The Local Skinny! Second Annual ‘Catfish Drop’ To Usher In New Year At Satterwhite Point

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Looking for something fun to do with the family to say farewell to 2025, usher in the New Year and still be able to be home in your jammies – or decked out in your finest party duds – well before midnight?

Check out the Catfish Drop at Satterwhite Point on Kerr Lake from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.

It’s the second annual Catfish Drop – Vance County Tourism’s Pam Hester hailed last year’s event as an unparalleled success.

“It’s going to be an afternoon, early evening of fun family event for everybody,” Hester said in an interview with WIZS earlier this year.

In addition to food trucks, music by DJ Jay, face painting and bouncy houses, Hester said they’ve added The Mike Davis Experience, miniature golf to the list of activities for families to enjoy before the catfish makes its descent to mark the beginning of 2026, albeit a few hours early.

A fireworks display will cap off the day’s activities.

Hester said Mike Davis will perform from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. “He is a one-man show, but he sounds like you’re listening to a full band,” Hester said in an interview earlier this year. “He can sing anything from Merle Haggard to KISS.”

 

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Home and Garden Show

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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.

  • The Vance County Regional Farmers Market is closed for the season. Thanks to all customers and vendors for a successful year in 2025!
  • Soil Samples are $4 per sample, Don’t guess soil test!
  • Check your compost pile and turn it if you haven’t done so recently.
  • Check local nurseries for sale items.
  • You can continue to plant trees in your landscape.
  • Visit a public garden/arboretum over the holidays to see which plants look good during the winter.
  • Review your 2025 Garden journal for what was successful and what was not very successful.
  • Remember to check your natural Christmas tree for water every day.
  • A small backyard greenhouse can help you jump start your 2026 garden.
  • Remember to use the proper personal protective equipment when doing winter chores.
  • Check houseplants dust weekly with a soft cloth.
  • Check storage areas for mice.

The Vance County Cooperative Extension Building is located at 305 Young St, Henderson, NC 27536

The Vance County Regional Farmers Market is located at 210 Southpark Dr., Henderson, NC 27536

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Freedom Bridge Resource Center Ribbon Cutting

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Dozens of supporters gathered at the Freedom Bridge Resource Center Tuesday to officially mark its opening with a ceremonial ribbon cutting sponsored by the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce.

But work at the center has been going on for close to two months now, and Program Director Danetta McKnight said the resource center has been able to provide ongoing assistance to 20 individuals during that time. And they’re just getting started.

Freedom Bridge is part of Community Partners of Hope and is located beside Vance Recovery at 936 West Andrews Avenue. It’s a resource center – a hub – where partners come together to serve the community, she said.

Representatives from The Genesis Project, a Charlotte-based program, come weekly to provide services such as peer support and other types of counseling for clients in recovery from substance addiction.

“We’re grateful that someone saw something in Freedom Bridge,” she said.

The support for individuals in a recovery program comes in different forms, and Freedom Bridge is where all types of services can come together to help clients and families in their journeys.

One community volunteer employs clients as day laborers, which gives them a little money in their pocket to buy food or toiletry items, she said.

Whether through mentoring, helping reconnect those estranged from families because of substance abuse or just providing a small meal and a warm place to “be,” Freedom Bridge is living up to its mission statement: Helping people cross over from systems that trap them to lives they own.

McKnight expressed gratitude to the community for being accepting of the work that Freedom Bridge is setting out to do and to Community Partners of Hope “for connecting with me and listening to a young lady that had a dream…believed in my dream and offered me a position where I could do what it is I felt like I was born to do.”

Visit https://www.cp-hope.org/freedombridge to learn how you can help through volunteering or donating.

(The information above was originally posted December 17, 2025 but has been updated December 23 to include the broadcast audio available below.)

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Candidate Filings For March 2026 Primary

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Vance County voters will have a ballot full of contested races when they go to the polls for the March 2026 primary elections, which includes a three-way race for Vance County Sheriff. The county commissioners’ seats have multiple filers and three of the four seats on the board of education have at least two candidates.

The filing period ended today – Friday, Dec. 19 – at 12 noon, and Deputy Director of the Vance County Board of Elections Shelly Wood said six individuals came in on the last day to file – four of them for the District 7 seat on the Vance County Board of Education.

Until the final day of the filing period, there were no candidates for the District 7 seat.

Sterlin M. Walker, Jr. added his name to the list of candidates for Sheriff. He joins incumbent Sheriff Curtis Brame and challenger Sean Alston, Sr., who had filed earlier. All three candidates for Sheriff are Democrats.

Ruth M. Hartness filed to retain her District 7 seat on the board of education, along with challengers Blakely Lee Bakes, Angela Cooper Lyons and Hailey Breeze Macklin. Mackin is a Republican; the other three candidates are Democrats.

