E.O. Young Elementary Celebrates Successful Science and Spaghetti Night

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Vance County Schools

For Immediate Release

February 13, 2017

E.O. Young Jr. Elementary School celebrated science during a special Science and Spaghetti Night event on Thursday, February 9, at the school.

The evening featured parents and students visiting classrooms and participating in science experiments and activities led by teachers.

Students in third grade and fifth grade won honors with their science projects.

Capturing top honors in the third grade were Aaliyah Alenlain, first place; Devan Markham, second place; La’Niyah Terry, tied for third place; and Canaan Evans, tied for third place. They are shown in the first accompanying photo, from right to left, with their projects.

The fifth-grade winners included: Nathaniel Durham, first place; Kendall Sizemore, second place; Nathan Richardson, tied for third place; and Mason Pendergrass, tied for third place. Durham is shown in the second accompanying photo with his project.

Richardson and Pendergrass are shown in the third photo from right to left. Sizemore was unavailable for a photo.

Foundation creates scholarship for VGCC students in memory of Vance County native

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The Watkins Family Foundation, created by the estate of Vance County native Edward Tarry Watkins, has donated $25,000 to the Vance-Granville Community College Endowment Fund to endow a scholarship to help underprivileged women.

The donation to VGCC is actually the first made by the newly-established, Houston, Texas-based foundation, according to Meghan Watkins Thompson, a granddaughter of Watkins.

“I recall that my grandfather would always tell me, ‘you educate the woman, you educate the family,’” Thompson said.

Among family members who remain in the Henderson area is Watkins’ nephew, George Rose Watkins, who has also endowed a scholarship through the VGCC Endowment Fund to help students and regularly plays in the college’s annual benefit golf tournament. His family’s company, Rose Oil, is also a longtime supporter of VGCC and other community organizations.

“The Watkins Family Foundation was created specifically for the education of underprivileged women,” Thompson added. “George and I appreciate Vance-Granville making Ed’s wish a reality.”

This new scholarship will be a “Presidential Scholar Award,” the college’s largest, most prestigious level of endowed scholarship.

“The Edward Tarry Watkins Memorial Presidential Scholar Award represents the lasting legacy of a generous man who never forgot his hometown and demonstrated the same dedication to service and philanthropy as other members of his extended family,” said Dr. Stelfanie Williams, the president of VGCC. “For generations to come, his vision will empower women to obtain the higher education they need to support themselves, their families and their communities.”

Ed Watkins, or “Bitz,” as he was called by his family, was born in Henderson in 1919, the son of William Thomas and Nannie Tarry Watkins. A 1940 Davidson College graduate, he joined the Army Air Corps after college and moved from North Carolina to Texas, serving as a bombardier flight instructor and also working with Minneapolis Honeywell to couple the Norden bombsight to the B-17 autopilot. Watkins retired from active duty in 1949 as a lieutenant colonel.

He and his wife, Hazel, moved to Houston in 1951, where he worked for Merrill Lynch before founding his own brokerage and investment advisory firm, Watkins & Company, Inc.

Active in his community and a supporter of many social and charitable causes, Watkins supported the Embassy Square Foundation in its development of the Perry Memorial Library in downtown Henderson. He and a friend also helped to establish a technical school for underprivileged children in Kun-Ming, China.

After passing away in July 2006 at the age of 87, he was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Henderson.

Through the Endowment Fund, VGCC has awarded more than 8,800 scholarships to students since 1982. Scholarships have been endowed by numerous individuals, industries, businesses, civic groups, churches and the college’s faculty and staff. Tax-deductible donations to the VGCC Endowment Fund have often been used to honor or remember a person, group, business or industry with a lasting gift to education. For more information about the Endowment Fund, call (252) 738-3409.

–VGCC–

Franklin County Man Allegedly Shoots Two in Stolen Gun Argument

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Press Release

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Investigative Unit issued warrants on a Franklin County resident. On 02/10/2017, warrants were issued on Jon Edward Check with Assault with a Deadly Weapon Inflicting Serious Injury. On 02/10/2017, Jon Edward Check was arrested by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Investigative Unit. He is under a $40,000 bond.

This incident is alleged to have occurred on 02/09/2017.

Mr. Check is alleged to have shot two victims at his home.

This incident was alleged to been an ongoing dispute over a gun someone had stolen from Mr. Check.

Four individuals came to Mr. Check’s home, an apparent fight ensued and the end result was Mr. Check shooting two victims. One in the legs and the other in the arm.

