H-V Chamber Logo

MEET ME IN THE STREET – Thurs, Sept 14

— courtesy Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce

The third and final concert of the season will feature Liquid Pleasure. After more than two decades of bringing audiences to their feet, this band has become a multi-cultural icon. Veteran member Melvin Farrington says, “We love being in touch with people like us, who love a variety of good music, and appreciate hearing it performed live.” Liquid Pleasure presents a mix of Oldies, Beach Music and Disco.

Liquid Pleasure

Join us for live music and dancing, and our Kid’s Zone sponsored by Maria Parham Health. Bring the whole family for an evening of food, friends and fun!

Sponsors for this year’s concert series are:

Presenting Sponsors: CenturyLink, Envirolink, and Prim Commercial & Residential Rentals

Duke Energy and Maria Parham Health – Gold Sponsors

BB&T, Mars Petcare, Wake Electric Membership Corporation and Walmart DC #6091 – Silver Sponsors

Henderson Vance Downtown Development Commission, Express Employment Professionals and Waste Industries – Bronze Sponsors

Benchmark Community Bank – Contributor Sponsor

All concerts are free to the public and will be held at the corner of North Garnett and Breckenridge Streets from 5:30 until 8:30 p.m.

For more information, contact Melanie Mann at the Chamber at 438-8414 or info@hendersonvance.org.

Franklin County Sheriff

Louisburg man Sentenced for Several Firearm Offenses

GREENVILLE – The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, John Stuart Bruce, announced that today in federal court, Senior United States District Judge Malcolm J. Howard sentenced DAVID EARL GILL, JR., 26, of Louisburg, North Carolina, to 216 months of imprisonment followed by 5 years of supervised release and ordered to pay $4,477.07 in restitution.

On May 12, 2017, GILL pled guilty to carjacking and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and possessing and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Additionally GILL plead guilty to possession of a stolen firearm in the Northern District of Georgia.

According to the Indictment and information in the public records, on July 31, 2015, GILL and his codefendant Kyara Nicole Jones, forced entry into a residence in Louisburg, North Carolina. GILL was armed with a sawed off shotgun and forced the homeowner into a closet and barricaded the door with furniture and took the two homeowner’s vehicle. Jones previously pled guilty for her role on January 12, 2017 and will be sentenced later this year.

On August 5, 2015, GILL pawned a shotgun that was reported stolen from Rockingham County at a store in McDonough, Georgia. The next day, law enforcement officers in McIntosh arrested GILL when they located him driving the stolen vehicle from Louisburg, North Carolina.

The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office, the McIntosh, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office, and the Henry County, Georgia, Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Jackson prosecuted the case for the Eastern District of North Carolina and Assistant U.S. Attorney Bret Hobson prosecuted the case for the Northern District of Georgia.

VGCC invites community to Manufacturing Day

Vance-Granville Community College will hold a “Manufacturing Day” celebration on Thursday, Oct. 5, from 8:30 to 11:15 a.m. and 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., in the Civic Center on the college’s Main Campus in Vance County. Job seekers and students are invited to attend and to learn more about manufacturing and related careers.

Local manufacturers and equipment vendors will provide demonstrations and information highlighting their products and their employment opportunities. Attendees will learn about career options in the region’s industries and the technical skills required to succeed in such careers.

Participants are set to include Altec of Creedmoor, Boise Cascade of Roxboro, Glen Raven of Norlina, Mars Petcare of Henderson, CertainTeed of Oxford and Carolina Sunrock of Butner, among others.

Representatives of VGCC technical programs, including those that provide education and training related to advanced manufacturing, will also be on hand. These include curriculum programs in Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Technology, Automotive Systems Technology, Electronics Engineering Technology, Mechatronics Engineering Technology and Welding Technology. VGCC’s Admissions and Financial Aid departments will also have representatives there. Attendees will also be able to learn about the North Carolina Triangle Apprenticeship Program (NCTAP), a four-year program that leads to a student obtaining an associate degree at a community college and paid, on-the-job training at a participating employer.

Event organizers hope to develop a pipeline of highly trained and skilled employees. “VGCC and industry partners are working together to address the skills gap, connect with future generations, and educate them about the outstanding opportunities that manufacturing careers can provide,” said Ken Wilson, project manager for the TechHire grant at VGCC, which supports advanced manufacturing training and information technology training.

