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Granville’s MLK, Jr. Event Going Virtual Again In 2022

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The Granville County Human Relations Commission annual event to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will again be held virtually on Monday, Jan. 17, 2022.

The program will include the middle school and high school winners of the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. essay contest, some special musical performances, and appearances from numerous Human Relations Commission members filmed in locations across Granville County. The keynote speaker will be Rev. James Isaac of New Hope Granville Missionary Baptist Church.

There are several ways to view the event, which begins at 7 a.m. One way is to tune in to Spectrum Channel 17, Granville County’s local government access channel. The program will be re-run each hour for several weeks on Channel 17. The video will premiere on the Granville County Facebook Page and the Granville County YouTube page at 7 a.m. and will be available for on-demand viewing thereafter.

The video also will be posted on the Granville County website (www.granvillecounty.org).

The format will follow the 2021 virtual event model, which was moved to Spectrum Channel 17 and to the Granville County Facebook and YouTube channels due to health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Human Relations Commission chose to hold a virtual event again in 2022 due to the uncertainty of planning a large in-person event.

Granville County Facebook Page link:

https://www.facebook.com/GranvilleCountyGov

or Granville County YouTube Page link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbVYs817nNZw3JQFiySEeXg/featured

Granville Elementary Schools Remain K-5, At Least For One More Year

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The elementary schools in Granville County will keep their K-5 designations, at least for another year, according to Dr. Stan Winborne, associate superintendent and public information officer.

At its Jan. 10 meeting, the Granville Board of Education amended an earlier decision to put sixth grades at the elementary schools next year as part of the consolidation and reconfiguration efforts.

The board voted 6-1 to push that back to the 2023-24 school year. Board member Leonard Peace voted against the motion. In December, the board voted to change all elementary schools to K-6.

“Citing a need for more time to prepare, and to discuss additional possible impacts and scenarios, the board chose to move the date to reconfigure grades out to the 2023-2024 school year,” Winborne said in a press release. The board also cited challenges created by the ongoing pandemic as a reason to delay the decision.

Next steps include a review of a draft study of the closing of G.C. Hawley Middle School in the coming months, Winborne noted. A public forum must be held in advance of any decision regarding the fate of the middle school, but Winborne said a date has not yet been set.

Around Old Granville: Dr. Helen Chavis Othow

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Dr. Helen Chavis Othow was an educator, a genealogist, an author and a longtime leader in civic affairs in her native Granville County. She also was a wife, a sister and a mother.

Othow died on Jan. 1, 2022 at the age of 89.

Mark Pace and Bill Harris remembered the life and work of Othow to kick off a new segment of The Local Skinny! called Around Old Granville.

The Chavis family has ties to Granville County dating back to the 1700’s, Pace said, when Granville County encompassed most of what is present-day Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties.

The founder of the John Chavis Society, Othow wrote a biography of Chavis, who Pace said was Othow’s 5-times great-grandfather. Chavis was a free Black man who was born in 1763. He became a Presbyterian minister and taught many children of prominent white families in the area. Othow produced in 1990 a genealogy of Chavis and his family, Pace said, and made several subsequent updates in the years since that original publication.

Although Othow moved away from the area to attend university and then continued in her marriage and career, “she always had a connection back to the county,” Pace said. It was important for her to contribute and to give back to Oxford, he added.

She taught at numerous universities through her career, including her alma mater, St. Augustine’s in Raleigh from 1984-1996.

Othow is survived by her daughter, Ojulo Othow Norman, a grandson, Collis Norman and her brother, Dr. Benjamin Chavis, former president of the NAACP.

She is buried in the Chavis family cemetery outside Oxford.

Have an idea for a story for an Around Old Granville segment? Contact Bill Harris at WIZS 252.492.5594 or Mark Pace at Thornton Public Library at 919.693. 1121, extension 204.

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Granville County Public Schools

Granville School Board To Meet Monday, Jan. 10

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The Granville County Board of Education will meet for a regular board meeting on Monday, Jan. 10, 2022 at 6 p.m. at the Mary Potter Center of Education, 200 Taylor Street, Oxford, NC 27565. Members of the public are invited to view via livestream. To join the livestream meeting, please use the following link: https://live.myvrspot.com/st?cid=MDhkZj.

The Board also will meet in closed session 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 for Personnel and Attorney/Client Privilege.

Public comments for this meeting can be made in person at the board meeting or in writing by using the following link: https://tinyurl.com/y37evl6z Comments made using the link must be submitted between the hours of 12 noon and 4 p.m. on Jan. 10, 2021. A copy will be distributed to board members.  A maximum of 30 minutes in total will be allotted for public comment.

