Tag Archive for: #granvillecountynews

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GVPH Weekly Update: COVID-19 Cases Continue Uptick

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Vance and Granville counties continue to rack up new COVID-19 cases, and the local health district reports a total of 1,376 new cases in the last seven days. The state figure stands at 28,474.

According to GVPH Director Lisa Harrison, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services notified local health departments that boosters for those ages 12-15 will be available beginning next week. Vaccines and boosters are available Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. in Henderson at 115 Charles Rollins Road and beginning Monday, Jan. 10 at the new location in Granville County at 1028 College St. in Oxford, behind Granville Health System.

Both counties remain in the “high community transmission” category, with Vance at 25.5 percent positivity rate and Granville at 17.2 percent positivity rate. Both counties still fall below the state’s positivity rate, which currently is 31.2 percent.

Specifically, in the past week, Vance County has had 685 new cases and Granville reports 691 new cases, according to a weekly report from the Granville-Vance Health District.

There have been 9,935 cases of COVID-19 in Granville County and 8,648 cases of COVID-19 in Vance County for a total of 18,583 across the health district.

Granville County has documented 107 deaths as a result of COVID-19 and Vance County has a total of 104 deaths for a total of 211 deaths across the health district. Across North Carolina, 19,619 people have died of COVID-19.

“The numbers of cases of COVID-19 are higher than ever and still climbing in short order,” writes Health Director Lisa Harrison. She said that her department is “making an overall shift to paying closer attention to hospitalizations and deaths rather than cases as an indicator of overall risk. Just remember that hospitalization and death are also lagging indicators so given how MANY cases we are seeing, even if the majority of them are experiencing mild symptoms or no symptoms, the sheer numbers dictate that we will still see hospitalizations and potentially deaths increase in the coming weeks as well. Hospitalizations are up locally and statewide this week as the graphs show: https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard/hospitalizations.  Omicron is not to be ignored,” Harrison wrote in the weekly update.

 

 

 

 

 

Keep up-to-date by visiting the CDC Data Tracker by County and the NCDHHS COVID-19 Dashboard. Relevant graphs can be found at https://gvph.org/covid-19_dashboard/.  

Granville Health Department To Re-Open Monday At New Location

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The Granville-Vance Public Health office in Oxford is in the process of moving to its new location near the hospital and will re-open Monday, Jan. 10. All services that clients normally receive at the health department will be unavailable EXCEPT for residents who want a COVID-19 vaccine, according to www.gvph.com.

The new address for Environmental Health is 1028 College St.; the health clinic’s address is 1032 College St.; and the WIC office address is 1036 College St.

Both health department locations – 115 Charles Rollins Rd, Henderson and 101 Hunt Dr., Oxford – have COVID-19 vaccines available Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

 

West Oxford Students Bumped To Remote Learning Jan. 7, 10

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The spike in COVID-19 has prompted West Oxford Elementary School to cancel in-person learning for tomorrow (Friday) and Monday, Jan. 10. Instead, both days will be full virtual learning days, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

But the Granville County Unit of the Boys & Girls Club that operates at West Oxford will be open to serve its registered club members on both days. The club will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Parents should send devices and bookbags with their students to the club, according to a post on the school’s social media site from BGC Chief Operating Officer Jacqueline Robinson.

School leaders posted on social media Thursday evening about the change, and offered several opportunities for parents and students for school assignments and for lunch pickup.

Students in Granville County Public Schools returned to school on Wednesday after the winter break.

The Facebook post stated, in part, that “nearly half of all of our teachers at our school are unable to report to work, mostly due to the pandemic.”

The lack of substitutes available further exacerbated the situation.

West Oxford students with an internet connection and a device are supposed to login to their Google classroom to get lessons and assignments at 9 a.m. Parents of students without a device or an internet connection can come to school after 11 a.m. to pick up an instructional packet. Parents who come after 3:30 p.m. will find packets in the self-serve stations.

The school plans to run regular bus routes about midday to deliver both instructional packets and meals. “These routes will run approximately five hours later than their normal pick-up time in the morning,” the post stated.

Parents also may stop by the school between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to pick up a lunch free of charge for any student.

West Oxford serves Pre-K through grade 5 and is located at 412 Ivey Day Rd, Oxford.

Triangle North Grant Cycle Open For 2022; Deadline To Submit Letters Of Interest Mar. 1

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Triangle North Healthcare Foundation has announced the launch of its 2022 grant cycle, and is accepting letters of interest through March 1, 2022.

Nonprofit organizations, government agencies and schools are eligible to apply for funding projects that will provide positive impact in one or more of the five focus areas: Child Well-Being, Chronic Disease, Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders, Nutrition and Physical Activity, and Reproductive Health.

