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State Treasurer Dale Folwell; Money, Drinks, Covid, Pension Plans on TownTalk

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For North Carolina Treasurer Dale Folwell, top issues on his radar continue to be the financial health of the state, as well as keeping fully funded the state employees’ pension plan, health-care concerns and understanding the effects of COVID-19.

Folwell, a Republican, won re-election in November to a second term as state treasurer. He spoke with John C. Rose on the Dec. 29 edition of Town Talk. “I think the people of North Carolina understand that when the money is right a lot of things are going to be ok eventually. But when the money is wrong, it’s hard to come back,” he said. “As the keeper of the public purse…our only loyalty is to the people who teach, protect and otherwise serve both at the state and the local level.”

Something that Folwell expressed concern about is the recent bill which allows bars and restaurants to sell mixed drinks to go. “I did not vote for that, nor did I vote for the original resolution about shutting down bars and restaurants back in April,” Folwell said. The additional regulations “are the last things (restaurants) need right now in order to comply with the new rule.” People who think that this will solve the restaurants’ problems, he said, “don’t really understand what the problem really is.”

For TownTalk audio click play…

Folwell spoke about the state’s employees and pension plan for retirees and how federal policy changes can affect a state’s policies. “We occasionally have to make changes to sort of gee-haw, so to speak, with the federal laws that are passed…that’s one thing that happened last year,” he said, noting recent changes in Congress regarding taxation of retirement plans.  A new Medicare Advantage contract goes into effect in January, which will involve savings to nearly 150,000 retirees on the state health plan, which “will result in a billion dollar savings to the state of North Carolina. “I want you to hear me clearly when I say this. For the Basic Plan, it’s zero premium to the member and zero cost to the state of North Carolina. It’s an unheard-of negotiation and we’re very pleased with this.” Humana is the health-care provider driving the business, he added.

“I think that the policy-makers in North Carolina need to be focused on how we flatten the economic curve of the state,” Folwell said in response to a question about the latest round of federal COVID-19 relief funds and those who have lost their jobs during the pandemic. Leaders need to figure out “how we put the joy of achievement back in the small- and medium-sized business owners,” especially noting how, especially restaurant owners, have been “decimated because of COVID…generations folks in these businesses that are going to shut down permanently. We can only do that as policy makers if we do it transparently, if we do it consistently, if we do it by willing to challenge assumptions and that’s just the biggest challenge we have right now.”

Folwell mentioned his concern for hospital consolidation and its effect on health care, especially during the pandemic and increased hospitalizations. “This is an issue not regarding the front-line people who provide health care, (but) it’s about these executives that run multi-billion dollar non-profits in North Carolina who make millions of dollars in salary.” When hospital consolidations occur, Folwell said they become like “cartels, they’re formed in order to restrict competition or raise prices and the people that suffer the most are those in our state who are lower- or fixed-income,” he added.

In addition to the political issues, however, Folwell encouraged everyone to check out nccash.com, a website that can help bring together residents with unclaimed money being held in the state’s Escheats Fund for safekeeping. That amount stands at $900 million, according to Folwell.

“We found $2,500 for the Carolina Panthers,” Folwell noted, adding that the Panthers’ organization gave the money to a domestic violence abuse shelter in Charlotte. The shelter, Folwell said, also had money in the fund, as well as three of the reporters covering the original donation to the shelter. “It’s amazing how much money is there,” Folwell said. “We’ve given out over $25 million out of nccash.com just since July 4.”

Be patient, he advised, since there is now a backlog for the process, which he attributes to more people being at home and researching whether they have money in the fund. “Once the money is there, it’s there forever. It’s not a gimmick. It’s the last paycheck that didn’t get delivered to you, it’s the rent deposit that didn’t deliver to you, small bank account or in one case, a $600,000 life insurance proceed to someone designated to a beneficiary and no one had ever told them.”

