VGCC Pins 15 Practical Nursing Graduates

 -Press Release, Vance-Granville Community College

Fifteen Practical Nursing graduates were honored for their completion of the one-year program at Vance-Granville Community College during a pinning ceremony on July 25 in the Civic Center on the college’s Main Campus.

Upon receiving their diplomas, the graduates are now eligible to sit for the national exam for licensed practical nurses (NCLEX-PN).

Among the Practical Nursing graduates recognized at the ceremony were Reuben Aluoch of Raleigh, Eunice Ayaa of Creedmoor, Christopher Ellis of Wake Forest, Nikitra Hall of Wake Forest, Jason Hurley of Youngsville, Rumana Ibrahim of Raleigh, Cassidy Ivey of Henderson, Tiffany Lemay of Warrenton, Eric Luckenbaugh of Durham, Charles Ngeve of Durham, Joyce Nyaanga of Morrisville, Rose Nyagaka of Raleigh, Wyverta Rawls of Raleigh, Cherrie Satterfield of Rougemont, and Youlanda Simpson of Durham.

Welcoming remarks were offered by Dr. Levy Brown, VGCC’s vice president of academic affairs; Erica Jastrow, the college’s chair of the Nursing Department; and Eunice Ayaa, president of the Practical Nursing Class of 2018.

Above: Graduates honored at the VGCC Practical Nursing pinning ceremony included, first (front) row, from left: Cassidy Ivey, Tiffany Lemay, Joyce Nyaanga and Nikitra Hall; second row, from left: Cherrie Satterfield, Eric Luckenbaugh, Wyverta Rawls; third row, from left: Christopher Ellis, Jason Hurley, Eunice Ayaa, Reuben Alouch, Youlanda Simpson and Charles Ngeve. (VGCC photo)

“Our Nursing program goes all the way back to 1970, almost to the founding of this great institution of which will celebrate 50 years of existence next year,” said Dr. Brown. “Now we are proud to add to that history the Practical Nursing Class of 2018, a diverse group of students from several towns in our region.” While many members of the class have chosen specific nursing specialties for their careers, many also plan to continue their education, he said.  He encouraged the graduates to “aspire, accelerate and achieve in every walk of life.”

“With success comes great responsibility,” Jastrow noted in her remarks. “These students will have the responsibility of preparing for a challenging licensing exam. So if they tell you they still have to study, they really are telling you the truth…. I also hope they will take the opportunity to share their success so that others might be inspired to take the same journey they did.”

Ayaa, the class president, offered thanks to the instructors both at VGCC and in the clinical sites where the students received on-the-job experience. “You all have taught us what will help our patients the most,” she said.

“To our family and friends, thank you for listening to us,” she said. “Thank you for letting us perform skills on you. Thank you for lending us money. I hope we will pay them back!” she added, to laughter from the room. “Thank you for helping us accomplish our dreams. We could not have done it without you — not forgetting the North Carolina taxpayers and our donors. Thank you for your generosity, for the scholarships and the financial aid we received when we could no longer work and pay for our tuition. We are so grateful.”

Heather Wilson, Nursing instructor and SimLab Coordinator, shared the story of the distinctive Nursing Pin which was awarded to each student by Jastrow during the ceremony. During the pinning, biographies were read by Kathy Bray, nursing instructor, and Vanessa Ramseur, nursing instructor, presented lamps to the graduates. The story of the lamp was shared by Patsy Pegram, nursing instructor, and the lighting of the lamps was initiated by Brande McIlroy, nursing instructor, while Crystal Senter, nursing instructor, led the Nursing Pledge.

More photos: Check out VGCC’s album on Flickr!

