to change to accommodate the predicted rainy weather.
The local Arts Council is sponsoring some of the entertainment scheduled, Elliott told John C. Rose Wednesday. There will be dancers performing traditional dances from Colombia and Mexico, she said, and numerous area restaurants will be providing food.
The event is free to the public. “We’re going to go out and have some fun,” she said, adding that it’s important to continue the momentum from last year’s festival and “celebrate everyone that lives, works and plays in our community.”
The popular electric bull will be back for anyone adventurous enough to climb aboard and then try to hang on, and there will be face-painting and other tamer activities to participate in, she added.
Mayor Eddie Ellington is scheduled to issue a city proclamation observing Sept. 15 – Oct. 15 as Hispanic Heritage Month. The festival falls right in the middle of this national observance, which satisfies Elliott’s quest for diversity and educating and empowering everyone in the community.
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WIZS Radio Local News Audio 09-28-22 Noon
Click Play to Listen. On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
Home And Garden Show
— On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.
- Vegetables to plant now Chinese cabbage, Garlic, bulb onions, spinach
- Don’t apply lime to your lawn out of habit or routine.
- Any vegetables growing now still needs 1 inch of rain or irrigation
- Scout for fire ants and treat active mounds.
- If renovating your lawn make sure you pack the seed into the soil. Good seed to soil contact is a must for good seed germination.
- Plant trees and shrubs.
- Soil Test season is now! 1 week analysis time
- Plant strawberries, if you can find them.
- Visit local nurseries to plan for your fall landscape projects.
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Henderson Gets $463K in Powell Bill Funds From NCDOT
Henderson is the big winner among area municipalities in the recent $154.8 million Powell Bill allotment announced by the N.C. Department of Transportation for street improvements.
City Manager Terrell Blackmon told WIZS Wednesday that he and the City Council will be working to help prioritize where and how to use the $463,634.73 allotment, about half of which has been distributed. The remaining amount to be paid by Jan. 1, 2023, according to a press statement from NCDOT.
Officially called the State Street Aid to Municipalities, the program also is known as Powell Bill funds. This year, a total of 508 municipalities statewide benefitted from the allocation.
The Powell Bill funds are used primarily to resurface municipal streets but also may be used to maintain, repair, construct, or widen streets, bridges, and drainage areas. Municipalities can also use Powell Bill funds to plan, construct and maintain bike paths, greenways or sidewalks.
The amount each municipality receives is based on a formula established by state law, with 75 percent of the funds based on population and 25 percent based on the number of municipality-maintained street miles. The annual population figures are provided by the Office of State Budget and Management.
“Powell Bill funding allows us to complete a lot of transportation projects important to North Carolina communities from Murphy to Manteo,” said State Transportation Secretary Eric Boyette. “Municipalities can use these funds on projects that make our state a wonderful place to live, work and play.”
The fund is named for Junius K. Powell, a former state senator and mayor of Whiteville. Powell was the primary sponsor of the 1951 bill to help the state’s cities with urban road problems. The first allocation of Powell Bill funds was for $4.5 million and was distributed to 386 cities and towns.
Here’s what other area municipalities received through the Powell Bill:
- Oxford – $255,752.37
- Butner – $211,071.63
- Creedmoor – $136,485.84
- Louisburg – $95,153.03
- Franklinton – $81,171.29
- Youngsville – $61, 422.29
- Norlina – $36,146.25
- Stem – $29,567.39
- Warrenton – $29,013.37
- Stovall – $12,849.72
- Middleburg – $6,201.01
- Kittrell – $5,248.47
TownTalk: Carolyn Thompson NC Court Of Appeals Candidate
-The following is part of WIZS’s continuing coverage of candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot.
As a candidate for a seat on the NC Court of Appeals, Carolyn Thompson said it is her considerable experience as a trial attorney and as a district court judge that will serve her well if she is elected in the November 8 elections.
Thompson has 26 years’ experience as an attorney and judge, and she has advocated for victims of domestic violence and abuse during that time. She began practicing law in Vance County in 1996 and was a district court judge serving Vance, Granville, Warren and Franklin counties from 2009 to 2018. In 2018, Gov. Roy Cooper appointed Thompson to fill the unexpired term of a retiring Superior Court judge. She was defeated in her bid for the judgeship later in 2018, and now has set her sights on a statewide race.
Thompson is running for Seat 8 on the 15-member court of appeals. Judges sit in panels of three judges each, she told John C. Rose on Tuesday’s TownTalk. “If you’re not getting a fair trial or feel like the court didn’t apply the law correctly,” she explained, the case would get sent to the court of appeals for a ruling.
The appeals court sets precedents for lower courts, “courts I’ve already presided over,” Thompson noted.
She said she is the only candidate with prior judicial and trial experience.
Judges are charged with being impartial, and although Thompson is running on the Democratic ticket, she said party affiliation has no bearing on her role as a judge. “I am on the ballot with a party affiliation because that’s the current law,” she said.
“At no point have I ever asked a crying mother…grieving the loss of a child…or families who are broken because of a marital dispute…so – what’s your party affiliation?” she said.
“When you come before me,” Thompson added, “I will deal with you straight up.”
Thompson, a licensed and ordained minister, said she is committed to running a clean campaign, focusing on what she can bring to the job with “no disparaging remarks because we are all officers of the court.”
She is involved with Families Living Violence Free and shares her knowledge and experiences working with domestic violence victims and survivors of sexual assault and abuse. She said it is important for the community to understand “what domestic violence is, what it looks like and…what the law says about it,” Thompson said.
She said in the thousands of clients she has represented or had in her courtroom as a judge, there have been many heart-wrenching stories that stay with her today. But not all the memories are bad, Thompson said. She recalled the note she received from a young person now in military service who says “thank you” for caring all those years ago when life had been unkind. Or the victim of domestic violence who said Thompson “gave me a second look when no one else did.”
It’s good memories like those that balance out the bad, Thompson said.
Early voting begins Oct. 20. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 8.
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Oxford’s CultureFEST Postponed; New Date Set For May 2023
This Saturday’s CultureFEST in downtown Oxford has been rescheduled, thanks to the likelihood that the area will be dealing with the remnants of Hurricane Ian, now poised to hit Florida’s Gulf Coast tomorrow.
Two of the event organizers – Oxford Mayor Jackie Sergent and Ajulo Othow – were on TownTalk Monday to spread the word about the event, which was going to mark its second year of being held in the parking lot at Littlejohn Street.
Sergent contacted WIZS News Tuesday morning to share the news of the postponement.
“We have made the difficult decision to cancel and postpone until next May,” Sergent said.
With weather forecasts predicting that North Carolina will be hit with heavy rains from the storm, it was a case of better safe than sorry.