Deal Advances on Southeast Rail Corridor

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THIS STORY IS PRESENTED IN PART BY DRAKE DENTISTRY

-Press Release, N.C. Department of Transportation

North Carolina has received good transportation news as an important agreement reached this week will advance plans to improve the Southeast’s freight and passenger rail network.

The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation announced a major deal with CSX Thursday. Part of the deal will enable the N.C. Department of Transportation to acquire a 10-mile portion of an inactive freight line in North Carolina so the line can be converted for use on the Southeast Rail Corridor.

The Southeast Rail Corridor is a network of passenger and freight rail from Washington D.C. to Jacksonville, Fla. The rail runs through North Carolina roughly parallel to Interstate 85 and U.S. 1. The 10-mile section to be acquired runs from Ridgeway in Warren County to the North Carolina-Virginia border.

“This is a key step as we work to improve our rail system so we can move people and goods more efficiently between North Carolina and communities along the East Coast,” said Jason Orthner, director of the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Rail Division.

This week’s deal will also enable the construction of a new Virginia-owned Long Bridge across the Potomac River, and acquisition of more than 350 miles of railroad right-of-way.

The deal comes as officials with North Carolina and Virginia work together on a strategy to acquire both in-service and out-of-service rail lines for enhanced freight and passenger services. North Carolina Sen. Tom McInnis is chairman of the North Carolina delegation of the VA-NC Interstate High Speed Rail Compact and a chairman of state legislative transportation committees.

“This agreement takes us a big step forward in our efforts to better connect North Carolina communities,” McInnis said. “And it will offer new connections between our state and our neighbors, providing lasting economic development opportunities for our state.”

Public Invited to ‘Chat & Chew’ at GCPS’ Equity Conversation

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-Information courtesy Granville County Public Schools

You are invited to join Granville County Public Schools for an equity conversation titled “Improving Performance by Closing the Opportunity Gap” on Thursday, January 9, 2020, from 5 until 6:30 p.m.

The conversation will be facilitated by Mr. James Ford, founder of the Center of Racial Equity in Education (CREED), at the Granville County Public Schools Central Office located at 101 Delacroix Street in Oxford.

Refreshments will be provided. This event is open to the public.

Granville County Public Schools

Granville Co. Board of Education to Meet Jan. 6

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-Information courtesy Granville County Public Schools

NOTICE TO PUBLIC AND PRESS

The Granville County Board of Education will meet for a regular board meeting on Monday, January 6, 2020, at 6 p.m. at the Mary Potter Campus, 200 Taylor Street, Oxford, North Carolina.

The Board will also meet in a Closed Session with the Board’s attorney in accordance with N.C. General Statute 143.318.11 (a)(6), 143-318.11 (a)(3), 143.318.11 (a)(5) and Section 115C-321 on this evening.

To view the agenda for this meeting, please click here.

U.S. Department of Justice

Eastern District of NC Collects Over $13M in Civil, Criminal Actions

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-Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice

United States Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr. announced today that the Eastern District of North Carolina collected $8,527,783.50 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2019. Of this amount, $6,362,993.33 was collected in criminal actions and $2,164,790.17 was collected in civil actions. 

One notable example of the office’s dogged pursuit of victim restitution is the case against Compassionate Home Care Services, Inc. and two other individual defendants. After a years-long investigation and civil prosecution of false claims submitted to Medicaid, the Court awarded the United States and the State of North Carolina a multimillion-dollar judgment.

Because of evidence developed during a thorough financial investigation, the Court restrained significant property early in the case to preserve it for collection. After the judgment was issued, the government used garnishments, executions, and other remedies to collect over $500,000 in short order.

Additionally, the Eastern District of North Carolina worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $134,460.79 in cases pursued jointly by these offices. Of this amount, $15,378.18 was collected in criminal actions and $119,082.61 was collected in civil actions.

“We will use every tool in our arsenal to aggressively collect victim restitution and criminal fines, and recover taxpayer dollars lost to fraud and owed to government agencies,” said Mr. Higdon. “We are proud of the men and women in our office who have worked so hard to ensure justice through their collection efforts. They are to be congratulated for their tremendously successful efforts.”

