SportsTalk: KVA Graduate Joins The Iron Dukes

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Duke, NC State and UNC…them’s fightin’ words around here.  Loyalty to your favorite university sports team is just part of growing up in North Carolina.  What do you do if you are a graduate of NC State, UNC and work for Duke?  That’s the unique situation that Kerr Vance Academy graduate John Averette finds himself in.

Averette, who was a guest on Wednesday’s SportsTalk, started off as an undergraduate at NC State.  “Getting into sports management at NC State was an accident,” Averette said.  He was thinking about going into business but was placed in the sports management program.  “I didn’t know anything about it,” Averette added.

During his time with the Wolfpack, he interned with Wolfpack Sports Properties and when he completed his time at NC State he moved over to UNC to work with the Rams Club as an intern.  Once he graduated from UNC, he went into the job market where he landed a position with the Iron Dukes.

“I do a lot of fundraising,” Averette said. According to Averette, sports management is more than just fund raising.  “There are hundreds of people behind the scenes,” he said.  All of the athletic events and people fall under the sports management umbrella.

Averette credits Kerr Vance Academy for giving him the foundation to succeed in his current profession. “They are a great school for having a college prep environment.  They teach the little things to get you ready for the college environment,” Averette said.  They just don’t teach you who to pull for.

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TownTalk: Sheriff Brame Discusses Detention Center With County Commissioners

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As Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame sees it, this county needs a new jail, no two ways about it. He’s said it before and he said it again during an April 15 commissioners’ work session, during which commissioners reviewed several options from an architect’s needs assessment and received an update on current conditions from the sheriff.

Commissioners agree that something needs to be done, but as the old saying goes, “All it takes is time and money.”

Replacing the jail comes with a $42 million price tag, according to the assessment by Moseley Architects. An expansion would cost north of $31 million and repairing the existing facility would cost more than $5.2 million, according to the architect’s report. Board Chair Dan Brummitt speculated that even if the board decided now to build a new jail, it would be between five and eight years before the first detainee would be housed there.

There are no easy answers to the challenges that face the aging jail, but Brame said he’s worried about the lack of basic safety measures being in place – for detainees and for staff.

He said the jail has 20 staff openings right now, and that overnight staffing is sparse at best. Hiring is difficult, he said, partly because of the salary offered and partly because of the jail conditions.

“Pay does help,” Brame told commissioners. “We do need an increase in pay. But they will not come because they feel unsafe … those inmates could take over the facility any time they want to.”

The county recently spent half a million dollars to replace security doors at the jail, but Brummitt said they were not installed properly and the Georgia company that installed them has not returned to finish the job to the county’s satisfaction.

County Manager C. Renee Perry said she would look at the terms of the contract to determine if the county has any recourse in the matter.

There are other more routine maintenance issues that need attention, and the jail does have an employee who handles them, but other issues like replacing light fixtures and moving outlets away from inmates’ reach are things that require an electrician.

And tradespeople don’t want to do the work because it’s unsafe.

“We have an unsafe facility down there,” Brame said, “from the doors, to how it’s designed, to staffing.”

Commissioner Sean Alston said there are federal grants to apply for help with paying for a new jail and he is hopeful that recent talks with Don Davis and others are going to pay dividends in that area.

Perry said she had submitted to Davis two capital projects for funding consideration – the jail and a new EMS building.

It all comes down to safety, Brame said. “We’ve got a lot of dangerous people in our facility,” 40 in jail for murder. Between June 2021 and July 2022, there were 26 major incidents that occurred in the jail, including death, rape and assault.

From 2019 to 2024, Brame said there were 636 incidents at the jail that came in to 911 – from the jail. “Ninety percent of our people are violent offenders,” Brame said.

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Infinite Possibilities, Inc. Event Friday To Show Support For Sexual Assault Survivors

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Join Infinite Possibilities, Inc. this Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. outside the Henry A. Dennis Building in downtown Henderson to create art and awareness about sexual assault.

Community Engagement Advocate Tyra Turrentine said participants will paint rocks with inspirational messages of encouragement and support as an expression of solidarity and hope for victims of sexual assault.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and Turrentine said Infinite Possibilities Inc. is hosting the event to show survivors that their community supports them.

300 S. Garnett St.
The statistics are staggering: Every 73 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted,
and one out of every six American women has been the victim of an attempted or
completed rape in her lifetime. These numbers highlight the critical need for
awareness and action in our communities, Turrentine said.

The Henry A. Dennis Building is located at 300 S. Garnett St.

TownTalk: Lack Of Accredited Childcare Centers Locally And Across N.C.

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There are many challenges that face today’s working parents, no doubt about it. Who stays home with a sick child, for instance? And what about arranging carpools for after-school sports practices? And let’s not even get started on homework and preparing dinner.

