Vance County Middle Students Shift To Remote Instruction To Start School Week

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Vance County Middle School is the latest area school to fall victim to the raging omicron variant and school officials announced that middle school students will shift to remote instruction for the first part of next week.

According to information posted Friday afternoon on the school system’s social media page, which stated, in part: “In an effort to mitigate the rapid increase of staff and student COVID-19 cases” reported at VCMS, students will not have in-person instruction on Monday, Jan. 10 and Tuesday, Jan. 11.

Families with students at VCMS will be contacted over the weekend with details, according to information posted about 3 p.m. Friday.

At this time, all other VCS schools will continue on a normal schedule with in-person instruction.

VCMS students are instructed to login with their teacher at their designated class time.

Coach’s Corner: Kayla Simmons WIZS Player Of The Week Honors

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“We don’t often play in close games,” said Vance Charter Knights’ head women’s basketball coach Brian Howard on the Coach’s Corner of SportsTalk with Trey Snide. However, the Knights found themselves in a nail biter this week against Granville Central.  The 6 – 3 Knights scored with 4 seconds left to pull out a 60 – 59 win over Granville Central who fell to 5 – 6.  Kayla Simmons was the game’s hero scoring the last second basket. She totaled 17 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. With her performance, she was named WIZS Player of the Week.

Simmons and the Knights got off to a great start with an early 15 point lead but a series of turnovers allowed Granville Central to get back in the game. Coach Howard said the close game was beneficial to his team. The Knights get a lot of minutes from two freshmen and Howard said the stress of a close game was helpful to those freshmen players.

In speaking about the Granville Central game after Simmons hit the winning shot Howard said is first thought wasn’t about the shot but about getting back on defense. Four seconds can be an eternity in basketball and Howard wanted to make sure his team was prepared for a last second shot by Granville Central.

Howard said he expects that level of play from Simmons every game, She certainly delivered against Granville Central.  Congratualations to Kayla Simmons, the WIZS Player of the Week.

 

Granville Vance Public Health Logo

GVPH Weekly Update: COVID-19 Cases Continue Uptick

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Vance and Granville counties continue to rack up new COVID-19 cases, and the local health district reports a total of 1,376 new cases in the last seven days. The state figure stands at 28,474.

According to GVPH Director Lisa Harrison, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services notified local health departments that boosters for those ages 12-15 will be available beginning next week. Vaccines and boosters are available Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. in Henderson at 115 Charles Rollins Road and beginning Monday, Jan. 10 at the new location in Granville County at 1028 College St. in Oxford, behind Granville Health System.

Both counties remain in the “high community transmission” category, with Vance at 25.5 percent positivity rate and Granville at 17.2 percent positivity rate. Both counties still fall below the state’s positivity rate, which currently is 31.2 percent.

Specifically, in the past week, Vance County has had 685 new cases and Granville reports 691 new cases, according to a weekly report from the Granville-Vance Health District.

There have been 9,935 cases of COVID-19 in Granville County and 8,648 cases of COVID-19 in Vance County for a total of 18,583 across the health district.

Granville County has documented 107 deaths as a result of COVID-19 and Vance County has a total of 104 deaths for a total of 211 deaths across the health district. Across North Carolina, 19,619 people have died of COVID-19.

“The numbers of cases of COVID-19 are higher than ever and still climbing in short order,” writes Health Director Lisa Harrison. She said that her department is “making an overall shift to paying closer attention to hospitalizations and deaths rather than cases as an indicator of overall risk. Just remember that hospitalization and death are also lagging indicators so given how MANY cases we are seeing, even if the majority of them are experiencing mild symptoms or no symptoms, the sheer numbers dictate that we will still see hospitalizations and potentially deaths increase in the coming weeks as well. Hospitalizations are up locally and statewide this week as the graphs show: https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard/hospitalizations.  Omicron is not to be ignored,” Harrison wrote in the weekly update.

 

 

 

 

 

Keep up-to-date by visiting the CDC Data Tracker by County and the NCDHHS COVID-19 Dashboard. Relevant graphs can be found at https://gvph.org/covid-19_dashboard/.  
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Henderson City Council Set To Meet Monday, Jan. 10

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The Henderson City Council will meet Monday, Jan. 10, 2022 at 6 p.m. for its regular monthly meeting in City Hall Council Chambers, 134 Rose Ave. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

Anyone who wishes to address the council must do so in person or submit comments or questions to the city clerk no later than 3 p.m. on Monday. Questions and comments from the public are no longer taken via Zoom.

Use the following link to join virtually:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85987462307?pwd=SUdUR3lYeStoMkFleCtEam9pUUgvQT09

 

Meeting ID: 859 8746 2307

Passcode: 743012

One tap mobile

+13126266799,,85987462307#,,,,*743012# US (Chicago)

+19292056099,,85987462307#,,,,*743012# US (New York)

Cancer Society To Benefit From Corbitt Emporium Auction

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Tomorrow’s auction at Corbitt Emporium will have a special twist, thanks to the owner of the collectibles and antiques business – he’s donated all the remaining inventory to the American Cancer Society.

Aaron Ramsey opened the business more than five years ago, which featured items from individual vendors as well as items he had collected over the years. The auction is being sponsored by Frances and Friends, a local Relay for Life team.

The auction begins at 10 a.m., but the 1508 Second Street location will open at 9 a.m. for customer viewing.