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High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Covid Wellness Conference Info For Tonight 1-4-21 – TownTalk

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Two women with an eye on community service and good health are teaming up to provide a special telephone wellness conference this evening to discuss the importance of identifying underlying health concerns – hypertension and diabetes – even amid a global pandemic.

Tonight’s conference, “Understanding Hypertension and Diabetes Effect on Blood Vessels,” is the result of a collaboration between registered nurse Toni Wilson and the Rev. Ola Thorpe-Cooper, pastor of Holy Temple Church on East Avenue in Henderson.

“This Conference is for anyone 21 years and over with a goal of good health consciousness,” stated Rev. Cooper, in a statement to WIZS. She and Wilson appeared on today’s Town Talk with John C. Rose and underscored the importance of keeping medical appointments to stay on top of existing health conditions and learning how to prevent problems from affecting good health.

To join the conference, which begins at 6 p.m., dial 425.436.6330. The access code is 8605811#. This is a free event, although long-distance charges apply if those calls are not included in the caller’s calling plan.

Rev. Cooper is the newest member of the Henderson City Council, filling the unexpired term of the late Fearldine Simmons. She returned to Henderson in 2007 after a four-decades long career with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She reached out to Wilson upon learning that she operates a YouTube channel called Talk to Toni Wilson.

“Vance County has a high incidence of high blood pressure and diabetes,” Wilson said during the Town Talk interview. Although a predisposition to both conditions could be hereditary, Wilson said, they also can be preventable. She emphasized the importance of keeping regular doctor visits and checkups, even during a pandemic.

For TownTalk audio click play…

Wilson had been having a weekly call with family members to help them understand about the effect of diabetes. “Then, as we heard more about COVID-19 and all the chronic illnesses, the co-morbidities, the secondary illnesses that put us at risk for COVID-19…my thought pattern was, ‘wait a minute,’ I need to get something out there so people understand what’s going on,” Wilson added. “They need to know that all these chronic illnesses they have are putting them at greater risk.”

In June or July, she began doing video programs with people who had been diagnosed with COVID-19.

“(People) are not going to the doctor and being checked like they should…they’re having symptoms like increased thirst, or increased urination, unintended weight loss, of feeling very tired, their vision is blurred, or they have these constant headaches…they’re simply not feeling well.” More severe health complications may arise just because they aren’t going to the doctor like they should, Wilson added, saying that some of those complications could be prevented.

Going to the doctor during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said, could cause some people some anxiety. Increased cleaning of the offices, spacing out appointments so patients don’t come into contact with one another, and mask wearing are just a few of the precautions that medical offices are using to ensure safety of patients and staff. “It’s still very important that you get those checkups, very important,” Wilson said. High blood pressure has been called the “silent killer,” so a person may not experience symptoms associated with it, including dizziness or pounding in the chest, Wilson said. “So whether you feel good or you do not feel good, you still need your checkups,” she said.

It is so important for health care providers to have a good medical history, Wilson noted, “asking about your family, your diet, taking into consideration your weight, the type of food that you’re eating, what type of medicines that you’re on and your activities, if you do any regular scheduled activities,” she continued. The question to ask your doctor, however is this: How do I prevent it if I don’t already have the condition, as well as the chances of developing the condition if it already exists in your family, Wilson added.

Tonight’s conference will examine the job of blood vessels in the body and the negative effect of hypertension and diabetes. High blood pressure can cause the blood vessel walls to weaken and can create aneurisms. With diabetes, unregulated blood sugar levels contribute to the buildup of plaque which limits elasticity of the vessels. The heart then must work harder to pump the blood, further breaking down the blood vessels. All this can lead to major health events such as heart attack, stroke and limb amputations. “You need to keep those vessels in good shape,” Wilson said.

As for diabetes, Wilson said Type 2 is a result of what we do to our own bodies. “Not exercising, not watching our weight, and just eating anything we want to eat,” she said, all contribute to diabetes Type 2. The pancreas cannot produce enough insulin to keep blood sugar levels steady. Wilson sees patients with both hypertension and diabetes, and sometimes heredity is a factor. Despite this predisposition, however, she says they can be prevented. Wilson hopes to be able to educate people on how to avoid these health conditions.