Both victims were transported by private vehicle to WakeMed North.

Suspect:

Jon Edward Check

136 Elsie Marie Drive

Youngsville, NC 27596

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 JC Senter at 919-340-4344.

News 02/10/17

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NCDOL Warns Employers of Poster Scam

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NEWS RELEASE

Release: Immediate

Contact: Jason Tyson

Date: Feb. 9, 2017

Phone: 919-715-3233

 

Raleigh—The N.C. Department of Labor is urging businesses across the state to be on the lookout for suspicious correspondence, after the department recently received multiple reports of persons using scare tactics or threatening language in an attempt to sell labor law posters to employers.

“These scams surface several times a year and businesses will contact us,” Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry said. “The threats of fines are bogus and should be ignored. The Department of Labor provides free sets of labor law posters to businesses.”

The scammers will often pose as either government officials or as acting on behalf of a poster company, such as the North Carolina Labor Law Poster Service, a non-regulatory entity that does not operate under any government agency. Other names these companies are known to go by include Personnel Concepts and Labor Law Compliance. There have been reports of these companies threatening fines from $7,000 to as much as $17,000 for non-compliance. Mailings can often appear to be from an official source and request fees for posters that cost anywhere from $84 to $200. Businesses should be aware that scammers may also attempt to contact them by either email, text or by phone.

While labor law posters are required to be displayed at a workplace by law, NCDOL inspectors carry the most up-to-date versions of the posters in their vehicles and will distribute them free of charge. The N.C. Department of Labor will never fine a business that has older versions of the poster displayed.

The NCDOL will print new versions anytime a significant law is changed or updated by Congress. Businesses are not required to order a new poster each time a change is made.  Employers that wish to order new posters can visit www.nclabor.com/posters/posters.htm or can call 1-800-625-2267.

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News 02/09/17

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News 02/08/17

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Home and Garden Show 02/07/17

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GCPS School Board Seeks Public Input on Superintendent Search

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Press Release

Granville County Board of Education

February 7, 2017

The Granville County Board of Education has hired the North Carolina School Boards Association (NCSBA) to help facilitate its search for the next Superintendent of Granville County Public Schools (GCPS). To that end, the board is seeking direct input from interested members of the staff and community to help shape the search process and assist in defining the qualities and characteristics of the next GCPS superintendent.

The board invites parents and community members to participate in a short community survey that can be accessed and completed online by clicking the survey link on the main GCPS webpage: https://www.gcs.k12.nc.us/. All surveys must be completed by Monday, March 27, 2017 with results to be compiled, summarized, and presented by NCSBA at the regular board meeting on April 3, 2017.

In addition, all employees of GCPS will have an opportunity to complete a separate online staff survey. Details about completing the employee version of the search survey will be communicated via school system email.

Citizens may also sign up to address the board during the public comment period at any of the upcoming regular board meetings, scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on March 6 and April 3. All meetings will be held in the main board room at the GCPS Administrative Offices, located at 101 Delacroix Street, Oxford, NC. Citizens must sign up to speak before the meeting begins and must otherwise comply with board policy.

In addition to input received from the surveys and public comment, written statements from any local groups or organizations may be submitted to Allison Schafer via mail at NCSBA, P.O. Box 97877, Raleigh, NC 27624, via email at aschafer@ncsba.org, or via fax at 919-841-4020. These statements should be received no later than Monday, March 27, 2017.

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Stan Winborne, Ed.S.
Director of High Schools
Director of Career & Technical Education Program
Public Information Officer
Granville County Schools

Warrenton Man charged with Discharging Weapon into Occupied Property

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The Warren County Sheriff’ Office Criminal Investigations Division, arrested Allen Brown of 231 Hester Road, Warrenton, NC on 2/2/2017. Brown was charged with one count of Discharge of a weapon into occupied property stemming from a December 2016 incident involving a shooting into a Warren County EMS ambulance traveling on Hester Road. Bond was set at $10,000 secured, with a court date of 2/22/2017.

Sheriff Williams would like to thank the citizens of Warren County for their continued support in the ongoing efforts of The Sheriff’s Office, in the fight against drug and criminal problems in our county. Anyone with information on this or any other matter is asked to contact investigators at the Warren County Sheriff’s Office at 252 257-3364, M-F, 8 AM – 5 PM, or 252 257-3456 after 5 PM. Callers can also contact the Sheriff’s Office ANONYMOUSLY on our Tip Hotline 252 257-1356 or by email at Eagleeye@Vance.Net.