TownTalk: Dr. Destiney Ross-Putney Embraces New Role as VCS Superintendent

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As the newest superintendent of Vance County Schools, Dr. Destiney Ross-Putney most likely is feeling some of the same things that her predecessors felt as the beginning of a new school year approaches: excitement for what lies ahead, mixed with a little bit of apprehension, well, for what lies ahead.

But like all good educators, Ross-Putney is prepared. She’s prepared for what she knows is headed her way, whether it’s student achievement, measuring proficiency growth or supporting teachers with professional development.

And just like good teachers have good lesson plans, Ross-Putney said she’s laid out five tenets to prioritize as she embarks in her role leading Vance County Schools.

In what she calls her “entry plan,” Ross-Putney said she’s going to be hyper-focused during these first 100 days as superintendent.

The first tenet centers around “listening, learning and building trust” to engage stakeholders. She plans to meet with local government officials, faith-based leaders and businesspeople across Vance County.

It’s a way to strengthen existing relationships, but it’s also about visibility.

“Visibility is key,” she said on Monday’s TownTalk.

“Our district, and our county, is small enough that we can really reap the benefits of connecting,” she said. “Those exchanges are really powerful.”

Part of that connection comes through collaboration, whether it’s among community partners or within the school district offices.

The other tenets include building leadership capacity, having a centralized online hub for teachers to access any form, document or policy they may need and school safety and school climate and teaching and learning.

Ross-Putney points to the district’s SPARK NC program as one innovative way to engage students that also allows them a chance to explore fields from agriculture to cyber security through a series of modules that can lead to high school credits.

“This is the type of learning our students need,” she said. In a nutshell, students choose modules and earn a credit when they’ve successfully completed six modules.

If they like the topic, great. If they don’t, they can choose another without penalty.

Now, VCS is offering a second level of SPARK and has been able to bring in an additional teacher because of SPARK’s success.

“It gives them the opportunity to pivot without being punitive,” she said. It fits the student and their style of learning.

It’s important for today’s students to “own” the progress they make, setting goals for proficiency. Ross-Putney said the district established this philosophy last year, but it’s one that she wants to continue.

“We all have an individual journey,” Ross-Putney said. “There’s so much beauty in that diversity.” There are so many pathways available for students to explore and the superintendent is keen to make sure that educators teach students the skills that allow them to adapt to changing environments and use critical-thinking skills for successful outcomes.

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Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Collards

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Wayne Rowland, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:

Collards can be easily grown in the fall garden.Cooperative Extension has excellent publications on how to grow collards.

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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Vance County Logo

New Hope Precinct Voters Move To Townsville VFD

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Vance County residents registered to vote at the New Hope precinct will have the Townsville Fire Department as their polling place for all future elections.

The Vance County Board of Elections posted this information on social media recently, stating that voter notification cards reflecting the change also were mailed out on July 30.

New Hope Elementary was one of two schools closed at the end of the 2025-26 school year. The Townsville Fire Department is located at 12729 N.C. Hwy. 39, about 2.7 miles north of New Hope Elementary School.

Questions? Contact the board of elections at 252.492.3730.

NC DIT Campaigns Reminds Callers About Texting 911 When It’s Not Safe To Call

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— From the N.C. Dept. of Information Technology

The N.C. 911 Board, which operates under the North Carolina Department of Information Technology has launched a statewide campaign to raise awareness of Text‑to‑911. This critical service allows residents to reach emergency responders by text message when calling 911 is not possible or safe.

The 16‑week public service campaign is airing statewide across traditional linear television, streaming and connected TV platforms, and mobile streaming services. Its goal is to ensure the public understands when and how to use Text‑to‑911, especially in situations where every second counts.

