Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Plants In Containers

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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.

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Vance County Schools Get $300,000 From DPI ‘s Center For Safer Schools

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Vance County Schools is among more than 200 school districts and charter schools across the state to get part of $35 million to address school safety by the Department of Public Instruction’s Center for Safer Schools.

Vance County Schools will get $300,000, as will Franklin County Schools, according to a press release from CFSS Executive Director Karen W. Fairley.

Granville County Public Schools and Warren County Schools each will receive $150,000. In addition, two Granville County charter schools also will get funding – Falls Lake Academy will get $53,874 and Oxford Preparatory School will get $40,000.

Districts and schools had to submit applications for the grant funding, which will be used for safety equipment, training and services for students in crisis.

Safety equipment covered by this grant includes items such as cameras, vape detectors, radios, and weapons detection systems. Training can include professional development for school leaders to assist students who are experiencing anxiety, trauma and/or conduct problems. Services made available through this grant can include school-based mental health services.

“It is part of the center’s mandate and mission to give public-school units the tools they need to help keep their schools safer – that includes grant funding,” she said. “We thank the General Assembly for its generous appropriation that enables us to support North Carolina public schools.”

State Superintendent Catherine Truitt said the need for school safety funding is crucial in ensuring students’ well-being throughout their educational journey.

“Nothing is more important than making our schools safer and more secure, and these grants will continue to play a vital role,” Truitt said. “This funding will help improve school security in many ways, including, updating technology and training to prevent future emergencies. I applaud state lawmakers for making this a priority and look forward to working with them to deliver more safety funding in the future.”

Funding for the hiring and training of school resource officers (SROs) was a continuation of the $33 million in SRO funding awarded in October 2022 for the 2022-23 school year.

Awards are subject to all administrative and financial requirements, including timely submission of all financial and programmatic reports; resolution of all interim audit findings; and adherence to allowable expenses.

A list of public-school units that were awarded 2023-24 School Safety Grant funding can be found here.

In 2018, the General Assembly worked with the Department of Public Instruction to launch a new School Safety Grant Program to improve safety in public school units by providing grants for school resource officers, services for students in crisis, training to increase school safety, safety equipment in schools and additional school mental health support personnel.

Since then, more than $150 million has been awarded to public-school units across North Carolina.

 

‘Shamrocks On Breckenridge’ Offers St. Patrick’s Day Fun Mar. 15

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Downtown Henderson is planning for a busy weekend with not one, but two, events scheduled for mid-March.

Plans are underway for Shamrocks on Breckenridge Friday, Mar. 15 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and then an International Foods Food Truck Festival the next day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

In keeping with the St. Patrick’s Day theme, Shamrocks on Breckenridge will feature music, dancing, food trucks and community resource vendors.

Downtown Development Commission Chair Amanda Ellis said applications for sponsors are being taken now, so don’t wait to get your business logo on all kinds of advertisements for the upcoming event.

This year, food vendors will be the only retail vendors; other vendors will be set up to share community resources available in the area, according to information to WIZS from Ellis.

The sponsorship levels are: Pot of Gold – $1,000; Shamrock – $500; and Leprechaun – $250.

Ellis said the plan is to provide free food through the sponsorships for the event.

The deadline for sponsors is Feb. 16, 2024. Email Ellis at amanda@rogersandrogerslawyers.com or phone Alice Sallins at 252.767.4579 to learn more about becoming a sponsor or a vendor.

Downtown Development Director Tracy Madigan said more information will be forthcoming about the international food festival soon.

Ayana Lewis Appointed To Fill School Board District 4 Seat

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The Vance County Board of Education has appointed Ayana Lewis to serve in the District 4 Board seat after the recent resignation of Edward Wilson, who had served since 2012.

Lewis, a Henderson native, will be sworn in at the board’s next meeting on Feb. 12 at 6 p.m., according to information from VCS Chief Communication Officer Aarika Sandlin.

Lewis, a Democrat, had filed for the District 4 seat and would have been on the ballot in November. Wilson did not file for re-election.

