Granville County Crime Stoppers looking for robbery suspect
On Sunday, December 11th, 2016 at 9:35 pm an unknown black male subject wearing a white mask, white gloves , a light colored hooded jacket with black on front, light colored blue jeans, white sneakers, and a black back pack unlawfully went upon private property of Dollar General located in the Wilton community at 2500 Highway 96 South, Franklinton, NC. The suspect criminally vanished a handgun black in color at the clerk on duty and demanded money and the cash register drawer. The suspect placed the cash drawer with money inside his back pack and fled on foot.
If you have information concerning this incident, please contact the Granville County Sheriff’s Office at 919-693-3213 or call Crime Stoppers 919-693-3100.
THE GRANVILLE COUNTY CRIME STOPPERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS HAS AUTHORIZED THE PAYMENT OF A REWARD OF UP TO $1,000 FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO THE ARREST/INDICTMENT(S) OF PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS CRIME. IF YOU HAVE INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS CRIME OR ANY OTHER SERIOUS CRIME(S) IN GRANVILLE COUNTY. YOU ARE ASKED TO CALL THE GRANVILLE COUNTY CRIME STOPPERS IN OXFORD AT 919-693-3100.
Anderson and Reece lead the way in E.O. Young Angel Tree Project
Nicole Anderson and Karen Reece have led a tremendous Angel Tree project at E.O. Young Jr. Elementary School that is helping to make the holidays a joyous time for over 75 students at the school.
Anderson, the school’s counselor, and Reece, the school’s social worker, have worked closely with school staff members, community supporters and church partners over the last two months to collect donations of toys, other gifts and food, for needy students and their families.
They have worked together to deliver the many bags of gifts and boxes of food donated to the students’ homes. In many cases, even younger siblings not yet in school have been given new clothing and gifts.
“Doing something like this makes you feel that you are doing the right thing,” Anderson said. “It fills your heart.”
Reece added that all of the hard work is worth it when you see the smiles on the students’ faces.
“When we gave them the letters to take home to their parents to let them know we wanted to help them, we had to tell the students that these were good letters and they weren’t in trouble,” Reece laughed. “It’s been a really rewarding experience and we so appreciate the support we’ve gotten from everyone.”
They said they want to especially thank the generous members of Flat Rock United Methodist Church and Guiding Star Holiness Church for their many donations to the students and their families.
“We’ve had wonderful donations from our school staff members, but without the help of these two great churches the success of the project wouldn’t have been possible,” Anderson said.
On the last day of school before the Christmas break on December 20, Anderson and Reece still had a few more gifts to deliver and they planned to do just that over the next couple of days.
“What a great thing for our students and their families,” Anderson added. “We are so fortunate to have such a caring school family.”
Anderson, left, and Reece, right, are shown in the accompanying photo with the last gifts scheduled for delivery.
Emeron Cash Honored by local Educators
Members of the Vance County Board of Education were joined by people from throughout the school system and local community in honoring Emeron J. Cash Sr. on December 12 as he retired after 24 years of service on the board.
They attended a nice reception held in the Administrative Services Center prior to the board’s regular monthly meeting to pay tribute to the former teacher, coach and retiring board member. During the reception and at the beginning of the meeting, colleagues, educators and friends visited with Cash, his wife, Patricia, and their son, Chris. They all praised a man who has dedicated his life to helping youth across Vance County and beyond.
Gloria J. White, chairwoman of the board, presented Cash with a resolution by the board recognizing his many contributions. She also joined Superintendent Anthony Jackson with
giving him a handsome, framed collage featuring his many achievements over the years. He also received a wooden, rocking chair with the school system’s seal engraved on the headrest. Vance County Commissioner Dan Brummitt gave Cash a framed certificate of appreciation from his board.
White led comments shared with the audience at the meeting in praising Cash as a great colleague and someone who truly cares about children and education.
Cash thanked everyone for their support over the years and for the many gifts he was presented.
Chris Cash also spoke and thanked everyone for their great relationships and positive work with his father.
Oliver assists Vance County Schools Administrators through workshops
Bruce Oliver, an education consultant with the Just ASK professional development organization, has just completed six sessions of intense educational workshops with local school administrators.
Oliver, shown in the accompanying photo during the final session, came to Vance County for two days of workshops on six different occasions beginning on April 20 and ending on December 9. About half of the district’s school administrators each time attended one of the all-day sessions and the remaining administrators would attend the other day.
Oliver used his considerable knowledge and experience in education as a teacher, assistant principal and principal, prior to his retirement in Virginia to lead each of the sessions. He shared proven strategies with administrators on a variety of educational topics to assist them in being more effective as the instructional leaders in their schools.
Administrators also had access to a wide variety of educational publications and resource materials throughout all of the workshops. Resources were shared in both written form and through online publications.
One of many essential questions Oliver’s presentations focused on was, “What do schools and classrooms look like when they are organized around a commitment to the achievement of high standards by all students?”
Throughout the workshops, Oliver stressed strategies including: standards-based education; learning centered classrooms; project based learning; collegial collaboration; literacy leadership; and growth producing feedback for teachers.
Free small business tax workshop scheduled at VGCC Franklin Campus
The Vance-Granville Community College Small Business Center will present a free workshop, called “Sales & Use Tax 101,” on Thursday, Jan. 19, from 2-4 p.m. in room F1208 at the college’s Franklin County Campus, located just outside Louisburg.
