City of Oxford to Conduct a Smoke Test on Sewer System

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-Information courtesy the City of Oxford website

McGill has been contracted by the City of Oxford to conduct a smoke test survey beginning Wednesday, August 29 through Friday, September 14, 2018, and will be ongoing until completed. The smoke test survey may be delayed by the occurrence of a heavy rain event.

A smoke test survey will assist inspection crews in locating breaks and defects in the sewer system. Non – toxic smoke will be introduced into a manhole and forced down the sewer lines with the use of an air blower. Smoke will escape from the system at any point where there is an open break in the line.

For example, smoke may rise from the ground in yards, stream banks, storm drains, etc. Smoke will also escape from all manhole lids, vents on building roofs, cleanouts, and from underneath buildings if poor plumbing exists. Be advised that smoke can enter your home, office, or place of business. The smoke is harmless to humans, pets, food and material items.

The smoke is:

NON-TOXIC, NON-STAINING, HAS A SLIGHT ODOR, WHITE TO GRAY IN COLOR, AND CREATES NO FIRE HAZARD.

You do not have to be on site during testing!

It is advisable to pour a gallon of water into every sink, tub, and floor drain that is NOT subject to everyday use. This will fill the p-traps and prevent smoke from entering the building.

If you have questions, please feel free to call:

Engineering/Project Manager– Amy Ratliff –919-603-1113

McGill/Project Manager– Bill Roark – 919-378-9111

VGCC Joins Achieving the Dream to Improve Student Success

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-Press Release, ATD Network and Vance-Granville Community College

Vance-Granville Community College today announced it has joined Achieving the Dream (ATD), a network of more than 220 colleges in 41 states dedicated to improving student success.

As an ATD Network institution, VGCC will innovate to implement, align, and scale cutting-edge reforms, work with ATD coaches to build institutional capacity and connect with peers to foster learning and share information, according to college and ATD officials.

“We are already making a difference in the lives of students,” said Dr. Levy Brown, Vance-Granville’s vice president of academic affairs. “Now as a college, it is time to take the next step in our work to improve student learning and success.” Dr. Brown is the leader of the college’s ATD Core Team.

Dr. Joanne Bashford, left, and Dr. Linda Hagedorn of Achieving the Dream make a presentation to Vance-Granville Community College’s administration, faculty and staff at the college’s fall convocation in the Civic Center on Main Campus. VGCC today announced it has joined the network of more than 220 colleges in 41 states dedicated to improving student success. (VGCC Photo)

“The strength of local and regional economies, our ability to rebuild the middle class, and the possibility that a new generation will achieve their goals depends on community colleges,” said Dr. Karen A. Stout, president and CEO of Achieving the Dream. “Colleges that join the ATD Network show an exceptional commitment to becoming the kind of institution that will lead the nation into the future.”

“Achieving the Dream will serve to accelerate and advance Vance-Granville’s ongoing efforts to assist students in achieving their goals,” said Dr. Gordon Burns, VGCC’s interim president. “Participating in Achieving the Dream with its holistic approach to student success will result in Vance-Granville identifying college strengths, prioritizing areas needing improvement and systematically determining and implementing actions that will lead to greater numbers of students and graduates achieving their personal and career goals.”

ATD offers a capacity-building framework and companion self-assessment that allow colleges to pinpoint strengths and areas for improvement across seven institutional capacities in areas such as leadership and vision, teaching and learning, and data and technology.

With the capacity framework as a guide, ATD’s approach integrates and aligns existing college success efforts and offers valuable support in preparing for accreditation, fostering conversation about goals, and making bold, holistic institution-wide changes because initiatives that don’t reach most of a college’s student body have not shown strong results.

A team from Vance-Granville and teams from the other colleges joining ATD this year met in June to plan for the launch of their ATD work, which will initially focus on student learning and success.

Dr. Joanne Bashford and Dr. Linda Hagedorn were on VGCC’s Main Campus on Thursday and Friday to meet with the Core Team, administration, staff and faculty for Vance-Granville’s launch of the initiative. Dr. Bashford serves as a Higher Education Services Consultant and Leadership Coach for ATD. Her career in community colleges spans 25 years and includes serving as the President of Miami Dade College’s InterAmerican Campus, a diverse campus of 19,000 students located in historic Little Havana, until retiring in 2017. Dr. Hagedorn is Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs, International Programs, Student Services, Diversity and Equity, and Community Program at Iowa State University and a data coach for ATD. As an Achieving the Dream Data Coach, Dr. Hagedorn has been consulting with community colleges since the initiative’s inception and is currently working with six community colleges.