Auctioneers Dan Weldon and Tom Eaves will conduct the sale, which includes antiques, collectibles, glassware, old tools, seasonal items and much more.

Items purchased from the American Cancer Society are tax-deductible.

Henderson Police Department

Henderson Police Charge Two in Stolen Carwash Money Incident

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Update 01-06-22 at 7 p.m. —

Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow said in a press release, “Earlier this morning, at approximately 3 a.m., a Henderson marked patrol unit stopped the suspect vehicle, in this case (of stolen currency), near the 200 block of Dabney Drive. Two individuals were identified as occupants of the vehicle and due to the clarity of the surveillance footage, Kenneth Lee Williams Jr was identified as the suspect from the previous incident (see below).

“We also found instruments of the crime and other evidence that the two occupants had just perpetrated the same crime prior to the vehicle stop. The other occupant was identified as Curtis Mathew McDonald Jr.”

Chief Barrow said, “Both were charged and taken before a Vance County Magistrate.”

The vehicle involved, a 2022 Dodge Charger, was an Enterprise rental car.

At this time, Henderson Police are following up with other agencies to see if they have had similar crimes to occur in their jurisdictions.

Kenneth Lee Williams Jr, 37, of 104 Lillians Ln. Rockingham NC, received a $40,000 secured bond.

Curtis Matthew McDonald, 31, of 241 Northam Rd. Rockingham NC, received a $10,000 secured bond.

— Original press release January 5 from Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow

On Tuesday, January 4, 2022, officers with the Henderson Police Department received a report of a subject using a device to manipulate a currency machine located at the Dabney Exchange Car Wash, 200 Exchange Street, Henderson. The incident occurred on the 4th at approximately 2AM.

The subject was able to obtain an undisclosed amount of currency from the machine.

The Henderson Police Department requests assistance from the public in identifying the person(s) involved in this case.
If anyone has any information about this incident, please contact us through Henderson-Vance Crime Stoppers at (252- 492-1925 or P3 app), call us at 252-438-4141, or contact us through Facebook or Instagram.

Triangle North Grant Cycle Open For 2022; Deadline To Submit Letters Of Interest Mar. 1

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Triangle North Healthcare Foundation has announced the launch of its 2022 grant cycle, and is accepting letters of interest through March 1, 2022.

Nonprofit organizations, government agencies and schools are eligible to apply for funding projects that will provide positive impact in one or more of the five focus areas: Child Well-Being, Chronic Disease, Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders, Nutrition and Physical Activity, and Reproductive Health.

The link to the Foundation’s online grant portal is available at   http://www.tnhfoundation.org

Executive Director Val Short said funding local projects brings to life the foundation’s mission to encourage, support, and invest in quality efforts that measurably improve health in the areas it serves.

“Our hope is that the Foundation’s investment of grant funds in our communities will result in long lasting improvements in the health and wellbeing of our children and adults,” Short said in a press statement.

Since 2013, the foundation has invested more than $3.3 million in programs across the four-county region that includes Vance, Granville, Warren and Franklin.

Short and the foundation’s grants coordinator Carolyn Powell are available to discuss ideas for grant projects or to assist with grant writing.  Call 252.430.8532 to schedule an appointment.  Information about current and past funded programs and projects is also available on the website.

A regional healthcare grant-making organization based in Henderson, NC, Triangle North Healthcare Foundation was established in 2011, following the merge of Maria Parham Medical Center and Duke Lifepoint.

The Local Skinny! Blaes Says The Next Two Weeks Is The Best Chance For Snow

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We’re almost one week into the New Year, but already in 2022, North Carolina weather is living up to its reputation of having a little something for everyone. Love milder temps in winter? Check. The high in Henderson was 75 on Jan. 1.

Prefer to have some snow in the forecast to make it feel like it supposed to feel this time of year? Check. A wet snow fell fast and heavy on Monday in the area, but it went as quickly as it came.

Jonathan Blaes with the National Weather Service says that this could be a pattern we can expect, at least for the next couple of weeks.

“It was a really neat storm,” the meteorologist said of the short-lived event that blanketed the area Monday.

Blaes said the dynamic storm system brought a bit of everything to the state, from high winds and at least one tornado in Harnett County and up to several inches of snow near the Virginia border. “A vigorous front will come through tonight (Thursday), and tomorrow will be a crazy windy, blustery day,” he said.

It’ll turn cold behind the next front, too, so it will feel like winter for the next week or so.

If you’re a snow lover, and the next 10 days or two weeks doesn’t do it for you, take heart, Blaes said. Historically, late January brings with it the chance of more wet snow.

From what he and his fellow meteorologists can tell so far from studying global weather patterns, it’s possible that over the next couple of weeks the area could have additional snowfall.

“It’s certainly going to be close enough so if a storm tracks close enough (to the area), we could get some snow.”

The messy mix of precipitation – rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow and then back to rain – is what this area is used to seeing. Meteorologists classify this type of storm as a “Miller A,” which indicates that the storm moves as a single low front tracking from the south. This week’s storm wasn’t a classic Miller A, Blaes said, but the area did see a changeover from rain to snow, back to rain before skies cleared and the sun reappeared.

“If you’re in the right spot, you’ll get clobbered,” from such a storm, like the areas around Washington, DC where almost a foot of snow fell and motorists were stranded overnight on I-95 near Fredericksburg, VA.

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