Kerr-Tar COG Hosts Cultivate 2024 Sept. 12 At Louisburg College

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The Kerr-Tar Council of Governments is hosting this year’s Cultivate 2024 regional economic development summit at Louisburg College on Thursday, Sept. 12.

The summit will be held at the Jones Performing Arts Center on the college’s campus and begins at 8:30 a.m., according to information from local Chamber president Sandra Wilkerson.

Business leaders, elected officials and others interested in economic development across the Kerr-Tar region can register HERE; although there is no fee associated with the event, registration is required.

Keynote speaker is Jennifer Pharr Davis, an author and small business owner. Other speakers include Ryan Combs, executive director of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership and Scott Peacock, director of Tourism, Marketing & Communication for Visit NC.

In addition to the speakers, participants will have the chance to visit a trade show and hear panel discussions. The summit will discuss how rural communities can foster innovation to create thriving futures.

Jones Performing Arts Center is located at 501 N. Main St., Louisburg.

Visit  https://www.kerrtarcog.org/ to learn more about KTCOG and the programs it offers in its service area that includes Vance, Granville, Warren and Franklin counties.

Duke Energy

TownTalk: Duke Energy Progress

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As the wind and rain from Tropical Storm Debby continued to pelt the entire WIZS listening area Thursday morning, Duke Energy officials said power outages were limited at that time around Henderson and Vance County.

Duke Spokesman Garrett Poorman reminded customers to think Safety First. There are several ways to report a power outage in your area, but thanks to advances in grid technology, phone calls and text messages aren’t the only ways that the energy company is alerted to outages.

Report outages at www.duke-energy.com, text “OUT” to 57801 or download the Duke Energy app on a mobile device, he said on Thursday’s TownTalk. Of course, customers can dial 800-POWERON (800.769.3766) too, he said.

“The first priority is safety when it comes to storm damage,” Poorman said. That’s for crews and for customers.

Whenever winds are greater than 30 mph, crews are grounded from performing work in bucket trucks, he said.

And a couple of words of advice that bear repeating: if you see a downed power line, just stay away from it.

Even as forecasters were predicting the storm’s path, Duke was assembling 7,500 workers in strategic positions across the Carolinas, poised to fan out to areas affected by the storm’s damaging wind and rain.

Power restoration is a complex process, Poorman said, and Duke is continually upgrading the grid system to be able to automatically detect outages so crews can pinpoint the area that needs repair.

And then there are advances like a “self-healing network,” Poorman said, which works much like a GPS in your car. If there’s a traffic jam ahead, your GPS will likely reroute you to an alternate route. The self-healing network applies the same concept – it reroutes the energy to avoid the damaged lines.

“We’re able to reroute power around the outage,” Poorman said, “that will help us minimize the impact of a storm like this.”

Get updates at www.duke-energy.com.

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Granville Vance Public Health Logo

The Local Skinny! Granville Vance Publilc Health Updates Social Media

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Granville Vance Public Health Director Lisa Harrison and her team maintain a laser focus on community health and providing services that improve residents’ well-being. But there’s a newly formed team within the health department that has the task of tweaking the ways that people in the community learn about the wide scope of services available at the health department.

As a result of that teamwork, the GVPH social media presence is going to have a new look in the next week or so, and Harrison said it’s just one way she and her staff are working to be effective community partners.

“We want to make sure that we’re in lockstep in communicating in our two counties,” Harrison said on Thursday’s segment of The Local Skinny! “Social media is how we do that these days.”

Over the course of the next week or so, they’ll be finishing up the final details before the launch, Harrison said. For those who already follow GVPH on social media, there’s nothing special that needs to be done. The address won’t change, despite the fact that the health department will be using a new hosting site.

And for that younger demographic that prefers Instagram over Facebook, no worries – GVPH has you covered.

“We’re trying to do both and connect them in real time,” Harrison noted.

There are always lots of exciting things happening at the Vance and Granville locations, and it’s important to share them with the public.

Whether it’s a reminder to get a flu shot, the latest COVID-19 booster or any number of other programs the health department offers, Harrison said social media platforms are a way to push that information out.

Visit https://www.gvph.org/ to learn more.

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TownTalk: Proper Political Sign Placement

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With the upcoming election just more than three months away, Vance County Republican Party Chairman Jimmy Barrier reminds local residents that although political signs may be placed on private property, campaigners are supposed to wait until 30 days before early voting begins to place signs in public right-of-way spaces. That day for the Nov. 5 election is Thursday, Sept. 5.

“I am pledging that we will continue to follow the rules concerning the placement of signs” Barrier said on Wednesday’s TownTalk. “I just want everyone to play by the rules…as laid out by the state Board of Elections.”

Barrier challenged members of the Democratic Party to do the same, but he said he’s already seen some signs out ahead of the Sept. 5 start date, which Barrier called “blatant violations of the law.”

And although Barrier pledged that members of his party will not remove the offending signs, he said any private citizen is free to do so because the too-early placement of the signs is considered littering, a class 1 misdemeanor.

“We will not damage campaign signs,” Barrier said. “We’re not going to go out there and pull ‘em up – it’s not our job and not what we’re going to do.”

What he and others will do is notify local law enforcement officials including the county Board of Elections, Henderson Police Department, Vance County Sheriff’s Office and district attorney’s office to report violations. Each violation could bring a $50 civil penalty.