New Hope Christian Church Site of Latest Breaking & Entering of Place of Worship

-Press Release, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Terry M. Wright – Chief of Staff

On August 24, 2018, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Unit issued warrants for the arrest of Austin Patrick Wells and Timothy Hunter Duke both Franklin County residents. Austin Patrick Wells and Timothy Hunter Duke were charged with the following: one (1) count of Felony Break and Enter Place of Worship and one (1) count of Larceny after Breaking and Entering. The alleged incident stemmed from a Breaking and Entering and Larceny at New Hope Christian Church, 2779 NC 98 Hwy W. Louisburg, NC. Both subjects are currently being held in the Franklin County Detention Center.

Timothy Hunter Duke 205 Pine Ridge RD Louisburg, NC 27549 DOB: 12-26-1996

Austin Patrick Wells 2620 Hwy 98 Louisburg, NC 27549 DOB: 10-16-2000

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 call Detective W. Daniels at 919-340-4343.

Austin Patrick Wells

Timothy Hunter Duke

U.S. Department of Justice

Opinion: Prosecutors Need the Tools to Protect Americans From Violent Offenders

Opinion piece by Robert J. Higdon, Jr., United States Attorney, Eastern District of North Carolina

Nothing federal prosecutors do is more important than protecting our fellow Americans from violence. In recent years, however, we have lost one of the most important tools we use to protect our communities: the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). Only Congress can restore the ACCA to help us keep our neighborhoods safe.

The ACCA operated on a simple premise: when a felon is convicted of illegally possessing a firearm, he receives a mandatory fifteen-year sentence if his prior convictions include three or more “violent felonies” or “serious drug offenses.” These “armed career criminals” are not low-level offenders but rather criminals who have already been convicted of multiple serious offenses and then were caught with a firearm. In contrast to those included under the ACCA, lower sentences are given to felons who illegally possess firearms but lack that violent history. Common sense tells us that when a felon with a violent past illegally possesses a firearm, he is extremely dangerous and must be incarcerated. The ACCA was intended to bring that common-sense idea to the law.

For a long time, the ACCA really worked. After a period of increasing violent crime in America, President Reagan signed the ACCA into law in 1984. From 1964 to 1980, the overall violent crime rate tripled in the United States. Robbery crimes and rapes tripled, and murders doubled. Then came the ACCA and other major criminal reforms; the elimination of parole, reform of the bail system, the sentencing guidelines, and better funding for law enforcement. The goal of these reforms was to reduce violent crime, and from 1991 to 2014, violent crime dropped by half. Murders and aggravated assaults dropped by half, while robberies dropped by nearly two-thirds. The ACCA, along with these other reforms, was a resounding success that made our neighborhoods safer.

So what happened to the ACCA? The answer is a 2015 Supreme Court decision called Johnson v. United States. There, the Supreme Court considered whether Samuel Johnson, a white supremacist who admitted to planning acts of domestic terrorism, was properly deemed an armed career criminal after he was found guilty of illegally possessing an AK-47, several other firearms, and 1,000 rounds of ammunition. The Supreme Court concluded that Johnson was not an armed career criminal because his prior conviction for illegally possessing a sawed-off shotgun was not a “violent felony.” Most importantly, in reaching that conclusion the Supreme Court held that part of the definition of “violent felony” in the ACCA was too vague to understand and thus violated the Constitution’s guarantee of due process. As a result, the Court struck that part of the definition from the statute, and now, after Johnson, many of the crimes that once were considered “violent felonies” under the ACCA no longer qualify.

It is no exaggeration to say that Johnson destroyed the common-sense nature of the ACCA. Courts across the country have ruled that many plainly violent crimes are no longer “violent felonies.” Even murder is being challenged in some jurisdictions. Here in North Carolina, our common law robbery crime—taking property from someone by means of violence or fear—is no longer a “violent felony,” nor (believe it or not) is shooting into an occupied building. It just doesn’t make any sense, and clearly, no one intended the ACCA to lead to these absurd results.

