The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division issued a warrant for arrest on Terell Fredrick Rodgers, Franklin County resident, on Friday, January 31, 2020. Charges consisted of the following: (1) count Felony Second Degree Forcible Rape and (1) count Misdemeanor Sexual Battery.
Terell Fredrick Rodgers (FCSO photo)
On Tuesday, February 4, 2020, Terell Fredrick Rodgers was arrested and served on the above-listed charges by Louisburg Police Department.
Terell Fredrick Rodgers was given a $100,000.00 secure bond and is currently being held in the Franklin County Detention Center.
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-Information courtesy Christopher Doherty, Public Utilities Director, Franklin County
Notification of Discharge of Untreated Wastewater
Franklin County Public Utilities experienced a discharge of untreated wastewater from the Youngsville Regional pump station in Youngsville. The spill was a result of rain on Thursday, February 6, 2020.
The spill occurred at 3:15 p.m. and discharged until 4:30 a.m. on February 7, 2020. The discharge of wastewater was estimated to be 14,175 gallons and approximately 12,000 gallons entered into an unnamed tributary of Richland Creek which is a tributary of the Neuse River Basin.
Franklin County Public Utilities staff was dispatched to the site and started clean up after the overflow stopped.
The department also experienced a discharge of untreated wastewater from the Franklinton Regional pump station in Franklinton. The spill was a result of rain on Thursday, February 6, 2020.
The spill occurred at 7:10 p.m. and discharged until 10:30 p.m. The discharge of wastewater was estimated to be 5,250 gallons, and it remained on the pump station site. Franklin County Public Utilities staff was dispatched to the site and started clean up after the overflow stopped.
The division of Water Quality was notified of this event on February 7, 2020, and is reviewing the matter. For additional information concerning this event, please contact Chris Doherty, Franklin County Public Utilities Director at (919) 556-6711. Additional information can be obtained by visiting Franklin County’s website at www.franklincountync.us.
https://wizs.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/wizsfbresize_0001s_0056_Franklin-County-NC.jpg.png265504WIZS Staffhttps://wizs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/wizswebsitelogoimage.pngWIZS Staff2020-02-07 16:55:012020-02-07 16:55:01Heavy Rain Results in Discharge of Untreated Wastewater in Franklin Co.
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-Press Release, North Carolina State Board of Elections
The State Board of Elections is reminding residents that the deadline to register to vote in North Carolina in the 2020 primary election is Friday, February 7.
Individuals who miss the regular voter registration deadline may still register and vote at any one-stop early voting site in their county during the early voting period, February 13-29. To see the early voting sites in your county, go here: https://vt.ncsbe.gov/ossite/
At an early voting site, registered voters may update their address, but not their party affiliation. Registered voters who wish to change their party affiliation must do so by February 7.
“The State Board encourages every eligible North Carolina resident to make sure they’re registered before the primary election,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections. “This includes making any changes, such as address and party affiliation.”
To confirm your registration status, use the State Board’s voter lookup tool.
To register, individuals must meet certain qualifications and complete a North Carolina Voter Registration Application in English or Spanish. Applications are available at the state and county boards of elections, public libraries, public high schools, college admissions offices and many state agencies.
Once completed, the applicant must sign the form, and mail it or return it in-person to their county board of elections. Voters who are already registered may update their information by submitting a voter registration form by email, fax, mail, or in-person to their county board of elections.
To find the address of your local board of elections, use the county board lookup tool: vt.ncsbe.gov/BOEInfo/.
Prospective voters must meet the following qualifications to register to vote:
Be a U.S. citizen;
Have been a resident of North Carolina, the county, and precinct for 30 days before the election;
Be at least 18 years old; 17-year-olds may register and vote in a primary election if they will be 18 at the time of the general election; and
Not be serving a sentence for a felony conviction (including probation or parole). (Citizenship and voting rights are automatically restored upon completion of the sentence. No special document is needed.)
Note: Voters are not required to show photo ID for the March 2020 primary election. In a December 31 order, a federal district court blocked North Carolina’s voter photo ID requirement from taking effect. The injunction will remain in place until further order of the court.
https://wizs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/NC-State-Board-of-Elections.png265504WIZS Staffhttps://wizs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/wizswebsitelogoimage.pngWIZS Staff2020-02-05 16:58:382020-02-05 16:58:38Friday Marks Deadline to Register to Vote in Primary Election
Katherine Burnette, the incumbent district court judge for the Ninth Judicial District of North Carolina, faces challenger Brian Cloninger in the March 3, 2020 Primary election. The district court judge position serves Vance, Franklin, Granville, Warren and Person counties.
