Cooperative Extension with Paul McKenzie: What works In The Garden
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Tag Archive for: #hendersonnews
Henderson Collegiate To Host Teacher Career Fair Thursday, Aug. 11
Henderson Collegiate is hosting a teacher career fair Thursday morning and is offering a $2,000 signing bonus for any of a number of open positions at the K-12 charter school. Prospective applicants don’t need a teacher license in hand – just bring a resume.
The event will be from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 12 at the school, located at 1071 Old Epsom Rd. in Henderson.
“This is a great career opportunity for a teacher, career changer, or recent graduate,” said Alicia Hawk, director of development at Henderson Collegiate, Inc.
“Henderson Collegiate is one of the top K-12 public charter schools in the state with competitive pay and benefits, and it’s part of the N.C. Teachers & State Employees retirement program,” Hawk added.
Visit https://hendersoncollegiate.org/ to learn more about the school.
Upcoming Blood Drives In Area; Donors Entered To Win Free Gas Card
There’s a blood drive scheduled for this Wednesday in Oxford and donors are desperately needed to ward off a shortage during the waning days of summer. The drive will be at the Public Works Center from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The Public Works Center is located at 127 Penn Ave., Oxford.
Another drive will be held in Henderson on Aug. 26 at Maria Parham Medical Center from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Although 62 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to give blood, only about 3 percent donate, according to Cally Edwards, regional communications director for the Eastern District of the American Red Cross. In addition to blood donations, the Red Cross is in special need of platelet donations.
Anyone who donates during August automatically entered for a chance to win gas for a year, a $6,000 value. There will be three lucky winners. Everyone who comes to give blood or platelets in August will also receive a $10 e-gift card to a merchant of choice.
Donors can schedule an appointment to give using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, by visiting RedCrossBlood.org or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1.800.733.2767).
Town Talk: Sossamon Discusses District 32 Candidacy
The following is part of WIZS’s continuing coverage of candidates running for local and state office in the November election.
Frank Sossamon has participated in several organized community forums lately as part of his campaign for the District 32 seat in the N.C. House. There have been two in Vance County and one in Granville County so far, and more are being planned in the runup to the November elections.
Sossamon, a Republican, is challenging incumbent Democrat Terry Garrison for the seat, which includes all of Vance County and most of Granville County.
The Republicans candidates for sheriff in their respective counties also were in attendance for these forums, the topic of which was crime. And Sossamon told John C. Rose on Monday’s Town Talk that the discussions have been productive, and each has informed him in some way about what the community’s priorities.
“When you talk about crime, it overlaps education, economic development, community development – it overlaps everything,” Sossamon said. “It’s hard to just concentrate on crime without talking about other issues.”
Effective communication is going to be a critical component to making progress and taking action on issues within the district, he said. “I’m hoping to help bring us together. There’s a lot we can accomplish if we work together.” Ongoing political stalemates don’t accomplish much, he said.
Change will require more than just dialogue across party lines, however. “We’ve got to have a cultural change and an attitude change,” Sossamon said. Change has to come about as a result of participation from the whole community, he added. “It can’t be done by one person or one department. It doesn’t just happen because you get some money or because you write some legislation.”
Building trust and putting aside differences are necessary as well, he said. “I’m hoping I can be a person to help – to take the skills and experience I’ve got and see what I can do to bring us together.”
On gun violence:
Sossamon said he is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. When gun violence occurs, there’s always talk about taking away gun rights and taking away guns, he said. But he said there’s a need to look at other issues, too, such as the broken mental health system.
“Mental health seems to be a thread that runs among many of these mass shootings,” he said.
On education:
When issues surrounding public education arise, the answer seems to be “we just need more money,” Sossamon said. Throwing money at a problem does not always solve that problem, he added, saying that there must be accountability about how the money is being spent and the scientific evidence to show results.
“It’s obvious that the charter schools are doing something right,” he said, adding that parents with children in charter schools must volunteer a certain number of hours at the school each year.
Parent accountability is necessary, he said, adding that he certainly favors funding education, but holding parents accountable is necessary “to move that dial to educate our children.”
On Medicaid expansion:
“I am not opposed to expansion to a degree,” Sossamon said, “but I don’t want to just open the floodgates.”
