Upcoming Listening Sessions Give Residents A Chance To Give Input On Redrawing District Boundaries

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Vance County residents have the opportunity to attend several public listening sessions in the next month as the county begins the business of redrawing district boundaries for commissioner and school board seats.

The first meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 28 at 6 p.m. at the Vance County Administration building. The second meeting will take place at the Townsville Volunteer Fire Department on Monday, Oct. 11 and the third meeting will be Monday, Oct. 18 at Kittrell Volunteer Fire Department. All meetings begin at 6 p.m., according to information from Kelly Grissom, clerk to the board of commissioners.

Every 10 years, counties use updated Census data to ensure that voting districts have essentially the same number of constituents. Changes are required after every Census to ensure the “one person, one vote” standard. To do so, an ideal population is established for each district by dividing the population by the number of elected officials to be elected from those districts.

Information on the county’s website notes the population by district, based on 2020 Census data. The ideal population for each district has been calculated at 6,083. Districts 1, 2 and 7 stand to lose some constituents and districts 3,4,5 and 6 could gain some constituents as the boundaries are redrawn.

Although there is some room for flexibility, districts must still meet federal and state guidelines. The state’s guidelines are stricter, allowing for a 5 percent deviation.

For Vance County to meet that 5 percent or better threshold, lines must be drawn so that there are no more than 304 people in any one district versus another. District 7 will get the most attention as it is 13.1% over at the present time in population. No other district is more than 2.7% worse than ideal.  Since three of the four districts that surround district 7 are in pretty good shape, minor adjustments should correct all issues related to population and district lines.

District 7 is largely what could be described as north and west Henderson, extending west between the I-85 and U.S. 158 Business corridors and including areas like the Dabney community and west as well as south of Oxford Road to Old County Home Road.

As a result of the Census data, Henderson’s fall election was rescheduled for spring 2022; municipal elections in Kittrell and Middleburg are not affected.

TownTalk: Night Out Against Crime Event Coming To Downtown Henderson

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Like many other areas around the state and nation, Henderson and Vance County is no stranger to crime. Crime happens and law enforcement agencies need help to solve these crimes. That’s where Crime Stoppers comes in. They provide tips that can solve or even prevent crimes.

Cash rewards of up to $2000 are available if a tip results in an arrest and conviction. In order to make those rewards possible fundraisers need to happen.

The Night Out Against Crime here locally will take place on Breckenridge St. from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 21.

Tonya Moore and Lorraine Watkins of Henderson-Vance Crime Stoppers told WIZS’s Trey Snide on TownTalk there is important information to pass along to residents who attend the free event but plenty of fun and entertainment is to be had as well.  Event organizers are expecting around 500 people to attend on Tuesday and will be treated to performances by the Vance County High School Cheerleaders, the Clearview Church Praise Team, the High Grass Bluegrass Band and the gospel choir Work in Progress. At the end of the program a drawing will be held for a big screen TV.

One of the focuses of the event is to reach young people “We really, really need to get in touch with young people to get them pointed in the right direction,” Watkins said. “Not a day goes by without a shooting or a robbery,” Watkins continued.

Watkins also addressed the need for the community to step up and provide local law enforcement with the information they need to help solve or prevent crimes but pointed out that people are afraid to talk or give information to law enforcement agencies.  Crime Stoppers uses the P3 app for cell phones to make tips completely anonymous. With the app users can supply pictures, video and other information to police departments or sheriff’s offices and the use is completely anonymous. A code is used as calls and texts are routed across the country before arriving back in Henderson so the tips can be investigated. Watkins said that if someone sees a crime about to happen the P3 app can be used and law enforcement agencies will be able to intervene before the crime ever happens. “Proactive is better than retroactive everyday,” Watkins said.

According to Moore, those interested in finding out more about Crime Stoppers should follow them on Facebook. Crime Stoppers is composed of volunteers and Moore and Watkins say it’s all about making Henderson and Vance County a better place.

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City Council Trying to Account for Desires and Make Improvements

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The Henderson City Council met Monday, September 13. The areas around two congested intersections appeared on the agenda. In both cases the understanding of the parties involved led to Council decisions.

For a couple of years, there has been interest from a developer to do something with the parcels of land at 1337 and 1343 Dabney Drive at the corner of Lynne Avenue. Unlike in 2019 and 2020, Councilman Garry Daeke said the City agreed to go ahead and rezone the property this time. He said it was made very clear a forthcoming site plan from the developer could not include ingress and egress from the residential side of the property onto Lynne Avenue. A cul-de-sac will be built to close off Lynne Avenue from Dabney Drive.