But those challenges can pale by comparison to the challenges that come with finding quality child care for infants and toddlers – what’s a parent to do when there’s a wait list or when there simply are no satisfactory options?

N.C. Rep. Frank Sossamon doesn’t have the answers, but he said finding a solution begins with raising awareness through a couple of forums, the first of which takes place in Henderson on Tuesday, April 30.

“I’m trying to create awareness and then provide education…so we can move forward as a community,” Sossamon said on Tuesday’s TownTalk. The forum for the general public begins at 6 p.m. at Perry Memorial Library, 205 Breckenridge St.

Sossamon said the state of childcare is getting close to crisis level, with parents of young children finding either not enough options for adequate childcare centers or wait lists for centers to accept their child.

“They are not babysitting centers,” Sossamon emphasized, “they are child development centers” that support emotional, physical, psychological and nutritional development of young children so that they are prepared to start kindergarten.

Dr. Tony Cozart, director of Franklin Granville Vance Smart Start, said that when he was a school principal, he could tell which kindergartners had attended a quality childcare center. “They were far ahead of those who hadn’t,” he said. Those who hadn’t had the benefit of a quality childcare experience are “children who will be behind from Day 1,” Cozart said.

Some experts have said this area is a “childcare desert,” citing statistics like five children are vying for a single spot in a child care center.

Sossamon said it’s staffing – of lack thereof – that holds childcare centers back from being able to open up spaces. Federal money that was used during the COVID-19 pandemic are drying up, and it’s going to affect childcare centers as much as any other sector, from public education to small businesses.

Cozart described what’s happening as “a slow death.” Existing centers remain open, but maybe they have to eliminate a classroom, reducing the number of children it can enroll. “The next thing you know, you don’t have enough (students and money) to function,” he said.

The upcoming forums will have an information session from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. for anyone interested in learning more about starting a childcare center. Entrepreneurs and others, including area church representatives, are invited to attend.

Sossamon said he would encourage churches to make use of existing facilities and consider launching a childcare center.

“If churches would look at it as an extension of their ministries,” he said, “a childcare center is is a good way to attract young families.”

Sossamon said he expects the childcare situation to be a topic during the upcoming legislative short session. “If we don’t get some additional dollars to fund those day care centers, they’ll fall off the cliff…because they don’t have the money to operate.”

He said it’s all of our responsibilities to help childcare centers survive – maybe there’s something that local government, or businesses or individuals can do to support them, Sossamon said.

He and his fellow legislators are going to have to come up with some money for childcare centers across the state – they understand the seriousness of the situation, and he emphasized the negative economic impact a lack of childcare can have in our own area.

“When we’re recruiting industry to come to our community, if we don’t have childcare, then there’s 99 other counties that they can look at,” Sossamon said. “We’ll miss out because of the lack of childcare centers.”

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Henderson CommUnity Cleanup Day Friday

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Friday’s Clean Up CommUnity Day will bring together groups and individuals from across the city who are going to roll up their sleeves and fill up bags with trash that’s cluttering up  Henderson’s roadsides.

City Manager Terrell Blackmon said that having days like these serve to not only make the community cleaner and more attractive for residents, but it also helps to put the city’s best foot forward.

“We spread out throughout Henderson and we pick up litter,” Blackmon said. It’s a coordinated effort with NCDOT’s Clean Sweep initiative, and Blackmon said city crews would be on hand to pick up the filled bags as quickly as possible.

Participants can give a quick call to city crews when they’ve filled bags and Blackmon said they’ll go pick them up, same day. “We like getting bags up as quickly as we can to show the impact as quickly as we can.”

Things get underway at 8 a.m. on Friday, April 25. Contact Cindy Norwood at 252.430.5702 to sign up and to get information about getting bags and gloves to use for the clean-up event.

With each bag that gets filled, whether at the interchange at I-85 and U.S. 1, along downtown sidewalks or on Andrews Avenue, Blackmon said there’s a focus on making the city more attractive.

In fact, the clean-up event “goes a long way in what we’re trying to do,” Blackmon said, to meet the number 1 priority of the City Council’s strategic plan, which is to improve the appearance and perception of the community. “Efforts like this go a long way to help us meet that goal,” he said.

Henderson’s Ward 4 at-large Council Member Tami Walker is planning to have a team of 15-20 participants in her district out taking part in the event, Blackmon said.

Of course, keeping trash off the streets and placing it in proper receptacles is the ideal goal, and Blackmon said collaboration with local schools is one way to help educate the younger generation.

“If we start early enough, (students) can help reinforce what they’re learning about” and reduce litter.

