“Shop with a Cop and Friends” in full force as Holidays Approach

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The holiday season is here in The Gateway City. It’s also a time of giving with the “Shop with a Cop and Friends” program here in Henderson. Law Enforcement partnered with the Chamber of Commerce and the Vance County Department of Social Services for “Shop with a Cop and Friends.”

$16,000 was raised for the “Shop with a Cop and Friends” fundraiser. Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce President Sandra Wilkerson presented the police department with the check. The money is aimed at helping out children and families in need this holiday season.

This year’s “Shop with a Cop and Friends” event, will take place at Walmart on December 20, 2024, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Officers from the Henderson Police Department and the Vance County Sheriff’s Office will be there during the event.

Henderson Mayor Melissa Elliott conveyed her appreciation to the Chamber of Commerce, the Henderson Police Department, the Vance County Sheriff’s Office, and everyone who helped in this year’s “Shop with a Cop and Friends” program for families in need.

Read The Latest Updates On N.C. House District 32 Contest

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Update 12-13-24 at 2:30 p.m.

The new N.C. General Assembly members will be sworn in for their bicameral legislative session of the state government of North Carolina on Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 12 noon in Raleigh.

The question is will Bryan Cohn be sworn in at that time to officially claim the District 32 House seat?

It is apparent to WIZS News that Cohn will be sworn in, having garnered more votes than incumbent GOP legislator Frank Sossamon.

In recent correspondence, WIZS News has learned from the N.C. State Board of Elections that the state board has certified the post-recount totals in the contest.

Although Cohn held a slim lead in the Nov. 5 general election, Sossamon called for a recount and lodged protests to the state board, along with several other candidates in races too close to call.

The state board told WIZS that the heftiest of protests that Sossamon filed have been dismissed, leaving no protest that would change the outcome of the election.

The decision could still be appealed in Wake County Superior Court.

Stay tuned to WIZS and read updates at www.wizs.com.

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Update 12-4-24 at 4:15 p.m.

The Vance County Board of Elections completed Wednesday its hand-to-eye recount of the precinct randomly selected last week by the State Board of Elections in ongoing efforts to determine the winner in the contest for the N.C. District 32 House seat, currently held by Frank Sossamon.

Director Haley Rawles said each candidate received one less vote as a result of the process.

Sossamon got 205 votes and Democratic challenger Bryan Cohn got 293 votes in the recount, according to Rawles.

The recount was conducted on ballots from the Middleburg precinct, she told WIZS News Wednesday afternoon.

Efforts to get information from Granville County, the other county in N.C. District 32, have not been successful. WIZS will update the story when information is available.

Update 12-2-24 at 4:50 p.m.

From the N.C. State Board of Elections

After the initial machine recount, Republican candidate Frank Sossamon trails Democratic candidate Bryan Cohn by 228 votes, 21,215 to 20,987. State law permits a candidate to request a sample hand-to-eye recount within 24 hours after the initial recount. Sossamon requested the recount.

The State Board conducted a random drawing at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 2 to determine the Election Day precincts or early voting sites that will be recounted by hand in Granville and Vance counties.

The Vance County Board of Elections will conduct its hand recount starting at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3 at the Henry A. Dennis Building, 300 S. Garnett St.

The Granville County Board of Elections will conduct its hand recount in the sample of precincts starting at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, at the Granville County Board of Elections, 208 Wall St., Oxford.

Update 11-26-24 at 1:10 p.m.

Bryan Cohn maintains a 233-vote lead over incumbent Frank Sossamon. The Vance County canvass is complete, but it is unclear whether Granville County’s canvass is ongoing.

Granville County’s Board of Elections has failed to respond to any WIZS request for information about the recount or the protests filed in Granville County, but Granville County Public Information Officer Terry Hobgood posted on the county website earlier Tuesday that the Granville County Board of Elections would reconvene at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 27 to finalize the recount results for three contests, including the N.C. House District 32 race.

