Tag Archive for: #franklincountynews

New VGCC President to Address Graduates as College Celebrates 50 Years

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-Press Release, Vance-Granville Community College

Dr. Rachel Desmarais, who earlier this year became the seventh president of Vance-Granville Community College, will serve as the principal commencement speaker for the college’s graduation exercises on Friday, May 10, 2019. As VGCC celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, Desmarais follows in the footsteps of the school’s first president, Dr. Donald Mohorn, who was the commencement speaker at the first such ceremony, back in 1970.

Dr. Rachel Desmarais, who earlier this year became the seventh president of Vance-Granville Community College, will serve as the principal commencement speaker for the college’s graduation exercises on Friday, May 10, 2019. (VGCC Photo)

Jose Angel De Leon of Henderson, president of the VGCC Student Government Association, will be the student speaker.

Nearly 500 students are scheduled to be honored during ceremonies beginning at 6 p.m. at the gazebo by the lake on the college’s Main Campus in Vance County. For those unable to attend the event in person, VGCC will broadcast a live video feed from the ceremony online on its YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/VanceGranvilleCC).

The VGCC Board of Trustees selected Dr. Desmarais to become the college president in December 2018, while she was serving as the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Forsyth Technical Community College.

Once a student at Forsyth Tech, Desmarais became an adjunct instructor at the community college from 1996 to 1999 while also working in the private sector. She joined Forsyth Tech full-time in 2002 and served in a variety of academic and administrative roles over the next 16 years.

Jose Angel De Leon of Henderson, president of the VGCC Student Government Association, will be the student speaker. (VGCC Photo)

Desmarais earned her doctorate of philosophy in instructional design and technology from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., in 2015 after getting her master’s of science in information technology management from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2003. She earned a bachelor of music degree in voice performance from Mars Hill College in 1992.

She was also among fewer than 40 aspiring and emerging community college presidents nationwide who were chosen for the Aspen Institute Presidential Fellowship for Community College Excellence in 2017-2018.

De Leon is graduating from VGCC with a degree in Criminal Justice Technology. A graduate of Norlina Christian School, he has earned Dean’s List and President’s List honors at the college and has been inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa honor society.

De Leon plans to continue his education at North Carolina Central University, where he will complete a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. His long-term plan is to earn his Ph.D. in criminal justice or criminology and become a college professor.

Students serving as graduation marshals will be Caroline Williamson of Bullock; Ebony Cotton of Franklinton; Hannah Edwards, Evin Swilley, April Zuniga-Trejo and Leslie Zuniga-Trejo, all of Henderson; Gricel Arroyo of Louisburg; Miranda Brown of Oxford; Rana Alashmali of Timberlake; and Ronnie Brodie, Jr., of Wake Forest.

 

April Zuniga-Trejo of Henderson

Caroline Williamson of Bullock

Ebony Cotton of Franklinton

Evin Swilley of Henderson

Gricel Arroyo of Louisburg

Hannah Edwards of Henderson

Leslie Zuniga-Trejo of Henderson

Miranda Brown of Oxford

Rana Alashmali – Timberlake

Ronnie Brodie, Jr., of Wake Forest

U.S. Department of Justice

DEA Prescription Drug Take Back Day Declared Big Success

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-Press Release, U.S. Dept. of Justice

United States Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr. announces the results of the DEA April 27, 2019, 17th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Nationwide, DEA, along with their law enforcement partners collected nearly 469 tons of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. In the Eastern District of North Carolina, approximately 7,229.92 pounds were collected and 8,968 pounds were collected statewide.

“Across the country and here in the Eastern District of North Carolina, we are facing a real and dangerous threat from opioids and other prescription drugs,” said United States Attorney Higdon. “We have unprecedented levels of addiction, frightening numbers of overdoses, and an alarming number of deaths because of the over-prescription and improper use of these drugs. This requires each of us to work to solve it. By properly disposing of prescription medication we do not need, we can reduce the risk that these drugs will fall into the wrong hands.”

Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 91 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose. Some painkiller abusers move on to heroin: Four out of five new heroin users started with painkillers.

Flushing medications down the toilet or throwing them in the trash pose potential safety and health hazards. This initiative addresses the public safety and public health issues that surround medications languishing in home cabinets, becoming highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse.

DEA’s next National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is October 26, 2019.

For complete results of the recently concluded Spring Take Back Day visit www.DEATakeBack.com. If you missed the Take Back Day click here https://apps2.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubdispsearch/spring/main?execution=e1s1 to locate an authorized collector in your area.