Daeke said, “I still worry about in the future as we do this. The exits from this property will turn into a lane that turns back into the mall, so I’m not sure how people will be able to exit and leave and do it safely but certainly DOT will be involved in this. We hope this works out. I’m still a little apprehensive about the traffic flow of it, but I think we’ve got what we want to have in terms of not moving traffic into a neighborhood.”

It’s believed at this point, the existing property owner will sell to the developer, the developer will raze the property for redevelopment, sell a portion of the land back to the city for the cul-de-sac and as a result of the process additional development will occur at that location on Dabney Drive.

Across town a piece, the former Henderson Laundry building stands vacant at an intersection, Chestnut Street and Andrews Avenue, that sees 20,000 cars a day go by. Councilman Daeke says Vance County has given it’s portion of the property to the City of Henderson.

In order to apply for the North Carolina Dry Cleaning Solvent Cleanup Act (DSCA) funds, a single owner needed to be listed. It’s an understood the County will stand back up on the matter later.

A lot of expense could be lurking. Chemicals and cleaning products are in the ground there and in the building.

Daeke said, “It’s going to be tricky. We won’t know until we get in there. We know there are some chemicals that have got to come out. There are some machines still in there that have the same chemicals in them. They have to come out. And then the remediation of the property is where the costs may be. It could be as simple as trying to clean it up … It could be the building cannot be demolished because of some issues, and we’ll have to remodel it. That was a real throw to me the other night. I didn’t know that, and that could be very expensive, so it’s going to be tricky to get that done. But that’s such an important corner, entry into the city as we try to move traffic into downtown from Highway 39 and from the interstate. And that’s such an eyesore, and we want to clean that up and do something there or make it available for development. But there are going to be some costs to do that.”

The plan is – Proceed in such a way that the DSCA program limits the City/County exposure for outside remediation of the solvents to $16,000. The City Council Agenda packet information indicates it is estimated $15,000 is needed for equipment and chemical removal from inside the building alone. The next step in what could be a long process.

Caleb Malik Batchelor Sentenced to More Than 19 Years for Felon in Possession of Ammo

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— press release —

A Henderson man was sentenced (Tuesday) to 235 months in prison for two counts of Felon in Possession of Ammunition. On June 10, 2021, Caleb Malik Batchelor, pled guilty to the charges.

According to court documents and other information presented in court, on October 18, 2020, Batchelor, age 23, shot a female victim multiple times at the Highland Green Apartment Complex in Henderson, North Carolina. Batchelor and the victim had been involved in a domestic dispute. The victim sustained life-threatening injuries from the shooting but survived. Law enforcement recovered spent shell casings from the scene. About a month later, on November 16, 2020, Batchelor purchased additional ammunition from a gun store in Henderson. He is a convicted felon, having previous felony drug convictions, and was on probation from those convictions when he possessed the ammunition used to shoot the victim on October 18 and when he purchased additional ammunition on November 16, 2020.

G. Norman Acker, III, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Henderson Police Department, and the Vance County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Dodson prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on our website. Related court documents and information can be found on the website of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:20-CR-541-D.

BLET Cadets Provide Backup For Highway Litter Sweep

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Students in the Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) program at Vance-Granville Community College had the opportunity recently to apply what they are learning about service by answering a call for help from fellow students.

VGCC’s Criminal Justice Technology curriculum program participates in the Adopt-a-Highway program and tend to a stretch of Poplar Creek Road near the college’s main campus. But this year, program head Andrea Hyson, asked Brandon Bishop, BLET director/instructor, for a little backup.

“I was quick to volunteer the BLET Academy class in order to help out,” Bishop said. It was a perfect opportunity to give the 17 cadets a tangible teaching and mentoring activity to help the community. The cadets are on the path to becoming well-trained and well-rounded law enforcement officers, Bishop said. But there’s more to being a law enforcement officer than just enforcing the law.

“We also share the responsibility of being leaders and caretakers within the communities we serve,” he said. “We, as a profession, need to be grounded in service to our communities and their specific needs, whether those needs are large or small. When these cadets graduate and become sworn officers in our communities, our intention is for them to have obtained a sense of responsibility. We want them to have a sense of ownership for creating change, growth and positivity.”

Hyson said she is very grateful for the help from instructor Tony Clark, Bishop and all the BLET cadets.