“I believe you cannot help people when you don’t feel good about yourself, when you have some kind of medical condition,” Rev. Cooper said. “I think you have to be well in order to take care of people to help them to stay well,” she said.  By the way, both Wilson and Rev. Cooper encourage having the COVID-19 vaccinations – Wilson has had her first shot and is ready for the second one next week, she said. Rev. Cooper will have her vaccination as soon as she is able to, she said.

Wilson and Rev. Cooper have never met in person, but upon recommendation by a family member, Wilson tuned in to Rev. Cooper’s virtual church service; then Rev. Cooper viewed one of Wilson’s programs on YouTube “and she was talking about COVID-19 and she interviewed a couple from Henderson, North Carolina. So I contacted her and I wanted some more information about COVID-19,” Rev. Cooper said. The dialogue between the two resulted in tonight’s telephone wellness conference.

Local Gold at Portis Gold Mine: TownTalk 12-28-20 with Tim Fisher

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Modern-day gold prospectors like Tim Fisher have tools and technology that simply weren’t available to folks who ventured to California and Alaska to make their fortunes during the era known as the Gold Rush. What Fisher undoubtedly does share with those earlier prospectors, however, is an enthusiasm and curiosity about what may lie just below the surface.

Gold. Right here in North Carolina.

Fisher was a guest on Town Talk Monday and he spoke with host Bill Harris about land he and his son own in northeast Franklin County, near the Nash County line. It once was part of the property on which the Portis Gold Mine is located, and Fisher hopes to restore the area to its former golden glory. In fact, he said he hopes to do some work in the next week or so on some dredge piles that haven’t been touched since the mine was active. What he finds, he said, he will post on another tool his prospecting predecessors didn’t have – social media.

For the audio of TownTalk click play…

Fisher runs Eastern Outdoor Expeditions and he hopes the Gold Run Branch Goldmine will be a place where people can have fun learning how to pan for gold while learning something new about an activity that spurred a frenzy in mid-19th century United States. Prospectors and miners flocked to California and then to Alaska, Fisher said, in search of their fortunes by digging in the ground and straining gold from rivers.

“This area is rich in gold,” Fisher told Harris of the area around Wood and Ransom’s Bridge. “A lot of gold has been found over the years.” And he predicts that there’s still a lot of gold to be found. It just isn’t an easy process.  “It’s in the clay, and you really have to work hard to get the gold separated from the clay,” he said.

As the story goes, peddlers traveling through the area near Wood in the backwoods of what is now Franklin County would stop in at John Portis’s place to spend the night, sort of a modern-day bed and breakfast. One peddler noticed that the “twinkling mud” Portis had put between the logs of his cabin to keep it airtight, Fisher said.

He researched mining journals and old newspapers to learn more about the history of the Portis Gold Mine. He knows that the mining process involved using running water through troughs to separate the mineral from the clay. The clay slurry produced was then washed away, leaving the gold behind. This was a difficult way to extract gold, he said, so prospectors were eager to head West, where they had heard gold was much easier to find. The town of Wood, located in northeastern corner of Franklin County, used to have its own post office and railroad station, as well as a general store, Fisher said. Now, however, it’s just a crossroads. The buildings that housed the post office and the train station remain, but that’s about it, Fisher said. He hopes that increased tourism to Gold Run Branch Goldmine will bring a little “shine” back to the area.

In his research about the area Fisher has learned that notables of the time visited Wood – Thomas Edison and Mark Twain, for example. He also said he discovered that the very first performance in North Carolina of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was at Portis Gold Mine.

Perhaps the most unusual discovery, however, was one that Fisher and his son made while walking their property. They noticed timbers sticking out of the ground in a very wet, swampy area near a creek. Fisher thought it may the remains of an old stamp mill, which were often found near gold mining sites. His son thought it may be the entrance to a long-forgotten mine shaft. They finally got the chance to investigate in October of 2019, when the area was finally dry enough to get to the timbers.