Text‑to‑911 is designed to support individuals who may be:

  • Unable to speak due to a medical emergency
  • In unsafe situations where placing a voice call could increase the risk of harm
  • Deaf, hard of hearing, or experiencing a speech‑related disability

Produced in collaboration with Spectrum Reach, the PSA reinforces a message central to public safety: “Call if you can, text if you can’t.” Ensuring residents know this option exists can directly influence how quickly emergency responders can reach them.

“When calling is not possible or safe, texting gives people another lifeline to reach trained 911 professionals who are ready to respond,” said L.V. Pokey Harris, executive director of the N.C. 911 Board.

NCDIT leadership underscored the importance of statewide awareness of this capability.
“Everyone should be able to reach 911, even when making a voice call is not possible or safe,” said Nate Denny, NCDIT secretary and state chief information Officer, who chairs the N.C. 911 Board. “Text-to-911 provides a critical connection to emergency assistance, and this campaign will help ensure North Carolinians know that when they cannot call, they can still reach help.”

In 2025, more than 70,000 Text‑to‑911 messages were sent to emergency communication centers across North Carolina. This high volume underscores the essential role Text‑to‑911 plays in providing residents with multiple, reliable ways to reach help during an emergency.

This statewide campaign reflects the N.C. 911 Board’s ongoing commitment to strengthening public safety and making emergency communications accessible to every resident, no matter their circumstances.

View the public service announcement here.

 

GVPH Director Lisa Harrison Guest Speaker At Chamber’s “State Of Public Health” Luncheon

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A community’s public health department provides an array of services that range from prenatal care and immunizations to tracking communicable diseases and well and septic inspections.

For Granville Vance Public Health Director Lisa Harrison, it’s the public’s health – whether it’s getting a shot or making sure the well water’s safe to drink – that matters.

Harrison, who has been in her role since 2012, was the guest speaker at the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce’s “State of” luncheon Thursday and told the audience that while there are always challenges, with those challenges come opportunities.

One big challenge coming down the pike: changes in Medicaid laws that are certain to hit rural areas especially hard.

In a nutshell, the federal legislation informally called “the One Big Beautiful Bill” will take about $1 trillion away from Medicaid. That will trickle down quickly to affect states, especially those with lots of rural health care providers – from doctor’s offices to hospitals.

That’s going to be a big challenge, for sure, in North Carolina.

But, Harrison continued, the corresponding opportunity is what came out of recent Congressional hearings where Harrison, among others, stated their case to provide some sort of funding to help rural areas like Vance and Granville counties.

“We can’t make everything work with all the cuts that are coming,” she said, recounting the basic message delivered to Congress.

What came from those Congressional hearings is the $50 billion Rural Transformation Grant, which gives $1 billion to each state in the country to address rural health priorities.

Harrison said GVPH is one of 14 counties in the NC ROOTS (Rural Organizations Orchestrating Transformation for Sustainability) Hub 4 that stretches from Caswell County to the west and Johnston County to the southeast.

There are some strings attached to the money, however, and Harrison mentioned several areas that must be addressed in future programming per the grant requirements: workforce development, technology, hubs of governance and chronic disease prevention.

“The rules that come with this are very strict,” she said, adding that collaboration and partnership with other agencies and community groups are going to be key. Working together in creative ways to figure out what works best for the community and its residents is vital to future success.

Health departments have long used information from community assessments to identify top concerns and priorities to target. Diabetes, heart disease and stroke are among the perennial top three health challenges for Vance residents, so finding ways to reduce or prevent those chronic health conditions is something public health providers are always thinking about.

Lately, mental health and substance use disorder have gained traction, but often, residents don’t know where to go for help.

“It’s hard to market and communicate what we do and how we do it,” Harrison said. Staffs are planning open house events at both the Henderson and Oxford offices as a way to invite people in to hear and see for themselves what their health department is all about.

Visit www.gvph.org to learn more about the programs and services available at GVPH. The Henderson offices are located at 115 Charles Rollins Rd. beside Maria Parham Health; the Oxford offices are located behind Granville Medical Center, 1032 College St. College St.