“If the signs offend you, people have the right to take them up,” Barrier said, but only from public rights-of-way – NOT from private property where the signs are placed with permission of the property owner.

The city regulates placement of campaign signs and its policies state that they can’t be placed on power poles, in cemeteries or in the grassy triangle northwest of the downtown underpass.

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TownTalk: Way to GROW! Festival

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Back for its second year as a way to build community with an emphasis on entrepreneurship and downtown development, the Way to Grow! festival is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 24 along Garnett Street in Henderson.

Gateway CDC Founder and President Heather Joi Kenney said the non-profit may have provided the impetus for the weeklong activities that will culminate with the daylong festival, but she wants – and needs – the community to participate.

The theme is “Bloom Together, Cultivate Community” and it’s a metaphor for how Kenney sees growth for Henderson.

“The more we come together, the stronger we’ll be,” she said on Tuesday’s TownTalk. She said everyone must be conscious about how the community gathers and how to show support for others.

“I can’t water one part of the garden and not the other,” she said. If you consider Henderson like a garden, each segment of the community needs to feel that nurturing from other segments. “It helps show our diversity,” Kenney said. A festival like Way to Grow! is one way to show support, she said. It’s a way to say, “We see what you’re doing and we’re going to support you,” she said.

There’s still time to register to be a vendor. Go to the Gateway CDC website at https://thegatewaycdc.org/ for details about becoming a vendor. Schedules will be posted soon on social media and the website to include scheduled events leading up to the festival, which will occupy Garnett Street, from around Montgomery Street all the way to Sadie’s Coffee Corner and Vance Furniture, where the main stage will be.

Live music will be performed throughout the day, including Real Entertainment featuring Willie Hargrove and other groups as well, Kenney said.

There will be a Youth Village, hosted by Henderson’s own Jayden Watkins, a teenage pastor, and author. It’s a way to show youngsters that their community values them and wants them to feel special.

There will be an opportunity to get creative, too, Kenney said. Stop by the lot between the Henry Dennis building and the Gateway building and spend a little time helping to paint a canvas that ultimately will be displayed at Gateway.

In addition to this project, local artists are invited to bring some of their finished works to brighten up spots along Garnett Street.

“We have a lot of things to offer in downtown,” Kenney said. She pointed out a couple of new restaurants that add to the fabric of Garnett Street.

It’s events like Way to Grow! that help bring attention to downtown, and Kenney is hopeful that growth will continue.

“I want more vibrancy, more life” for downtown, she said.

WIZS Your Community Voice — 100.1 FM / 1450 AM

TownTalk Airs on WIZS M-F at 11 a.m.

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Perry Memorial Library

Perry Memorial Library – Summer Reading Program Big Success

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Participants of the first Story Time at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market will be nice and dry Wednesday morning (or were nice and dry depending on when you are reading this) and safe from the rains from Tropical Storm Debby.

It’s National Farmers Market Week, and Perry Memorial Library is joining in the celebration by hosting Story Time, beginning at 10 a.m.

Youth Services Librarian Melody Peters said the market provides a great location to take story time on the road. “It’s a gorgeous facility – bright and airy…and covered,” she said on Tuesday’s The Local Skinny!

The story time program is geared for children 0-5, and Peters hopes the forecast of rain won’t dampen participation.

Participation in the library’s summer reading program was spectacular, Peters said.

More than 2,000 children and adults attended 50-plus programs over two months, she said.

They read and read, and read some more, logging 144,000 minutes in their reading logs.

“We were rockin’ and rollin’,” she said. No need to grab the calculator – that is 2,400 HOURS of reading over the summer. Wow!

She said it was great to hear from folks who were returning to the library after a long hiatus. Others were bringing grandchildren, and still others were young people who may not have been gung-ho about reading.

Youngsters who expressed such a sentiment to Peters didn’t get a lecture about how important reading is. Rather, she asked them what they’re interested in and then helped them find books on the topic. The general attitude went from ‘aww, man, do I have to read?’ to ‘ can we have some more books?’ and Peters couldn’t be happier.

“When kids get excited (about reading), I’m ready to give more,” she said. “Now, they’re coming to the library…that’s a ‘win-win’ for me.”

Visit https://www.perrylibrary.org/ to learn more about the programs and services available at your local library.

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The Local Skinny! Airs on WIZS Mon-Thurs at 11:30 a.m.

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Salvation Army

The Local Skinny! Salvation Army

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Major Beth Mallard is the Salvation Army’s new Corps officer serving at the Henderson location.

The organization made the announcement in mid-June; Mallard is one of a couple of dozen corps officers that assumed their new assignments across the Carolinas.

Mallard succeeds the husband-wife team of Captains Joshua and Amanda Keaton, who served at the local Salvation Army for about two years before accepting new roles as district youth secretaries for the organization’s Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi district.

The Salvation Army’s mission is to meet human needs in the name of Jesus Christ.  In addition to having church services at the Rock Mill Road facility, the Salvation Army also runs a food pantry, after-school program and a Family Store & Donation Center at 218 Raleigh Rd.

There will be a huge furniture sale on Saturday, Aug. 17 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m at the site of the former family store at 222 W. Montgomery St.

Tune in at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13 when Maj. Mallard will be a guest on TownTalk.

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WIZS Radio Henderson Local News 08-05-24 Noon

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