TownTalk: Utility Payment Scam Calls

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There’s another scam circulating in the area, according to the Henderson Police Department. This time, police officials say, they’ve received reports that someone is calling claiming to be from a utility company.

The caller says the utility service is being cut off and then provides another number to call to provide payment information – that can either be made from your bank account or cryptocurrency.

The police have one simple bit of advice: HANG UP!

Call the utility company yourself, using the number printed on your utility bill or from the company website – do NOT use the call-back number provided by the caller.

Often, the call-back numbers are fake, officials say. And if the message came via text, do not respond; rather, mark the number as junk or spam and report.

Customers should continue to use their regular method of payment and not follow the directions of the caller.

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Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Edibles Grown in Containers

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On the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report from Wayne Rowland:

You can grow edibles in containers in limited space.

Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

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Pinkston Street ‘Trailblazers And Changemakers’ Honors Two Local Women

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– – Information courtesy of Vance County Schools

Pinkston Street Elementary celebrated Women’s History Month with a powerful event titled Trailblazers and Changemakers on Mar. 26. The event was led by Principal Canecca Mayes and honored two remarkable women making an impact in the community.

Evan O’Geary, crowned Miss Henderson 2025 and a dedicated 2nd-grade teacher at Zeb Vance Elementary, was recognized for her inspiring leadership and commitment to education. She focused on “The Power of Yet.” Pinkston student Gymaia Robinson presented a heartfelt poem to honor Miss O’Geary.

La’Nautica Johnson, a standout student-athlete at Vance County High School, was also celebrated. As the first wrestler from VCHS to qualify for the state championship, she is paving the way for future athletes. She began wrestling a year ago and encouraged others to reach out and try something new. Alexandra Mendiola honored Johnson with a moving poem.

The program featured a beautiful musical performance by Pinkston Street Elementary teacher Kaylom Crawley, adding a special touch to the celebration.

Throughout March, Principal Mayes highlighted local women making a difference, culminating in this inspiring event that empowered students to dream big and recognize the power of women’s contributions.

TownTalk: From An Owner’s Perspective – WIZS Radio

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Editor’s note: WIZS part-timer Jayden Watkins took some time to sit and chat with John Charles Rose for Thursday’s segment of TownTalk. In what amounts to a role-reversal of sorts, Watkins was the interviewer who posed questions to John Charles to learn more about his life’s work and his vision of the radio station’s role in the community.

There are so many different ways to define “family” these days: there’s family that we’re related to, by birth or by marriage; then there’s “work” family – the people we spend so much time with as we go about our jobs; and there’s also the community of people who live near us, in the same town or even in the same neighborhood.

And since WIZS Radio is a family-owned business serving a local market, Rose finds himself keeping an eye out for them all as he goes about a normal workday.

“I care a lot about what I do,” he said on Thursday’s TownTalk, reflecting back on his career that includes owner/operator/reporter/writer/interviewer/engineer/ad seller.

“I’m still in it, rollin’ hard, rockin’ and rollin’, going just as hard as I can,” even though it may not have been exactly the career path his father would have chosen for his only child.

John D. Rose III would have been 81 this year. Since his dad’s death in 2007, John Charles has stepped in and stepped up to be the guiding force of the radio station.

Gathering news has evolved from the days when he followed his dad around the Henderson Daily Dispatch newsroom and later around the radio station, which members of the Rose family bought in June 1989.

“My daddy just loved radio,” Rose said. “I love radio and I loved my dad,” so it wasn’t a surprise that when it came time for college, John Charles headed off to UNC-Chapel Hill to study broadcast journalism.

By that time, however, he’d already learned the workings of the local station inside and out. He started out mowing the grass, but soon found himself inside the station behind the mic and running the board.

“I grew up around him doing his job,” Rose recalled of his childhood years with his dad. “We listened to scanners and went to car wrecks and fires and things that were going on that were news items. You didn’t gather the news electronically like you do now. You had to go…you had to be there and talk to the people there on the scene and find out what was going on.”

He graduated from UNC in 1998 and “I’ve been rollin’ ever since.”

But it’s not always easy, he readily admits. There are fewer and fewer locally owned and operated radio stations in the U.S. “It can be a difficult push at times.”

He said he’s proud of the staff that keeps things (mostly) humming as the radio station keeps its focus local.

“We’re a mainstream radio station,” Rose said. “We don’t have a niche, but if we did have a niche, our niche is local…local is what people want to hear.”

But when you’re a small station with a small group of employees, it’s tough to be at every city and county meeting, every ribbon-cutting and sports event important in the life of a community.

“My family now – the wife and children that I have – they suffer at times for want of more attention and time from me. Because I work too much,” he said.

Of all the good parts of the job that he can name, that’s one of the parts that isn’t good because of the effects it has on his family.

And of the things he’s proud of – getting a college degree, having a local radio station that provides a valuable service to the community – he is proudest, hands down, of his family.

“I’m so thankful that God wanted me to be in union with another…and blessed to have children,” he said.

He finds himself giving a lot more thought these days to succession planning. “I want the radio station to be present for Henderson and Vance County long after I am dead and gone. I still don’t have a clear picture of what that looks like, and maybe we never discern that.”