In other contests that involve Vance County, Henderson Mayor Melissa Elliott added her name to the list Thursday to run for the District 32 seat in the N.C. House of Representatives. Incumbent Bryan Cohn did not seek re-election, but Granville County Democrat Curtis McCrae, Jr. has filed for the seat, according to information from the N.C. State Board of Elections.

Here’s a complete list of filers for contests specific to Vance County:

Vance County Board of Commissioners – District 3 Charisse Fain – Democrat

Vance County Board of Commissioners – District 3 Angie Ryan – Republican

Vance County Board of Commissioners – District 4 June Lewis III – Democrat

Vance County Board of Commissioners – District 4 Kelley Wade Perdue – Republican
Vance County Board of Commissioners – District 4 Dan Brummitt – Republican

Vance County Board of Commissioners-District 7 Joann Evans – Democrat

Vance County Board of Commissioners-District 7 Joseph Falkner – Republican

Vance County Board of Education – District 1 Cassandra Evans – Democrat
Vance County Board of Education – District 1 Gloria White – Democrat

Vance County Board of Education – District 2 Randy Oxendine – Democrat
Vance County Board of Education – District 2 William Earl Purvis – Democrat

Vance County Board of Education – District 6 Omega T. Perry – Democrat

Vance County Clerk of Superior Court Amanda Burnette – Democrat
Vance County Clerk of Superior Court Eric Burwell – Democrat

Vance County Register of Deeds Cassandra D. Neal – Democrat

Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame – Democrat
Vance County Sheriff Sean Alston, Sr – Democrat
Vance County Sheriff Sterlin M. Walker, Jr. – Democrat

********UPDATED Friday, Dec. 19, 2025 at 6:50 p.m.

(Please note — This post has been updated regularly since filing started. All those updates have been deliberately removed and replaced with the final filings written above.)

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Home and Garden Show

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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.

  • The Vance County Regional Farmers Market is now closed for the season. Thanks to all customers and vendors for a successful year in 2025!
  • Soil Samples are $4 per sample, Don’t guess soil test!
  • Use foliage from your Landscape to make festive decorations.
  • Check your compost pile and turn it if you haven’t done so recently.
  • Check local nurseries and garden centers for gift ideas and hints to Santa.
  • You can continue to plant trees in your landscape.
  • Visit a public garden/arboretum over the holidays to see which plants look good during the winter.
  • Clean old nests out of bird houses.
  • Remember to check your natural Christmas tree for water every day.
  • Do not use salt on your drive, use sand or cat litter for added traction.
  • Remember to use the proper personal protective equipment when doing fall chores.
  • Check houseplants dust weekly with a soft cloth.
  • Check storage areas for mice.

The Vance County Cooperative Extension Building is located at 305 Young St, Henderson, NC 27536

The Vance County Regional Farmers Market is located at 210 Southpark Dr., Henderson, NC 27536

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Perry Memorial Library

The Local Skinny! Wrapping Up 2025 at Perry Memorial Library

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As 2025 winds down, Perry Memorial Library Youth Services Director Melody Peters reflects on successes throughout the year as patrons, staff and the community celebrated the library’s centennial.

Libraries have transformed over the years to being so much more than just a place to check out books, and Henderson’s library is no exception. Families can come in to watch movies, like the recent showing of The Polar Express in the Farm Bureau room, bring homeschool groups in for special activities and participate in events that reach into the community.

Staff and others from the community will gather at 4:30 p.m. today Wedat the library and then set out for Garnett Street to serenade local downtown businesses with Christmas carols.

“This is a new program and I’m glad the weather’s going to be cooperating, Peters said on Tueday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

“We just want to spread the joy of the season around downtown,” she said, promoting literacy and the downtown district in the process.

It’s not unusual for the library to try new programs and events, all in the name of promoting reading, literacy and community togetherness.

Peters said she was particularly pleased with the summer program. “I was just so thrilled the way the summer reading program reached a new level of continued engagement,” she said. Community read-in events and book bins throughout county businesses filled with books for the taking were just a couple of examples of the library making new connections and reviving old connections with patrons.

“We were really busy, and that’s ok” Peters said, recalling the hustle and bustle of summer activities coming on the heels of a full calendar year filled with special events and regular monthly programming.

More than 7,000 individuals participated in the various programs the library offers, and Peters no doubt is looking for more in 2026.

Community support is critical to make sure individuals and families are aware of the programs and services the library offers.

“It really takes everybody working together promoting literacy,” she said.

we couldn’t’ do it without that comm support.

Visit www.perrylibrary.org to learn more.

 

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Vance County Logo

The Local Skinny! Vance Co. Commissioners’ Special Called Meeting Tuesday, Dec. 16 At 4 P.M.