ATD Network colleges report data using metrics that answer critical questions about who attends college, who succeeds in and after college and how college is financed. To advance goals of social mobility and equity, the metrics provide information on how low-income and other underserved students fare. These metrics are categorized into performance metrics, efficiency metrics and equity metrics at points during the student experience from access through post-college outcomes.

As colleges in the new cohort progress, they may apply to participate in initiatives supported by philanthropic funding and managed by ATD. These initiatives help incubate new ideas that help colleges refine practices based on evidence of what works and allow ATD to disseminate knowledge to the broader network and the field.  New initiatives address the challenge of engaging adjunct faculty more deeply as key members of colleges’ workforces and implementing degree programs using only open educational resources (OER).

Achieving the Dream, along with more than 100 experienced coaches and advisors, works closely with ATD Network colleges to reach more than 4 million community college students.

Oxford Board of Commissioners’ Regular Meeting Scheduled for Tues., Aug. 14

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-Information courtesy Cynthia Bowen, City Clerk, City of Oxford

The City of Oxford Board of Commissioners will hold their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, August 14, 2018, at 7 p.m. in the Commissioners’ Board Room, City Hall.

Agenda items include:

Recognition – August Yard of the Month – Randy Witt.

Presentation from Charlie Yokley with McAdams regarding the UDO creation.

Presentation from Reed Barton and Bill Dowbiggin with CDM Smith regarding the work that is taking place at the Kerr Lake Regional Water Treatment plant.

Consider approving a contract with WithersRavenel for providing PE design services for Phase II & III for the CMAQ project.

Call for a public hearing to be held at the regular Board meeting for September 11, 2018, for the rezoning request of 2309 Highway 96 of approximately 86-acre parcel from Industrial – 1 (Prime Industrial) to R-8 (1 & 2 family residential).

Consider carrying over $19,000 that was in the HPC budget for the Mary Potter Grant application FY 18.

2017 B Water & Sewer Engineering Services with McGill.

2019 Resurfacing Engineering Services with WithersRavenel.

 

Granville County Public Schools

Granville Co. Board of Education to Meet in Called Session, Tues., Aug. 14

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-Press Release, Granville County Public Schools

NOTICE TO PUBLIC AND PRESS

The Granville County Board of Education will meet in a called meeting on Tuesday, August 14, 2018, 5:30 p.m. at the Board of Education Administrative Offices, 101 Delacroix Street, Oxford, North Carolina.

The board will also meet in a closed session for Personnel/Attorney-Client Privilege 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. The next scheduled Board Work Session for the Board of Education will be held on Monday, August 20, 2018.

Dywanda Pettaway, Clerk to Board of Education

Granville County Public Schools

Granville Co. Schools Parting With Chamber’s Teachers’ Breakfast; Will Hold Their Own

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-Press Release, Granville County Public Schools

Granville County Public Schools has a long, proud history of partnering with the Chamber of Commerce and the community at large to celebrate and support our newly appointed teachers at the beginning of each school year. Together, we have enjoyed many decades at the Annual New Teacher Breakfast, sponsored by the Granville County Chamber of Commerce, to welcome educators from far and wide to join our public school system and our communities. We have always enjoyed this exciting time of year together and are grateful for the generosity and outpouring of support for our staff and students.

This year, however, Granville County Public Schools staff recently learned that for the first time ever in the history of the Chamber-sponsored event, teachers and administrators from outside of our public school district would be attending and participating in the program for that morning, which was to be held in one of our elementary schools. This event would no longer be held to just support the educators of Granville County Public Schools but was to include a presentation to GCPS teachers from the leadership of a competing charter school that drains much-needed resources from our school district.

Charter schools are not part of the Granville County Public School system and are exempt from many of the requirements placed on public schools, including the requirements to provide meals and transportation, to employ only licensed teachers, and to accept and instruct any student who lives in the district.

