Cooperative Extension With Jamon Glover: Father Archetypes

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Cooperative Extension 

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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Henderson Police Charge Two Men In Sept. 28 Garnett St. Shooting Incident

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– Information From Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow

Two Vance County men face charges related to a Sept. 28 incident outside a downtown business that involved gunfire and five people being injured.

The shooting incident happened just before midnight on Saturday, Sept. 28, and Police Chief Marcus Barrow said that, as of Tuesday, Oct. 8, two people have been charged in the incident.

Rodney Na’ru Palmer Jr. , 22, was charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, as well as discharging a firearm in the city limits and going armed to the terror of the public.

Robert Creshun Lamaar Monroe, 36, faces the same charges as Palmer, along with the following additional charges: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and injury to real property.

Both men were remanded to Vance County Detention Center without bond pending their first court appearance.

TownTalk: District 1 Candidates For County Commissioner

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The following is part of WIZS’s continuing coverage of the upcoming general election on Nov. 5. In-person early voting begins Thursday, Oct. 17 and the lone contested county race is for the District 1 seat on the Vance County Board of Commissioners.

Democratic incumbent Carolyn Faines is seeking re-election and faces opposition from Republican challenger William Heitman. 

Carolyn Faines

Carolyn Faines probably has some stories she could tell from her 20+ years in public education. For the past five years, Faines has taught business at Bunn High School in Franklin County, but education is something that takes up a lot of space in her head and her heart.

But she’s got room as well for Vance County and the people who live here, many of whom – like her – have been here their whole lives.

She has master’s degrees and is currently pursuing credentials to become an administrator, but she’s also been a bus driver, teacher assistant, a data manager, a bookkeeper within public schools.

“Education has always been a big part of my life,” she said. “I believe in education. love teaching – it’s one of my passions.”

Faines is the District 1 incumbent on the Vance County Board of Commissioners, first elected in 2016. She also is the founder of I Believe God Outreach Church in the Williamsboro community.

On the issues:

Property tax revaluation – “I think eight years is entirely too long,” she said. Faines said she initially backed the revenue-neutral budget, but ultimately determined that the county had so many projects that needed to be funded, so she voted for the 10-cent tax increase during the budget process.

“I felt like there were things that needed to get done,” she added.

Jail – “The jail is in a bad shape,” Faines said. It is run down, she continued, and said that something needs to be done to improve conditions.

“Regardless of the reason they’re there, they’re still people,” Faines said.

Fire study – “We are still in a lot of discussion,” Faines said, noting an upcoming joint meeting later this month with the public safety committee and the fire safety committee.

“We make sure that our people are safe, as we look at redistricting, (as we) look at our volunteer fire departments (and) Golden Belt.”

She said she’d love to see all fire departments have 24/7 coverage. “To me, that would be wonderful,” she said. “Taking care of our citizens is first.”

Faines said she loves her role as a county commissioner and she said she keeps people top of mind with every vote and every decision she makes.

“The policies that I vote on are what I believe will help the people of Vance County,” she said.

“My heart is in it – that the people get what’s best. I love it because this is where I was born and raised…and I’m glad to be a part of the Vance County team.”

William Heitman

William Heitman has lived in Vance County for just over a decade, having moved from Durham and putting down roots on four acres of land in the northern part of the county.

“There are good people here…I have good neighbors,” Heitman said during an interview with WIZS News, recorded for broadcast on Wednesday’s TownTalk.

“After I retired, I decided I wanted to try to give something back,” he said. So he threw his hat into the ring to represent District 1 on the county board of commissioners.

He’s a newcomer to politics, and describes himself as a conservative. He feels the management skills he honed during his years as a pilot, flying 747 jets all over the globe, will be useful if he’s elected. He retired with the rank of captain.

“As a captain on a 747, you have a crew – sometimes a double crew -,” Heitman said. “You have to manage people” and keep them focused on the task at hand.

He said he knows how to take, and accept, responsibility to have good outcomes.

On the issues:

Property tax revaluation – Heitman said he’s in favor of changing the revaluation from every 8 years to every 4 years. “I’m sure it worked well for many years,” he said. He is not in favor of bringing evaluators from more urban areas like Raleigh and Cary to a rural area with no local oversight.

“There weren’t local people taking care of local people,” he said, adding that he would not have voted for the property tax rate that commissioners approved.

“I would have voted against it, absolutely,” he said.

Fire study – Heitman said he’ll need to do a little more research into the status of the fire study. “I have caught wind of this fire issue that the commissioners wanted to take a county funded fire department and put it back to a volunteer fire department…there are, I’m sure, other parameters to take into consideration.”

Since he’s retired, Heitman said he’ll have the time needed to get out into the community, talk to people and get the facts.

Jail – The current situation with the jail is another matter for further research, and Heitman said he’s interested in taking a look at the current facility, and talk to law enforcement officials like the sheriff and police chief to find out what the needs are.

If he’s elected, Heitman said he’s going to be looking into where taxpayers’ money is being spent. “This is where I have to get in there and start digging,” he said.