 

To their surprise, they found a ship – a bucket line dredge, to be exact. This particular dredge, although buried in mud and sediment now, was used for several years, Fisher said, “until the gold got thin, and then they just stopped using it.”  The mining journals Fisher researched noted that the dredge was built in New York City and then disassembled and put in pieces on a train for delivery to Portis Gold Mine. It is 94 feet long and 32 feet wide, and has a 7-foot-deep hull.

“The crazy thing is the paint is still on the wood,” Fisher said, adding that the color is barn red. Some glass is still intact and the hinges are still on the doors. His best guess is that the roof split in two and the dredge slowly sank and was buried in the sediment that flowed into the valley where it is currently situated. The plan is to rebuild it so visitors can have an idea of what it was like in its heyday.

Fisher wants to mine the mounds of sediment in and around the dredge, in hopes of finding some gold there. “All the water runs through the ship,” he said, which makes it like “a huge gold pan.” Fisher explained that the main purpose of dredging was to separate the smaller pieces of gold from the clay, which meant that the larger “klunkers” would be discarded with the slurry. He expects to find some klunkers as their prospecting continues.

Fisher found a story from 1911 in Henderson’s Gold Leaf newspaper that estimated the Portis Gold Mine had more than $1 billion in gold. Fisher projects that, with the price of gold hovering at around $1,700 per ounce today, today’s estimate could be double.

Back in the 1980’s, when gold prices were low, so was interest in land that had gold mines on it. Fisher bought his property after it had passed through several tree companies’ ownership. One reason he and his son chose the particular two tracts was because there is a small branch that runs through a little valley. It is a perfect spot for sediment to accumulate. Sediment that may contain something a little shinier than the prevalent orange clay. “We knew there was gold there,” he said, adding that he got a fair amount of kidding at first for buying what amounted to a swampy flood plain.

“We still get gold on a daily basis,” Fisher said. But one byproduct of this gold-mining process is stains – on clothing, on hands, on everything. “It looks like … a weird fingernail polish.”

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Vaccine Here; TownTalk 12-23-20 MPH CEO Beard Beard

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Vaccine is here.  Maria Parham Health is administering within guidelines.

Last week Maria Parham Health CEO, in talking about Covid-19, said, “It’s been an amazing journey and amazing to watch our healthcare providers in our teams step up over the last year in spite of everything that’s gone on. So I would definitely use exciting or ecstatic to describe just the hope that it gives to receive that vaccine (Tuesday).”

On Tuesday, Dec 22, 2020 the hospital received the Moderna vaccine, and begin administering it Wednesday morning to “front line healthcare workers under the state guidelines of phase 1A.”

On Wednesday MPH administered, Beard said, “from 80 to 90 vaccines and then we will break for the holiday because people need to be off and they need to recharge their battery, and we’ll begin again next week vaccinating our teams within the state guidelines and moving through that progression of the four phases as they allow us and release more vaccine to us.”

Click play to hear Beard on TownTalk…

He said, “It’s mixed among people whether they’re going to get it and how effective it’s going to be. All indications and research that our company and health system has done indicates there’s a 95% effectiveness. So we’re encouraging folks to do it; we’re not mandating it, but we are posting on social media, our physicians, our leaders, some of our nurse leaders to show that it is safe and that we are adopting it to get things back to normal in 2021.”

Beard said the hospital teams are looking forward to being able to vaccinate more and more people as the state releases healthcare workers to do so.

TownTalk 12-22-20; Vance County Schools Superintendent Dr. Anthony Jackson On Return From Covid

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Vance County Schools developed and last week adopted a plan for the return to face-to-face learning.  But when?

