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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WIZS Radio Henderson Local News 10-10-24 Noon
/by WIZS StaffOn Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
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Chamber’s Annual Cluck ‘N Shuck Coming To Granville Expo Center Nov. 1
/by WIZS StaffGet your tickets now for the annual Cluck ‘N Shuck!
The name may sound a little funny, but when it comes to the what’s on the menu, nothing beats the annual fundraiser the Granville County Chamber of Commerce puts on.
This year’s event is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 1 at the Granville County Convention & Expo Center. Tickets are $55 a person.
The doors open at 5:30 p.m. and dinner begins at 6 p.m., according to information from Chamber Executive Director Cynthia Ratliff.
Granville Health System is the event’s presenting sponsor, and Ratliff said other sponsorship opportunities are available. To learn more, call the Chamber office at 919.693.6125 or visit the event page at https://granville-chamber.chambermaster.com/eventregistration/register/4904
The menu features steamed oysters, fried chicken, shrimp and fish, along with an array of side dishes, all catered by Leon Nixon Catering.
Next Door Radio will provide music through the evening. Dinner will be served from 6 p.m. until 7:30 and adult beverages will be available.
This year’s gathering will take 4185 US Highway 15 South Oxford, NC 27565.
Purchase tickets online at https://granville-chamber.chambermaster.com/eventregistration/register/4904. Non-members are welcome to join and can reserve tickets on the site using their email.
TownTalk: N.C. Court Of Appeals Seat 12 Contest
/by WIZS StaffThe 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 runs through Saturday, Nov. 2.
Carolyn Thompson
The N.C. Court of Appeals is the second-highest court in the state, and as the name implies, the 15 judges that make up the court sit on three-member panels to review lower court rulings.
Judge Carolyn J. Thompson was appointed to Seat 12 in September 2023 by Gov. Roy Cooper, and she’s on the ballot in the upcoming election to retain that seat.
The State Supreme Court is the highest court in the state, but the majority of cases are determined by the court of appeals and go no further, Thompson explained.
Opinions coming from the appeals court impact the entire state, she said. “It’s a last resort for a lot of cases,” she added. “We are an error-correcting court,” she said.
The judicial races are statewide races and the judges serve 8-year terms.
She said she’s the best candidate for the job because she has extensive legal and judicial experience, and she’s “already there, doing the hard work for all of North Carolina… I uphold the law and the Constitution equally – it doesn’t matter your ZIP code or your background.”
She suffered a narrow defeat in 2022 in her bid for a seat on the court of appeals, and before her most recent reappointment to the appellate court, spent about nine months as deputy commissioner of the N.C. Industrial Commission, which she described as a quasi-judicial role that hears workers’ compensation issues and cases of tort claims from incarcerated people.
Over the past year, Thompson said she’s written 96 opinions for cases she and her fellow judges on the panel have heard.
The panels get about 30 cases per month, and Thompson said she’s required to author at least eight. Her 27 years of experience on both sides of the bench, Thompson said, gives her knowledge of criminal, domestic and civil cases. “You can only do that kind of work when you’ve been experienced in it,” she said.
There’s no room for partisan politics in the decisions made by the appellate court. “We never even know party affiliations…we just see issues that need answers,” she said.
Although state law requires judicial candidates to list their party affiliation, Thompson, a Democrat, said she doesn’t allow political rhetoric to interfere with her work on the appellate court.
“We have to stay independent,” she said. “We are an independent branch of government.”
With her roots working for women and children in domestic court, Thompson said she’s a longtime advocate for survivors of domestic violence.
“I can’t serve in that capacity any more because I’m now a judge ruling in cases…once you become a judge you can’t practice law any more.”
Thompson, a licensed and ordained minister, is the author of “Abigail’s Veil: A Domestic Violence Handbook for Clergy and Church Leaders.
She gives credits to her family for helping her stay focused. She’s a wife, a mom and a grandmother, and those roles are as important to her as her role as judge.
“They keep me centered,” she said. “They keep me focused on why it’s important to fight for justice.”
Visit https://judgecarolynthompson.com/ to learn more about the candidate and visit https://www.nccourts.gov/ to read some of her opinions and find a livestream link to the hearings.
Tom Murry
Tom Murry describes himself as a conservative who believes that the original words of the Constitution mean what they say.
Murry is a candidate for Seat 12 of the N.C. Court of Appeals, a seat currently held by Judge Carolyn Thompson. Thompson was appointed in September 2023 to that seat, and state law requires that she be elected to keep it.
As her challenger, Murry said his experience as an attorney and an assistant district attorney – as well as time spent on the Morrisville Town Council and in the N.C. House – would help him in his role as appellate court judge.
“I understand the three branches of government,” Murry said. “I think I can stay in my lane as a judge.”
When he was a law student at Campbell University, he said he got to see a three-judge panel in action. And, as a prosecutor for the 11th Prosecutorial District, he had a case that was appealed – and affirmed – by the very court that he now seeks to join.
Murry said half of the cases that come to the N.C. Court of Appeals are criminal cases, and he said his time as a prosecutor will help him if he is elected. He has experience working in the courtroom and working with local law enforcement.
State law requires that judicial candidates’ party affiliations be included on ballots, but Murry said there’s no place for partisan politics in the courtroom.
“I’m going to be listed as a Republican on the ballot,” Murry said, but as a judge, he will wear a black robe. Like the camouflage he dons on National Guard Drill Weekends, the robe is neither blue nor red, he said.
“When judges issue rulings based on their political views it undermines the public’s trust in our courts. It’s extremely concerning to me. There are other branches of government that are responsible for policy and making the law. Judges need to be restrained and focused on the issues at hand, not how they want them to be,” Murry said.
“I believe that Lady Justice has a blindfold for a reason,” he said, adding that he will administer the law “without favor, delay or denial…same facts, same law, same outcome – that’s equal protection under the law and that’s what we’re called to do.”
Visit https://www.jointom.com/ to learn more.
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Cooperative Extension With Jamon Glover: Father Archetypes
/by WIZS StaffCooperative 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
/by WIZS Staff– 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
/by WIZS StaffThe 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
/by WIZS StaffOn the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.
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WIZS Radio Henderson Local News 10-09-24 Noon
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WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
Granville County Public Schools Considers More Consolidation, School Closures
/by WIZS StaffThe 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/
TownTalk: Families Living Violence Free Hosts Info Events Wednesday In Creedmoor, Oxford
/by WIZS StaffFamilies 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.