Lewis has close to 20 years of education experience, having previously served in Vance County Schools as Gear Up’s assistant coordinator, as well as bookkeeper and first grade teacher.

She and her husband are co-founders of the Abria Chase Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to the memories of two of their children who lost their lives in a house fire.

Lewis helps other parents who have lost children and she and her husband received the Community Excellence Award from the Full Effect Church of North Carolina in 2023.

Lewis received her bachelor’s degree from N.C. Central University and a Master of Art in Counseling – Clinical Mental Health from Wake Forest University.

Tracy Madigan Honored As Newest Sam Watkins Visionary Award Recipient

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Tracy Madigan, director of the Henderson-Vance Downtown Development Commission, is the newest recipient of the Sam Watkins Visionary Award presented by the United Way.

Madigan said she was among the 40 or so in attendance at the United Way’s annual breakfast when her name was called.

“I was very honored and very humbled,” Madigan said in a telephone interview Thursday with WIZS. “It hit me from left field – I was blindsided,” she said, never expecting that she would follow in the footsteps of previous recipients like Vance County Commissioner  Col. Archie Taylor, George Watkins, Donald Seifert and others who have been honored since the award was established after Watkins’s death in February 2014.

But if anyone deserves an award for being a visionary, it’s the person in charge of reimagining downtown Henderson.

The ever-modest Madigan said that when she accepted the award, she said she was most appreciative, but reminded those gathered that “it’s all about partnership – all of us working together to make things happen.”

Sam Watkins, a driving force in the revitalization effort that produced McGregor Hall, is remembered for the vision he had for Henderson and Vance County through the award.

Madigan said the mission statement of the downtown development commission centers around McGregor Hall, which she called a cultural hub for the five-county area.

In addition to McGregor Hall, Henderson’s downtown is going to be in the spotlight as plans for the S-Line passenger and commuter rail take shape. Having a depot – mobility hub –  on Garnett Street is in the works and Madigan said she looks forward to continuing the city’s initial efforts to make the downtown area more physically attractive as well as a spot for future businesses to locate.

N.C. Rep. Frank Sossamon has partnered with N.C. Sen. Lisa Barnes to bring more dollars to the area.

“We’re going to be asking for more, too,” Madigan noted.

Right now, she would like to see more development in and around the downtown area, especially near McGregor Hall and the Police Department. She wants to make Garnett Street more pedestrian-friendly and attract more businesses to the downtown.

She said a carefully placed deli and/or bakery would attract more people to want to come and live in or near the downtown area.

She’s got the vision, and she said downtown Henderson is just one or two projects and a little more initial investment away from taking off. “There’s a lot going one, it just doesn’t happen overnight.”

SportsTalk: Local Coaches Prep For Basketball Tournaments And Spring Sports

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John Hammett and Scottie Richardson may be athletic directors for different schools in different counties but they are both facing the same things: a basketball season that is winding down and the start of spring sports.

Hammett, Oxford Prep’s athletic director, says his boys’ basketball team is having a real strong year despite a loss this week to Vance Charter.  “We’ve got some real good shooters,” Hammett said.  They take on Roxboro Charter Friday night. “Roxboro is young but they have a couple of good player,” Hammett said of the team’s opponent. The girls team is currently 7-9. “They have been getting better throughout the year,” said Hammett.  Oxford Prep has five games remaining before they start the conference basketball tournament.

Meanwhile, at Crossroads Christian, athletic director Scottie Richardson says his girls team will be the second seed for their upcoming tournament. The boys could be.  “We control our own destiny,” Richardson said.   It will take a few more wins in the remaining four games for Crossroads to secure that second seed.

One of the problems both men face is an overlap between basketball and baseball.  “I would like to see both basketball and baseball seasons shortened to eliminate the overlap,” Hammett said on Thursday’s SportsTalk.  Richardson said it is difficult to coordinate with coaches when players play multiple sports.

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The Local Skinny! Pop The Hood Changing A Tire

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For our sponsor, Advance Auto Parts, as part of a paid radio sponsorship on WIZS.

Count yourself lucky if you’ve never had to change a tire on your vehicle.