He said he needs to continue to study the issue to reach a good conclusion, adding that he is not close-minded, but does want to be fair to all and not look at government as a “money machine.”
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WIZS Radio Local News Audio 08-09-22 Noon
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Cooperative Extension With Wayne Roland: Mosquito Control
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City Council To Consider Minimum Housing Code At Aug. 8 Meeting
The Henderson City Council will hold its regular monthly meeting Monday Aug. 8 at 6 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers, 134 Rose Ave.
Council members are scheduled to review a draft of the proposed minimum housing standards, according to the agenda. The draft still needs to be finalized and approved by the council.
There was a special called meeting in late July to discuss various proposed changes and edits to the existing document, which has not yet been voted on.
Anyone who wishes to address the council must now do in person or by submitting a question or comment by 3 p.m. on the day of the meeting – questions and comments are no longer being accepted via the online platform Zoom. via Zoom.
Residents may join the meeting via Zoom at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82231380308?pwd=OVlzUUowbmxWV1p6QVdnYS9BY0p6Zz09
Meeting ID: 822 3138 0308
Passcode: 639894
Brame Asks Commissioners For Study To Build New Jail
Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame continues to work to correct deficiencies at the local jail, but he said the fact of the matter is this: the county needs a new detention center.
Brame addressed the Vance County Commissioners at their Aug. 1 meeting, during which the most recent jail inspection report was presented for review. And he asked commissioners to provide funding for a study to build a new detention center.
“We are in a facility that has long outgrown its needs,” Brame told WIZS News Friday. “Our detention center is antiquated and outdated,” he said, and noted safety issues – for staff and detainees alike – as a result of the condition of the physical plant.
The most recent inspection was conducted on June 14, and commissioners received the report in the August agenda packet.
The 9-page report included everything from non-functioning locks on food passage doors to dirty showers, but also detailed deficiencies in staff trainings and supervision.
Brame has responded to many of the items in a correction plan that was submitted to state jail inspectors and corrections will be verified during the next inspection.
But the overall physical condition of the jai, located at 516 Breckenridge St., looms larger for Brame. “Over 31 years ago the county decided to renovate the detention
center,” he said in a statement to WIZS. He said the renovations do not meet current standards and needs and he maintains that the jail “is unsafe for both staff and detainees.”
TownTalk: NC Hospitals During The Civil War
Wade Sokolosky has done a lot of research on the Civil War. He’s from Beaufort in Carteret County, so he’s familiar with nearby Fort Macon. In fact, his great-great uncle was an artilleryman who was captured at Fort Macon and later lost his life in the Battle of Goldsboro.
And when Sokolosky was in the U.S. Army, stationed at Fort Campbell, KY, he said he and a soldier friend visited the old battlefields that dot middle Tennessee, which further piqued his interest. So much so, that his master’s thesis was on Gen. Sherman’s Logistics, especially the Carolina Campaign and the March to the Sea.
All that research and searching through historical documents led him to be curious about hospitals that had been set up to treat and house soldiers. But he couldn’t find a single book about North Carolina Confederate hospitals.
In the last few years, Sokolosky, a retired Army colonel, has been working to change that. His first book, “North Carolina’s Confederate Hospitals 1861-1863” has been out since mid-July. But it will be Volume 2 that will have information about Vance County’s own Confederate Hospital, which was set up at Kittrell Springs.
Sokolosky spoke with Bill Harris and Mark Pace on Thursday’s tri-weekly history segment of TownTalk. He said that during the time he’s spent researching, he’s run across a lot of interesting tidbits of information about the hospitals, so he decided to organize the information he’d uncovered into a study of the Confederate hospitals and why and how they came to be.
The Kittrell Springs Hotel became the site for the Vance County hospital, known as General Hospital Number One.
“When it comes to hospitals, North Carolina didn’t have as many as Virginia,” Sokolosky said, but the state was in the top three or four. He said he hopes his books will help “fill a gap in our study of our state’s role in the war.”
He visited the National Archives in Washington, DC during his research phase for the first volume, but the COVID-19 pandemic shut down hopes for a subsequent trip.
North Carolina only had two hospitals at the time of the Civil War – the marine hospital on Portsmouth Island was for seamen, not locals. And “Dix Hill” was the asylum in Raleigh.