The link to the Foundation’s online grant portal is available at   http://www.tnhfoundation.org

Executive Director Val Short said funding local projects brings to life the foundation’s mission to encourage, support, and invest in quality efforts that measurably improve health in the areas it serves.

“Our hope is that the Foundation’s investment of grant funds in our communities will result in long lasting improvements in the health and wellbeing of our children and adults,” Short said in a press statement.

Since 2013, the foundation has invested more than $3.3 million in programs across the four-county region that includes Vance, Granville, Warren and Franklin.

Short and the foundation’s grants coordinator Carolyn Powell are available to discuss ideas for grant projects or to assist with grant writing.  Call 252.430.8532 to schedule an appointment.  Information about current and past funded programs and projects is also available on the website.

A regional healthcare grant-making organization based in Henderson, NC, Triangle North Healthcare Foundation was established in 2011, following the merge of Maria Parham Medical Center and Duke Lifepoint.

DOEDC Seeks Revitalization Input From Downtown Merchants

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UPDATE 01-10-22 at 6:30 p.m. —

From the DOEDC:

• Due to rising COVID concerns, this event has been postponed to February 23, 2022. The DOEDC would like to invite you to join the conversation about downtown revitalization in Oxford, and how we can plan and execute changes together. Join us Wednesday, February 23 for a presentation from The North Carolina League of Municipalities own Julie Metz; lunch will still be provided by Strong Arm. Watch your inbox for more information coming soon. We hope you’ll stop by and lend an ear. Let’s keep Oxford moving forward.

The Downtown Oxford Economic Development Corporation is hosting a meeting next week to hear from downtown merchants about next steps in downtown revitalization.

The event is scheduled to begin at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 11 at The Orpheum of Oxford. Lunch will be provided by Strong Arm Baking; participants who want to eat lunch should reserve their seat by Friday, Jan. 7.

Julie Metz, with the N.C. League of Municipalities, will be on hand to discuss her involvement with the city of Goldsboro as the downtown development director for more than 20 years. That city’s downtown – which once had a 75 percent vacancy rate – has been transformed, with business start-ups, private investment and building energy and excitement from the community.

The DOEDC invites merchants to join the conversation about downtown revitalization in Oxford, and to learn how best to plan and execute changes together.

For questions, email eat@strongarmbaking.com.

NCDOT Bike Helmet Program Puts Free Helmets On Kids’ Heads

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The goal of the state Department of Transportation’s annual bicycle helmet initiative is to reduce bicycle injuries and deaths. Applications are available now for agencies to get up to 100 free bike helmets for young cyclists.

As part of the initiative, applicants are encouraged to partner with government and non-government agencies to host bike safety events. Examples of partners include police and fire departments, parks and recreation departments, health departments and community centers, as well as churches and other non-governmental organizations.

Applications are due by 5 p.m. on Feb. 4, 2022, according to information from NCDOT. Applicants may request 25, 50, 75 or 100 helmets and the groups awarded are scheduled to receive the helmets by April 29, 2022.

The selection process has been revised and is no longer limited to government agencies. Helmets will be awarded and distributed once per calendar year in the spring and awardees will have the remainder of the calendar year to host their safety program and then provide a report within 30 days of the event.

The program was started in 2007 and is overseen by the DOT’s integrated mobility division. Money to fund the program comes from sales of the Share The Road specialty license plate. Since its inception, the initiative has provided thousands of helmets to low-income children – more than 30,000 in the past five years alone. Statistics show that less than half of all children wear a helmet while biking, but wearing a helmet can reduce the risk of severe brain injuries by almost 90 percent for children involved in bike accidents.

About 20 bicyclists die in biking accidents each year in North Carolina – one in six of those are under the age of 16. The use of bike helmets was found to reduce head injury by 48 percent, serious head injury by 60 percent, traumatic brain injury by 53 percent, face injury by 23 percent and the total number of cyclists killed or seriously injured by 34 percent.

Visit the NCDOT Bicycle Helmet Initiative webpage for more information and to download the application.

COVID-19 Cases Continue To Rise In Vance, Granville

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The Granville-Vance Health District reported Wednesday almost 400 new cases of COVID-19 in the past seven days across the two counties.

There have been 194 new cases in Vance County, and 202 new cases in Granville County, according to the report. Those numbers represent a 15.4 percent positivity rate in Vance and a 7.1 percent positivity rate in Granville.

GVPH Director Lisa Harrison noted, however, that those numbers likely will rise. “Lots of tests and lab entries are being made and transferred this week and we know these numbers will go up a significant amount in short order,” the report stated.

“The numbers reported today (Wednesday) from the state system above do not yet reflect the cases our team entered today which exceed another 200 cases reported to us,” Harrison said in a footnote included in the report.