The plan itself calls for two days of face-to-face instruction and a staggered entry.  The entry would begin with PreK then K and 6 grades followed by grades 1 and 2 and finally grades 3-5.  Self-contained EC students in grades PreK-12 begin re-entry as well, and remote options remain available.

Superintendent Dr. Anthony Jackson told WIZS TownTalk, “One of the reasons we wanted to go ahead and get the plan approved was so parents would understand the format and understand, if you look at it closely, it really looks at the ramp up.  So, each group would be brought in for a period of time, maybe a week, to get it stable, so it would take us about three to four weeks to completely implement the full plan and get all the students back in on that full schedule.”  (To hear the interview with Dr. Jackson click here or the TownTalk logo to the right.)

The total format and all the safety protocols, so the teachers and students have a chance to understand, is important as well.  It can’t happen all at once.

As to the remote learning participation so far, Dr. Jackson said 91 to 92 percent of students are engaged every single day.  In terms of grades, he said, “We had some students do better than they would in the classroom, but we’ve also had some students who have struggled in this environment that we are going to have to do some work to help recapture and recoup the time lost and instruction they’ve missed.”

He said overall students are doing well.

The Vance County School board has operated with caution.  Jackson said he believed that when all the data indicated its safe for kids and adults as well, and when the board is told it’s safe for both kids and adults, that it will be the signal the board needs to implement the plans for face-to-face learning.

Part of the puzzle is not only keeping folks healthy but also knowing there are enough healthy teachers and staff so the schools can operate effectively.  Vance County has avoided flip flopping between open and closed and being forced to stop again after in-person learning resumes.

When asked about requiring teachers and staff to be vaccinated for covid, he said, “We follow state statute that governs our local policies, and once that’s cleared up, we will act accordingly.  The truth is, we can’t get schools back open until people have a comfort level that we are safe.”

TownTalk 12-21-20 Brian “Doc” Miller, Vance Granville Community Band, And More

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Brian “Doc” Miller is experiencing a case of Sousa rehearsal withdrawal. This condition, brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, is not affecting Miller’s enthusiasm for teaching and conducting musicians. And that’s a good thing, because he can’t wait to get the band back together.

In this case, the “band” is the Vance Granville Community Band. Miller is the band’s director, as well as the music instructor at the community college and Crosscreek Charter School in Louisburg. When the group can gather again for practice, Miller says the rehearsal room is just as they left it back in February. “We had to cancel rehearsals just abruptly…all the music left in the folders, the room set up ready for the next rehearsal,” Miller recalled during a recent interview on Town Talk. What Miller thought would be a hiccup of a couple of weeks has turned into a months-long hiatus. He holds out some hope that the band can resume in some fashion in the springtime.

“It’s been a real bummer,” Miller said, “because I certainly miss it.” The “it” is the regular Monday evening gatherings to rehearse together. “We play the good ol’ Sousa marches,” which he and the band enjoy performing, along with other classical and old standards. The band combines VGCC music students (the school offers four Band classes) and adults from the community who still enjoy playing a musical instrument. Normally, the group practices from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Monday evenings. “It’s the highlight of my week,” said Miller. The camaraderie and shared love of music is something very special to this group. Former students of Miller also have joined the group over the years, which Miller finds rewarding.

He took over as the band’s conductor around the time he retired from teaching music at Louisburg High School. “I was missing conducting the fancy stuff, the good ol’ Sousa marches, the old-fashioned stuff that I love so much,” Miller said. “It felt like a seamless transition from Louisburg High to Vance-Granville, he added. “It’s just been a joy to work with the folks (at VGCC).”

Written story continues below…

To hear TownTalk with Brian Miller and host Bill Harris, click play…

The music program has grown over the years, both in the curriculum courses offered and the community band itself. Miller remembers going taking a smaller group to play at a nursing home in Warren County and offering music as a prelude to the Warrenton Christmas parade. Smaller programs like that, in addition to concerts like the 2019 Christmas program at MacGregor Hall in Henderson are what Miller recalls as highlights. “I just miss it tremendously, and I just hope to pick up where we left off” before rehearsals were cancelled. “We’re not abandoning it,” he said, “just suspending time for a little bit.”

