Perry Memorial Library

The Local Skinny! Youth Events At Perry Memorial Library

/by

It was noisy in the library the other day when the youth gathered to learn about electricity – just like Melody Peters had hoped for.

Peters, youth services director for Perry Memorial Library, said the electricity workshop was a big hit – in fact, it’s going to pick back up in January and run monthly through April.

“There’s nothing like seeing a kid’s face light up,” Peters said, when they realize what they’ve just accomplished or created.

Admittedly, it took a little time for the participants to understand some of the characteristics of energy and how energy flows, she said.

“It took a little doing,” she said, and the instructor allowed the youngsters to learn by trial and error.

“I love giving kids hands-on learning experiences,” Peters said. When something didn’t work, they had to problem-solve to make the devices they created work properly.

The electricity program, part of the library’s Life Hack series, continues for middle and high school students on the second Tuesday of the month beginning in January and continuing through April.

The third Tuesday is for Survival Skills, which currently is teaching 14 kids to crochet. The library purchased hooks for the participants to use, and the instructor donated the yarn – that was the easy part. The kids had the more difficult task of actually creating a chain of single crochet loops.

“It was hard at first, tedious,” Peters said. “Once the connection is made, then they’re off,” she said. The next gathering will take place Nov. 21, and Peters said she’ll be interested to see progress that the participants have made on their projects.

Check out www.perrylibrary.org to find out about all the programs and services the library offers.

CLICK PLAY!

State Retirees Get One-Time Bump In This Month’s Check

/by

Retired state employees may have noticed a slight bump in their retirement checks that hit their bank accounts today. It’s not an error; rather, it’s a one-time supplement to benefit recipients who retired on or before Oct. 1, 2023, and who are members of the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System, Consolidated Judicial Retirement System and the Legislative Retirement System.

For most retired state employees and teachers, the Oct. 25 payment includes an additional 4 percent of their annual benefit – that amounts to $40 for a $1,000 retirement check.

These funds did not come from the Plan itself, N.C. Treasurer Dale Folwell said in a press statement. The money was appropriated by the General Assembly as a part of the budget passed earlier this month. The one-time payments will not reduce the funded ratio of the State System, Folwell noted.

This one-time supplement does not apply to benefit recipients of the Local Governmental Employees’ Retirement System, where a benefit increase may be granted by the LGERS Board of Trustees within certain statutory limitations.

TownTalk: Chief Barrow and “The State of the Police Department”

/by

Like most law enforcement leaders, Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow would prefer a lower crime rate. But Barrow said he’s pretty satisfied with the level of protection that his officers provide throughout the city. And until that crime rate is zero, he said he will “keep fighting the good fight and looking for innovative ways to improve” the department he oversees.

Barrow provided business leaders and others from the community a “State of the Police Department” report during a Chamber of Commerce event in September, and he reviewed those comments on Monday’s TownTalk.

Click Play – story continues

“I think we’re doing well,” he said, but added that “you always want to improve – always want things to be better.”

The Flock camera system that has recently been installed is proving useful, Barrow said. “I did give up one (officer) position for Flock,” he said. “That was a smart move.”

“Flock is very beneficial to everything we do,” he said. “I’ve seen it work…and I’m a true believer.”

Law enforcement officers will take help – whether it’s in the form of a camera system or from other agencies who come together to execute search warrants and seize illegal drugs and weapons.

The Henderson Police Department is allocated 51 sworn positions, with 40 active officers and 5 more in training. There are 6 vacancies at the present time.

The police force has shrunk by 7 officers since Barrow arrived in 1998, he said he’s satisfied with the number. “I’m trying to make it cost effective for the city,” he said.

Interested in becoming a police officer? They’re hiring. And Base pay is close to $49,000; certain experience and education levels boost that base pay.

That competitive pay is, well, paying off. Barrow said a recent hire moved from a job in another town because Henderson offered a better pay package.

Henderson police officers are on track this year to handle more drug search warrants than last year, and they’re also on track to seize more guns than last year. Last year, officers collected 170 guns. Through September, officers have taken 145.

It leaves Barrow in a bit of a dilemma as to what to do with the upwards of 1,500 guns currently sitting in his evidence vault.

State law says the guns could be returned to their rightful owner – after lots and lots of research into who actually owns them. They also can be sold to a gun dealer or put into use by the police department.

They may only be destroyed if they are damaged or unable to be fired safely, Barrow added.

