U.S. Department of Justice

Law Enforcement Officers Training Teaches How To De-Escalate, Defuse Situations For Safety

/by

The ongoing training that law enforcement officers participate in helps them evaluate situations and when they should use strategies that will reduce the need for force and to keep a situation from getting out of hand. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the N.C. Justice Academy have provided day-long de-escalation, use of force and community engagement training to more than 200 federal, state and local law enforcement officers in the Eastern District of North Carolina between May and October.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Michael Easley said the training is part of his office’s Civil Rights Initiative. The training “gives law enforcement the tools, tactics and best practices to defuse and de-escalate situations by mitigating the need for or use of force,” Easley said in press statement.

These de-escalation techniques can help to reduce injuries and preserve the safety of law enforcement officers and the public, Easley said.

“In addition to providing training for dealing with ‘in the moment’ situations, the agenda also focused on the benefits of ongoing community engagement by law enforcement to build long-term, sustainable community trust. Taking the time to listen, learn and gain perspective creates a basis for developing collaborative solutions that make our communities safer,” he said.

 Training sessions were offered in Raleigh, Greenville, Castle Hayne, Ahoskie and Fayetteville and  included sessions on addressing use of force incidents, a review of civil rights laws and hate crimes, and best practices in community policing. The community engagement section was led by N.C. Department of Public Safety Secretary Eddie Buffaloe.

The training is part of the U.S. Attorney’s Civil Rights Initiative which includes community outreach and engagement designed to increase awareness of existing civil rights protections and how to spot and avoid civil rights violations.

Granville Vance Public Health Logo

COVID-19, Flu, RSV: “Triple-Demic” Can Alter Family Gatherings

/by

Vance and Granville counties continue to be in the low transmission category for COVID-19, but trends are ticking upward in the weeks following Thanksgiving and heading into Christmas.

Some families are having to cancel plans to gather because someone in the group has tested positive for COVID-19, and others are choosing to postpone their celebrations until the New Year.

According to advice from Granville Vance Public Health Director Lisa Harrison, they’re doing the right thing. “Assess your risk and risk to others when you gather in large groups and stay home any time you have symptoms of illness,” Harrison noted in her most recent health update to the community.  the “triple-demic” combination of COVID-19, flu and RSV can wreak havoc and she reminds everyone to be completely vaccinated and boosted to ward off sickness.

“Although COVID-19 community levels in both Granville and Vance counties is finally at a ‘low’ mark, we are still hearing of a multitude of illnesses circulating like flu, RSV and strep, as well as COVID-19,” Harrison said, “so be sure to stay on alert with fighting off germs, wash those hands regularly, and stay well hydrated.”

The CDC estimates that at least 13 million Americans have already been infected with the flu this season, and more than 100,000 have been hospitalized across the U.S. — this is a larger number than last winter, when many Americans were still following COVID-related precautions. But flu shot uptake this year has been low. Only about a quarter of American adults have been vaccinated, according to the CDC. “Those who haven’t gotten their shot yet should seek one soon, said Dr. Preeti Malani, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Michigan. The sense is that this year’s vaccine is actually a pretty good match to the strain circulating. And much like COVID vaccines, flu shots don’t prevent all infections, but they can help prevent hospitalizations, deaths, as well as transmission,” according to Dr. Malani.

(https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/12/14/1142651228/stay-safe-holidays-covid-flu-rsv-tripledemic).

The health department offers COVID-19 shots and boosters as well as flu shots Monday-Friday at each location of Granville Vance Public Health. The bivalent COVID-19 booster shots by Pfizer and Moderna are available and help protect against the newest variants of COVID-19.

Following recent FDA authorization this month, the CDC has recommended the use of updated (bivalent) COVID-19 vaccines to children aged 6 months through 5 years. Please note that, unlike for older age groups, these products are not eligible for mix-and-match use.

  1. Moderna:Children ages 6 months through 5 years who previously completed a Moderna primary series can now receive a Moderna bivalent booster 2 months after their final primary series dose.
  2. Pfizer:Children ages 6 months through 4 years who are completing a Pfizer primary series will receive a Pfizer bivalent vaccine as their third primary dose. Effective immediately, the third dose of Pfizer (monovalent) is no longer authorized for this age group.

The numbers:

  • In Vance County, 64 percent of individuals have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, 58 percent have completed the initial series and 14 percent have received the updated booster.
  • In Granville County, 68 percent of individuals have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, 64 percent have completed the initial series and 16 percent have received their updated booster.

Stay updated by checking the CDC Data Tracker by County and the NCDHHS COVID-19 Dashboard. Relevant graphs from these dashboards are available on our website at https://gvph.org/covid-19_dashboard/. 

WIZS Radio Local News Audio 12-22-22 Noon

/by

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

Click Play!

 

The Local Skinny! City Council Renames Street For Eddie Hicks

/by

It won’t quite be the same as having him there in person, but Melissa Elliott says she’ll be glad when she can look out her window at Gang Free, Inc. and see the street sign that proclaims the street nearby as “Eddie James Hicks Street.”

