-Press Release, Granville County Public Schools
Granville County Public Schools invites you to a Community “Lunch & Learn” on Friday, March 1, 2019, from 12 – 1 p.m. The event will be held at the Granville Co. Schools Administrative Building, 101 Delacroix St. in Oxford.
Participants will receive updates on GCPS and have an opportunity to engage with district leaders about new initiatives.
Please bring your own lunch.
-Press Release, Granville County Government
The addition of thirty (30) recycle containers to the Granville Athletic Park (GAP) in Oxford will help keep the area clean and educate the public about the importance of recycling.
The bins were funded through a grant from the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality and are being paired with existing outdoor trash containers. With a clear recycling message on each bin, the goal is to provide collection sites for plastic bottles and aluminum cans for visitor use at the GAP, which is one of the largest public spaces in Granville County.
The GAP is currently used by thousands of walking enthusiasts, high school sports leagues, traveling sports teams, daycares (playground equipment) and families who meet for local gatherings, competitions and for exercise.
“That’s thousands upon thousands of bottles and cans that have gone to one of two places at the GAP – in the trash can or on the ground,” says Granville County Recycling Coordinator Teresa Baker. “We hope that these new containers will prompt park visitors to choose recycling over garbage disposal, and will remind them to keep our park ‘green and clean.’”
Granville County Recycling Coordinator Teresa Baker is pictured with one of the new recycling containers recently installed at Granville Athletic Park. (Photo courtesy Granville Co. Govt)
Before the installation of the new containers, the GAP had only two outdoor athletic bins that housed six 96-gallon recycle carts. Located near the baseball tournament fields, these bins filled up quickly in just one weekend – and even more often during tournament season. It is expected that the addition of thirty more containers throughout the 69-acre site will positively impact waste collection.
Baker notes that a tracking system will be put into place to monitor the waste stream and that an increase in tonnage recovered by Waste Industries is expected, decreasing input in the local landfill, as well as the associated costs that come with solid waste disposal.
Over the last seven years, a renewed effort has been made to address the litter issue in Granville County. According to Baker, progress has been made as there has been a push to increase the county’s recycling yield. Granville County has grown from having one of the lowest collection rates in the state to being among the top 20 counties with high recycling yields in North Carolina.
As the GAP works towards an eleven-acre expansion, recycling efforts will become even more significant as a targeted recycling program will carry over into the newest phase.
“The county must be a leader in recycling to encourage residents to be better environmental stewards,” Baker adds. “We want to remind park visitors to keep their trash off the ground and to put it in an appropriate location.”
These new recycling containers have a life cycle of 8 to 10 years and are placed in high-traffic locations throughout Granville Athletic Park. To learn more about recycling efforts in Granville County, contact Baker at (919) 725-1417.
-Information provided by Debra Weary, Clerk to the Board/Assistant to the County Manager – Granville County
The Granville County Board of Commissioners will hold their annual retreat on Thursday, February 21 and Friday, February 22, 2019, at the Granville Expo & Convention Center in Oxford. Thursday’s meeting begins at 4:30 p.m.; Friday’s session begins at 8:15 a.m.
Board discussion will focus on the following objectives:
Strategic Plan Objective #1: through economic development activities and efforts, increase the county-wide tax base by approximately $80 million annually.
Strategic Plan Objective #2: improve inter-local government relationships through partnerships and shared services.
Strategic Plan Objective #3: educate the community to improve public awareness of local government issues, activities, benefits and opportunities.
Strategic Plan Objective #4: reduce the County’s annual personnel turnover rate due to resignations and terminations to 6% or less by 2020.
Strategic Plan Objective #5: improve employee recognition and boost morale through the implementation of an Awards and Recognition Program (A&R).
Strategic Plan Objective #6: improve and increase the number of volunteer programs, sites and opportunities within the County Government.
Strategic Plan Objective #7: identify public safety requirements and improve communication of services with the public.
To review the complete agenda, please click here.
-Press Release, U.S. Dept. of Justice
Robert J. Higdon, Jr., United States criminal defense Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, announced today that his office collected over $13.5 million in criminal and civil actions in fiscal year 2018. Of this amount, $8,410,643.89 was collected in criminal actions and $5,113,040.40 was collected in civil actions. Additionally, over $4.6 million was collected in asset forfeitures.
The Eastern District of North Carolina also collaborated with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $13,983.13. Of this amount, $5,733.13 was collected in criminal actions and $8,250 was collected in civil actions.
Overall, the Justice Department collected nearly $15 billion in civil and criminal actions in the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2018. The $14,839,821,650 in Fiscal Year 2018 collections is nearly seven times the appropriated $2.13 billion ($2,136,750,000) budget for the 94 U.S. Attorneys’ offices, reported this site of a top attorney firm.