Count yourself luckier still if someone taught you how to change a tire, just because it was something you needed to know.

Thursday’s Pop the Hood segment features some key reminders about being safe when changing a tire, especially if you’ve been stranded by the side of the road.

It’s tricky enough to remember all the steps when you’re in your level driveway on a sunny day when the temps are mild and there’s no rain in sight.

But blowouts never occur when it’s convenient, so it’s vital to keep safety in mind when you’ve got to remove one tire and put another one on.

First of all, make sure the jack is rated for your vehicle and is properly placed before you attempt to lift the vehicle- don’t use cinder blocks to hold up a car. It’s a bad idea.

Once you’ve got the bad tire off and you’re ready to mount the spare in its place, make sure it’s properly seated. Seat the tire by putting the first two lug nuts on hand-tight. Then introduce the other three lugs and tightening every other one until you’ve gotten them all. The tightening pattern to remember is 1, 3, 5, 2, 4.

It’s a process that takes time, but it’s worth it to get the torque specifications right – too loose, you’ve got problems. Too tight, different problems.

If the circumstances aren’t right, the main order of business is to get the vehicle safely off the road and get help.

The information contained in this post is not advice from Advance Auto Parts or WIZS.  Safety First!  Always seek proper help.  This is presented for its informational value only and is part of a paid advertising sponsorship.

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TownTalk: Human Trafficking and Putting a Stop to It

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North Carolinians can take pride in knowing that this state we call home is a destination for many tourists each year. The interstate highway network helps folks travel easily from Manteo to Murphy, Henderson to Charlotte and just from about anywhere to Raleigh with minimal effort.

Those very things that make the Old North State an attractive spot for visitors, however, also get the attention of some other individuals: human traffickers, whom U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina  Michael F. Easley, Jr. called one of the biggest threats and most insidious to our society.

January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month and Easley spoke with WIZS on Thursday’s TownTalk to discuss just what the state is doing to fight the problem.

Easley created a task force to combat human trafficking in the Raleigh/Cary area, and earlier this week announced that a second task force has been formed to work with counties to the East near the coast.

These task forces bring together local law enforcement agencies with state and federal agencies to create a strong one-two punch to catch and prosecute people who engage in human trafficking and prostitution.

“We have taken a victim-centric approach,” Easley said. “We’ll hit it with law enforcement,” Easley said of uncovering illegal operations, “but we’ll also have social workers, service providers and mental health professionals” on hand to assist those who have been victimized.

He praised the efforts of the FBI for their work in disrupting these trafficking networks and said the agency has “an incredible victim support system to help (victims) get their lives back on track and stabilized.”

He also praised the efforts of local law enforcement agencies, calling Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow and Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame “reliable partners” who are both in his speed dial.

And he called District Attorney Mike Waters “one of the most forward-leaning prosecutors” he knows. “He’s an incredible partner and somebody I count on to help unravel these cases.”

Traffickers are masters of manipulation, he said, and they prey on the most vulnerable in society – often, these are young people.

They seize control, little by little, he explained, and bring their victims under their full control.

“They control their victims, but they’re not bound in chains,” Easley said. “The chains are invisible.”

Some signs to look for include individuals who are not in control of their own documents, like a passport or driver license. They aren’t allowed to speak for themselves, or they often wear the same clothes day after day and only carry cash.

These are all those “invisible chains that bind a victim to a trafficker,” Easley said.

Perhaps most chilling was Easley’s comment about protecting young people from becoming victims of human traffickers: “Any kid who has a smartphone is a target,” he said. “There are groomers online who are trying to cleave them away” from parents and their community.

It may start with the victim agreeing to send one nude photo to an online groomer, he said, before that trafficker has the leverage needed to target another victim.

“We will break down and eliminate this insidious crime,” he said. “We can’t do it alone; we’ve go to do it side by side with local police and law enforcement.”

If you or anyone you know needs help or has information to provide regarding a potential human trafficking situation, please contact law enforcement by calling 911 if the situation appears unsafe, or contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline:

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Cooperative Extension With Jamon Glover: Parenting Separately

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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.

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