He also is keen to work on the county-wide problem of littering, citing roadside trash from fast-food restaurants that folks toss from their cars.

He said he wants residents to take more pride in their county. Tourists and lake visitors would take away a better impression of their time in the county. But first, he said, it’s important to “change people’s attitudes towards where they live.”

“I have ideas and ideals,” Heitman said, “that I want to make Vance County better, a destination for people to come and visit, and leave feeling good about it.”

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Home And Garden Show

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

  • Farmer’s Market
  • Bee Keeper’s Meeting
  • Soil samples
  • Fire ants
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Weed and pest control 

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Granville County Public Schools

Granville County Public Schools Considers More Consolidation, School Closures

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The Granville County Board of Education has scheduled two public hearings on Monday, Oct 21 to hear from the community about closing two more schools in the Granville County Public Schools district and consolidating high schools and middle schools in the southern part of the county.

The public hearings will be held in the gymnasium of Granville Central High School, located at 2043 Sanders Rd, Stem.

Members of the public may sign up in person beginning at 5 p.m. on the date of the hearings.

The first public hearing begins at 6 p.m. and will be on the proposed closing of Granville Central and reassigning that school’s students to South Granville High and J.F. Webb High, according to information from GCPS Public Information Officer Courtney Currin.

As soon as the first public hearing concludes, a second public hearing will take place about closing both Butner-Stem Middle and G.C. Hawley Middle and reassigning the students from both campuses to one middle school on the campus of the current Granville Central High.

Granville Central High opened in the 2007-08 school year to ease overcrowding at the other two high schools. It served 9th and 10th grades that year.

Since 2019, Granville County Public Schools has closed Joe Toler-Oak Hill Elementary School in the northern part of the county, as well as Mary Potter Middle School in Oxford, G.C. Hawley Middle School and Creedmoor Elementary, although the campus of the former Creedmoor Elementary is in its second year as the new home of Hawley Middle School.

Learn more at https://www.gcs.k12.nc.us/

Families Living Violence Free

TownTalk: Families Living Violence Free Hosts Info Events Wednesday In Creedmoor, Oxford

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Families Living Violence Free is taking its message into the community this week, with pop-up outreach programs in Creedmoor and Oxford.

FLVF Advocate Erica Romero invites the community to stop by their tent at Southern States, 301 N. Main St., Creedmoor Wednesday, Oct 9, between 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. On Wednesday, Oct. 23, the tent will be in front of the Hub on Main, 100 Main St., also between 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Since 1989, when first designated as Domestic Violence Awareness month, October has been a time to remember victims of domestic violence and to honor and acknowledge survivors.

The FLVF outreach event is one way to bring information to people who may be looking for ways to leave an abusive household or relationship. Nationally, there have been gains in reducing domestic violence, it is estimated that an average of 20 people are physically abused by intimate partners every minute.

Millions of people across the country live in fear within their own homes – fear for their own safety and for the safety of their children.

In addition to the events in Creedmoor and Oxford, FLVF is planning to visit Stem on Wednesday, Oct. 16. Visit www.flvf.org later to learn where that event will take place.

The 24/7 crisis hotline is 919.693.5700. Spanish speakers can call 919.690.0888.

NC State Board of Elections

Bipartisan State Board Unanimously Approves Measures to Help WNC Voters

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– information courtesy of the N.C. State Board of Elections

The bipartisan State Board of Elections on Monday unanimously approved a long list of emergency measures to help Helene victims vote in the 2024 election and ensure election officials can provide accessible, safe, and secure voting options for residents of Western North Carolina.

The 5-0 vote of Democrats and Republicans on the State Board came after extensive planning by the State Board in coordination with county election officials, public safety and emergency management officials and the U.S. Postal Service.

The measures will apply to the following 13 counties, where infrastructure, accessibility to voting sites, and postal services remain severely disrupted after Helene: Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey.

The provisions are also designed to help North Carolina voters living temporarily elsewhere inside or outside of the state or in disaster shelters to be able to vote. They also allow county boards of elections in the 13 counties the flexibility to modify early voting and Election Day voting sites and recruit additional poll workers to best accommodate their voters based on local conditions. And they allow election officials to continue to work with federal and state partners to provide election-related aid to the disaster counties, including temporary voting facilities and restrooms, generators and other needs.

The emergency measures also include ways to get information about voting to voters housed in shelters and to western North Carolina in general. They were carefully crafted to avoid any detrimental effect on the integrity of the election or the security of ballots, according to a press statement issued Monday by the N.C. State Board of Elections.

“These measures were put in place to ensure the victims of Helene can vote in the upcoming election and provide election officials in the hardest-hit areas the tools they need to conduct a secure election under extraordinarily difficult conditions,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections. “Just like the people of western North Carolina, election officials are resilient. We are determined to get the job done for our neighbors and friends in western North Carolina.”