The U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, along with the department’s litigating divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the U.S. and criminal debts owed to federal crime victims. The law requires defendants to pay restitution to victims of certain federal crimes who have suffered a physical injury or financial loss.

While restitution is paid to the victim, criminal fines and felony assessments are paid to the department’s Crime Victims Fund, which distributes the funds collected to federal and state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.

Additionally, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of North Carolina, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $4,478,580 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2019. Forfeited assets deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund can be used for a variety of purposes, including to support law enforcement.

In certain circumstances, they can also be used to restore funds to crime victims. The Department of Justice, for instance, restored at least 1.8 million in assets forfeited by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina in Fiscal Year 2019, which assets have been used to compensate the victims of crimes prosecuted by this office.

Mr. Higdon stated: “Asset forfeiture is an important tool in the fight against crime. The forfeiture of assets that facilitate crimes or which are the fruits of the crime deprives the criminals of the means and reasons for their criminal activity.  We will continue to aggressively pursue wrongdoers and their illegal assets as well.”

Granville County Chamber of Commerce

Columbine Shooting Survivor to Speak at Annual Granville Chamber Banquet

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-Information courtesy The Granville County Chamber of Commerce

In celebration of its 78th anniversary, the Granville County Chamber of Commerce will hold its 2020 Annual Membership Meeting and Banquet on Monday, January 27, 2020, at the Vance-Granville Community College Civic Center. Dinner begins at 6:30 p.m.

The guest speaker for the occasion will be Kacey Ruegsegger Johnson, a survivor of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting. Come hear her inspiring story of the devastation of Columbine and her “arduous recovery for her body and soul.”

Tickets are available for $40 per guest. Reserved seating for corporate tables of eight is available for $300, corporate tables of 10 for $380.

Checks, cash or credit card payments are accepted by contacting one of the Chamber’s offices – 919.693.6125/Wanda, wanda@granville-chamber.com or 919.528.4994/Toni Anne, tawheeler@granville-chamber.com.

The Chamber requests that guests kindly respond by January 17, 2020.

Sponsors include BB&T, Certainteed, Duke Energy, Granville Health System, Hicks Wrenn, PLLC, The School of Graphic Arts and Vanness Chevrolet.

State Highway Patrol

State Highway Patrol Focused On Collision Reduction This Christmas

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-Press Release, NC Department of Public Safety

In anticipation of the upcoming Christmas and New Year’s holidays, the State Highway Patrol is putting safe driving at the top of its Christmas wish list.

According to AAA, more than 112 million travelers are expected to leave home throughout the holiday period to spend time with family and friends. With this in mind, troopers across the state are focusing on driver behavior in an attempt to ensure everyone arrives safely to their intended destination.

Last year, troopers responded to 3,102 collisions between the dates of Dec. 24 through Jan. 2. Among those collisions, 716 were injury-related and 19 resulted in a fatality. This year, SHP hopes to decrease the number of collisions during the same time frame by focusing on violations such as excessive speeding, reckless driving, following too close and impaired driving.

“The Christmas season is a time to be shared with family and friends,” said Colonel Glenn McNeill Jr., commander of the State Highway Patrol. “Our priority is to reduce needless collisions before they occur in hopes of reporting zero lives lost throughout this holiday season.”

With the increase of distracted driving on the rise across the nation, the Patrol is also taking a proactive approach in reducing distracted driving collisions with the release of a Christmas PSA entitled Two Choices, Your Decision.

While there are several different types of distractions that affect safe driving, the PSA focuses on the dangers associated with texting while driving. The PSA can be obtained by visiting the SHP Facebook page or viewing this YouTube link https://youtu.be/-0S1yDxIOgA.

Granville County Logo

Granville Board of Elections Announces End of 2020 Filing Period

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-Information courtesy Granville County Government

The Granville County Board of Elections has announced that the filing period for the 11 local seats for the 2020 election officially ended at 12 p.m. on Friday, December 20, 2019. Local offices up for election include County Commissioner seats for Districts 1, 3, 4 and 5; Board of Election seats for Districts 1, 2 and 6; and the Register of Deeds seat.

Seats for N.C. House District 2 and 32, as well as N.C. Senate District 22, are also up for election.