All meeting attendees must wear face coverings and comply with all safety measures, including social distancing. Face coverings must be worn at all times while inside the building.

Anyone without access to WiFi may use the internet services at the Richard Thornton library 210 Main Street, Oxford, or the South Branch Library, 1550 South Campus Drive, Creedmoor.

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GVPH Weekly Update: COVID-19 Cases Continue Uptick

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Vance and Granville counties continue to rack up new COVID-19 cases, and the local health district reports a total of 1,376 new cases in the last seven days. The state figure stands at 28,474.

According to GVPH Director Lisa Harrison, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services notified local health departments that boosters for those ages 12-15 will be available beginning next week. Vaccines and boosters are available Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. in Henderson at 115 Charles Rollins Road and beginning Monday, Jan. 10 at the new location in Granville County at 1028 College St. in Oxford, behind Granville Health System.

Both counties remain in the “high community transmission” category, with Vance at 25.5 percent positivity rate and Granville at 17.2 percent positivity rate. Both counties still fall below the state’s positivity rate, which currently is 31.2 percent.

Specifically, in the past week, Vance County has had 685 new cases and Granville reports 691 new cases, according to a weekly report from the Granville-Vance Health District.

There have been 9,935 cases of COVID-19 in Granville County and 8,648 cases of COVID-19 in Vance County for a total of 18,583 across the health district.

Granville County has documented 107 deaths as a result of COVID-19 and Vance County has a total of 104 deaths for a total of 211 deaths across the health district. Across North Carolina, 19,619 people have died of COVID-19.

“The numbers of cases of COVID-19 are higher than ever and still climbing in short order,” writes Health Director Lisa Harrison. She said that her department is “making an overall shift to paying closer attention to hospitalizations and deaths rather than cases as an indicator of overall risk. Just remember that hospitalization and death are also lagging indicators so given how MANY cases we are seeing, even if the majority of them are experiencing mild symptoms or no symptoms, the sheer numbers dictate that we will still see hospitalizations and potentially deaths increase in the coming weeks as well. Hospitalizations are up locally and statewide this week as the graphs show: https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard/hospitalizations.  Omicron is not to be ignored,” Harrison wrote in the weekly update.

 

 

 

 

 

Keep up-to-date by visiting the CDC Data Tracker by County and the NCDHHS COVID-19 Dashboard. Relevant graphs can be found at https://gvph.org/covid-19_dashboard/.  

Granville Health Department To Re-Open Monday At New Location

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The Granville-Vance Public Health office in Oxford is in the process of moving to its new location near the hospital and will re-open Monday, Jan. 10. All services that clients normally receive at the health department will be unavailable EXCEPT for residents who want a COVID-19 vaccine, according to www.gvph.com.

The new address for Environmental Health is 1028 College St.; the health clinic’s address is 1032 College St.; and the WIC office address is 1036 College St.

Both health department locations – 115 Charles Rollins Rd, Henderson and 101 Hunt Dr., Oxford – have COVID-19 vaccines available Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

 

West Oxford Students Bumped To Remote Learning Jan. 7, 10

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The spike in COVID-19 has prompted West Oxford Elementary School to cancel in-person learning for tomorrow (Friday) and Monday, Jan. 10. Instead, both days will be full virtual learning days, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

But the Granville County Unit of the Boys & Girls Club that operates at West Oxford will be open to serve its registered club members on both days. The club will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Parents should send devices and bookbags with their students to the club, according to a post on the school’s social media site from BGC Chief Operating Officer Jacqueline Robinson.

School leaders posted on social media Thursday evening about the change, and offered several opportunities for parents and students for school assignments and for lunch pickup.

Students in Granville County Public Schools returned to school on Wednesday after the winter break.

The Facebook post stated, in part, that “nearly half of all of our teachers at our school are unable to report to work, mostly due to the pandemic.”

The lack of substitutes available further exacerbated the situation.

West Oxford students with an internet connection and a device are supposed to login to their Google classroom to get lessons and assignments at 9 a.m. Parents of students without a device or an internet connection can come to school after 11 a.m. to pick up an instructional packet. Parents who come after 3:30 p.m. will find packets in the self-serve stations.

The school plans to run regular bus routes about midday to deliver both instructional packets and meals. “These routes will run approximately five hours later than their normal pick-up time in the morning,” the post stated.

Parents also may stop by the school between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to pick up a lunch free of charge for any student.