All data, as well as outbreaks and clusters, are reported through the NC Electronic Disease Surveillance System and are available for review on the state’s data dashboard here: https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/.

According to the CDC COVID Data Tracker, the numbers reported by the state mean that both counties are considered in the “high community transmission” category.

To date, there have been 7,665 cases of COVID-19 in Vance and 8,901 cases in Granville County for a total of 16,566 across the health district.

Deaths as a result of COVID-19 are 104 in Vance and 107 in Granville, for a total of 211 deaths across the health district.

For those who may want to calculate percentages, the total population of Vance County is 44,535 and 60,443 for Granville County.

Visit CDC Data Tracker by County and the NCDHHS COVID-19 Dashboard find the most recent information about COVID-19. Relevant graphs from these dashboards are available on our website at https://gvph.org/covid-19_dashboard/

In Vance County:

  • 63 percent of those over the age of 5 have received at least one dose of their COVID-19 vaccine – 58 percent are fully vaccinated
  • 14 percent of those ages 5-11 have received at least one dose and 8 percent are fully vaccinated
  • 46 percent of those ages 12-17 have received at least one dose and 40 percent are fully vaccinated

In Granville County:

  • 67 percent over the age of 5 have received at least one dose of their COVID-19 vaccine and 63 percent are fully vaccinated
  • 16 percent of those ages 5-11 years have received at least one dose and 10 percent are fully vaccinated
  • 44 percent of those ages 12-17 have received at least one dose and 40 percent are fully vaccinated

GVPH has administered 35,338 vaccines – 18,248 first doses and 17,090 second doses, an increase of 52 from last week’s numbers of 35,286 total vaccines, including 18,219 first doses and 17,067 second doses.

Fire Ant Quarantine Zone Grows To Include All Granville, Most Of Person

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As the imported red fire ant continues its march through North Carolina, N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services officials are expanding the quarantine zone to include all of Granville, as well as portions of Person and Caswell counties, effective Jan. 1, 2022.

That means that residents and business owners in these counties will need to obtain a permit before moving plants, sod and related equipment into or through non-infested areas. Certificates can be obtained from a local plant protection specialist or by contacting the Plant Protection Section at 800-206-9333 or 919-707-3730.

Items requiring a permit include nursery stock, sod, soil, hay and straw, logs or pulpwood with soil, and soil-moving equipment, according to information from NCDA.  Also, the movement of any other products, items or infested materials that present a risk of spread from areas that have fire ants to non-infested areas is prohibited.

“Failure to obtain the needed inspections and certifications may result in the issuance of a stop-sale notice and rejection or destruction of the regulated article,” said Bill Foote, director of the NCDA&CS plant industry division.  “Fire ants can be harmful to humans and livestock. It is important we continue proactive efforts to slow down fire ant movement into non-infested areas of the state.”

Fire ants can be found in the majority of the state’s 100 counties; most recently, fire ants have been confirmed in Jackson and Madison counties in the western part of the state.

The imported fire ant was first identified in Brunswick County in 1957. As it spread and became established, it was recognized as an aggressive pest of farmlands, pastures, residential areas and wildlife, Foote said. The imported fire ant is considered to be a nuisance and a health concern to humans, livestock and wildlife due to its painful sting.

For a map of the quarantine area, visit  https://www.ncagr.gov/plantindustry/Plant/entomology/documents/Imported_Fire_Ant_2022_Quarantine_Expansion_Proposal.pdf

NCTeach Supports Aspiring Teachers Get Prepared For Classrooms

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Just two years after its launch, the teacher recruitment initiative called TeachNC reported that it has “significantly exceeded” its second-year goals, with more than 1,400 aspiring teachers applying to an educator preparation program in 2021. That number more than doubles the number of applicants who signed up in the first year.

From September 2020 through August 2021, the TeachNC.org website was accessed in excess of 159,000 times and has attracted over 11,000 prospective educators who are being supported in their quest to become teachers, according to a press statement from the organization, which partners with several state and national agencies to get more educators into classrooms.

More than 1,400 of those applied for an educator preparation program in North Carolina during the initiative’s second year, with many of them also entering the classroom through the state’s residency licensure pathway, allowing them to work as teachers while completing course work necessary for certification. The year-two teacher recruits represents more than a 130% increase over the number of applicants supported in TeachNC’s first year. Of the applicants, 50 percent identified as candidates of color and nearly a quarter of those reporting a focus area say they want to teach a STEM-related subject such as math or science or in special education.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt commended the TeachNC initiative for its success in helping to attract more people to the teaching profession and serving as a key resource of information about teaching careers in the state.