The Henderson City Council voted to rename E. Winder Street for the local hero who died in October.

Elliott’s Gang Free, Inc.’s location is in the community known as Flint Hill, where Hicks grew up.

“He had many ties to Winder Street and the surrounding area,” Elliott said on Thursday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

Newly elected council member Lamont Noel presented the request to the council, along with signatures on a neighborhood petition, and the matter easily was approved.

“Eddie’s heartbeat is in Flint Hill,” Elliott said. “It was an honor to be able to put this on the calendar so fast and to get it passed.”

Henderson Mayor Eddie Ellington told WIZS News that the street name change will “honor the memory of one of (our) own who had many ties as a young man to Winder Street and the surrounding area. We remember that legends never die, they live on in our hearts forever

Eddie did so many things in this community, and the word “no” was not in his vocabulary when it came to requests for assistance from others.

“He would always help out,” Elliott said, from taking food to a senior adult to coaching a child, to waiting while Elliott finished up work for the day – which often turned into evening.

“He would not leave me at the building by myself,” she recalled.

Gang Free, Inc. is having a celebration gala Thursday evening, and Hicks’s widow, Jackie, is scheduled to attend.

“I’m excited about honoring Eddie – he will be with us tonight in spirit. He celebrated life and I’m just grateful to have known Eddie…he just wanted to make his community better.”

And while a street sign can’t take his place, Elliott said reading Eddie James Hicks Street will motivate her to keep Hicks’s memory alive by trying to make the community better.

 

CLICK PLAY!

 

The Local Skinny! Gang Free Inc. Year In Review

/by

In the nonprofit world, so much emphasis is placed on the good that organizations do throughout the year. And that certainly is the case for Gang Free, Inc.

From the thousands and thousands of pounds of food that have been distributed to more than 34,000 people in need, founder and president Melissa Elliott is not short on praise for what the volunteers and so many community agencies have done to help the community in 2022.

But sometimes, you just need to stop for a second and celebrate successes, large and small.

That’s just what Elliott and others plan to do Thursday evening during the second annual gala event – celebrate accomplishments.

“It has been a very challenging year, trying to find our normalcy,” Elliott told John C. Rose on Thursday’s The Local Skinny! “We never stopped throughout the pandemic, (so) it’s time to wind down and celebrate accomplishments.”

The nonprofit world also is keen on quantifying efforts, and Elliott said she is pleased to see the numbers of those that Gang Free, Inc. has “effectively impacted -it’s quite overwhelming and I’m totally grateful to God,” she said.

Among those expected to attend the gala are elected officials – Elliott herself is a Henderson City Council member – as well as volunteers, community health workers and representatives of various community-based agencies that Gang Free partners with.

“We did things that had never been done before,” she said, referring to various minority-run entities that connected with Gang Free to provide services ranging from COVID-19 vaccine education to establishing a food pantry in collaboration with Vance County Schools.

Then there are the 267 toys given out to children in kindergarten-fifth grade, assistance to 165 families experiencing homelessness and fighting food insecurity throughout the area.

Elliott is quick to point out that Gang Free does not do this in isolation; rather, she praised the community for working together.

“We share and we do this work together – that’s what makes us such a wonderful community,” she said. “There is great connection in our community.” Working together relieves one agency of the whole responsibility to provide for those in need, she added.

Nonprofit leaders like Elliott may take a moment to reflect on the year’s work, but that moment is fleeting and, next thing you know, plans for the new year are taking shape.

There are plans for a new transitional housing and remodeling the homeless shelter, just to name a couple of projects for 2023.

Elliott and her volunteers have plenty of work to do, but tonight, they’re going to revel in what got done in 2022.

“I’ve seen God work miracles this whole year and I look forward to more,” she said.

Want to help? Phone 252.598.0067 or learn more  www.gangfreeinc.org.

 

CLICK PLAY!

 

TownTalk: Police Chief Barrow Talks Shop With A Cop

/by

It may have been cold – it IS December, after all, but there’s a pretty good chance that area law enforcement officers and 47 youngsters in the community felt nice and warm on the inside during the annual “Shop with a Cop” event this week.

Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow said individuals representing the police department, sheriff’s office, fire department, highway patrol, animal control and park rangers got to shop with children at Walmart in Henderson.

“We got to see some kids that we interacted with throughout the year,” Barrow said on Thursday’s TownTalk. One child had a special request to shop with an officer who was working a shift, but Barrow said they were able to make some adjustments in the schedule to grant the child’s request.

“He was able to shop with that kid – it was heartwarming,” Barrow said.

In all, the bill came to about $8,000, and that’s after Walmart generously knocked a little bit off the final tally, Barrow said.

In years past, law enforcement agencies have worked in partnership with the local Chamber of Commerce to raise money for the spending spree, but it just didn’t happen this year. Chalk it up to the residual pandemic restrictions and the strain on law enforcement agencies to provide adequate staffing.