This change in the nature of the event gave the Granville County Board of Education serious concerns about the message the event would send to our new GCPS teachers, in a time when recruiting and retaining qualified teachers is increasingly challenging for our public school system. After careful consideration and discussion, board members voted unanimously to not participate in the breakfast this year. This decision was a strong indication of support for our community’s public education system and sends a message that we fully declare our schools to be the first and best choice in education for all of the children of our county. The school system will instead sponsor a new teacher breakfast to welcome Granville County Public Schools teachers.

We hope that members of the community, local businesses, industry groups, and citizens will understand this need for our school board to take this position, and know that it does not reflect in any way on our tremendous gratitude toward their support of our schools and the prior support we have received from the Chamber. We are hopeful that over the next year we may be able to work with the Chamber to find a resolution to our concerns. Together, we can achieve excellence and achievement for all!

Davis-Royster Funeral Service Endows VGCC Scholarship

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-Press Release, Vance-Granville Community College

Davis-Royster Funeral Service, Inc., of Henderson has endowed a new Vance-Granville Community College Endowment Fund scholarship to help area students pursue an education.

The Davis-Royster Funeral Service Academic Achievement Scholarship is named for the family-owned and operated funeral service that has been operating in Vance County since 1991. The company, founded by James H. Royster and owned by Mary Davis-Royster, provides a variety of funeral and memorial services and resources customized to meet the needs of families.

“We have demonstrated through our funeral business a commitment to service based on sensitivity and integrity,” said Mary Davis-Royster. “The people of our service area have been so supportive of us for nearly three decades. We want to give something back to these communities through this educational opportunity to show our appreciation.”

Members of the staff of Davis-Royster Funeral Service, Inc., celebrate their new scholarship with representatives from Vance-Granville Community College. From left are James H. Royster, founder of Davis-Royster Funeral Service; Mary Davis-Royster, owner; Paul Crews Jr., director’s assistant; Robert L. Wright II, funeral director; Dr. Stelfanie Williams, Vance-Granville’s president; the Rev. Richard Henderson, member of the VGCC Endowment Fund Board of Directors; and Eddie Ferguson, director of VGCC’s Endowment Fund. (Photo VGCC)

Through the new scholarship, preference will be given to students enrolled for nine credit hours or more in the Business Administration curriculum program at Vance-Granville. A minimum grade point average of 2.5 will be required.

“The leaders of tomorrow for our community are turning to Vance-Granville today and will be doing so for years to come to secure the education and skills training they need to run area businesses. Our scholarship will serve as an encouragement and a valuable means of support,” Mrs. Davis-Royster added.

Mrs. Davis-Royster also serves as the licensed mortician for the company, and Mr. Royster is the funeral service assistant. Also leading the staff are Paul Crews, Jr., who is the director’s assistant, and Robert L. Wright II, licensed funeral director and embalmer.

“We are appreciative of the extended Davis-Royster Funeral Service family for their support of Vance-Granville’s students,” said Dr. Stelfanie Williams, VGCC’s president. “Their gift today will be meeting the needs of future business leaders for generations to come.”

Eddie Ferguson, the director of the VGCC Endowment Fund, added, “The funeral service has chosen a meaningful way to honor their legacy of decades of service to the community. We are proud they have chosen to partner with us to help our students succeed.”

The new scholarship will add to the more than 9,000 scholarships that have been awarded to students since 1982, funded by interest earned on the Endowment Fund and Scholarship Program. Scholarships have been established by individuals, industries, businesses, civic groups, churches and the college’s faculty and staff to assist deserving students. Tax-deductible donations to the VGCC Endowment Fund have often been used to honor or remember a person, group, business, industry or organization with a lasting gift to education. In the Fall of 2017, Vance-Granville awarded scholarships to 306 students.

For more information, the Office of the Endowment can be reached by calling Endowment Specialist Kay Currin at (252) 738-3409.

Granville County Logo

Granville Co. Human Relations Commission to Meet Mon., Aug. 13

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-Information courtesy Patrice Wilkerson, Administrative Support Assistant/Deputy Clerk, County of Granville

The Granville County Human Relations Commission will meet on Monday, August 13, 2018, at 7 p.m. at the Stovall Library at 300 Main Street, Stovall.