Despite all the things that the pandemic restrictions have shut down, Miller maintains a positive attitude. “One of the things that COVID has taught us, the things we took for granted before, we’re not going to take for granted again,” he said. The weekly rehearsals, the performances, even the daily high school band practices are on the list of things not to be taken for granted again.

Because the charter school is operating on an A Day/B Day schedule, he is able to do some in-person teaching. Other students receive remote instruction. “I’ve had to learn how to teach online and even try to do a band rehearsal online,” Miller said, adding “that’s actually kinda fun!”

Sure, there are time lags and it isn’t always easy. “We couldn’t really get beyond whole notes,” Miller admits, and playing a piece of music together via computer isn’t possible for the students. “You learn to adapt,” he said. “I never thought I’d be doing lessons online. But you make adjustments in life.”

One positive outcome is how Miller is able to evaluate students. They record themselves playing their instrument and he can then listen and respond to them with specific feedback about tone quality and other aspects of their performance.

Miller said he always thought he was too old-fashioned to utilize some of the technology in his instruction. But learning about the online resources available to him and his students is something that he can continue using once they can resume in-person learning. “It’s actually very efficient, so we’ll learn a little something” from the pandemic restrictions.

He has always enjoyed teaching the traditional music, full of beautiful melody and tone. Whether it’s a Sousa march or Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Miller explained, students love to re-create the music. He said he has sometimes felt like a lone voice of sorts when it comes to teaching and performing traditional or classical music. It’s not that it’s intellectual or anything, he noted, “it’s just good music.”

Miller recognizes differences in teaching new learners versus rehearsing with older, more experienced musicians. Students in high school have other obligations that can eat into valuable rehearsal time, which the community band members may not have, he noted. “But music is music, no matter the level,” he said. Fifth-graders can learn about good tone quality and how to support a note with sustained air pressure, but the VGCC Community Band members also begin their rehearsals with breathing exercises. Same concept, different level of experience.

The secret? Teaching the team concept is the key to success, whether he is working with a high school concert band or the VGCC Community Band.

“I can wave my baton all I want to and if the musicians haven’t taken the motivation” to do their part,” he said, the team will not be successful. “What we do in rehearsal is put it together – we work on balance and intonation, those things that happen when people are together. It’s the same thing I taught in high school:  band…(is) the ultimate team activity. When everybody does their part well, then we all enjoy. When someone doesn’t do their part, we all suffer.”

TownTalk 12-17-20: Pete Burgess; The Man; The Farmer; The Community Advocate

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— written from WIZS Staff contributions plus information from a VGCC press release

A farmer must cultivate his crop to ensure a productive yield. First comes the groundwork – literally. The field has to be ready for planting and then kept weed-free so the young plants can flourish. Often, the ultimate success of the crop depends on how well the field was looked after and tended to.

Talmadge R. Burgess, Sr., “Pete” to friends and colleagues, knows the value of cultivation. He has shared this philosophy locally during his decades-long work in agriculture and in service to his community. And that is why the Vance County chapter of the North Carolina Farm Bureau has created a scholarship at Vance-Granville Community College in honor of Burgess.

“We are proud to establish this scholarship to express our appreciation to Pete Burgess for his many years of service to the Farm Bureau, the farming community and Vance County as a whole,” said Thomas Shaw, president of the Vance County Farm Bureau, which Burgess once led.

In a Town Talk interview earlier this week, Burgess reflected on his livelihood, and the importance of being active in the community in which you live. “Anybody has to have help to get started,” he said. When he started out in farming in 1968, it was with the help of family. Now retired, Burgess and his wife Sylvia enjoy farming from a distance while son Talmadge continues the family tradition.