“We look forward to partnering with them next year,” Barrow said.

In the meantime, it was important to keep the event alive, so that’s what they did.

It’s a time to let children be children and roam up and down the toy aisles. But it was sobering for Barrow to see some of the older kids get everyday items like hygiene products.

“We want them to think of themselves,” Barrow said. The adults usually steer the kids to clothing items, including coats, during the shopping spree.

But many of the children also wanted to pick out gifts for their parents or other family members, too.

Sometimes, the gift is in the giving, not in the receiving.

CLICK PLAY!

 

TownTalk: Protecting Animals In Bitter Cold

/by

Whether you’re keeping up with weather forecasts as you stay warm indoors or whether you have to be out in the elements, here’s the main takeaway: it’s going to be bone-chilling cold for the next few days.

And while we humans can add an extra layer of clothing or stay bundled up by the fire if we’re lucky, Animal Services Chief Frankie Nobles reminds pet owners to be mindful of the needs of our furry friends, too.

If you have a pet outside, bring it inside the house or into a garage – anything you can do to block the wind, Nobles told John C. Rose on Thursday’s TownTalk.

“When that wind gets to blowing, it gets colder and colder” for pets who must remain outside. If possible, move doghouses to a more sheltered spot in the yard or throw an extra blanket on top of the doghouse for an extra layer of protection, leaving just enough of an opening for the dog to get in and out.

Use wood shavings inside dog houses instead of blankets, which can get wet and make matters worse.

If you use heat lamps, make sure they’re not too close to things that can catch fire, he warned.

In addition to these measures, it’s equally important to make sure outside animals have access to fresh water.

“Water’s gonna freeze, that’s a guarantee,” Nobles said. Clearing out water bowls is essential when temps dip below freezing.

And they need to have plenty of food, too. “Feed helps produce energy, which produces heat,”

He said. This goes for outside pets and livestock, too.

Some horse owners put blankets on their horses, which helps them stay warm.  Horses can be seen in pastures wearing blankets, Nobles said, “but you’ll also see a bunch of hay. Their body has to break that hay down (and) that’s what keeps them warm,” he said.

 

CLICK PLAY!

 

Cast Your Vote Through Dec. 31 For McGregor Hall, Rec Players In BroadwayWorld Raleigh Awards

/by

McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center and the Henderson Rec Players have been nominated for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Raleigh Awards which recognizes regional productions.

Now it’s up to you, the voting public, to cast your vote! It’s simple, free, and takes just a few minutes of your time. One vote can be cast per email address, according to awards guidelines.

Voting continues through Dec. 31, 2022 and winners will be announced in January.

McGregor Hall and the Henderson Rec Players combined for a total of 28 nominations, in categories that range from actors and supporting actors to direction and stage design. Find the link to vote – and a sample ballot – at the McGregor Hall website, https://www.mcgregorhall.org/

TownTalk: St. Paul’s Lutheran Plans Food Ministry

/by

 

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Ridgeway is launching a food ministry to try to help residents in Vance and Warren counties who find themselves struggling with having enough food for themselves and their families.

The food ministry, modeled after the story in the Bible of feeding 5,000 with two fish and five loaves of bread, will have its first event on Saturday, Jan. 28 and will be held on the last Saturday of each month thereafter, said Corey Brooks, pastor at St. Paul’s.

The church fellowship hall will host the first several months, but as the weather warms, Brooks said the hope is to travel into different areas of the county to provide food.

Brooks spoke with John C. Rose on Wednesday’s TownTalk about how the idea for a food ministry got started.

“We still have a few minor details (to work out), but we’re excited to be kicking this off,” Brooks said. “It’s easy to say ‘let someone else take care of them,’” Brooks said, but added that we’re called to love all of God’s children.

Providing a hot meal through the food ministry is a way to show that love for one another.

There also will be a “blessing box” located near the Norlina post office that people can visit, whether it’s to take food or to donate non-perishable items.

The box will have food to nourish the body and plenty of Bibles to nourish the soul.

“Take what you need and leave what you can,” Brooks said.

The blessing box is a place where folks struggling with food insecurity can go in the time between the last Saturdays of the month, he said.

St. Paul’s belongs to the southeastern district of the Lutheran Church’s Missouri Synod, and pastors like Brooks receive mission insight reports that provide information about the area, from income levels to people’s beliefs about God. Through his service as a chaplain for first responders, he said he’s seen the need himself.

But food insecurity rose to the top as a concern in the area, so the church is trying to do something about it.

Brooks invites other churches to help out, too.

“It’s not just our church,” he said. “It’s a time for us all to come together as brothers and sisters in Christ to provide” for others in the community.

He acknowledged that transportation could be a challenge, so help in that area would be most helpful.

But most of all, Brooks said he wants to let folks know that regardless of their struggles, their walk in life that they are children of God. “We want to walk with you and help you carry your burden as best we can.”

 

 

CLICK PLAY!