Cohn said Friday he received a packet from Frank Sossamon’s lawyer and that, of the 250 or so names listed as potential ineligible voters in Vance County – which is information Vance County’s Board of Elections swiftly sent to WIZS upon request – that the Granville County list has about as many names on it.

According to information on the Granville County website, Granville County Board of Elections Director Tonya Burnette issued Monday, Nov. 25 a statement announcing that a hearing on Sossamon’s protest will take place Monday, Dec. 2 at 10 a.m. at Granville County Superior Court, 101 Main St., Oxford.

WIZS does not know if the Granville recount is complete. If so, the state will actually canvass and certify the election Wednesday, Nov. 27.  From there, the protests leave open the door for the state to step in should it be apparent the outcome of the election could change as a result.

Legal briefs from the Sossamon camp are due to the state tomorrow – Wednesday –  and Cohn’s lawyers have to have rebuttal briefs to the state next week.

Update 11-25-24 at 4:37 p.m.

Vance County Board of Elections Director Haley Rawles said earlier Monday that the recount of ballots cast in the contest for N.C. House District 32 has been completed by her team, and that each candidate – Republican incumbent Frank Sossamon and Democratic challenger Bryan Cohn – each gained one vote as a result of the process.

WIZS News has not heard back from Granville County Board of Elections Director Tonya Burnette about the status of its recount process.

Follow WIZS.com for all the latest updates in the contest for N.C. House District 32.

Update 11-21-24 at 6 p.m. —

Follow WIZS.com for all the latest updates in the contest for N.C. House District 32.

The boards of elections in Vance and Granville counties are in the middle of an official recount, but chances are the outcome of the race will not be known for a couple of weeks since Frank Sossamon, currently trailing challenger Bryan Cohn by 233 votes, filed several protests with the local boards of elections.

The Republican incumbent Sossamon trailed Cohn by 185 votes after the Nov. 5 election; that gap increased to 233 votes after the county canvasses were completed on Nov. 15.

Since then, however, Sossamon invoked his right to call for a recount – which he did less than an hour before the 12 noon deadline on Tuesday, Nov. 19.

However, he also filed three protests Wednesday, Nov. 20 with the Vance County Board of Elections, citing several voting irregularities that call into question ballots being counted for ineligible voters, including voters who cast early ballots but died before Election Day and voters who didn’t have the proper registration information.

Vance County Board of Elections Haley Rawles received from Sossamon’s attorney a list containing more than 250 names of possible ineligible voters based on the aforementioned irregularities.

Repeated attempts to get the same information from Granville County’s Board of Elections director have gone unanswered.

Vance County began its recount at 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 20; information on the Granville County Board of Elections website indicated that its recount was suspended on Wednesday at 9 p.m. and was set to resume Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m.

As of this publication at 6 p.m. on Nov. 21, WIZS has received no additional information than what is listed above in this update.

Officials Brave Chilly Temps For Epsom Park Groundbreaking Dec. 6

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The long-awaited Epsom Park is one step closer to completion following a recent ground-breaking ceremony to turn over those first shovels full of dirt on the property of the former Epsom School.

Franklin County purchased the 7.62 acres at the corner of Eaves Road and N.C. 39 way back in 2006. A sign marked the site as the “Future Home of Epsom Park” for years, and that dream is becoming a reality some 18 years later.

Thanks to a $434,625 grant from the N.C. Parks and Recreation Authority’s Trust Fund – which was matched by Franklin County – the park is embarking on Phase 1, which Franklin County Parks and Rec Director K.P. Kilpatrick said should be complete by fall 2025.

Phase 1 will feature paved walking loops, a multi-purpose field, sand volleyball, cornhole and playground, as well as a picnic shelter and restrooms.

Kilpatrick spoke to the group gathered at the groundbreaking ceremony that chilly, breezy Dec. 6 morning and said the park will stand as a symbol of what can be accomplished when people and entities work together.

