TownTalk: Business Spotlight – Pete Smith Automotive
Kristi and Dallas, tell us some history of Pete Smith Automotive and what’s next on this edition of the Business Spotlight.
(Our WIZS written coverage will appear here soon.)
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Henderson-Oxford Airport Gets Funding For Runway Improvement, Water Extension
Over the past few months, the Henderson-Oxford Airport has gotten a $9.4 million infusion of local, state and federal funds to make some major upgrades and renovations to its facility, located just inside Granville County.
At its Mar. 16 meeting, the Granville County Board of Commissioners OK’d $300,000 for a water infrastructure project that will bring municipal water to the airport.
Tack on $232,500 in state funds for a taxiway project and an earlier half a million dollars from the state for the water project and it all adds up to significant improvements to the airport, located 10 miles northwest of the City of Henderson and about five miles from Oxford.
Back in December 2025, the NCDOT Division of Aviation notified HNZ Chairman David Thomas, Henderson’s board appointee, that the airport had been approved for $8.8 million for the airport’s taxiway relocation project. Then in February, another $600,000 from the Golden LEAF Foundation came through for the water main extension project.
“We are very appreciative that the Division of Aviation has recognized HNZ’s contribution to the state aviation system and seen fit to partner with us on the funding the taxiway relocation,” Thomas stated. “The financial support from the federal, state, and Granville County government, as well as the Golden LEAF Foundation, will get a great deal of work done in improving our airport.”
Granville County Commissioner Rob Williford represents the district in which the airport is located. “We believe in the airport’s potential, and we believe in our county and in our region,” Williford said. “This investment in getting water to the airport isn’t just a water project; it’s an investment in the economic development of Granville County and the Kerr-Tar region.”
“Both of these projects are building blocks for us,” commented Jon Carver, the Authority’s vice-chair and the Granville County appointee to the Authority’s board. “This funding helps kick start a capital improvement program that includes a new FBO and a lot more hangar space for more diverse and larger aircraft.”
“The expansion potential at HNZ is exciting. We just needed this 12” line and now we have it. We’re ready to grow our business presence at HNZ,” said Carver.
Officially titled “the Aeronautics Authority of the City of Henderson, City of Oxford, County of Granville, and County of Vance”, the HNZ Authority was enabled by state legislation introduced in 1945. The Authority is a partnership between the City of Oxford, Granville County, the City of Henderson, and Vance County; each entity appoints a member to the HNZ authority board.
Construction began at the airport in 1966, and it became fully operational in 1971. By 1982, the original 3500′ runway had been extended to 5,002′ and lighting was added to the runway and taxiway. In 2014, the runway and taxiway were extended to 5501’x100′. In 2020, T-Hangar “A” was constructed.
HNZ handles more than 25,000 annual operations. HNZ and the woman- and family-owned fixed base operator offer aircraft hangar and tie-down rentals, fuel services, aircraft maintenance and safety support, corporate and business aviation operations, community engagement activities and youth aviation exposure. The private business, Empire Aviation Flight School, located at HNZ in 2009 and offers private pilot training (including ground school), discovery flights, and leisure flights.
For more information about HNZ, visit www.flyHNZ.com.
(The text of this story was originally posted March 20, 2026.)
TownTalk: Reporting Potholes To NCDOT
Dabney Drive has seen major improvement, but if you drive along state-maintained roadways, you may want to add a number to the contact list in your phone, just in case you need to report a pothole to the N.C. Dept. of Transportation.
Did you know that NCDOT has a dedicated number – 1.877.368.4968 – for folks to report potholes that pop up? Not only that, but there’s a whole section on the NCDOT website dedicated to potholes, including a link to submit a claim online.
On Tuesday’s TownTalk, Caller Tony phoned in to recount his experience with NCDOT when he called to complain about some pretty significant damage to his car, thanks to an 18-inch deep pothole.
It was last summer, Tony said. Although he was aware of the pothole, the weather conditions (it was drizzly) and oncoming traffic offered a one-two punch that resulted in close to $5,000 damage to his car.