To hear the show, click play…

Tobacco has given way to other crops, Burgess noted, and his son grows hay for livestock and wheat straw for the landscaping industry. But no matter the crop the field produces, there must be a way to sell. Burgess was instrumental in establishing the Vance County Regional Farmers’ Market in Henderson, which allows local producers to showcase everything from cut flowers and tomatoes to locally sourced meats and handicrafts.

Pete Burgess Plaque

In this 2014 WIZS file photo, you can see the Pete Burgess plaque on an easel prior to being placed outside the facility’s meeting room. The VCRFM opened in 2014.

He enthusiastically recalled the steps taken to get the market from concept to reality. “That was probably the most ambitious project the Vance County Farm Bureau ever took on,” he said. It started with a pot of money from the Golden Leaf Foundation and a local group formed to determine how to spend the roughly $2 million Vance County allocation. Schools and fire departments were the top two choices to receive the money, Burgess said. But the third choice was construction of a farmers’ market, and Farm Bureau decided to take it on. ”They thought I wasn’t doing anything much,” he joked, “so they put me in charge of seeing…how to make that project a success.” It took four years to accomplish the goal, but the result is a facility that has functioned since 2014 as a venue to sell local produce as well as a gathering place for meetings and workshops. Burgess remembered how the installation of the large roll-up doors came about – at a cost of $1,500 each, they were just too expensive to include in the original project. Burgess got area businesses to sponsor the purchase of those doors, “and that was the easiest money I raised to build that farmers’ market,” he said.

The farmers’ market is a fairly recent project that Burgess was involved with, but he has long supported a variety of local programs and agencies, from fire departments to civic groups, many of which centered around the Epsom community. Whether it was the annual Lions Club pancake supper or the volunteer fire department fundraisers, Burgess feels it is important to give back.

An active community volunteer, Burgess served as a board member of the county and state Farm Bureau organizations, president and board member of the Epsom Lions Club, board member of the Epsom Volunteer Fire Department, member of the Vance County Planning Board and board member for the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce. For his contributions to the county and, in particular, for his leading role in securing the land and funding for the regional farmers market, Burgess was honored by the Vance County Commissioners with the “Community Hero” award.

“Throughout his life, Pete Burgess has demonstrated an interest not only in agriculture but in giving back and supporting his community, so this scholarship is a fitting way to honor his service,” said Eddie Ferguson, VGCC’s endowment fund director. “We are grateful to the Vance County Farm Bureau for continuing to support Vance-Granville students through this new scholarship.”

The scholarship is another resource that can be used to cultivate “good” in the community and reward deserving students for their efforts in the classroom. Burgess said he was “kind of amazed at all that’s happening and what’s going on, but it’s very exciting.” The Farm Bureau is known as being an advocate of the farmer, whether it is helping with legislative matters or agricultural matters – whatever a farmer needs to be successful. Burgess seems to have employed a similar philosophy in his lifetime of service to Vance County and beyond – cultivating good habits and positive outcomes to benefit the community as a whole.

The Vance County Farm Bureau is encouraging friends of Pete Burgess to make donations to the Endowment Fund to help endow this scholarship at the Presidential Merit Award level. For more information or to make a contribution, call Kay Currin at (252) 738-3409.

Contributions to the scholarship fund can also be mailed to the Vance-Granville Community College Endowment Fund, at P.O. Box 917, Henderson, NC 27536.

Through the Endowment Fund, VGCC has awarded more than 9,700 scholarships to students since 1982. Scholarships have been endowed by numerous individuals, industries, businesses, civic groups, churches and the college’s faculty and staff. Tax-deductible donations to the VGCC Endowment Fund have often been used to honor or remember a person, group, business or industry with a lasting gift to education.

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TownTalk 12-16-20; Covid, New WIZS Morning Host Steve Lewis

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Listen to TownTalk on WIZS 1450 AM / 100.1 FM each weekday from 11am until 11:30am.

The Wednesday, Dec 16, 2020 edition of TownTalk reviewed the latest information from Granville-Vance Public Health pertaining to local availability of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Also, in segment two of the show, the newest member of the WIZS staff was introduced. Mr. Steve Lewis announces and does the WIZS Weekday Wakeup program, 6a-9a, M-F.