“Creating a space for one another,” he said, “brings the promise for a brighter future.”

District 2 Commissioner Roxanne Bragg said the park has been a dream for the Epsom community for a long time, and she looks forward to having the community in her district be able to enjoy its amenities.

Visit https://www.franklincountync.gov/county_services/parks___recreation/index.php 

and click the Epsom Park link on the left side of the page to view site plans, maps and a video of the groundbreaking.

First Methodist Church

First United Methodist Church of Henderson – Tag Sale Shop

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What: The Tag Sale Shop sponsored by the United Women in Faith (UWF) of First United Methodist Church. The tag sale fills 7 rooms and 3 hallways in the church education building with vintage/antique furniture, cookware, flowerpots, rugs and accessories – brass, china, glassware, toys, framed prints, and linens. Furniture includes beds, sofas, easy chairs, side chairs, dining tables and chairs, tv tables, coffee and end tables and cupboards/china cabinets. Many Christmas items are available: themed dishware, pillows, ornaments, angels, linens and decorative items and gifts.

When: Tuesdays and Thursdays through December 19th. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Where: First United Methodist Church, 114 Church Street, Henderson, NC

Why: Shop for others or yourself while donating to the mission ministries of UWF. These ministries reach our local community through the work of ACTS, Boys & Girls Club, children’s programs at the “Y”, supplemental weekend food packs for 25 Pinkston St. Elementary students each week during the school year, 16 Sunday soup kitchens, a clothing closet, school partnership projects with Dabney and Pinkston St. Elementary Schools, and the men’s and women’s shelters and the church’s Good Neighbor Ministry which assists local families.

Beyond county borders funds are given to the Methodist Children’s Home and Methodist Retirement Home, AGAPE Christmas gifts for children and youth in Armenia, and worldwide hunger and disaster relief. This year the disaster relief includes hurricane devastation in western North Carolina.

Call: 432-2997 for more information.

TownTalk: MPH Cancer Center’s Angel Fund Gets $19K Infusion From Fire Dept.

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City of Henderson firefighters know that the next call they get could involve saving someone’s life. It’s what they train for.

For the past seven or eight years, however, the firefighters at Central Station One on Dabney Drive have taken to the street – literally – to help fight a different battle, one that can be just as deadly as a house fire or car crash.

Firefighters take to the busy street in front of the station to conduct their “fill the boot” campaign and donated all the proceeds to the Angel Fund at Maria Parham Health’s Cancer Center. This year’s three-day effort netted a whopping $19,611, which Chief Tim Twisdale presented to cancer center staff on Monday afternoon. In remarks to the group following the check presentation, Cancer Center Director Kimberly Smith remembered former Chief Steve Cordell, who lost his battle with cancer in January 2023. “This was always something special to him,” Smith said of the Angel Fund project. “So we decided we were going to name it the Steve Cordell Angel Fund moving forward.”

City Manager Terrell Blackmon said this is the second year that Cordell has not been a part of the check presentation. “He was a big, strong proponent of this effort,” Blackmon said.

Chief Twisdale presented the check to hospital staff, and said he hopes the tradition will continue. “It warms our hearts to be able to do this every year,” Twisdale said. “We count you guys as a big part of that blessing…taking care of us and the community.”

Thanks also go to all those who donated over the course of the three days of the campaign, Battalion Chief Lee Edmonds said later. None of it would be possible without community support, he said.

Those tall boots got filled while firefighters held up traffic with their singing, dancing, just having a good time to support a good cause, Twisdale said.

The coins and bills that added up to the more than $19,000 donation helps cancer patients with transportation, medicine, food and more, said MPH Social Worker Hope Breedlove.

“Transportation is a huge barrier to care,” Breedlove said, adding that the Angel Fund has provided 1,072 rides since mid-January 2024. That averages out to about 5 rides per treatment day.

One gentleman had to come to the clinic twice a week for treatment, and it wasn’t that he didn’t have a car – he simply was too sick to drive himself.