Tony marched himself down to the Gillburg DOT facility and learned how to get in touch with the folks in Raleigh to lodge a complaint.
He spoke with someone who said the state could reimburse him for at least some of the hefty repair bill. The car was in the shop for a month, and when Tony sought the reimbursement, it seems the person he’d spoken with had retired and he was unable to find others who could help.
There may still be time for Tony to submit his claim – there’s a way to submit online but also a way to download a citizen incident statement to mail to the NCDOT.
According to the website, “individuals who suffer injury or property damage, such as vehicles damaged because of a pothole or mailbox knocked down as a result of a snow plow, can file a damage claim to request reimbursement.”
The website also said the NCDOT aims to repair reported potholes within two business days.
NCDOT generally submits the driver’s claim, as well as its own report, to the N.C. State Attorney General’s Office, which will determine whether NCDOT knew about the pothole and made an effort to repair it within a reasonable length of time, the website states.
If the Attorney General’s Office denies the claim, drivers can appeal to the N.C. Industrial Commission. For more information, contact the Attorney General’s Office.
Visit https://www.ncdot.gov/contact/Pages/claims.aspx to learn more.
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TownTalk: Pink With A Passion’s 5th Annual Cancer Walk Coming Up April 18
The color pink isn’t listed among the seven “official” colors of a rainbow, but you can bet that it will be well represented in this year’s 5th annual Pink With A Passion cancer walk on Saturday, April 18 at the Warren County Recreational Complex.
This year’s theme for the daylong event is “Many Colors, One Cause,” and organizer Amena Wilson wants participants to come out sporting t-shirts in all colors of the rainbow.
Although its origin is with breast cancer, Wilson said the non-profit organization wants to show support for people, no matter the type of cancer they may be dealing with.
“We all walk together and look like a big, beautiful rainbow,” Wilson said on Monday’s TownTalk.
Last year, more than 400 people came out for the event. Wilson said they need everyone to register for the event, whether they plan to walk or just come out to enjoy the activities.
There’s a link to the registration page at www.pinkwithapassion.org.
On-site registration begins at 9:30 a.m. for those who may not be able to complete the online registration. The walk will begin at 10 a.m. and there are plenty of activities to take part in following the walk, she said.
Walkers will be encouraged by the cheerleaders from Warren County High School and Warren County Middle School, adding another festive touch to the morning’s activities.
A Kid Zone will have a bouncy house, inflatables, face painting and more, and there will be numerous food trucks with everything from Mexican food, burgers and ‘dogs, ice cream and more.
Saxophonist Gregory Amos will provide entertainment as well as offer his testimony about his own breast cancer diagnosis.
The Envision Diagnostics mobile mammogram bus will be onsite this year as well to provide as many as 30 mammograms free of charge. Call 877.318.1349 to schedule an appointment.
It’s a day of hope, healing and unity, Wilson said. It’s a celebration of strength, a tribute to survivors and a powerful reminder that no one fights alone.
Wilson, herself a cancer survivor, said there’s something very powerful about hearing a survivor’s testimony that gives hope and inspiration to those who are undergoing treatment.
“It helps calm their nerves when they talk to someone who has already gone through it,” she said. “It helps calm them to know that they went through what I went through. And they’re ok.”
There will be a special survivors’ tent to honor those who have beaten cancer; a memorial table with candles and a special board to post prayers, names and words of encouragement also will be available to remember those who lost their fight.
The event is free and open to the community to join in to show support for all those along their journey to fight cancer.
Donations can be made via Cash App at PWAP1. The name of the organization’s treasurer, Barbara Baker should appear to confirm that the donation goes straight into the PWAP business account. Checks also are accepted and can be mailed to Pink With A Passion, P.O. Box 315 Warrenton, NC 27589.
The Warren County Recreation Complex is located at 840 US-1/158, Warrenton, NC.