Katherine Burnette, the incumbent district court judge for the Ninth Judicial District of North Carolina, faces challenger Brian Cloninger in the March 3, 2020 Primary election. (Photo courtesy Katherine Burnette)
Appointed district court judge by NC Governor Roy Cooper in 2018, Burnette filled the vacancy created by Judge Carolyn J. Thompson who was appointed to serve as a Superior Court Judge in the Ninth Judicial District earlier that year.
With 15 months of experience as a district court judge, Burnette said her current service coupled with her varied legal experience make her the ideal candidate for the job. “I have 35 years of legal experience, and it’s been broad legal experience; it’s been private practice, clerking for court of appeals judges and bankruptcy judges. I have also been a public servant since 2002 when I became an assistant district attorney in this district.”
Describing the district court process in an interview with WIZS, Burnette said she oversees a range of cases including mental health, child support, abuse/neglect/dependency, family law, domestic violence and criminal.
“I hope the main thing people say about me [as a judge] is that I am fair, that I listen to everyone and that I make reasoned decisions on the bench,” Burnette stated.
She graduated cum laude from Wake Forest University in 1981 with a BA in both English and politics and from the Wake Forest University School of Law in 1984. In 2019, she was awarded a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Queens University in Charlotte.
According to Burnette’s website, she has practiced law in state and federal courts and has experience in family law, criminal law, and bankruptcy law as well as civil and commercial litigation. She served as an assistant district attorney for the former ninth (now eleventh) prosecutorial district from 2002-2007.
In her role as an assistant United States attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina from 2007-2011, Burnette received two national service awards for her work in financial litigation, as the civil division’s financial litigation attorney, primarily in the recovery of restitution for crime victims.
From 2011-2018, Burnette served the Violent Crimes Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office where she participated in multiple criminal trials and prosecutions for bank robbery, federal firearms, and controlled substance offenses in North Carolina.
Burnette has also held positions on the NC Board of Elections, NC Board of Ethics and State Personnel Commission.
Burnette and husband Tom, an attorney, reside in Granville County. For more information on her background, awards and volunteer work, please visit https://keepkatherineburnette.com
To hear the interview with Burnette in its entirety, please click the link below.
(This is not a paid political advertisement. Political candidates are offered equal time.)
Brian Cloninger, a Henderson resident and private defense attorney at Cloninger Law Offices, PLLC, will challenge incumbent Katherine Burnette for district court judge of the Ninth Judicial District of North Carolina in the March 3, 2020 Primary election. This position serves Vance, Franklin, Granville, Warren and Person counties.
Brian Cloninger, candidate for the Judicial District 9, District Court Judge seat, is shown here being interviewed on WIZS’ Town Talk program. (WIZS photo)
Cloninger attended public schools and graduated from the Reich School of Education at Appalachian State University in 2000 and the North Carolina Central University School of Law in 2006.
According to Cloninger’s website, he is a current member of the Vance County Bar, the 9th District Bar, the North Carolina State Bar, the North Carolina Advocates for Justice, and the VCS Board of Directors.
He is the Immediate Past President of the Vance County Bar, the Immediate Past Chair of the Criminal Defense Section of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice, and the Immediate Past Chair of the VCS Board of Directors Policy and Personnel Committee.
He is also a former member of the American Bar Association, the North Carolina Bar Association, the North Carolina Association of Educators, and the American Institute of criminal defense attorneys in Festus.
Sharing his knowledge with other lawyers and judges, Cloninger teaches a class titled “Traffic Practice: Doing it Right and Solving Problems: Courthouse-Based Driver’s License Remediation,” which was approved by the North Carolina State Bar for credit toward required continuing legal education.
Cloninger has 14 years of legal experience practicing in the district courts of the 9th District with a concentration in civil and criminal cases. In a recent interview with WIZS, he said it is his experience and the encouragement of his peers that prompted him to enter the race.
“I’ve been asked by people in the system to run for judge, particularly for this seat. They think that I can help because I have been in the district courts of each of the counties in our district almost every day for 14 years. I know the law. I know about the people who make up the justice system and I know what they need to help make this particular seat a better seat.”