“A lot of good people come into the clinic – this is great to help them bridge the gap,” she said.

Heather Endecott is an RN who works in the clinic side of the cancer center. She said the Angel Fund, in addition to the transportation support, has helped provide oral chemotherapy to some patients for years, indicating that the much-needed medications are helping people get effective treatment and live longer lives.

The Angel Fund has helped 78 families with gas, 66 families with food and countless others get medicine.

“Medication is a big area that we spend a lot of time helping (with), life sustaining medicines, medicines to control their symptoms, medicines to keep them out of the hospital, medicines to keep them from having to call 911 in the middle of the night,” Smith said.

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TownTalk: Commissioners Tap Fund Balance To Pay Overdue Bills, Health Care Overruns At Jail

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Vance County Commissioners are tapping the county’s fund balance to take care of a couple of bills – to the tune of more than $822,000 – that involve health care at the local detention center.

Of that amount, $352,000 will be used to pay past due invoices, some dating back to 2019, that were not paid by the county’s former finance director.

County Manager C. Renee Perry told commissioners during the Dec. 2 meeting that the former finance director had failed to process invoices from Prime Health. Perry said Prime Health, during the same period, experienced staffing shortages which further exacerbated the delays in processing invoices.

“We are committed to resolving this matter efficiently,” Perry told commissioners, “while maintaining our partnership with Prime Health, ensuring continued high-quality health care services for the Vance County Detention Center.”

Perry said, going forward, the county will put in place an enhanced tracking system and hold regular reconciliation meetings to make sure payments are made in a timely manner.

Commissioners also approved using another $470,000 to pay for the health care of inmates, some of whom aren’t even housed in the local jail.

The payment is based on the jail’s average daily population, which lately has been over-capacity, “so costs are increasing significantly,” Perry noted.

The $470,000 will pay for overages between July and December, as well as the six-month contract extension. At Perry’s recommendation, the commissioners approved renewing the contract for six months, through June 2025, instead of an annual contract. The plan is to try to get the next contract based on the fiscal year (July-June) and move away from the calendar year-based contract. The commissioners also asked for information about how many inmates are housed in other detention centers and how much that costs the county.

Assistant County Manager Jeremy Jones told commissioners that he recently arranged for two inmates to be taken to the jail in Edgecombe County, but they were sent back to Vance County because of bad behavior.

In another incident at the Vance County facility, an inmate sprayed four detention officers in the eyes with a combination of bleach, feces and urine.

Board Chair Sean Alston asked the manager to do some research to determine how much money the county has spent for capital improvements and maintenance on the jail over the past two years.

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Hassan Kingsberry Sworn In As Interim City Attorney

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The City of Henderson has named Hassan Kingsberry its interim city attorney. Kingsberry was sworn in last week and began his work with the city immediately.

After D. Rix Edwards recently announced his retirement, City Manager Terrell Blackmon told WIZS News that Kingsberry had been selected for the interim role while a search for a permanent attorney takes place. Blackmon said a selection most likely will be made in the first quarter of 2025. The city website has a request for proposal for legal services posted, he added. The RFP deadline is Dec. 30, 2024 at 5 p.m.

Kingsberry is a native of Vance and Warren counties and was valedictorian of Warren County High School’s Class of 1997.

He was a Morehead Scholar at UNC-CH and earned a bachelor’s in public policy analysis there before entering law school at N.C. Central University.

For the past 20 years, Kingsberry has practiced general law and has been an attorney for local governments, including Warren County and the town of Wake Forest.

Kingsberry’s interest in education includes a passion for mentoring and developing youth leadership and character. He has served in numerous administrative roles in Franklin County and Halifax County school districts and taught high school social studies while pursuing a master’s in School Administration at UNC-CH.

He also has a master’s in Divinity from Regent University and he and his wife, Dr. Francemise Kingsberry, pastor at Rebirth and Renewal Church International in Youngsville.