Because of Johnson, more than 1,400 violent career criminals have been released early, and 600 of those have already been arrested again just three years later. On average, these 600 offenders have been arrested or reoffended three times. As the Attorney General recently stated, “Releasing repeat offenders has consequences.” Those awful consequences have been felt in our communities, such as in Utah, where a career criminal released because of Johnson tortured and murdered two teenagers, and in California, where a career criminal released after Johnson allegedly murdered his father, carjacked a vehicle, and killed the vehicle’s driver.

Just last month in the Eastern District of North Carolina, Charlie O’Bryant Terry was sentenced to twenty years in federal prison for obstruction of justice and illegal possession of a firearm (https://www.justice.gov/usao-ednc/pr/henderson-man-sentenced-20-years-federalprison-obstructing-justice-and-illegal). This was not Terry’s first federal sentence. In fact, in 2008, Terry had been sentenced under the ACCA to fifteen years in federal prison after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm after three prior violent felonies, including two common law robberies. Because of Johnson, in August 2016, Terry’s fifteen-year sentence under the ACCA was vacated when his previous convictions for common law robbery no longer qualified as violent felonies. As a result, Terry was released early and placed on federal supervised release.

In January 2017, a mere five months after his release from custody, Terry struck again, assaulting and robbing a couple at gunpoint. During the assault, Terry placed a pistol in the mouth of one of the victims, and he cut the other victim’s head by repeatedly hitting the victim with the firearm, requiring staples to close the wound. After Terry was arrested in April 2017 for violating his federal supervision, federal agents executed a search warrant for Terry’s cellular telephone and found that Terry had taken several “selfies,” or photographs of himself, with an AR-15 semiautomatic firearm the day prior to his arrest. While in jail, Terry also threatened one of the victims in an effort to change his testimony. Terry received a twenty-year sentence for his postrelease conduct, but if his sentence under the ACCA had not been cut short due to Johnson, Terry’s victims would have been safe from his violent criminal behavior in the first place.

Johnson caused these violent offenders to be released early, and going forward federal prosecutors will no longer be able to ensure sufficient sentences for many repeat violent offenders caught illegally possessing firearms. Innocent people will face the tragic consequences that will follow these offenders back to our streets, and the law enforcement officers who protect us will face the danger of confronting and arresting again the same violent felons they already removed from our streets years ago.

But amidst all this bad news, there is still room for something positive: Congress can fix the ACCA. The Supreme Court in Johnson found part of the ACCA’s definition unconstitutionally vague, but the Court left it open to Congress to craft a new definition that avoids these problems. The Attorney General and the Department of Justice have been working with members of Congress to create awareness about this urgent problem. The ACCA focuses on the most dangerous career felons—the kind we can and must take off the streets to protect our communities.

Congress made our nation so much safer in 1984 by passing the Armed Career Criminal Act. Now we need Congress to keep us safe in 2018 by fixing it.

News releases are available on the U.S. Attorney’s webpage at www.usdoj.gov/usao/nce. Follow us on twitter @USAO_EDNC.

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Franklin Co. Utility Advisory Comm. to Meet Thurs., Aug. 30

-Press Release, Franklin County

SPECIAL MEETING NOTICE

Utilities Advisory Committee

The Franklin County Utility Advisory Committee will meet on Thursday, August 30, 2018, at 8 a.m. in the Franklin County Administration Building, 113 Market Street, Louisburg, North Carolina.

Two Vance Co. Residents Arrested for Allegedly Breaking Into a Church

-Press Release, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Terry M. Wright – Chief of Staff

On August 22, 2018, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Patrol, Investigation Units, and Bunn Police Department arrested Michael Dustin Ellis and Colton Tyler Bullock both Vance County residents. Michael Dustin Ellis and Colton Tyler Bullock were charged with the following: two (2) counts of Felony Breaking and Entering, one (1) count of Larceny After Breaking and Entering and one (1) count of Attempted Larceny. The alleged incident stemmed from a Breaking and Entering and Larceny at Rowland Chapel Christian Church, 2293 Epsom Rocky Ford Road Henderson, NC.