The VGCC event is one of many across the country celebrating National Manufacturing Day (also known as “MFG Day”). The annual observance was established by the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, International (FMA), the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the Manufacturing Institute (MI), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP).

For more information, contact VGCC Academic & Career Coach Tiffani Polk at polkt@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3291.

GCPS Continues Significant Proficiency Gains and Academic Growth

At their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, September 11, the Granville County Board of Education received a special report on the student achievement results from the 2016-2017 school year.  During this presentation, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Michael Myrick presented a series of graphs and charts providing comprehensive data on how the students performed on state tests.  The presentation focused on GCPS test score averages over the past three years compared to state and surrounding district averages.  Dr. Myrick also shared information about academic growth measures for each school, and school letter grades as assigned by the state.

Data from his presentation revealed an increase in proficiency in 14 of 18 tested areas, with 18 of 19 schools having met or exceeded academic growth.  These significant gains in growth and proficiency across grade levels and content areas contribute to a multi-year positive trend for student achievement.

The scores for our district were generally higher than those of Vance, Warren and Person counties, and slightly lower or comparable to those for Franklin County.  All five districts in our region were at or below the overall state average in all areas.

In the second set of data, Dr. Myrick displayed the following chart showing how GCPS schools letter grades compared to those of local charter schools:

Letter grades for schools in our district improved compared to the previous year, with no schools reporting an F, fewer schools reporting as a D, and more schools reporting as a B.

School Board Chairman Dr. Thomas Houlihan commented on this set of data, saying, “Three year trends sho tremendous growth over time.  It’s very exciting to see this type of progress.  We do want to celebrate, but we don’t want to forget the work that remains.  We also don’t want to forget the hard work and dedication of all of our talented teachers.”

School letter grades are determined by a state-mandated formula that uses proficiency and growth on a variety of test scores to assign a letter grade.  More information about how school letter grades are calculated can be found here:

https://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/accountability/reporting/spgbckgrndpack15.pdf

Vice Chairman Leonard Peace, Sr. offered his remarks, saying “We are definitely headed in the right direction.  The teachers certainly deserve all of the credit for their hard work.”

Superintendent Dr. McLean thanked Dr. Myrick for his work in this area, and summarized the presentation with these remarks, “While I can take no credit for these remarkable gains, I am excited that there is established, consistent momentum for our district.  If we are to achieve our goals of double digit improvements and 90 percent across the board, then we must use these fine results to help launch us forward. ”

News 09/12/17

Vance County Schools Update 09/11/17

Town Talk 09/11/17

Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland 09/11/17

News 09/11/17

National Weather Service

Irma Update for Henderson-Vance and surrounding

For the latest briefing on Hurricane Irma from the National Weather Service in Raleigh – CLICK HERE

——————————

LOCAL UPDATE Noon Monday –

Brian Short, the Director of Emergency Management for Henderson and Vance County, said, “Please see the (latest) briefing from the NWS regarding TS Irma. As you can see, our impact will be very light if at all with some gusty winds and minimal rain.

“This will likely be the final update unless our situation should change for the worse.”

(A note from WIZS Radio and WIZS.com about Brian Short: Our immense thanks to Brian for providing these and other updates, for how he conducts himself, and for how he takes care of the citizens he serves.)

——————————

LOCAL UPDATE 2:30 p.m. Sunday –

Brian Short, the Director of Emergency Management for Henderson and Vance County, said, “As you might imagine, our office has been watching Irma very closely as it moved into Florida keeping an eye on the track for any changes that could potentially change our forecast for the worse, but thankfully that has not happened.

“As you can see from the (latest) weather briefing from the National Weather Service, we are forecast to receive some gusty winds and some rain, but nothing that we anticipate will cause any problems for us.

“What is left of Irma as it moves on shore is expected to track west of us late (Monday) and overnight with some rain possibly still remaining on Tuesday.

“We will continue to keep everyone informed.”

——————————

LOCAL UPDATE 2:12 p.m. Friday –

Brian Short, the Director of Emergency Management for Henderson and Vance County, said, “As you can see (in the noon briefing), the impact in our area is now forecast to be minor. With that said, we will continue to monitor it very closely and will make any response related decisions that may be necessary as the storm progresses.”

Henderson-Vance County Emergency Operations