VGCC Community Band to Perform at McGregor Hall, Raleigh Rd Outdoor Theatre

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The Community Band of Vance-Granville Community College will perform a spring concert on Monday, May 6, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. at the McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center in downtown Henderson. Admission is free.

The band will also perform a Memorial weekend performance at Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre, 3336 Raleigh Rd in Henderson, on Saturday, May 25 at 6 p.m. The concert will be performed prior to the showing of that evening’s feature film.

The Vance-Granville Community Band offers free membership to area musicians. The band rehearses on Monday nights from 7 until 9 p.m. during the academic year at the Main Campus in Henderson. If you are interested in joining, please contact Brian Miller at bmiller9302@vgcc.edu.

Above, the Vance-Granville Community Band performs under the direction of Brian Miller in this file photo from its May 2017 concert in McGregor Hall. (VGCC Photo)

 

WIZS Celebrates 64 Years of Informing & Entertaining the Community!

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John Charles Rose, owner and operator of WIZS, was on Town Talk this morning to announce this day, May 1, 2019, as the 64th anniversary of the local radio station.

On May 1, 1955, Howard V. Harrell, a tv and radio repairman from Oxford, started the station under the call letters WHVH – his initials. The station has been on the air continuously ever since bringing the community local news, sports, music and entertainment.

The call letters were changed to WIZS around 1959, shortly after the station was sold to Stan Fox and his business partners Irv Fox and Seymour Dworsky.

Rose Farm & Rentals purchased WIZS and assumed operation on June 1, 1989, under president John D. Rose, III. A month from today, the Rose family will celebrate 30 years of WIZS ownership.

“Our continuing commitment to the community and the radio staff have made it possible for us to celebrate 64 years as a station,” said Rose. “The various personalities, the various people who are very good at their jobs, and of course our loyal advertising base have all made it possible.”

Rose reminded listeners that news is free and available 24/7 at www.wizs.com and on WIZS’ social media pages.

For the last 30 years, local news has been broadcast on air on 1450AM, as well as on the more recently licensed translator 100.1 FM, at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily; mid-day news has been reported at various times throughout the years. News has been on the air at set times since day one of operation.

WIZS’ online presence grew exponentially in 2018 with 100,000 people visiting the website and daily additions of viewers who like and/or follow the station on Facebook and Twitter.

Putting the “community” in the locally owned and operated community radio station, WIZS offers approximately 250 public service announcements free of charge each month to non-profit organizations, schools, churches and government institutions. PSAs can be submitted and viewed online at any time by clicking here.

Rose also reminded listeners of the current weekday station schedule, including a mix of news, music, sports, talk and entertainment:

“Weekday Wakeup with Brandi Leigh” from 6 – 9 a.m.

Music from 9 – 11 a.m.

“Town Talk” at 11 a.m.

“Tradio” at 11:30 a.m.

“Beach Music Blast” with Trey Snide at 12 p.m.

“Sports Mayhem” with Kemp Collins at 1 p.m.

Music from 2 – 4 p.m.

“Afternoon Drive” with John Stevenson at 4 p.m.

Weekend programs include “Country Grass” with Ms. Velvet from 7 – 9 a.m. and “Choice Country Classics” from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Saturday afternoon brings a mix of Country, Beach and Oldies music for your listening pleasure.

Robert Wright provides live news, local church happenings and gospel music on Sunday mornings from 7 – 11 a.m. in a segment titled “Sounds of Jordan.” This is followed by Ms. Velvet’s “Sunday Afternoon Gospel Jamboree,” a popular variety of Country, Bluegrass and Gospel music, from 12 – 2 p.m.

“Thanks for listening to WIZS,” Rose concluded his segment. “We’re proud to know you, we’re proud to try to help you, we’re proud to try to do good things for you and we’re proud you’ve chosen to make WIZS your home on the radio.”

 To hear the Town Talk segment with John Charles Rose in its entirety, click here.

VGCC Student Receives Top Academic Honor

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-Press Release, Vance-Granville Community College

Vance-Granville Community College has named student Hope Crute of Youngsville as its recipient of the North Carolina Community College System’s Academic Excellence Award for 2019. One student from each of the 58 colleges in the state system is honored with the award each year.

Crute will be officially recognized at Commencement in May when she is scheduled to graduate from the college with both an Associate in Arts and an Associate in Science. Not long afterward, she is set to graduate from Franklin County Early College High School. That challenging five-year program, along with the guidance and support of teachers and peers, has helped her develop into the person she is today.

Hope Crute of Youngsville is the VGCC recipient of the North Carolina Community College System Academic Excellence Award for 2019. (VGCC Photo)

“Vance-Granville Community College is a school that successfully brings together ambitious, hard-working students who encourage one another and challenge each other to do better academically and professionally,” Crute said. “The magical thing I have found as a student at VGCC is that the school does not just teach academic lessons, but also life lessons.”