For Barrow, that limits his options. “I don’t want to put them back on the street,” he said, adding that he would only be willing to sell to a dealer that specializes in law enforcement weapons. He’d trade them in for other equipment his officers could use.

 

The Local Skinny! Sossamon Details Upcoming Transportation Meeting

/by

Vance County residents are invited to a forum this Thursday evening, Oct. 26, to learn more about local transportation projects – those currently underway and others planned for the future.

Always wondered just how the state DOT decides where and how a road gets built or just how to define right of way? Find out Thursday beginning at 6 p.m. in the county commissioners’ meeting room on the second floor of the county administration building in Henderson.

According to N.C. Rep Frank Sossamon, R-Dist. 32, this is the second in a series of meetings that he and his staff have set up across his district designed to inform and educate his constituents.

A DOT divisional director will spend the day in Henderson to speak with different groups, Sossamon said on Monday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

At 10 a.m., local realtors are invited to a session to learn about roads and other topics around transportation and development. Then at 3 p.m., governmental leaders are invited to convene with DOT officials to have a dialogue about road infrastructure, highways and the like.

Next month’s topic is mental health, Sossamon said.

Forums will be held in Henderson on Nov. 28 at 6 p.m. at Spring Street Missionary Baptist Church and then Nov. 30 at 6 p.m. at Cornerstone Christian Church on Knotts Grove Road in Oxford.

CLICK PLAY!

 

One Arrested on Drugs, Weapons Charges; Officers Recovered 7,500 Dosage Units of Heroin

/by

A 24-year-old man faces drugs and weapons charges after a team of law enforcement agencies executed a search warrant at a home on Raleigh Road.

Members of the Henderson Police Department, the Vance County Sheriff’s Office, State Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) served a search warrant at 3701 Raleigh Road in response to a drug complaint.

Officers recovered 7,500 dosage units of heroin, drug manufacturing equipment, marijuana, one handgun, and $12,736.00 in currency. Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow told WIZS News that each dosage unit was valued at between $8 and $10, which adds up to about $60,000 street value if sold individually.

Police arrested Kortez Williams, and he was charged with three counts of trafficking heroin, one count of possession with intent to manufacture, sell, deliver heroin, trafficking heroin by manufacturing, one count of possession with intent to manufacture, sell, deliver marijuana, one count of possess firearm by felon, two counts of maintaining a dwelling place for a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Williams, who had been out on bond for possession of a firearm by a felon, was placed in the Vance County Jail without privilege of bond.

Trick or Treat

Henderson Trick-Or-Treat Options For Halloween

/by

Halloween is fast approaching, and as pint-sized ghosts and goblins pick out costumes that no doubt will range from kooky to spooky, it’s important for the adults in their lives to know when and where the trick-or-treating will be taking place.

Citywide hours for trick-or-treating will be observed from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., according to Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow.

But before that, families can come downtown between 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. to participate in the trick-or-treat event hosted by downtown merchants, said Henderson Downtown Development Manager Tracy Madigan.

This means that Garnett Street will be closed to vehicle traffic beginning at 3 p.m., Madigan said.

She also encourages businesses and organization to join in the fun – it’s free to participate; all you need to do is purchase candy and then be ready to hand it out when youngsters come by.

Kick it up a notch and decorate your storefront to provide some extra “spirit,” she said.

If you would like to participate in giving out candy but do not have a place in downtown to do so, please contact Alice Sallins at 252.767.4579 or Madigan at 252.425.0844 and they can help you find a spot to set up.

You can share this event on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/events/667972732098803

The Local Skinny! Vance Co. Sheriff’s Office Presents Domestic Violence Awareness Event

/by

The fifth annual “Think Community” event is set for Saturday, Oct. 28 in observance of October as Domestic violence Awareness month. The program will begin at 3 p.m. at Clearview Church, 3485 U.S. Hwy 158 in Henderson.

Debbie Scott, domestic violence educator with the Vance County Sheriff’s Office, has planned an afternoon full of inspiration and remembrance for participants to “break the silence, stop the violence” around domestic violence.

Others in attendance include Deputy Lawrence Carter, of the Vance County Sheriff’s Patrol Division, Jayden Watkins, local minister, author (and WIZS Radio employee), as well as Chief Magistrate Debbie Small and others.

Special guests include God’s Men of Harmony who will provide musical entertainment and “Miss Get It Right” will perform a poetic tribute as part of the day’s activities.

To learn more, contact Scott at the sheriff’s office at 252.738.2235 or by email at dscott@vancecounty.org.

CLICK PLAY!