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TownTalk: Vance County Board of Equalization and Review
The Vance County Board of Commissioners held a work session of March 17th where they discuss the Vance County Board of Equalization and Review.
(Our WIZS written coverage will appear here soon.)
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TownTalk: Vance County Government Artificial Intelligence Policy
The Vance County Board of Commissioners likely will discuss and adopt at their April meeting a policy to guide county staff about how and when to use AI when it comes to managing public and county data.
Randall Medlin, the county’s IT director, appeared before commissioners at a Mar. 17 work session to provide details about the draft policy, stating that it was crafted to address three key issues surrounding the county’s use of AI: that it’s used ethically, responsibly and legally; that county staff is aware of any potential biases with regard to its use; and that AI is not replacing a human making a decision in any act.
Medlin said the county will be making three software purchases in the next six months, and they all have an AI component.
He said he’d like to have the policy in place before the county moves forward with those purchases.
County Manager C. Renee Perry said she plans to have adoption of the 7-page policy on the board’s April 6 agenda.
As County Attorney Jonathan Care explained, the policy provides “guiderails” as the use of AI becomes more prevalent and more widely accepted.
“It has the guardrails in there to help eliminate the bad stuff,” Care said.
“It is only using versions that we control the data to. And that’s important, and Randall and I both agree on this, because of all the other considerations you’ve got out there, the most common one that we don’t think about that I see as being the biggest hurdle is creating public records. We’ve got to own it and control it. We’ve got to limit – to the extent we can – the number of public records that we inadvertently create by using AI. This policy definitely has the guardrails in that addresses my concerns practically and legally, but also, more importantly, addresses the IT concerns that are much more informed that I feel need to be in there.”
Medlin said the policy doesn’t prescribe how to authorize and use AI but instead offers parameters for use. “If you’re going to use AI, it can’t do this and it must do this,” he said.
The policy states that county departments that do use AI must create an annual report to present to the board and to the public at large to ensure transparency.
The report will contain information about which AI programs are being used and how they are being used and how it fits in their “chain” or scope of work.
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Red Cross Hosts Disaster Team ‘Boot Camp’ Mar. 28 In Granville County
The American Red Cross is having a Disaster Action Team Boot Camp in Oxford on Saturday, Mar. 28. Participants in this volunteer opportunity will learn all about how to help in following disasters like fires, tornadoes and more.
The Boot Camp will be held at the Granville United Way from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The United Way is located on the campus of the Masonic Home for Children in Oxford, 600 College St.
According to ARC Senior Volunteer Specialist Jennifer Prosser, disaster teams respond to emergencies to support neighbors facing disaster and can provide immediate care to help individuals and families who are victims of disaster.
“Our Disaster Action Team volunteers are often the second on the scene after local first responders, providing immediate assistance to neighbors affected by home fires, tornadoes, and other disasters,” Prosser said in a statement. “Support may include emergency food, clothing, shelter, and compassionate care during someone’s most difficult moments.”
Register by calling 984.960.7562 or visit www.redcross.org/volunteer. Or scan the QR code below.
Lunch will be provided.
(This information was originally posted March 11, 2026.)
TownTalk: Thomas Road Fires Recap with Rob Montague
The springtime wildfire season is fast approaching, and county firefighters and the N.C. Forest Service had to put their practices – and equipment – to the test with a couple of fires last week that scorched dozens of acres and destroyed a few sheds.
The fire calls came within a couple of hours of each other and, though unrelated, both were on Thomas Road, off N.C.39 near Williamsboro.
The first call, according to Rob Montague with the N.C. Forest Service, proved to be the larger of the two fires. Montague said that fire affected about 30 acres.
Montague said the Forest Service was able to provide a bulldozer and a helicopter to assist local fire departments get a handle on the fire.
The bulldozer created a bare dirt fire line, he said, a tactic that helps contain the fire and keep it from spreading.
The helicopter scooped water from a nearby pond to drop on the fire.
And then the second call came in. A tree fell on a power line, touching off another brush fire.