Crute has excelled in the classroom while also taking on numerous responsibilities at home to help her family as they dealt with her father’s serious health issues. She has served as a peer tutor in the VGCC Academic Skills Center and has been inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society for community college students, as well as the National Honor Society at the high school level.

Crute plans to transfer to UNC-Chapel Hill in the fall to complete a bachelor’s degree in a scientific field.

“Hope’s determination and dedication to academic success have earned her recognition as one of North Carolina’s outstanding community college students,” said Dr. Rachel Desmarais, the president of VGCC.

“Thanks to her experience at Vance-Granville and at Franklin County Early College, Hope now enters the next stage of her education equipped with confidence, clarity, enhanced skills, and a thirst for further knowledge.”

Duke Energy

Duke Energy Releases 13th Annual Sustainability Report

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-Press release and additional information courtesy Tanya Evans, District Manager, Duke Energy

We are pleased to share Duke Energy’s latest Sustainability Report, which highlights how the company is charting a path to a cleaner, smarter energy future for customers. Released this morning, the report shows a company continuing to shift from coal to natural gas with a greater reliance on renewable energy, a company transforming the customer experience by investing in new technologies that help customers make smart energy decisions and save money, and a company that offers electric rates below the national average in all customer classes and all service areas for the fifth consecutive year.

A few highlights include:

  • As of year-end 2018, we owned or contracted over 7,100 megawatts of wind, solar and biomass energy. This includes 500 megawatts of solar added in North Carolina during the year, which helped the state remain second in the nation for solar capacity.
  • Our energy efficiency initiatives helped customers reduce energy consumption and peak demand by more than 16,700 gigawatt-hours and 5,900 megawatts, respectively, since 2008. This reduction in consumption is more than the annual usage of 1.25 million homes, and the peak demand reduction is equivalent to 10 power plants each producing 600 megawatts.
  • We installed 1.6 million smart meters last year, giving 62% of our total customers access to real-time information to help make smarter energy decisions.

Also reflected is how the company is contributing to North Carolina’s positive growth. During 2018, for example, we helped attract more than 4,000 new jobs and $2.4 billion in business investment here.

We continue to be proud of this important work for our customers and appreciate your interest and support. For more information on the 2018 Sustainability Report, I encourage you to view our news release included, in part, below:

Duke Energy News Release:

Duke Energy continues to generate cleaner energy at prices below the national average for its 7.7 million residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Those facts were spelled out today in the company’s 13th annual Sustainability Report – a report card on the company’s progress at meeting its sustainability goals. The report can be found here – and a PDF copy for download can be found here.

“Duke Energy is successfully reducing our environmental impact while keeping electric prices low for customers,” said Cari Boyce, senior vice president, stakeholder strategy and sustainability. “It’s not a question of clean or affordable. We’re safely and reliably achieving both.”

Among the highlights in this year’s report:

  • In the six states where Duke Energy has retail electric customers, the company’s electric rates were below the national averages, according to data from the Edison Electric Institute.
  • Duke Energy relies on a balanced energy mix that includes carbon-free nuclear, lower-cost natural gas, hydroelectric and coal. In 2018, nearly 38 percent of the energy produced by the company was carbon-free.
  • Duke Energy-owned and purchased renewable energy (wind, solar, biomass and hydroelectric power) was equivalent to roughly 9.3 percent of its generation mix in 2018 – reflecting an 11 percent increase compared to 2017.
  • The company’s use of coal has dropped more than 50 percent from 2008 to 2018 – from 63 million tons annually to 29 million tons. The use of cleaner-burning and lower-cost natural gas has spurred much of that reduction.
  • Duke Energy’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions remained roughly flat in 2018 – despite producing 2 percent more energy versus the previous year. The company’s carbon intensity, the amount of CO2 produced per kilowatt-hour generated, fell 2 percent from the previous year. Overall, the company’s carbon emissions have dropped 31 percent since 2005.
  • Duke Energy established new goals in the report. One is to reduce water withdrawals by its generation fleet by 1 trillion gallons by 2030 – compared to its 2016 mark of 5.34 trillion gallons.
  • Duke Energy is also investing more in energy storage. The company is looking to install more than 400 megawatts (MW) of battery storage over the next 15 years. Today, work is underway at the Bad Creek Hydroelectric Station in South Carolina to increase its pumped storage output by more than 300 MW.

Public Meetings to Gather Citizens’ Input on Future of Franklin Co.