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The Vance County Board of Commissioners will hold a special called meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 4 p.m. to hold public hearings on several zoning requests and to receive and potentially approve a fiscal operations policy.

According to information from Clerk to the Board Dywanda Pettaway, Board Chair Carolyn Faines called the meeting, which will be held in the commissioners’ conference room of the county’s administration building, 122 Young St.

The two rezoning requests – (ZMA25-003 & ZMA25-004) – are pursuant to Section 11.2(D)(1) of the County Zoning  Ordinance and N.C. G.S. 160D. Article 6.

Public hearings regarding the two rezoning requests will be held beginning at 4 p.m., after which the commissioners will receive an updated fiscal operations policy. The board may choose to approve this policy, which contains information detailing county procedures and policies “designed to reflect best practice, not minimum practice,” according to information from Finance Director Stephanie Williams. “The intention is to create a consistent, disciplined framework that supports the long-term financial health of Vance County,” the statement continued.

 

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The Local Skinny! Suspect Takes His Own Life Following Double Shooting In Southern Granville

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Two people remain hospitalized Thursday following a shooting Tuesday in southern Granville County. The alleged shooter died near the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound following an hours-long standoff with law enforcement.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Granville County Sheriff Robert Fountain identified the alleged suspect as 27-year-old Bradley McCurdy.

During the press conference, Fountain provided a timeline of events.

A 911 call came in Tuesday afternoon about the shootings, which Fountain said had a “domestic component.” Law enforcement arrived at Grand Oak Road, which has a Franklinton address although it is located in Granville County, several miles from Wilton Elementary and the intersection of Highways 56 and 96.

The female victim was shot twice in the back of the head, and a male victim was shot once, Fountain said. The female was listed in fair condition at the time of the news conference; the male was in critical condition. Their names were not released.

The suspect fled the scene in a white pickup truck, which was located and stopped on Pine Ridge Road off Hwy. 96 after law enforcement officers executed a traffic stop. Negotiators talked with the suspect in efforts to get him to exit the vehicle, Fountain said.

Talks continued into the evening, Fountain said. The sheriff initiated the conversation with the suspect, then handed it over to a Granville County Sheriff’s Office sergeant and the SBI.

Fountain said they set up a command center at Brassfield Volunteer Fire Department to develop a plan of action, with officers at the scene monitoring the situation.

It was about 10:30 p.m., he said, when a gunshot rang out. A drone was flown in to assess the scene and produced images of the suspect with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

He was removed from the vehicle, at which time life-saving measures were administered.

EMS transported him to a local hospital. He died of his injuries.

The investigation is ongoing.

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Home and Garden Show

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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.

  • The Vance County Regional Farmers Market is open on Saturdays from 8am to 1pm.
  • The Vance-Warren Beekeepers Association will meet on December 15th at 7pm at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market.
  • Take inventory left over seed before ordering any new seed.
  • Use fireplace ashes as a soil amendment. 1 bushel per 1000 sq.ft.
  • Check your compost pile and turn it if you haven’t done so recently.
  • Check local nurseries and garden centers for gift ideas and hints to Santa.
  • You can continue to plant trees in your landscape.
  • Indoor plants not flowering? Try moving closer to a window or otherwise increase light.
  • Most indoor plants need repotting every year or so. Use a high quality potting mix and a slightly larger pot.
  • Remember to check your natural Christmas tree for water every day.
  • Do not use salt on your drive, use sand or cat litter for added traction.
  • Remember to use the proper personal protective equipment when doing fall chores.
  • Check houseplants dust weekly with a soft cloth.
  • Check storage areas for mice.

The Vance County Cooperative Extension Building is located at 305 Young St, Henderson, NC 27536

The Vance County Regional Farmers Market is located at 210 Southpark Dr., Henderson, NC 27536

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The Local Skinny! Vance County Train Derailment Spills Dog Food Supplement; No Injuries Reported

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A train derailment last week at Eastern Minerals caused a supplement used in dog food to spill, but officials said there was never any danger to the public or to the environment.

The incident occurred at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 3, according to CSX officials.

Clean-up of the product, a food grade Zinc used as a dog food supplement, was completed the same day that it was spilled, according to Vance County Emergency Management Specialist Willie Kearney.

Kearney said he and Vance County Assistant Fire Chief Adam Pegram met with a CSX Hazmat responder and the rail inspector to discuss details of the incident. “Everything is good to go,” Kearney said, adding that CSX representatives would most likely be invited to attend an upcoming Local Emergency Planning Committee meeting in 2026.

According to witnesses, the train derailed between the Peter Gill crossing and Eastern Minerals facility crossing on Raleigh Road.

CSX officials said one of their trains derailed three cars – two on their side, one upright – on an industry track located near Bearpond Road. No injuries were reported and no waterways were impacted.

 

 

 

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