TownTalk: Around Old Granville – The History of Alcohol

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In 1748, when North Carolina was just a colony and had to follow England’s rules, the first “ordinary” was opened in Granville County. The proprietor had to pay $30 in “proclamation” money for a license and he had to promise to provide food and lodging for travelers and their horses.

As local historian Mark Pace explained it on Thursday’s Around Old Granville segment of TownTalk, ordinaries provided food and drinks for a fixed price as compared to inns – which provided rooms and meals and maybe drinks. And taverns were places where alcohol was first on the menu, accompanied possibly by food.

But anyone who wanted to open one of these establishments had to go to court and get a bond – pay money.

Prior to the Revolution, for the price of one shilling (about $35 in today’s economy), you and your horses would get room and board. But for drinks stronger than water, you probably had to pay extra.

Choices for alcohol were probably quite limited back then, with port, stout and rum figuring highest on the list, Pace said.

Nowadays, we have a multitude of craft beers, wine and spirits to tickle our taste buds. But whether you enjoy the occasional adult beverage or you’re a teetotaler, the stories about the history of alcohol in North Carolina are nothing short of entertaining.

After the Revolution, George Washington’s federal style of government put an excise tax on alcohol.

“This did not go over well with everybody, particularly with Pennsylvania,” Pace said, and the tax led to the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794.

“It was the first time the federal government had issued a tax and the first time the people had risen up in arms against that tax,” he said. After all, they’d just fought a Revolution to get out from under British rule, and here they were, getting taxed again.

Washington sent 13,000 troops to quash the rebellion, and they made quick work of it.

When Thomas Jefferson took the Presidential oath in 1801, he abolished the tax.

And liquor was not taxed again until 1862, when it was reinstituted to raise money for the Civil War.

During that period leading up to the Civil War, it was perfectly legal to make your own alcohol, with no taxes imposed. And that’s what a lot of farmers in and around Granville County did, Pace explained.

One particular area in the vicinity where present-day southern Granville County meets Franklin County, achieved local notoriety for being rife with moonshine stills.

The dense orange-red  clay in the area known as the “Harracan” wouldn’t grow tobacco, but it would grow corn.

So resourceful farmers and others took the opportunity to turn that crop into something they could make money with – and that was alcohol, Pace said. You may even be able to find the remains of stills along creeks or other water sources in the Haracan, “just down the road a little ways,” as old-timers recall.

After the Civil War, the feds started allowing people to have large-scale distilleries, and many towns had them, including Henderson, Oxford and Warrenton.

These distilleries were licensed and there were hefty federal taxes involved. Back then, a  gallon of alcohol cost about $2.50 – and $1 of that was tax.

That was a bitter pill to swallow for some, Pace said. And that’s what led to bootlegging.

From 1870 to 1908 or so, bootleggers were running up, down, across and through the state with their untaxed spirits.

People figured out they could get their alcohol cheaper from their neighbor than they could from a licensed distillery, so business was booming for a good while.

In 1908, North Carolina passed a law stating that distilleries could be located in incorporated towns only.

Layer on that the 18th Amendment to the Constitution that enacted Prohibition and the black market for alcohol became even more important and intriguing.

The bootleggers needed to be able to outrun the revenuers, Pace said, and they created souped-up vehicles that paved the way for NASCAR racing, a perennial favorite for many.

One bootlegger from Wake County has a road named after him in the southern part of Granville County. Bruce Garner was arrested a bunch of times, paid his fines and kept on making liquor.  He found religion, however, and turned from the liquor business. After World War II he moved to Raleigh and opened up a couple of restaurants. The burger joint he started in 1960? Yep. It’s called Char-Grill.

The 13 years or so that made up the Prohibition era was anything but dry, however. And when the 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition in 1933, North Carolina was one of the states that, in essence, got into the liquor business when the Alcohol Beverage Control board was established a couple of years later.

Vance, Warren and Franklin counties set up ABC stores in 1935. It took Granville County until 1963 to join the party.