“TeachNC fills a critical need in North Carolina to make it easy for would-be teachers to learn more about the profession and to support them as they begin their journey to the classroom,” Truitt said. “My own North Star is that every student deserves a highly qualified, excellent teacher in every classroom, and the work of TeachNC is helping the state reach that all-important goal.”

TeachNC, which works in partnership with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, delivers research-based tools and supports for prospective teachers, helping reduce the barriers to applying to and enrolling in an educator preparation program. In a survey by the initiative, 60 percent of TeachNC subscriber-respondents reported an increased interest in teaching and 59 percent of TeachNC’s applicants reported that without the support of TeachNC tools, they may not have applied to a North Carolina educator prep program.

The following resources are freely available to anyone in North Carolina who may be considering entering the teaching profession:

  • 1-on-1 coaching from current North Carolina educators (900+ calls in year two)
  • Interactive education preparation program search tool and application tools
  • Application fee reimbursements
  • Scholarships and financial aid search tool
  • North Carolina’s first statewide teacher job board
  • Live chat function to answer questions 24 hours/day
  • Guides on testing, finances, resumes, cover letters, application essays, licensure, and more

Brenda Berg, President & CEO of BEST NC, the nonprofit, nonpartisan group of business leaders that launched and helped fund the TeachNC pilot, said she is pleased with these results.

“When we launched TeachNC in 2019, we knew our state had an urgent need for teachers. With the challenges our schools have faced through the pandemic, this need is greater than ever, making it even more exciting to see that these results have exceeded our expectations,” Berg said.

“It’s not that people don’t want to become teachers. More than 10,000 people have expressed interest in becoming teachers by subscribing to TeachNC; they just need additional information and support to get there,” she said. “We are also happy to see the state take this over as an on-going effort, because we know that an investment in teacher talent is a direct investment in North Carolina students.”

The recently passed state budget includes funding to DPI to adopt the TeachNC initiative and provides a dedicated position within the agency to administer the program.

TeachNC is a partnership of BEST NC, NCDPI, and TEACH.org. TeachNC includes a full suite of strategic recruitment activities including a robust communications campaign, a comprehensive website encompassing all existing resources in the state, and 1-on-1 personalized supports for teacher candidates. These resources create a trusted, safe, and user-friendly support system for anyone considering a teaching career in North Carolina. Visit TeachNC to learn more.

The Local Skinny! Granville Co. Appoints New Sheriff

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John Blackwell Hardy, III was appointed (today) Monday to be the Granville County Sheriff by the board of commissioners, but part of the terms of his appointment include him not running for sheriff in 2022 and not publicly endorsing any candidates for the seat.

Hardy is a graduate of J.F. Webb High School and UNC-Chapel Hill. The board announced its selection at a special called meeting this morning (Monday). He fills the remainder of the term of Charles R. Noblin, Jr, who resigned on Oct. 27, 2021. That term ends on Dec. 5, 2022, according to county attorney Jim Wrenn.

Hardy will assume all duties and powers of the position following the administration of the oath of office.

He has served for a few months as a deputy sheriff in the Court Security Division with the Granville County Sheriff’s Office, according to a statement from Granville County, and has held numerous jobs within the  law enforcement community, including about three years in the patrol division for the Oxford Police Department, where he achieved the rank of corporal.

He received his certification in Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) from Vance-Granville Community College and has more than 25 years of military and law enforcement experience. He began his career in 1987 with the North Carolina Army National Guard. Hardy was an infantry officer in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve for 17 years, achieving the rank of major.

Concurrently, through much of his time in the Army Reserve, Hardy completed 25 years of service in federal law enforcement as a correctional officer with the Federal Bureau of Prisons (assigned to FCC Butner) and a deputy U.S. marshal assigned to the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Speaking on behalf of the Board of Commissioners, County Attorney Jim Wrenn stated, “the Board of Commissioners made a concerted effort to recruit a qualified individual to shepherd the Sheriff’s Office through this transitional period until the citizens of Granville County have the opportunity to choose their preferred candidate in the upcoming elections.”

In a written statement, Wrenn said “the board of commissioners believe that John Hardy will continue his distinguished career of public service by successfully guiding the Sheriff’s Office to the conclusion of the current term in the dedicated and professional manner shown throughout his career.”

The commissioners chose Hardy based on his extensive supervisory leadership and educational accomplishments, including his distinguished service as an infantry platoon Leader with the 101st Airborne Division during Operation Desert Shield/Storm, Executive Officer and Company Commander with the 108th Training Division of the U.S. Army Reserve, acting supervisory deputy with the U.S. Marshals Service, and acting sex offender investigations coordinator and member of the Critical Incident Response Team with the U.S. Marshals Service, according to the press statement.

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