Michael Dustin Ellis was also served with one outstanding (1) felony Larceny warrant and one (1) misdemeanor Larceny warrant.

Colton Tyler Bullock was also served with one (1) felony warrant for Identity Theft and two (2) Orders for Arrest to Include Robbery with a Dangerous Weapon and Assault with a Deadly Weapon.

Michael Dustin Ellis is currently being held in the Franklin County Detention Center under a

$102,000.00 secured bond.

Colton Tyler Bullock is currently being held in the Franklin County Detention Center under a $165,000.00 secured bond.

Michael Dustin Ellis

1291 Faulkner Town Road Henderson, NC 27536 DOB: 12-07-1990

Colton Tyler Bullock

5973 Satterwhite Point Road Lot 9 Henderson, NC 27536 DOB: 05-21-1989

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 call Detective B. Garrett at 919-340-4311 or Detective N. Kapl at 919-340-4344.

Michael Dustin Ellis

Colton Tyler Bullock

 

 

Franklin Co. Resident Charged With First Degree Statutory Rape/Sexual Battery

-Press Release, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Terry M. Wright – Chief of Staff

On August 21, 2018, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division issued warrants for the arrest of Charlie Rebollar, a Franklin County resident. Charlie Rebollar was charged with (1) count of First Degree Statutory Rape and (1) count of Sexual Battery.

With the assistance of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Division, Rebollar was taken into custody at his residence without incident.

Rebollar is currently being held in the Franklin County Detention Center under a $300,000 secured bond.

Charlie Rebollar – 280 Rustic Ridge Road Franklinton, NC 27525 DOB: 01/09/2001

On August 21, 2018, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division issued warrants for the arrest of Charlie Rebollar, a Franklin County resident. Charlie Rebollar was charged with (1) count of First Degree Statutory Rape and (1) count of Sexual Battery.

Upchurch Charged With Two Counts of Assault With a Deadly Weapon

-Press Release, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Terry M. Wright – Chief of Staff

On August 17, 2018, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Investigative Unit arrested Danny Clark Upchurch, a Franklin County resident. Danny Clark Upchurch was charged with two (2) counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon Inflicting Serious Injury.

This incident is alleged to have occurred on August 5, 2018, at a residence on Ronald Tharrington Road, Louisburg, N.C. 27549.

Danny Clark Upchurch was given an $80,000 bond.

Danny Clark Upchurch – 40 River Forest Lane ~ Kittrell, N.C. 27544

On August 17, 2018, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Investigative Unit arrested Danny Clark Upchurch, a Franklin County resident. Upchurch was charged with two (2) counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon Inflicting Serious Injury.

Louws Charged With First & Second Degree Exploitation of a Minor

-Press Release, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Terry M. Wright – Chief of Staff

On August 15, 2018, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations, Narcotics, and Patrol Units along with the Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes against Children Task Force, and agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigations arrested Mitchell Franklin Louws, a Franklin County resident. Mitchell Franklin Louws was charged with the following: five (5) counts of First Degree Exploitation of a Minor, and five (5) counts of Second Degree Exploitation of a Minor.

Mr. Louws was charged after an extensive investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. Mitchell Franklin Louws is currently being held in the Franklin County Detention Center under a $1,000,000 secured bond.

Mitchell Franklin Louws – 789 Timberlake Road Franklinton, NC, 27525 – DOB: 03/08/1995

This investigation is on-going and additional charges are anticipated.

Mitchell Franklin Louws, a Franklin County resident, was arrested on August 15, 2018, and charged with five (5) counts of First Degree Exploitation of a Minor, and five (5) counts of Second Degree Exploitation of a Minor.