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-Information courtesy Franklin County Government

“Frankly Speaking,” a series of community meetings about the future of Franklin County will be held May 28-30, 2019.

Franklin County is just beginning the process of creating a new Comprehensive Development Plan to guide leaders’ decisions about future growth, particularly new development and related investments in infrastructure and services. The public is invited to attend one of the following meetings to share ideas and concerns:

  • Tuesday, May 28, 2019, 6-8 p.m. – Vance-Granville Community College’s Franklin Campus – 8100 NC-56, Louisburg.
  • Wednesday, May 29, 2019, 6-8 p.m. – Community Center – 115 E. Main St, Youngsville.
  • Thursday, May 30, 2019, 6-8 p.m. – Red Bud Baptist Church – 832 NC 58 Hwy, Castalia.

With questions, please call (919) 496-2909 or email planning@franklincountync.us. For more information, and to take a survey related to the Comprehensive Development Plan, visit www.franklincountync.us.

NCDA&CS: Recent Uptick in Use of Credit Card Skimmers at NC Gas Pumps

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-Press Release, NCDA&CS

As the weather turns warmer and many North Carolinians make travel plans for the summer months, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Standards Division is offering a few tips on how to stay safe at the pump after a recent uptick in credit card skimmers have been found.

In the first quarter of 2019, inspectors with the NCDA&CS Standards Division and partnering local authorities found 23 credit card skimmers in gas pumps around the state through routine inspections at the pump. That compares to five skimmers in the first quarter of 2018 and 37 over the entire year.

Also of note is that 11 of the 23 skimmers found in the first quarter were found in Johnston County. This includes five at one location in the town of Selma, and implies a concerted effort to target the Johnston County area with skimmers. Skimmers were also found in Davidson, Mecklenburg and Polk counties.

“On return visits, we found that some of the same stores were hit a second time after the first device was already removed. This leads me to believe that someone is, or at least was, actively working this area,” said Chad Parker, Standards Division measurement section manager. “We have completed our sweep and now our inspector is returning to these stores for his annual inspections.”

Skimmers are electronic devices placed inside a gas pump which collect data whenever a credit or debit card transaction is made at that pump. The owner of the skimmer then returns and collects the device, along with the credit or debit card information stored on it.

For the average customer, there is no way of knowing if there is a skimmer inside a pump, said Parker. Despite that, there are a few steps that consumers can take to reduce the risk of having their information stolen.

  • If possible, do not use a card at the pump. Paying for your gas inside, with either a card or cash, allows you to pay at a machine that has an employee watching over it all day.
  • If you do use a card outside, run it as a credit transaction, rather than debit. This way, the machine will ask for your ZIP code instead of your PIN, which leave you less vulnerable if a skimmer picks up your information.
  • Ask the store what kinds of measures they have taken to protect your information from being stolen

The Standards Division inspects gas dispensers for accuracy and fuel quality. Inspectors with the division check dispensers for the presence of skimmers by request, complaint or during routine gas pump inspection.

Franklin County Logo

Franklin Co. Public Input Survey Results to Aid in Development Plan

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-Information courtesy the County of Franklin

ATTENTION: This is your opportunity to help shape the future of Franklin County. The County is working to complete a Comprehensive Development Plan in order to guide future growth and development over the next twenty years. Please fill out this online survey and give us your opinions about community character, land use, growth management, transportation, local economy, resource conservation and the overall vision for the future of Franklin County.

The Comprehensive Development Plan will cover the entire jurisdiction of Franklin County outside of the municipal limits. All responses are confidential. Please complete surveys no later than Friday, May 24, 2019.

Thank you for your time and participation. Please call the Planning Department at (919) 496-2909 if you have any questions while answering the survey.

We welcome any additional comments or thoughts that are raised by any of the questions in the survey. If you would like to add additional narrative, please feel free to do so in the space provided at the end of the survey.

Online survey link:
Franklin County Schools

Franklin Co. Schools Closed for Students Wed., May 1

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-Information courtesy Franklin County Schools

On Wednesday, May 1, 2019, educators from across the state will be participating in a rally at the General Assembly in support of improvement of classroom opportunities for students and improved working conditions for teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and other staff who play a critical role in supporting our schools.

We have been actively monitoring the number of anticipated teacher and support staff absences on this date, and have reached a point at which scheduled absences of teachers and support staff will not allow us to safely and effectively operate that day. Therefore, all schools are closed on Wednesday, May 1 for Franklin County School students. We have met the requirement for accumulated instructional hours and will not need to make this day up for students.

May 1 will be an optional teacher workday for staff. Central Office will remain open. All school activities on May 1 are canceled.

We apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause and appreciate your understanding.