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Granville Vance Public Health Logo

Centering Pregnancy Program at Granville Vance Public Health

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If you are pregnant or know someone who is, the local health department offers a program for expectant mothers to get support from health professionals as well as from others who will be giving birth soon.

“Centering pregnancy” has been around since the 1990’s, and it’s a way for those in the low- to moderate-risk pregnancy categories to learn ways to reduce risk factors like high blood pressure and gestational diabetes, among other things.

Granville Vance Public Health Director Lisa Harrison says the centering pregnancy model is “exciting work,” where women come together and learn in a group setting. Women who participate in the program get one-on-one time with health care professionals, but they also join in small-group sessions where they can ask questions and learn from each other.

“It empowers women to be actively involved in their own health care decision-making,”Harrison said in an earlier interview with WIZS.

The Centering pregnancy program does not take the place of prenatal care that women receive elsewhere, and Harrison said it’s designed to complement the care that women receive from their own providers.

Given the health disparities that exist, especially among underserved populations, Harrison said this program offered by the health department is just one intervention to address maternal and infant mortality.

“It’s a way to set mom and baby up for the best outcomes,” she said.

In addition to the small group sessions during pregnancy, GVPH nurses also make home visits once mom and her newborn are home from the hospital. This service offers support to make sure mom and baby have the resources they need, and can connect them to additional resources to help them survive and thrive.

To learn more, visit https://www.gvph.org/clinic/maternal-health-clinic/.

Check for additional details about Centering Pregnancy and a full list of programs at www.gvph.org.

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Kerr Tar Workforce and NCWorks

TownTalk: Kerr-Tar Regional Young Adult Hiring Event

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There’s a big show scheduled at Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre next week, but anyone who drives in will see that the feature isn’t the latest movie release from Hollywood but dozens of employers hoping to grab the attention of prospective employees.

The Kerr-Tar COG is hosting a young adult hiring event from 12 noon to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Apr. 30 at the drive-in theatre, 3336 Raleigh Road just outside Henderson.

And although the focus is on high school seniors who may be looking for work after graduation in a few short weeks, Desiree Brooks said anyone from the community is welcome to attend.

Brooks is business services manager for the KTCOG Workforce Development Board and she said that 40 employers from across the five-county KTCOG region will be on site to share information about available jobs at their respective businesses.

“There are some really cool jobs out there that you can make a career of,” Brooks said on Monday’s TownTalk. Young people often believe that they have to go to larger areas nearby to find work, she said. But the employers who will be at the upcoming hiring event are from right here in our region.

So far, more than 100 students have registered to attend and there’s still plenty of time to sign up, she said. KTCOG is working with the Career and Technical Education programs in the five counties’ school districts to promote the hiring event.

It’s a time when graduating seniors can “either secure employment, or at least identify what they want to do after graduation,” Brooks said.

Turning Point CDC’s Mobile Van will be on hand, and Kittrell Job Corps to share options for post-secondary education programs.

These days, manufacturers are using cutting-edge technology to make and deliver products, and those who attend the hiring event will get a chance to see some of this technology up close and personal – whether it’s heavy equipment from Sunrock to drones flying overhead as part of Vance-Granville Community College’s presentation.

It’s important for job seekers to understand that factory work has become more than just working on a production line, she said. “Advanced manufacturing involves robotics, welding and engineering – all of these things you could have a great career in,” Brooks said.

Wolfspeed is just one business that will be on site next week. It manufactures energy efficient power products for electric vehicles and has a facilities in Durham, among other cities in the state.

In addition to reps from the advanced manufacturing field, expect to see representatives from local, county and state government, banking, information technology and popular trades like HVAC and more.

Find the event on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ncworkskt or call the Career Center at 252.598.5200. Learn more about this program and more at www.ncworks.gov.

 

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Harrington Wanted for Murder

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— from Henderson Police

UPDATE 2 p.m. Monday, April 22:

On April 15, 2024 at approximately 9:30 p.m., a shooting occurred during an altercation at 1800 Julia Avenue. The victim, Tyquel M. Alston, age 24 of Daffodil Drive, was shot in the yard of the home by the assailant at close proximity.

Alston was transported to an area medical facility where he has succumbed to his injury. Investigators of the Henderson Police Department worked diligently on the case and warrants have now been obtained for the arrest of Antarious Tebron Harrington, age 28 of Barclay Lane, for the murder of Tyquel Alston. Harrington is currently out on pre-trial release for felony drug charges.

If anyone has any information about this incident or the whereabouts of Antarious Tebron Harrington, please contact us through following: Henderson-Vance Crime Stoppers at (252- 492-1925 or P3 app), Henderson Police Department’s main number 252-438-4141, Facebook or Instagram, or just call 911.