What he is sure about, however, is that if the local paper doesn’t print the local news, or if WIZS doesn’t publish the local news, who’s going to do it?

“Part of my passion is for the radio station to be there and present for its community” long into the future, he said.

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The Local Skinny! Vance County Schools District Leaders Recognized

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Two Vance County Schools administrators have completed the North Carolina School Superintendents’ Association Aspiring Superintendents Program.

Dr. Destiney Ross-Putney and Dr. Nealie Whitt III were among a cohort of 39 school and district leaders from across the state to graduate from the leadership program, designed to support school leaders in their current roles while honing their skill sets in roles as future superintendents.

The North Carolina Aspiring Superintendents Program is a highly specialized leadership development initiative tailored for select district leaders who have demonstrated exceptional success in their administrative roles and aspire to the superintendency. Offered through the NCSSA and the North Carolina Alliance for School Leadership Development, the program equips future superintendents with technical expertise, leadership strategies for navigating the complexities of the role and contemporary skills essential for 21st-century educational leadership. Participants engage in multiple face-to-face leadership development sessions and benefit from an embedded Executive Coaching component with proven leaders in the field. To date, 52 alumni from the program’s first eight cohorts have been appointed to superintendencies across North Carolina.

Ross-Putney, VCS chief officer of Instruction and Innovation, said the program offered invaluable insights that apply to leadership at every level.

“The professional learning sessions were highly engaging, and connecting with fellow Cohort IX members has already proven beneficial to my work,” she stated. “I look forward to leveraging these new strategies and expanded professional relationships to further support the students, staff, and community in Vance County.”

Whitt, principal at Vance County High School, said, “Leadership isn’t about titles—it’s about impact. Through the NCSSA Aspiring Superintendents Program, I’ve learned that true leadership is built on vision, resilience, and the courage to make decisions that shape the future. Every challenge is an opportunity to grow, and every student is a reason to lead with purpose.”

Superintendent Dr. Cindy Bennett said she is proud that the two VCS leaders had completed the Aspiring Superintendents Program. “Completing the North Carolina Aspiring Superintendents Program is a significant milestone that reflects not only Ross-Putney and Whitt’s dedication to educational leadership but also their commitment to continuous growth and excellence,” Bennett said. “Their participation in this program will strengthen their impact on our district and inspire those they lead.”

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Cooperative Extension with Jamon Glover: Balancing Work and Fatherhood

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Vance County Cooperative Extension Report with Jamon Glover

Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

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Local Airport Authority Role Is To Manage, Protect Land, Flight Patterns

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Although Henderson gets top billing in the name, the Henderson-Oxford Airport is actually located in Granville County, and the Airport Authority that oversees its operation is owned by both Vance and Granville counties and by both cities.

David Thomas of Henderson is the current chair of the Airport Authority and Jon Carver of Oxford is vice chair.

Carver and District 2 Granville County Commissioner Rob Williford explained the authority’s role and the value of having a regional, public airport as counties and municipalities compete for industry, manufacturing and other types of economic development.

Anyone interested in developing property within a 5-mile radius of the airport is supposed to file a form with the Federal Aviation Administration – Form 7460 – which allows the FAA to provide feedback about the proposals as well as point out any effects that development could have on the airport.

There are height restrictions for structures that may be in a plane’s flight path or gliding pattern near the airport, for example, Williford pointed out.

“All the owners of the airport have to be good stewards of the airport,” Carver said, adding that if the form isn’t submitted, the airport authority could be found in violation of grant assurances. And worse still, the FAA could ask for money back. In the case of the local airport, that would be about $9.5 million.

Carver said he explained this procedure to Oxford city commissioners at a recent meeting during which there was discussion of a rezoning request for 527 acres of land located within that 5-mile radius of the airport.

The FAA is not going to stop the development, Carver said, but without that Form 7460, the FAA could come back to the airport authority and say it isn’t being a good steward.

“They don’t have the jurisdiction to stop the development,” he continued, but added that the authority could incur a penalty and face further consequences.

The airport is in Williford’s district, and he said he has learned a great deal about the airport since he’s been on the county board of commissioners. He said the authority is doing all the proper things for the airport, which relies on FAA funding. “We can’t afford to have that cut out,” he said.

He said he is confident that the city and the county “will come together and work things out and we will be fine.”

Williford said the airport is an asset to both Granville and Vance counties and said as the counties continue to grow and attract business and industry, the airport will play a vital role.

“When we can (say that) we have an airport that can handle corporate jets, that’s a plus,” Williford said.

People coming to check out the area for locating their business or industry are going to fly in, he said. They want something even closer than RDU – and the Henderson-Oxford Airport fits that bill.

But others use the airport for recreational purposes – a lot of people now enjoy flying in for hunting, he said, and even keep a vehicle on the airport grounds for their comings and goings.

In fact, the wait list for hangar space is 49-people long. The airport authority is in a holding pattern waiting for the water lines to extend to the airport that will accommodate the required sprinkler system for fire suppression.

And then the Henderson-Oxford Airport will be ready for takeoff.