Michael Ellington, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:
This segment explores why keeping dead trees on your property might be a good idea. Reminders for upcoming pesticide events are at the end.
Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.
Click Play!
In a unanimous decision, the Henderson City Council approved naming the Henderson Police Department in honor of the late chief, Melvin G. Smith.
Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow made the request, which will require no money from the city – the $5,000 estimated to place signs at the front and rear entrances will come from a money generated through the taxation of unauthorized drugs seized locally.
Smith died in July 2025, but Barrow told the Council that he’d been considering the request long before.
Smith was the first Black police officer at the department, joining before the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Barrow said.
“He wasn’t just the first (Black) police officer,” he continued. He was the first sergeant, lieutenant, the first and only African American major, Barrow noted.
“He was the most qualified person for any position he held,” Barrow said. “His 50 percent was better than anybody else’s 100 percent.”
Barrow knew Smith through the Basic Law Enforcement Training classes, when Smith was an instructor and Barrow a student.
“He was kind, thoughtful…he was an educator. He wanted us to learn…He was a tough man, but a fair man.”
Barrow proposes to install a large plaque at the front entrance and a smaller version at the rear entrance – one that officers use and can see and be reminded of Smith’s legacy.
“It’s time,” Barrow said. “The police department needs a name.”
What better name than Melvin G. Smith.
Click Play!
If one of your New Year’s Resolutions is to sign up to donate blood in 2026, the American Red Cross is here to help you achieve that goal!
A blood drive is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 17 from 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Kerr Lake Country Club, 600 Hedrick Dr.
Sign up is easy: Simply visit https://www.redcrossblood.org/ and enter KLCC to schedule an appointment.
Donors who give blood between Jan. 26 and Feb. 28 will get a $20 e-gift card to your choice of merchant. See www.rcblood.org/heart for details.
With the upcoming annual observance of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, numerous organizations across the community have scheduled events to participate in the Day of Service that coincides with the holiday.
CLICK PLAY!
Editor’s Note: WIZS is taking a closer look at the Vance County Commissioners’ annual retreat and will bring you excerpts from the topics that were discussed in upcoming TownTalk segments.
At their annual retreat last week, the Vance County Board of Commissioners spent a good chunk of time talking about money – dollars coming in and dollars going out – and the impact that flow will have on county residents’ pocketbooks.
During the retreat, held Friday, Jan. 9, County Manager Renee Perry said the county capital improvement plan includes repairs to the existing jail, new EMS substation, a new EMS/fire substation and a new detention facility.
All that comes with a price tag – the new jail estimated at $50 million alone – that the county can’t manage without considering some sort of a tax increase.
“We don’t have the revenue to support a debt service on the jail,” Perry explained. Even with USDA funding, she expects the county would be paying at least $2 million a year on a 40-year note – and that’s with a relatively low interest rate of 3 percent. If that interest rate were just a tick higher at 4 percent or 4.5 percent, that amount would climb to more than $2.5 million annually.
Although Perry pointed out benefits of a tax increase – supporting Vance-Granville Community College and social services and creating more competitive pay packages to recruit and retain employees – she acknowledged the negative impact to taxpayers.
“Even a small increase can be burdensome,” she said.
Any tax increase the county decides on would “go directly to capital (improvements) and nothing else,” she emphasized.
At its January 5 meeting, the board approved spending up to $2.9 million on repairs to the current jail, with that money coming from the fund balance. Those repairs are predicted to be complete by November 2026.
A new EMS substation, with an estimated cost north of $2 million, is on the CIP, too. The land has been purchased, and construction costs are going to come from fund balance.
With a projected $10 million price tag, the EMS/fire substation will most likely have to be financed.
Questioned by Commissioner Dan Brummitt about the high cost of the EMS building construction, Perry said, “It won’t be less than a million. It’s not going to be cheap.”
Assistant County Manager Jeremy Jones said the 4,000 square-foot building will include sleeping quarters for eight, as well as bathrooms, a kitchen and a day room.
While basic construction with basic amenities, it will be quality construction. “I don’t want to just throw a building up,” he said.
About all the proposed projects Board Chair Carolyn Faines said, “If we’re going to build, we’ve got to build for the future.”
CLICK PLAY!
Listen On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
Click Play!
Wayne Rowland, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:
Timber sales can be a once in a lifetime event, always consult a certified forester before selling your timber.
Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.
Click Play!
– from the N.C. State Board of Elections
On Monday, Jan. 12, North Carolina’s 100 county boards of elections will begin sending absentee-by-mail ballots to registered voters who requested a ballot for the 2026 primary election.
This marks the start of voting for North Carolina’s March 3 primary election. Voters who have already requested absentee-by-mail ballots should receive them in the coming days. In North Carolina, any eligible voter can request, receive, and vote an absentee ballot by mail. Find more information at Vote By Mail.
The absentee ballot request deadline is Tuesday, Feb. 17. Election officials urge voters who wish to vote by mail to request their ballot as early as possible to ensure there is time to receive it and then send it back to their county board of elections so that it is received no later than 7:30 p.m. on Election Day – March 3.
State law previously provided for a grace period if your ballot was postmarked on or before Election Day and received up to three days after the election. That is no longer the case. The ballot must be at the county board office, not in the mail, by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.
In the primary election, voters will select nominees for a political party to move on to the Nov. 3 general election. In primaries, voters affiliated with a political party will be given a ballot of candidates for their party. Unaffiliated voters may choose the ballot of any one party that has a primary (Democratic or Republican) or a nonpartisan ballot, if available in their jurisdiction. The Green Party and Libertarian Party do not have N.C. primaries in 2026.
Find out more at Upcoming Election.
Sample ballots are available for individual voters by locating their voter record in the State Board of Elections’ Voter Search link.
Scroll down to the “Your Sample Ballot” section and click on the link(s). Note: Unaffiliated voters will have at least two ballot styles listed, and may have three ballot styles if they are eligible to vote in a non-partisan contest, such as a referendum. When requesting an absentee ballot or presenting to vote in person, unaffiliated voters will choose which ballot they wish to vote.
By-mail voters must have two individuals or a notary witness that the voter completed their ballot. The witnesses must sign the ballot return envelope where indicated. By-mail voters also will be asked to place a photocopy of an acceptable photo ID in the sleeve on the back of their ballot envelope. The photocopy does not have to be a color copy, but election officials must be able to read it. Absentee voters who are unable to provide a copy of a photo ID should complete the Photo ID Exception Form that is included with their absentee ballot materials, and place that form in the sleeve indicated for photo ID.
2026 Primary Dates and Deadlines
Here are key dates and deadlines for the 2026 primary election in North Carolina:
The asterisk * indicates that there are different deadlines for military and overseas citizen voters.
Listen On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
Click Play!
The Henderson Family YMCA invites the community to participate in a special event as part of the Martin Luther King Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 19.
Volunteers are needed to pack meals for the Y’s annual Rise Against Hunger event that will take place at Vance-Granville Community College.
Find out all the details and sign up at https://www.hendersonymca.org/