In this hands-on workshop, Rhonda High of the N.C. Department of Revenue will help small business owners understand the basics of sales and use taxes, including registering for a sales and use tax account and learning about the most common types of sales and use taxes collected. High will also discuss the proper procedures for filing a sales and use tax return.
At the end of the workshop, there will be a question and answer session with the presenter, as well as opportunities to network with other business owners.
For more information and to reserve a seat, contact the Small Business Center at smallbusiness@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3240. Registration can be completed online at www.vgcc.edu/schedules/small-business-center.
N.C. Bioenergy Research Initiative announces grant recipients
The N.C. Bioenergy Research Initiative recently awarded $1 million in grants for 13 research projects to boost bioenergy opportunities and production in the state.
“These grants continue to push our knowledge of bioenergy applications in North Carolina forward, creating the potential for future market opportunities for farmers, agribusinesses and forestry industries,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler.
Below is a list of grant amounts, recipients and projects:
- $43,618 to N.C. State University’s Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering for the third year of its study of fertilization rates and yield response of the giant reed Arundo donax. The project will focus on collecting field data needed to establish realistic yield expectations and nitrogen fertilization rates under various North Carolina growing conditions.
- $55,835 to the NCSU Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources for “Loblolly Pine Biomass Genetics/Cropping Study – 2016-2017.” The project will continue genetic evaluation of loblolly pine varieties with high potential as an energy source.
- $148,804 to the NCSU Department of Crop and Soil Sciences for a project titled “Nutrient Dynamics and Production of Bioenergy Crops in Swine Effluent Sprayfields, 2016-2017.” Funding will continue research on the nutrient requirements and uptake of proposed biomass crops grown in a sprayfield environment.
- $148,650 to Carolina Land & Lakes RC&D for the development of “Pellets for Pullets.” This expands a previously funded project into areas of the state with a higher concentration of broiler production. Wood pellet heating systems have been shown to offer cost savings, reduction in moisture and fossil fuel by-products and delivery of a better product to market, while utilizing a renewable domestic fuel.
- $30,167 to the NCSU Department of Crop and Soil Sciences for the second year of the study “Suitability of N.C. Piedmont Soils for Bioenergy Crop Production.” The project investigates the potential conversion of land to bioenergy crops with an emphasis on how soil biochemical and physical properties will be impacted.
- $50,000 to Power Resource Group LLC for a project titled “Crops to Litter to Fuel.” Combinations of giant miscanthus, biochar and pine shavings will be tested against traditional pine shaving litter in turkey brooder houses. Spent litter will be tested to see if it can successfully serve as a high-BTU feedstock for combined heat and power production.
- $32,213 to the NCSU Department of Crop and Soil Sciences for the first year of a two-year project titled “Weed Management in Miscanthus and Switchgrass Bioenergy Cropping Systems.” This builds on a previously funded herbicide project, but will focus more on weed management while establishing giant miscanthus and switchgrass, two potential bioenergy feedstock crops.
- $103,470 for the first year of a three-year project titled “Predicting Short Rotation Woody Crops Productivity and Economic Feasibility.” This collaborative effort between the NCSU Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources and N.C. A&T State University’s Department of Economics will use previously funded projects to refine and validate a forest productivity and economic model. This model will facilitate stakeholder decision-making for short rotational woody crop production and procurement as well as provide best land management practices to landowners via a web-based interactive tool.
- $147,851 to the NCSU Department of Horticultural Science for the project “Gene Editing for Improved Energy Canes.” This project will build on previously funded projects focused on breeding high biomass, cold hardy hybrids. Efforts will now focus on refining regeneration systems and the development of gene-editing technologies for the development of seedless cultivars.
- $24,818 to Tyton Biosciences LLC for the project titled “Energy Tobacco Variety and Sprayfield Trials.” In partnership with NCSU, Tyton will build on results from its previous energy tobacco work by conducting variety trials of modified energy tobacco to maximize biomass yield and evaluate hardiness and other plant characteristic. Work will also include testing energy tobacco in a sprayfield environment to determine nutrient uptake.
- $58,004 to the NCSU Department of Crop and Soil Sciences for “Developing Industrial Hemp in North Carolina.” This work will investigate the feasibility of industrial hemp for food, fiber and fuel by evaluating varieties and developing best management practices such as planting dates and response to plant growth regulators.
- $59,339 to the NCSU Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources for year one of a project titled “Loblolly Pine Plantations to Maximize Bioenergy Production.” This two-year project builds on previously funded work and will utilize two established experimental stands of loblolly pine. Results from this novel design will provide a better understanding of superior genotypes, crown forms, spacing and silviculture practices to optimize loblolly pine for bioenergy production.
- $97,231 to Appalachian State University’s Department of Sustainable Technology and the Built Environment for the project “Demonstrating Syngas Production from Bioenergy Crops.” This project builds on previously funded work that developed methods of heating greenhouses with biomass. The next focus will be using biomass grown on-site to produce syngas for heating as well as biochar as a soil amendment for the biomass production.
The N.C. Bioenergy Research Initiative is a program of the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Its goal is to support the research and development of agricultural and forestry-based feedstocks for bioenergy production and agribusiness development. The N.C. General Assembly approved funding for grants to stimulate energy production from N.C. agricultural and forest products.