Pace said at one time there was a bus route that ran from Oxford to the train station in Henderson – which was conveniently located across from the town’s ABC store on William Street.

Locals felt like having a liquor store right across from the station was a blemish on Henderson’s reputation, Pace said. But apparently that didn’t bother the folks who made the round trip from Oxford one little bit.

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Cooperative Extension with Jamon Glover: The Guidance Counselor

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Jamon Glover, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:

We continue our new series called the Theory of 7’s. This is a fatherhood framework for raising children, one stage at a time. We move on to a very important age group, ages seven to age fourteen.

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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TownTalk: Henderson Reports 18.98 Percent Drop In Overall Crime For 2025

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Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow said he knew the city’s crime numbers would be down, but the statistics in the data dashboard confirm it, and Barrow said it’s “fantastic news” for the city.

Overall crime was down 18.98 percent from 2024 to 2025, including a 39.62 percent decrease in violent crime and 42.70 percent drop in aggravated assaults, according to the City of Henderson Crime Dashboard.

The police department keeps track of crime statistics and has been submitting reports to the federal and state governments since 1985, Barrow said on Wednesday’s TownTalk. The information that is collected and reported makes the department eligible to apply for a variety of law enforcement grants.

“If we don’t report, we’re not eligible for grant funding,” he said. “We report, we report correctly and those are the numbers.”

And it seems those numbers are trending down, which is good news for the police department, the city and its residents. But it’s more than just a one-year drop, he said. Since 2020, there’s been a 47 percent decrease in violent crime, a 47.34 percent drop in aggravated assaults and a 46.47 percent drop in burglaries in the city.

Barrow attributes the decrease to a combination of factors, starting with the work of his officers. “We put out a warning at the beginning of the year, that we wre all getting ready to see some important things – progress being made,” he said.

But he gives a nod also to the office of District Attorney Mike Waters and to federal prosecutors, too.

“We’re seeing a lot more movement with our cases,” Barrow said. People who need to be incarcerated are being convicted and put behind bars. He cited a recent case where an individual got 18 years for possession, sale and delivery of fentanyl.

Barrow said while he’s encouraged by the progress, there remains work to be done.

Crime statistics “represent people, families, victims, neighborhoods, and lives affected by crime,” he said. Continued progress depends on strong partnerships, community support and adequate resources to address public safety.

“A safer Henderson means more than lower crime numbers. It means stronger neighborhoods, greater opportunities for economic investment, stronger businesses, and a community where families can live and grow with confidence.

We are encouraged by the direction we are moving, but we are not satisfied with simply improving the numbers,” Barrow said.

Barrow said he wants Henderson to reap the benefits of decreased crime and hopes that word will get out and have a positive effect on economic development, the housing market, retail and small business and “diminish some of the negativity” in social media posts.

Henderson Mayor Melissa Elliott’s social media post is filled with positivity and kudos to Barrow and the police department.

“Today, we celebrate positive progress and recognize the dedication of the men and women of the Henderson Police Department,” the mayor’s post began.
The recent crime trend dashboard reflects significant reductions in crime throughout our city, including an overall crime decrease of nearly 19%, a reduction in violent crime, aggravated assaults, and other offenses.

These numbers represent more than statistics — they represent safer neighborhoods, families protected, and the continued commitment of those who serve our community every day.”

Elliott continued by thanking Barrow and the department’s officers for their

professionalism, sacrifice and tireless work to keep residents safe. “Your commitment to proactive policing, community partnerships, and protecting the citizens of Henderson does not go unnoticed,” Elliott stated.

“Public safety is a shared responsibility, and these results show what can happen when dedicated law enforcement officers, community leaders, and residents work together toward a common goal.

“Thank you, HPD, for your service, your courage, and your continued commitment to making Henderson a safer place to live, work, and raise our families.

“Together, we will continue building a stronger and safer Henderson.”

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