Re-listen to today’s show by clicking play…

 

Terrell Blackmon

Town Talk 12/15/20: Terrell Blackmon, Henderson City Manager

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100.1 FM ~ 1450 AM ~ WIZS, Your Community Voice ~ Click to LISTEN LOCAL

Henderson City Manager Terrell Blackmon appeared on WIZS Town Talk Tuesday at 11 a.m.

Blackmon briefly discussed his time with the City, stating the start of the COVID-19 pandemic shortly after his arrival in January has made for an interesting first year on the job.

“It certainly wasn’t what I was expecting when you throw in everything that’s happened with COVID,” said Blackmon. “I can say I enjoy the community, I enjoy being here and I enjoy the challenge of making Henderson a better place for everyone. Overall, I’m doing well, and the City is doing well.”

For complete details and audio, click play.

Moving on to last night’s Henderson City Council meeting, Blackmon commented on a few of the highlights from the session, including the approval of adding indoor – or crop box – farming to City zoning ordinances.

With greenhouse farming already approved for accessory-use in current zoning ordinances, the addition of crop box farming will allow participating individuals a 365-day growing season in artificial light.

Also of note, the Council rejected the Beckford Drive Widening Project that was first initiated in 2008 when construction costs were much lower. Blackmon said the delays, due to property acquisition and rising costs in construction, have pushed the project cost beyond its budgeted amount. With $1.6 million in grants and available funding already allocated, Blackmon said the City is still approximately $1.3 million short of the total project cost.

According to the meeting’s minutes, to date, $335,115 has been put towards the project, which includes the design, right of way acquisition, legal administration, stream mitigation costs and NCDOT administration costs. The City is responsible for these costs and will have to reimburse NCDOT and the Federal Highway Administration to abandon the project.

Also discussed was the use of CARES Act funding to ensure City of Henderson facilities are safer during the pandemic, the naming of a new economic development director and the City of Henderson’s Main Street status.

For more detailed information regarding these items, please listen to the Town Talk episode by clicking play above and visit the Henderson City Council’s website for meeting agendas and minutes.

SaM Child Advocacy Center

Town Talk 12/14/20: Cara Gill Of S.a.M. Child Advocacy Center

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Cara Boyd Gill, founder and director of S.a.M. Child Advocacy Center in Henderson, appeared on WIZS Town Talk Monday at 11 a.m.

S.a.M. Child Advocacy Center is a 24-hour, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that serves children who are victims of physical abuse, sexual abuse and witnesses to violent crimes in Vance and surrounding counties.

Opening its doors in 2016, the center provides a safe, child-friendly environment for children who are alleged victims of abuse and their non-offending family members to receive child forensic interviews by trained staff.

For full details and audio, click play…

Victims and their non-offending family members can receive advocacy and support services, referrals to appropriate support services within the community, crisis intervention and medical treatment referrals if needed. All services are provided at no cost to the child or their families.

Gill, who worked for Child Protective Services in Alamance County upon graduating from college, said it was her experience with child investigations and the child advocacy center in Alamance that sparked her interest in offering similar services in Vance County.

“Upon leaving Alamance County – because Henderson is my hometown, and I decided I wanted to come back home – I began talking to our local law enforcement, social services, and our District Attorney’s office to see how they handled cases of child abuse and neglect,” explained Gill. “At the time, they did not have a child advocacy center here, and they would send kids to Duke or UNC with a two or three-month wait, which is not ideal for these kids.”

Gill continued, “A child advocacy center is not a stand-alone center; I also have to have social services, law enforcement, the DA’s office, a mental health provider and a medical provider. In talking with these entities, we began brainstorming how this could happen. The result was we opened in 2016, and here we are in 2020 still expanding.”

For more information on S.a.M., please visit the center’s Facebook page by clicking here.