“The men and women of the U.S. Attorneys’ offices across the country work diligently, day in and day out, to see that the citizens of our nation receive justice. The money that we are able to recover for victims and this country as a whole is a direct result of their hard work,” Director James A. Crowell, IV, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys.
In the past fiscal year, the Eastern District of North Carolina has returned millions of dollars to crime victims. For example, in United States v. Justin Lawrence Daniel, over $2.3 million was recovered for victims of the defendant’s criminal conduct. In United States v. Mittesh Das, $750,000 was recovered for victim restitution and paid at the time of sentencing.
The District has also recovered significant taxpayer money lost to fraud or other misconduct, collected civil fines imposed for violations of federal law, and collected civil debts owed to various federal agencies. For example, in United States v. Physicians Pharmacy Alliance, $1.7 million was recovered for the Health and Human Services’ Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services and for the North Carolina Medicaid Program. The United States has recovered an initial payment of $750,000 from Rouseco, Inc, toward a $5.8 million judgment in United States v. Rouseco, Inc.
“We will use every available tool to aggressively collect victim restitution and criminal fines, and recover a lot more taxpayer dollars that are either lost to fraud or otherwise owed to government agencies,” said Mr. Higdon. “Asset forfeiture also serves important law enforcement interests, and we will continue to aggressively forfeit the proceeds of crime and the assets used to facilitate it. We are proud of the men and women in our office who dedicate themselves each and every day to ensuring justice through their collection efforts. They are to be congratulated for their tremendously successful efforts.”
The U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, along with the department’s litigating divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the U.S. and criminal debts owed to federal crime victims. The law requires defendants to pay restitution to victims of certain federal crimes who have suffered a physical injury or financial loss. While restitution is paid to the victim, criminal fines and felony assessments are paid to the department’s Crime Victims Fund, which distributes the funds collected to federal and state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.
Forfeited assets deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.
News releases are available on the U. S. Attorney’s web page at www.usdoj.gov/usao/nce. Follow us on Twitter @USAO_EDNC.
-Press Release, Granville County Public Schools
It’s Kindergarten Registration time!
Do you know a child that will be 5 years old by August 31, 2019? If so, it’s time to register for Kindergarten!
Granville County Public Schools is excited to welcome new kindergarteners to our district. Though the new school year doesn’t begin for a few more months, now is the time to register your child and to get excited about school! We have three easy ways to register:
Visit your neighborhood GCPS school
Attend a GCPS Kindergarten Registration Fair:
Visit one of the GCPS Registration Centers:
At registration, you will be asked to complete enrollment forms for your child. Please bring personal identification, proof of residency, the child’s birth certificate, and any immunization records currently available.
Families have a choice in where their child attends school in GCPS.
All of these options are available in Granville County Public Schools. School tours are available if you would like to see these programs in action and learn more about them. Visit our website (www.gcs.k12.nc.us) and scroll down to select the “GCPS School Choice” link, or talk with any of our staff to learn more about these choices for your child.
-Information and flyer courtesy Mayor Jackie Sergent, City of Oxford
The public is invited to celebrate “New Orleans style” at the 3rd Annual Mardi Gras Bash to benefit the Boys & Girls Club of North Central North Carolina (BGCNCNC) on Saturday, February 23, 2019, from 6:30 until 10 p.m.
The bash will be held at the Clarion Inn and Suites, 913 MLK Jr. Avenue in Oxford, and will include dinner, dancing and a retro band in the spirit of Bourbon St.
A limited number of tickets are still available for $50 each and are available by calling the BGC Office at (919) 690-0036 or visiting the online Event Brite link by clicking here.
(This is not a paid advertisement)
-Press Release, NCDOT
Area residents will get a chance to learn more about the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s draft 10-Year transportation plan for 2020-2029 at a week-long open house in Durham next week. The department unveiled its proposed funding and construction plan in January with more than 1,600 transportation projects across the state.
The list includes 18 new projects for Division 5, which covers Durham, Franklin, Granville, Person, Vance, Wake and Warren counties. Projects were selected based on technical data, as well as input from local officials and the public. A list of the projects in the draft plan and additional information is available on the NCDOT website.
The transportation plan is updated every two years. Projects scheduled in the first five years are considered committed, while projects in the final five years of the draft 10-year plan will be re-evaluated again as part of the development process for the 2022-2031 plan. That will start later this year.
Each of the department’s 14 highway divisions is hosting a week-long public comment opportunity on the projects in the current draft plan. In Division 5, it will be from Feb. 18-22 at the Division office at 2612 North Duke Street, Durham, during normal business hours.
The sessions will serve as opportunities for interested residents to review maps and handouts about the projects, ask questions of local NCDOT staff, and submit comments.
For interested residents who can’t attend the public comment sessions, there is an opportunity to submit comments online through April 15. The draft plan will be considered for final approval by the Board of Transportation this summer.
NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled persons who want to provide input. Anyone requiring special services should contact David Keilson at 919-220-4600, or dpkeilson@ncdot.gov, as early as possible so that arrangements can be made.
-Press Release, Granville County Government
The Granville County Library System welcomes Andrew Maloney as branch manager of the Richard H. Thornton Library in Oxford.
Maloney comes to Granville County from the Boston Public Library in Boston, MA, where he served in several capacities ranging from Fine Arts Archivist and Music Specialist to Readers’ Services Librarian. He brings with him knowledge and experience in cultural research, program development, collections management and library technology, and has plans to use these skills to continue and further enhance the programming already in place.
“I hope to expand on what is already being offered by possibly adding more music and movie events and a greater outreach,” Maloney said. “There are so many ways that the library can partner with the community and help people connect, and I am looking forward to exploring those opportunities.”
The Granville County Library System welcomes Andrew Maloney as branch manager of the Richard H. Thornton Library in Oxford. Maloney’s first day of work was February 1, 2019. (Photo courtesy Granville Co. Government)
Maloney also credits the library’s Board of Trustees and the Friends of the Library for their enthusiastic support of the Thornton Library.
A new resident of Durham, Maloney is a 2012 graduate of the University of Connecticut, majoring in English and Political Science. He received his Master’s degree in Library and Information Science at Simmons College Graduate School and earned his North Carolina Public Librarian Certification in 2018.
Maloney’s first day of work was February 1, 2019.
Will Robinson will continue to serve as Director for all four branches of the Granville County Library System, which are located in Oxford, Creedmoor, Stovall and Berea. Both Maloney and Robinson can be reached at 919-693-1121.
For more information about the Granville County public libraries, visit https://granville.lib.nc.us/.
Angela Allen, director for the Granville County Tourism Development Authority, was on Thursday’s edition of WIZS’ Town Talk program to discuss the second Annual “Brides on Wheels: Bridal Tour & Vendor Show,” or “BOWs” for short, taking place Sunday, April 14, 2019.
“This event gives brides and their guests an opportunity to ride on a limo bus to view four different venues, including Granville County’s own Cedar Grove Acres, Vino Oasi, Carlee Farms and Thorndale Oaks,” said Allen.
The bridal tour will depart the Clarion Inn and Suites located at 913 MLK Ave. in Oxford, NC at 1 p.m. and will return at 6 p.m. Prior to the tour, the Clarion Inn will be the site of a public vendor show to be held in the ballroom from 12 until 4 p.m.
Participants who purchase the $35 combo ticket for the tour and the show will have a sneak-peek opportunity of the vendors’ ware in the Clarion ballroom beginning at 11 a.m. This combo ticket also includes a goodie bag filled with items from participating vendors. Seating is limited.
Tickets for the vendor show only are available for $20.
To promote the local area, Granville County vendors have first dibs on registration for the show. “We invite all Granville County vendors involved in the event planning business, such as photographers, caterers, florists and DJs, to participate,” Allen said.
All interested Granville vendors are asked to register by this Friday, February 15, 2019. After Friday, vendor registration will be open to areas outside of the county.
“We really want to showcase all of the wonderful things we have right here in Granville County to offer brides and anyone who wants to put together a special event,” said Allen.
According to Allen, last year’s tour – the first annual event – attracted eight brides, one groom and their family members, and was considered a success. “I’m happy to say three out of the four venues were booked from that particular tour. We had a diverse group of brides – some from the local area, some from Raleigh and some from the Greensboro/High Point area.”
Created as a way to promote Granville County, Allen said the bridal tour and show boosts the local economy, promotes local vendors and makes both residents and nonresidents alike aware of what the county has to offer.
“We’re not that far away; I-85 makes us very convenient to a lot of people,” Allen said. “Come hop on the bus with us!”
Tickets are available through Event Brite. Please click here to follow the event on Facebook.
Interested brides, family members or vendors may contact Allen at (919) 693-6125 or email angela.allen@granvillecounty.org with additional questions or for registration assistance.
To hear the Town Talk interview with Angela Allen in its entirety, including additional conversation regarding tourism in Granville County, please click here.
-Information courtesy NC Cooperative Extension – Warren County Center
2019 FOUR COUNTY 4-H POULTRY SHOW AND SALE INTEREST MEETING
Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | 6:30 p.m.
Vance County Regional Farmers Market
210 South Park Drive, Henderson, NC 27536
All children ages 5-18 are invited to join us on February 27 at the Vance County Regional Farmer’s Market to discuss plans for the 2019 Four County 4-H Poultry Show and Sale.
Whether this would be your first time participating or you have participated for many years, you won’t want to miss this meeting. We will be selecting the two breeds of chicken to raise this year, so if you would like to share your input, please plan on attending.
If you are unable to attend the meeting but are interested in participating in the show and sale, please call our office and let us know so that we can get the information out to you.
Please call (252) 257-3640 for more information and to RSVP!