District court handles misdemeanor criminal and traffic matters, including domestic and family law cases. According to Cloninger, with 95% of cases ending in a plea deal or some form of deferred agreement, only 5% of district court cases go to trial. District courts see an exceptional amount of cases, with 200 cases on each criminal docket in Vance County alone.
For Cloninger, the incentive of serving as a district court judge is not financial but rewarding all the same. “The incentive is the ability to help more people, to make sure that our district court is a place that people feel like they can go to get equal justice,” he said.
“The role of a judge is to help victims feel safe and comfortable that justice has been served and help offenders get the rehabilitation they need so that once they’ve served their sentence, they can become productive members of the community.”
Cloninger is married and has two children. His wife, Alison Finch Cloninger, is also from Henderson. For more information on his campaign, please visit www.cloningerforjudge.com.
To hear the interview with Cloninger in its entirety, click on the link below.
(This is not a paid political advertisement. Political candidates are offered equal time.)
https://wizs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Brian-Cloninger.png265504Kelly Bonduranthttps://wizs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/wizswebsitelogoimage.pngKelly Bondurant2020-01-31 19:45:092020-09-25 08:08:59Attorney Brian Cloninger Challenges Burnette for District Court Judge
Jim Gunderson, First Aid and CPR trainer with Durham-based Divers Alert Network (DAN), appeared on WIZS Town Talk Thursday at 11 a.m.
While Gunderson reported that a perhaps surprising 20 percent of Americans have received First Aid and CPR training, he stressed the importance of the remainder of the general public having at least a basic knowledge of how to properly assist someone experiencing an emergency.
“The average response time for EMS to arrive in an urban setting is seven minutes,” explained Gunderson. “It’s 14 minutes, on average, in a rural setting. In a cardiac event, like a heart attack, for every minute you don’t have basic aid, there is a nine percent decrease in neurological recovery.”
These sobering statistics show that “every minute counts; the faster you can get care started, even before EMS arrives, the better chance that person has of surviving.”
Unfortunately, even a well-trained, experienced person administering CPR will have a low chance of successfully reviving the victim, according to Gunderson. “When you perform CPR without an AED or an automated external defibrillator, it’s about a seven percent chance of them surviving. With an AED, the survival rate goes up to as high as 25 percent.”
AEDs are now a staple in many offices and public buildings and can be used on those experiencing a cardiac emergency. The device delivers an electric shock, or defibrillation, to help the heart re-establish an effective beating rhythm.
Even though the chances of survival are low, Gunderson said having more of the public trained on First Aid and CPR is worth the effort, especially considering it could be your spouse, child or other loved one who benefits from your training.
According to Gunderson, 70 percent of cardiac events happen in the home, with 10,000 events happening annually in the workplace. Gunderson said Good Samaritan laws help protect those that render aid to the best of their ability from possible litigation.
“Whether it’s saving a life or just making them more comfortable, it’s very rewarding to know that you’ve helped a person,” he said.
First Aid and CPR classes are frequently offered by DAN, the American Red Cross, county health departments, community colleges and first responder units. Gunderson suggested taking a look at your neighborhood events or calling your local organizations to enquire about class offerings and cost. Costs typically range from $5 to $40 depending on the qualifications sought.
“At the bare minimum, I recommend people get trained in full CPR, which is chest compressions and ventilation,” Gunderson said. “They should also be taught to use an AED and how to deal with airway obstructions that cause choking. For basic First Aid skills, they should know how to stop bleeding, how to treat shock and how to splint a suspected break.”
Classes should be taught by qualified instructors and need to be American Heart Association (AHA) and International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) compliant.
To hear the interview with Gunderson in its entirety, go to WIZS.com and click on Town Talk.
https://wizs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/wizs-featured-image-town-talk.png210400Kelly Bonduranthttps://wizs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/wizswebsitelogoimage.pngKelly Bondurant2020-01-30 16:58:082020-01-30 16:58:08Town Talk 01/30/20: First Aid & CPR Save Lives When Minutes Matter
Vance-Granville Community College is celebrating good news to begin 2020. The fall 2019 semester that recently ended brought growth in enrollment along with an 11% increase in course hours completed in both credit (curriculum) and non-credit programs.
In addition, the college has started the new spring semester off seeing an increase in credit program enrollment over the same time last year.
As of the beginning of the spring semester in January, VGCC had 2,939 students enrolled in curriculum programs. That represents an 8% increase compared to the beginning of the spring 2019 semester when enrollment stood at 2,719.