West Oxford serves Pre-K through grade 5 and is located at 412 Ivey Day Rd, Oxford.

Triangle North Grant Cycle Open For 2022; Deadline To Submit Letters Of Interest Mar. 1

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Triangle North Healthcare Foundation has announced the launch of its 2022 grant cycle, and is accepting letters of interest through March 1, 2022.

Nonprofit organizations, government agencies and schools are eligible to apply for funding projects that will provide positive impact in one or more of the five focus areas: Child Well-Being, Chronic Disease, Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders, Nutrition and Physical Activity, and Reproductive Health.

The link to the Foundation’s online grant portal is available at   http://www.tnhfoundation.org

Executive Director Val Short said funding local projects brings to life the foundation’s mission to encourage, support, and invest in quality efforts that measurably improve health in the areas it serves.

“Our hope is that the Foundation’s investment of grant funds in our communities will result in long lasting improvements in the health and wellbeing of our children and adults,” Short said in a press statement.

Since 2013, the foundation has invested more than $3.3 million in programs across the four-county region that includes Vance, Granville, Warren and Franklin.

Short and the foundation’s grants coordinator Carolyn Powell are available to discuss ideas for grant projects or to assist with grant writing.  Call 252.430.8532 to schedule an appointment.  Information about current and past funded programs and projects is also available on the website.

A regional healthcare grant-making organization based in Henderson, NC, Triangle North Healthcare Foundation was established in 2011, following the merge of Maria Parham Medical Center and Duke Lifepoint.

DOEDC Seeks Revitalization Input From Downtown Merchants

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UPDATE 01-10-22 at 6:30 p.m. —

From the DOEDC:

• Due to rising COVID concerns, this event has been postponed to February 23, 2022. The DOEDC would like to invite you to join the conversation about downtown revitalization in Oxford, and how we can plan and execute changes together. Join us Wednesday, February 23 for a presentation from The North Carolina League of Municipalities own Julie Metz; lunch will still be provided by Strong Arm. Watch your inbox for more information coming soon. We hope you’ll stop by and lend an ear. Let’s keep Oxford moving forward.

The Downtown Oxford Economic Development Corporation is hosting a meeting next week to hear from downtown merchants about next steps in downtown revitalization.

The event is scheduled to begin at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 11 at The Orpheum of Oxford. Lunch will be provided by Strong Arm Baking; participants who want to eat lunch should reserve their seat by Friday, Jan. 7.

Julie Metz, with the N.C. League of Municipalities, will be on hand to discuss her involvement with the city of Goldsboro as the downtown development director for more than 20 years. That city’s downtown – which once had a 75 percent vacancy rate – has been transformed, with business start-ups, private investment and building energy and excitement from the community.

The DOEDC invites merchants to join the conversation about downtown revitalization in Oxford, and to learn how best to plan and execute changes together.

For questions, email eat@strongarmbaking.com.

NCDOT Bike Helmet Program Puts Free Helmets On Kids’ Heads

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The goal of the state Department of Transportation’s annual bicycle helmet initiative is to reduce bicycle injuries and deaths. Applications are available now for agencies to get up to 100 free bike helmets for young cyclists.

As part of the initiative, applicants are encouraged to partner with government and non-government agencies to host bike safety events. Examples of partners include police and fire departments, parks and recreation departments, health departments and community centers, as well as churches and other non-governmental organizations.

Applications are due by 5 p.m. on Feb. 4, 2022, according to information from NCDOT. Applicants may request 25, 50, 75 or 100 helmets and the groups awarded are scheduled to receive the helmets by April 29, 2022.

The selection process has been revised and is no longer limited to government agencies. Helmets will be awarded and distributed once per calendar year in the spring and awardees will have the remainder of the calendar year to host their safety program and then provide a report within 30 days of the event.

The program was started in 2007 and is overseen by the DOT’s integrated mobility division. Money to fund the program comes from sales of the Share The Road specialty license plate. Since its inception, the initiative has provided thousands of helmets to low-income children – more than 30,000 in the past five years alone. Statistics show that less than half of all children wear a helmet while biking, but wearing a helmet can reduce the risk of severe brain injuries by almost 90 percent for children involved in bike accidents.

About 20 bicyclists die in biking accidents each year in North Carolina – one in six of those are under the age of 16. The use of bike helmets was found to reduce head injury by 48 percent, serious head injury by 60 percent, traumatic brain injury by 53 percent, face injury by 23 percent and the total number of cyclists killed or seriously injured by 34 percent.

Visit the NCDOT Bicycle Helmet Initiative webpage for more information and to download the application.