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Funding for Owens Park, Sewer Improvements Topics of Franklin Co. Board Meeting

-Information courtesy Kristen King, Clerk to the Board, Franklin County

The Franklin County Board of Commissioners will meet Monday, August 20, 2018, in the County Administration Building, 113 Market Street, Louisburg, NC. The official meeting begins at 7 p.m. following a prayer lead by Commissioner Michael Shriver at 6:55 p.m.

ITEM 1. CONSENT AGENDA

A. August 6, 2018 Minutes

B. Budget Amendment #2 (Pursuant to North Carolina General Statute 159-15, the County Finance Officer is requesting a budget ordinance amendment in the amount of $1,029,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019 to amend the General Fund to recognize August 6, 2018 Board action to appropriate monies for Owens Park at Bull Creek and Airport project match.)

C. Releases, Adjustments, Refunds, and Tax Collection Report

D. Petition for Acceptance of Late Application – David S. Griffin

E. Resolution Appointing Review Officers

ITEM 2. COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC

This is the time set aside by the Board of Commissioners to allow individuals five minutes to address the Board on issues concerning the county.

ITEM 3. SEWER SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS

The Board is asked to consider acceptance of a zero interest loan for two projects including Waste Water Treatment Plant Repairs ($8,316,000) and Lift Station Replacement in Franklinton ($1,365,000) at a total cost of $9,681,000. The Waste Water Treatment Plant project is at zero interest with $217,083 loan forgiveness. The Lift Station project is at zero percent interest. Both projects will have a loan fee of 2% that will be invoiced after project bids are received.

ITEM 4. VEHICLE PURCHASE – SHERIFF’S OFFICE

The County has bid vehicles for the year and recommends the purchase of 41 vehicles at a cost of $1,351,475.

ITEM 5. OTHER BUSINESS

ITEM 6. BOARD, MANAGER AND CLERK’S COMMENTS

This is the time set aside for the Board of County Commissioners, the County Manager, and the Clerk to the Board to report on various activities. The Board may also discuss other items of interest.

Vance Co. Animal Shelter to Participate in ‘Clear the Shelters’ Free Adoption Event

-Information courtesy a press release from Capitol Broadcasting Company/WRAL-TV

WRAL-TV and MIX 101.5 WRAL-FM, in partnership with the Humane Society of the U.S., have teamed up with twelve local animal shelters to host Clear the Shelters, the fourth annual nationwide pet adoption drive.

This year, for the first time, the Vance County Animal Shelter will participate in this free adoption event on Saturday, August 18, 2018, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dogs, cats and even one rabbit will be available for adoption.

Each participating shelter will waive adoption fees as part of the nationwide NBCUniversal Clear the Shelters initiative for the day. A short application process will be required.

According to Vance County Animal Shelter Chief Frankie Nobles, all cats and dogs available for adoption will already be spayed or neutered, microchipped, dewormed and vaccinated.

Staff will be on-hand all day to help potential adopters select the right pet for their family and answer any questions.

“We are very excited to be able to participate this year,” said Nobles. “There are going to be a lot of animals adopted this weekend.”

In 2017, over 80,000 pets were adopted from 900 shelters across the country during the Clear the Shelters campaign. Locally, WRAL helped find homes for 1,195 pets.

In addition to the Vance County Animal Shelter, eleven other local animal shelters will participate in the Clear the Shelters event including: Animal Protection Society of Durham, Franklin County Animal Shelter, Harnett County Animal Shelter, Johnston County Animal Services, Orange County Animal Services, Paws4ever, Wake County Animal Center, SPCA of Wake County, Safe Haven for Cats, Wayne County Education and Animal Adoption Center and Cumberland County Animal Control.

Visit www.wral.com/lifestyles/pets/ to access more information about Clear the Shelters. A real-time pet “Adoption Tracker” will record the total number of pets that are adopted across all participating markets.

Also, tune in to WRAL-TV on Friday, August 24, 2018, at 7 p.m. for a 30-minute Clear the Shelters special featuring highlights from the national event, plus local pet adoption stories.