A significant source of the increase was enrollment by high school students in the Career & College Promise program. There were 4.6% more of those students enrolled than there were at the beginning of spring 2019.
“We are excited about the increasing number of students who have chosen VGCC to pursue their higher education and prepare for a successful career,” said Dr. Levy Brown, the college’s vice president of learning, student engagement and success. “Student access, retention and career preparation are embedded in our daily work, and it shows!”
“We attribute this growth to a lot of collaboration among our talented faculty and staff across our four campuses,” added Kali Brown, VGCC’s dean of student access and support. “This is a collective effort, and we are glad to see outstanding things happening at VGCC under the leadership of President Desmarais. The college will continue to collaborate internally and externally to provide a top-notch educational experience.”
Established in 1969, VGCC offers more than 40 credit programs, in which students work toward certificates, diplomas and degrees. Area residents and businesses can also take advantage of a variety of continuing education/job training opportunities, as well as the High School Equivalency and Adult High School Diploma programs. High school students can get a step ahead by starting their college education early with VGCC courses.
The college has four campuses – one each in Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties – and offers online programs, as well. The new “Vanguard Flex” program is offering flexible, hybrid schedules in the evenings and weekends on the Franklin Campus in Louisburg, to accommodate schedules for adult learners.
Additionally, VGCC has classes starting in February and March for students to enroll in our 12 and 8-week term options.
For more information about the college, visit www.vgcc.edu.
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-Press Release, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Investigative Unit arrested William Richard Mims, a Wake County resident on January 22, 2020. William Richard Mims was charged with the following: one (1) count of Abduction of Children.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Investigative Unit arrested William Richard Mims, a Wake County resident on January 22, 2020. Mims was charged with the following: one (1) count of Abduction of Children. (FCSO photo)
William Richard Mims is currently being held in the Franklin County Detention Center under a $70,000.00 secured bond.
This matter remains under investigation and no further information will be released at this time. If anyone should have any additional information pertaining to this investigation, please contact Detective Dean Woody at 919-340-4369.
William Richard Mims – 51 years of age – 127 Windsor Drive Wake Forest, NC 27587
https://wizs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/William-Mims.png265504WIZS Staffhttps://wizs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/wizswebsitelogoimage.pngWIZS Staff2020-01-24 16:55:002020-01-24 16:55:00Mims Charged With Abduction of Children
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-Press Release, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office
On Thursday, January 16, 2020, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division arrested Tiburcio Marcial Pineda, a Franklin County resident. Tiburcio Marcial Pineda was charged with (15) counts of Third-Degree Exploitation of a Minor.
On Thursday, January 16, 2020, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division arrested Tiburcio Marcial Pineda, a Franklin County resident. Tiburcio Marcial Pineda was charged with (15) counts of Third-Degree Exploitation of a Minor. (FCSO photo)
Charges stemmed from an extensive investigation conducted by Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations Computer Crimes Unit.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Computer Crimes Unit executed a search warrant at Mr. Pineda’s residence located at 215 Brannon Road, Zebulon. Upon completion of the search warrant, Mr. Pineda was taken into custody at his residence without incident.
Tiburcio Marcial Pineda is being held in the Franklin County Detention Center under a $250,000 secured bond.
Tiburcio Marcial Pineda – 36 years old – 215 Brannon Road Zebulon, NC 27597
https://wizs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Tiburcio-Pineda.png265504WIZS Staffhttps://wizs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/wizswebsitelogoimage.pngWIZS Staff2020-01-23 16:56:082020-01-23 16:56:08FCSO: Pineda Charged With 15 Counts of Exploitation of a Minor
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-Press Release, Franklin County Government
The Franklin County Library, through its partnership with NC Cardinal, is improving your library services. During the month of February, Franklin County Library Branches will be closed as noted below to implement these improvements:
Franklinton – February 3-5, 2020
Bunn – February 6-10, 2020
Youngsville – February 11-14, 2020
Louisburg – February 17-21, 2020
All NC Cardinal Resource Sharing transits to and from the libraries will be paused between February 3- 14, 2020.
The result of these updates will be modern library circulation standards and a more seamless integration of local and NC Cardinal Data. Self-check will be available in all Franklin County branches after these upgrades. Throughout the process, book drops will be checked regularly so that materials can be returned on schedule.