Granville County Chamber of Commerce

Granville Co. New Teachers’ Breakfast Canceled After 25+ Years Welcoming Educators

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— courtesy Granville County Chamber of Commerce | Ginnie Currin, Executive Director ~ 919-693-6125 ~ ginnie@granville-chamber.com

The following is a message from the Granville County Chamber of Commerce to Chamber members and media representatives:

Notice of Cancellation of the Annual New Teachers’ Breakfast

It is with deep regret that the 2018 Annual New Teachers’ Breakfast, which has been hosted by the Granville Chamber of Commerce for more than 25 years, has been canceled. The event was scheduled to be held on August 17, 2018, at Mount Energy Elementary School. The event was to be sponsored and catered by Granville Health Systems and gift bags were prepared for the new teachers by the Chamber membership.

The Chamber of Commerce received a statement from the Board of Education, who met Monday evening August 6, and unanimously decided Granville County Public Schools will not participate in the Chamber’s new teacher breakfast this year.

This breakfast has always been a long-standing event that is entirely coordinated by the Chamber and its members. The Chamber has always viewed this event as an avenue to welcome all new educators to our community and promote camaraderie with fellow associates along with community leaders. The Granville Chamber of Commerce wishes the very best of success to our new teachers this year and hopes that this annual tradition is reconsidered in the future.

Please call the Chamber office at 919-693-6125 or email wanda@granville-chamber.com with questions.

Sincerely,

Granville Chamber of Commerce

www.granville-chamber.com

919-693-6125

(This is not a paid advertisement)

U.S. Department of Justice

Henderson Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Felon in Possession Charge

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-Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice

The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced that today ODELL LAMECHE OVERBY, 46, of Henderson, North Carolina, was sentenced by United States District Judge Louise W. Flanagan to 120 months imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release.

OVERBY was named in an Indictment on March 15, 2018, charging him with Possession of a Firearm by a Felon. On May 16, 2018, OVERBY pled guilty to the charge.

On December 18, 2017, members of the Granville County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home invasion in Oxford. Upon arriving at the residence, deputies observed a vehicle backed up to the residence with the engine running, the trunk open, and several items in the trunk of the vehicle. Deputies saw and secured OVERBY inside the house. Deputies observed an AR-15 assault rifle on the floor a short distance away from OVERBY. OVERBY was placed under arrest. Deputies determined that the firearm was loaded and that OVERBY had been taking items out of the home after breaking into it.

There was one person in the home that was able to call for help from a bedroom when OVERBY made entry into the house. OVERBY pointed the rifle at the person and tied them up.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

In support of PSN, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina has implemented the Take Back North Carolina Initiative. This initiative emphasizes the regional assignment of federal prosecutors to work with law enforcement and District Attorney’s Offices on a sustained basis in those communities to reduce the violent crime rate, drug trafficking, and crimes against law enforcement.

The investigation of this case was conducted by the Granville County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF). Assistant United States Attorney S. Katherine Burnette handled the prosecution of this case for the government.

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

Dunlow Honored by Guardian ad Litem Program for 9th Judicial District

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-Information courtesy Melanie Griggs, program supervisor for Guardian ad Litem 

Attorney John Dunlow was honored by the Guardian ad Litem program for the 9th Judicial District which includes Granville, Franklin, Person, Vance and Warren Counties on August 7, 2018.

At the lunch event attended by his peers, District 9 Guardians and GAL staff, Mr. Dunlow was recognized for faithfully serving as the GAL Attorney Advocate in Granville County for over twenty years.

Mary Jo Van Horne, GAL District Supervisor, shared a message from North Carolina Governor, Roy Cooper commending Mr. Dunlow:

Attorney John Dunlow was honored by the Guardian ad Litem program for the 9th Judicial District at a lunch event on August 7, 2018.

“On behalf of the State of North Carolina, it is a pleasure to congratulate you on your 20th anniversary of service as attorney advocate to the Guardian ad Litem Program of Judicial District 9.   This is certainly a special occasion, and I know that the entire community appreciates your many contributions over the years.

I join your family, friends and colleagues in wishing you an outstanding anniversary celebration.  You have my best wishes for continued success and happiness in all your future endeavors.”

A commendation for Attorney Advocate Longevity from Cindy Bizzell, North Carolina Guardian ad Litem Administrator, was also presented to Mr. Dunlow.

The Guardian ad Litem program’s mission is to provide trained independent advocates to represent and promote the best interests of abused, neglected and dependent children in the state court system and to work expediently toward a plan that ensures these children are in a safe, permanent home. For more information about joining this crucial organization, visit  www.volunteerforgal.org.