Residents received medical care from physicians who made house calls, and only when the family remedies didn’t work.
The whole notion of hospitals to house wounded and sick soldiers during the Civil War was a novel concept. But Sokolosky said that it was during Gen. Grant’s Overlands Campaign that countless sick, wounded and recovering soldiers had to be evacuated away from battlefield hospitals to make room for new casualties.
“They were evacuated to Raleigh and (soon), they’re bustin’ at the seams,” he said. “All those Confederate wounded are coming South.” Thanks to the proximity of the Raleigh & Gaston Railroad, Kittrell seemed a fitting spot to transform a hotel into a hospital and soldiers didn’t have to go all the way to Raleigh.
The government paid rent to business owners or schools for use of the facilities for hospital space. Peace College and Wake Forest College also became sites for hospitals.
And the Confederacy maintained detailed records of what happened in those hospitals – who was treated, who died, which surgeons worked where. Sadly, most of those medical department records were destroyed by fire where they were kept in Richmond.
So Sokolosky has pieced together information by delving into the service records of individual surgeons.
He has found letters and other documents during his research, adding that when he’s able to connect the dots through his research, it’s very satisfying.
“I enjoy the research, especially when the dots come together.”
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The Local Skinny! Immunizations For Children Returning To School
-information courtesy of N.C. Department of Health and Human Services
As children across North Carolina head back to school this month, the N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services reminds families that vaccinations are an important part of back-to-school success and overall health and well-being.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognizes August as National Immunization Awareness Month to highlight the importance of getting recommended vaccines throughout your life.
Whether children are homeschooled or attend a public, private, charter or religious school, state laws require they stay up-to-date for certain vaccinations based on their age, as recommended by the CDC.
Gov.Roy Cooper also proclaimed August as Immunization Awareness Month in North Carolina. Alongside the proclamation, the NCDHHS is partnering with health care providers and stakeholders in a statewide awareness campaign to help ensure school-age children are protected from vaccine-preventable diseases.
“Following CDC recommendations to control the spread of all vaccine-preventable diseases is an essential piece of both child and family well-being,” said Dr. Zack Moore, state epidemiologist. “NCDHHS is helping health care providers, parents and guardians take this essential step to protect children’s health in school and at home.”
Vaccine-preventable diseases, such as chicken pox, meningitis, measles, pertussis (whooping cough) and others are still seen across North Carolina. Keeping children up to date on vaccinations is the best way to keep them healthy and reduce unnecessary absences from school.
Children who are uninsured can still be vaccinated at low or no cost through the Vaccines for Children program which offers free vaccines to children through 19 years of age. “Vaccines are one of the most cost-effective and successful means available for preventing disease and death,” said Steven Gunn and Karin Szymanski, co-chairs of North Carolina Immunization Coalition.
“They help protect vaccinated individuals and our entire community by reducing and preventing the spread of infectious diseases.” Teens also face unique risks related to communicable diseases. “As children move into their preteen and teen years, they become more susceptible to certain diseases, making it especially important to stay current with immunizations. At the same time, preteens and teens tend to have fewer visits to their doctor’s office, increasing the chance that they are not up to date,” said Dr. Dimitrios Hondros, president of the N.C. Academy of Family Physicians. “This decrease in immunizations accelerated among adolescents during the pandemic, when stay-at-home orders went into effect.”
“You can use any health care visit, including for sports or camp physicals, school health assessments, checkups and sick visits to receive vaccines,” said Dr. Christoph Diasio, FAAP president of the N.C. Pediatric Society. “Talk with your pediatrician or health care professional to make sure your kids are protected against vaccine preventable diseases.”
NCDHHS encourages parents to talk with their child’s healthcare provider about recommended vaccinations. During that same visit, parents can talk with their physician about the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine for their children ages 6 months and older. Many pediatricians and family practitioners will provide the COVID-19 vaccine for all eligible family members, as well as teens, during that same visit.
Visit MySpot.nc.gov for more information about COVID-19 vaccines.
The CDC has more information and resources for parents and guardians, including a list of all vaccines required for school attendance from kindergarten through high school.
Find out more at immunize.nc.gov/family
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