Assistant County Ranger Landon Blackwell was the incident commander at the scene of the first fire. It was Blackwell, Montague said, who was instrumental in making sure firefighters could handle both fires efficiently and to determine when the first fire was contained enough to release the resources to attack the second fire.
“The helicopter was ordered for the first fire,” Montague explained. Once the second fire call came in, the helicopter was able to drop water on both fires. “The helicopter can do pinpoint work on dropping water, especially in a situation like that,” he said.
There also was a scout plane – a smoke chaser – that was called into action as well.
“It was a really great collaboration of a lot of different types of resources working together and that is the part of our job that we enjoy doing,” Montague said. “Having the right resources at the right time really won the day…to bring the situation to a stable point and minimize the damage.”
Containment is key to battling a wildfire. It’s already burning, so the idea is to stop it from moving forward and getting worse. The grasses, shrubs and trees that are burning can burn for a long time, and putting out the fire can be challenging.
Extinguishing the fire can be difficult, so firefighters create containment lines around the fire. That’s what they did with the first fire. Montague said they were able to establish good containment lines to slow the fire’s spread.
“Once that line was in there, we could free up some resources because it was not going to expand anymore.”
From above, firefighters in the helicopter and the spotter plane could provide colleagues on the ground information on how best to attack the second fire.
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TownTalk: Rotary Club Of Oxford Erases $2 Million In Medical Debt
More than 35 percent of U.S. households have medical debt, according to an article published in August 2025. Citing 2024 data, the authors wrote that 21 percent had a past-due medical bill and another 23 percent were paying a medical bill over time to a provider – most often to a physician or a dentist.
Many providers like hospitals and private practices use third-party agencies to get payments from patients. These third-party agencies “buy” the debt at pennies on the dollar and then contact the patients to get the payment due.
Undue Medical Debt is one of those third-party agencies, but its mission is to erase medical debt by partnering with civic groups, churches and other organizations to pay off medical debt for qualified recipients.
The Rotary Club of Oxford partnered with Undue Medical Debt and erased a whopping $2 million in medical debt for individuals in North Carolina – 597 of whom reside in Granville County.
“Medical debt is a huge problem,” said Oxford Rotarian and dentist Bart Cleary. “It means a lot to us and it means a lot for the individuals” that the local Rotary group could have such a meaningful impact in the local community.
The club contributed proceeds from fundraisers like poinsettia sales, beer and wine tasting events and more, and the district Rotary organization kicked in a matching grant. An anonymous donor also provided matching funds to elevate the amount the Rotary club could provide for the project.
As Rotary Club President-Elect Don Fick explained, the debts are collected and acquired by Undue Medical Debt and the Rotary funds paid it off.
The recipients remain anonymous – and it’s not something people can apply for, he said. They must meet eligibility criteria, he added, to make sure that the debts are paid for those who are most adversely affected by unpaid medical bills.
Recipients will simply get a letter in the mail stating that their debt has been cleared.
“We don’t know their names, their debt or what kind of medical service they had,” Fick said.
In his role as pastor, the Rev. Glenn Stallsmith said it’s been his experience that people who come to him for guidance or advice seldom talk about problems caused by the burden of medical debt.
“This issue of medical debt is one of those things that people don’t like to share,” Stallsmith said.
But when people are not able to pay their bills, they often delay future health care or health care for their children.
Getting the club to buy in to the project wasn’t difficult, he said. “It wasn’t a hard sell – it was almost a unanimous decision.”
To learn more about the work and mission of the Rotary Club of Oxford, visit oxfordncrotaryclub.org. You can send donations to Oxford Rotary Club, P.O. Box 1584, Oxford, NC 27565. The club meets on Thursdays at 12 noon at House of Ribeyes in Oxford, located at 102 Roxboro Rd.
To learn more about the work of Undue Medical Debt, visit unduemedicaldebt.org.
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TownTalk: 03-16-26
John Charles Rose gives an update on the weather forecast for today March 16th. Thank you for listening!
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