For more details, including a complete list of candidates, please visit https://www.granvillecounty.org/…/board-of-elections/ or call the Board of Elections office at 919-693-2515.

Due to the large volume that file at the State Board of Elections, paperwork submitted by noon on December 20 may still be processing. Please check the State Board website for any updates.

Creedmoor Elem. Teacher Awarded NC Outdoor Heritage GO Grant

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-Press Release, Granville County Public Schools

Fourth grade Creedmoor Elementary School of the Arts Teacher, Leslie Nunnery, was awarded an NC Outdoor Heritage Advisory GO Grant for $2500.00. This will allow her 4th-grade students to visit penpals that they’ve corresponded with throughout the year and attend Heritage Days at Maple Grove.

L to R: Superintendent Alisa McLean, Teacher Leslie Nunnery, State Senator Mike Woodard and Principal Latisa McKnight. (GCPS photo)

GO Grants are $250 to $2,500 grants that will be provided to access field study locations and assist with other expenditures that result from taking students outdoors. Qualifying for grants requires instructors to demonstrate how the experience will address topics currently being taught in class and how the experience meets the goals of the Outdoor Heritage Trust Fund plan.

The GO Grants are awarded by the North Carolina Outdoor Heritage Trust Fund for Youth Outdoor Heritage Promotion which is administered by the North Carolina Outdoor Heritage Advisory Council. The Outdoor Heritage Advisory Council and Trust Fund were established in 2015 by the North Carolina General Assembly in an effort to expand the opportunities for persons age 16 and under to engage in outdoor recreational activities.

More information can be found at  www.hickorylandmarks.org.

NC AgVentures Grants Up to $8K Available for Innovative Farm Ideas

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-Information courtesy Warren County Cooperative Extension Center

Farmers with innovative ideas to increase farm profits are encouraged to submit a proposal to the NC AgVentures Grant Program.

NC AgVentures is an Extension program that provides grants to NC independent family farms for new and innovative agricultural project ideas which will increase farm profits. This is a great opportunity for any producer who is thinking of diversifying, improving, or expanding their operation.

The deadline for applications is January 14, 2020. Grant awards up to $8,000 are available.

The program offers two grant options – an individual farm grant or a community grant. Both grant options are available in the following counties: Alamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Anson, Ashe, Cabarrus, Caswell, Catawba, Chatham, Davidson, Davie, Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin, Forsyth, Gaston, Granville, Greene, Guilford, Halifax, Harnett, Iredell, Johnson, Lincoln, Martin, Mecklenburg, Nash, Northhampton, Orange, Person, Pitt, Randolph, Rockingham, Rowan, Sampson, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, Union, Vance, Wake, Wayne, Wilson, Wilkes, Warren and Yadkin.

Click here for Sample Application for Farmers, Sample Application for Community Agricultural Project Grants and Application Workshops for Producers.

Program Administration

The NC AgVentures program is being administered by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service at North Carolina State University. Technical assistance for the NC AgVentures grant program is provided by N.C. Cooperative Extension Agents.

Funding

NC AgVentures is supported exclusively by a grant from the NC Tobacco Trust Fund Commission. To learn more about the NC Tobacco Trust Fund Commission please visit: https://www.tobaccotrustfund.org/

Read more at https://agventures.ces.ncsu.edu/grant-program/

Please contact your local NC Cooperative Extension Center if you have any questions about creating a proposal or filling out the application (Vance – (252) 438-8188, Warren – (252) 257-3640).

Granville Co Sheriff

Recent Fraud Incidents Prompt Granville Co. Sheriff’s Office to Issue Warning

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-Press Release, Granville County Government

The Granville County Sheriff’s Office reports incidents of fraud as residents – especially senior citizens – are being targeted during the holiday season. Detective Lieutenant Bob Critcher advises all residents to be cautious of phone calls that ask for money or the purchase of “green dot” cards.

Some callers are identifying themselves as representatives of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and are requesting payments over the phone. Detective Critcher offers a reminder that the IRS does not ask for payments by phone, and to also be careful of those selling items online, as not all sellers are legitimate.

If anyone has any concerns or questions about a phone call in which money is requested, please contact the Sheriff’s Office at 919-693-3213.