Measures approved by the State Board do all the following and more in the 13 counties:

In-person Voting

  • Facilitate in-person early voting by allowing county boards of elections to modify their approved early voting sites, days, and hours through a bipartisan, majority vote.
  • Allow county boards to modify Election Day polling places by bipartisan, majority vote. This provision also allows county boards of elections, with the approval of the State Board executive director, to open a polling place in another county, provided that materials, tabulators and voting processes are kept separate for each precinct’s voters at that location.
  • Allow county boards – by bipartisan, majority vote – to set up their board of elections office to permit any voter in the county to vote at that site, in the event voters are unable to get to their Election Day precinct voting site or are unsure of their voting location. Some county offices may also serve as an early voting site, which allows any voter of the county to vote during the early voting period.

Absentee Voting

  • Allow voters to request and receive an absentee ballot in personat their county board of elections office up until November 4 – the day before the election. As always, the voter, a near relative or legal guardian is required to complete an absentee request form with the required personal information for the voter, and that information must be verified by the county board as with any absentee request.
  • Allow voters to drop off completed absentee ballots at Election Day polling places operated by the voters’ county board by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.
  • Allow voters or their near relatives or legal guardians to hand-deliver completed absentee ballots to another county board of elections in North Carolina or the State Board of Elections office, as long as the ballot is received by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. The county or State Board then would ensure that those ballots are delivered to each voter’s county board of elections by November 14 – the day before county canvass – to be counted. A log and chain of custody will be maintained to secure these ballots.

Poll worker recruitment and assignment

  • Allow county boards – by bipartisan, majority vote – to appoint election officials who are registered to vote in other N.C. counties, to appoint emergency Election Day assistants and assign them to a precinct, and to reassign poll workers to different locations than their original assignment to ensure sufficient knowledge and expertise at each voting site.

Multipartisan Assistance Teams

  • Allow county boards – by bipartisan, majority vote – to schedule Multipartisan Assistance Teamsto assist with absentee ballot requests and absentee voting at disaster shelters and other places where disaster relief is provided to the public. These teams may receive and deliver to county boards completed absentee ballot envelopes for voters.

Coordination with Emergency Officials

  • Ensure the State Board continues its ongoing coordination with the N.C. Division of Emergency Management to provide election-related aid to the disaster counties, including temporary voting facilities, generators, temporary restrooms, and other needs.

In approving the resolution, the State Board found that Tropical Storm Helene created an unprecedented natural disaster for Western North Carolina that disrupted and continues to disrupt the schedule of the general election. The storm has taken many lives, severely damaged public and private property, and has caused significant and lasting disruptions to essential utility services and systems, including power, internet, cell service, water and transportation.

State law (N.C.G.S. § 163-27.1) authorizes the State Board to exercise emergency powers to conduct an election where the normal schedule is disrupted by a natural disaster.

For comprehensive information on Voting After Helene, go to NCSBE.gov/Helene. [Read the final, signed resolution]

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Business Spotlight: AdVance Joint Regeneration

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Most anybody experiencing knee pain, brought on by injury, arthritis or something else, probably would choose any therapy or procedure over the more invasive option of surgery.

With surgery, there’s some expected post-op downtime, then perhaps rehab – weeks of recovery, even in the best of circumstances.

For some, however, AdVance Joint Regeneration offers an alternative: it’s called visco supplementation and Clinical Director Brad Johnson said the procedure often delays or prevents the need for surgery.

“To delay or prevent surgery is always a good thing,” Johnson said.

Their specialty is knee joint injections, and Johnson said it’s covered by most insurances, including Medicare and Medicaid. As the clinic’s director, it’s part of his job to answer patients’ questions, handle insurance and generally make sure the place runs smoothly, Johnson said on Tuesday’s TownTalk.

An initial exam and x-rays, followed by an arthrogram – injecting a bit of dye into the joint – helps staff determine good candidates for the joint injection of hyaluronic acid.

Joints like knees are encapsulated, which keeps the body’s natural lubrication contained within the joint and doing its job. Johnson said his staff uses a fluoroscope during the arthrogram to make sure the dye stays within the encapsulated joint and that there is no damage that would cause it to leak out.

The hyaluronic acid is “very similar to what’s in your joints already,” Johnson explained. During the arthrogram, as the dye is injected, the examiner “can see it moving around and staying in place. As long as it doesn’t migrate, she can go ahead and do the treatment.” Physician Assistant Katheryn Lordy and Andrew Stock, M.D. staff the Henderson clinic.

In case the tests show some damage, there’s a way to “trick” the brain into cleaning up the damaged tissue to promote healing using the patient’s own blood platelets.

A platelet rich plasma is injected into the damaged joint, Johnson said, which triggers the brain to start repairing the tissue.

Patients receive five weekly injections and go home with a knee brace to support and gently realign the knee and leg. Sometimes, they’ll need physical therapy or a home exercise device to help improve range of motion, but that’s about it as far as post-injection care goes.

“The downtime is basically none,” Johnson said. Patients “can basically go back and do what they want to do and what they’re comfortable doing.”

Contact AdVance Joint Regeneration at 252.572.2944 to make an appointment for a no-obligation consultation. Visit https://advancejointregeneration.com/ to learn about all the services offered.

This WIZS Business Spotlight is not a paid ad. However, the business featured is an advertising client of WIZS Radio.

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