Contact Bishop at 252.492.2061, ext. 3263 or bishopb@vgcc.edu to learn more.

VGCC Enrollment Up 7.4 Percent; Good News for Several Reasons

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Students at Vance-Granville Community College have signed up to take more 16-week and 8-week term classes over last year’s enrollment, which adds value for students and VGCC.

The college reported a 7.4 percent increase in the number of credit hours that students are taking and that full-time equivalent calculation affects the level of state funding that community colleges receive.

VGCC President Dr. Rachel Desmarais said the more courses a student takes, the higher the reimbursement rate for the college. Community colleges don’t keep tuition, but rely instead on a redistribution of various funding streams to provide quality programs and training to the community.

“When students successfully complete more courses, they accelerate entry or re-entry into the workforce with their new skills,” Demarais said. “That’s good for individuals, the college, employers and our community.”

Dr. Levy Brown, vice president of learning, student engagement & success said the increase is a result of good teamwork from across VGCC’s campus – from admissions and financial aid to advisors, faculty and marketing.

“We are optimistic about this enrollment mark, and are committed to continuously connecting diverse individuals in our service area to our college, relevant academic programs, resources and supports,” Brown stated.

The second 8-week term begins Oct. 13 and enrollment is open now. Program choices include business administration, college transfer, criminal justice, early childhood education and medical office administration.

Visit www.vgcc.edu and click the Admissions tab for enrollment details.

(VGCC is an advertising client of WIZS.  This is not a paid ad.)

TownTalk: FGV Ducky Derby Takes To Garnett Street Sept. 18

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If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to have 2,000 rubber duckies float down Garnett Street, then come out Saturday, Sept. 18 for the 12th annual Ducky Derby to benefit Franklin-Granville-Vance Smart Start.

Garry Daeke, FGV development coordinator, said he is looking forward to another successful fundraiser, despite some necessary adjustments because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sponsors have really stepped up to support the event, Daeke said. “Sponsorships have been off the charts,” he told John C. Rose on Wednesday’s Town Talk. With the promise of good weather and generous sponsors, Daeke said the event is shaping up to be the best yet.

The public is invited to come out for the noon event, he said. This year, however, all the ducks will have the name of a child care employee, whose names were submitted by more than 100 child care providers in the three-county service area.

The first prize winner gets $1,000, second prize is $500 and the last-place finisher gets $100.

Child care workers and providers have suffered financial hardships during the pandemic, and Daeke said FGV is pleased to honor these essential workers at the Derby.

“They’ve had a tough, tough year,” Daeke said. This is one way to “bring a little light into how much we depend on them to take care of our children and so parents can go back to work.”

All proceeds go back into program services.

The race starts at Garnett Street and Breckenridge Street and ends a couple of blocks away at the corner of Garnett and Orange. Spectators should expect to wear a mask and maintain social distancing safety protocols.

The FGV Smart Start provides services for families who may be looking for child care, as well as a wide range of services for child care providers.

“If we can get our children prepared and ready for school…that’s a key element in their success after school,” Daeke said.

The FGV helps to fund literacy programs that increase young children’s accessibility to books and reading. Having a caring support system around you, no matter what your resources are, helps children achieve their potential, he said.

Visit www.fgvsmartstart.org. to learn more.

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BBQ Fundraiser to Benefit Misty Bailey Scheduled for Oct. 2nd.

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The Fight For Misty BBQ Fundraiser to benefit Misty Bailey and her family will take place on Saturday Oct. 2 at Harriet Baptist Church, 1354 Ruin Creek Road in Henderson from 1 to 5pm. BBQ will be sold by the pound at a cost of $10 per pound. In 2019 Misty was diagnosed with Cardiac Sarcoidosis, a rare disease that disrupts the heart’s rhythm, blood flow and normal heart function causing very aggressive inflammation around the heart.

She had a pacemaker implanted to monitor her heart rhythm and detect irregular heartbeats. In addition to numerous medications, Misty endures Remicaid IV Infusions every six weeks at Duke Hospital to reduce inflammation around her heart. These infusions last approximately 18 to 24 months. Cardiac Sarcoidosis is incurable and will require ongoing long-term treatment.

The BBQ for the fundraiser is being prepared by Doug Puckett and Tim Brummitt. Tickets can be purchased in advance or the day of the event. Purple “Fight for Misty” silicone bracelets will also be on sale the day of the event for $1.