Tag Archive for: #hendersonnews

Cooperative Extension with Jamon Glover: Supervision And Safety Pt2

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Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

 

The Local Skinny! Junior Firefighter Program

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Area fire departments and the Henderson-Vance Recreation & Parks Department are teaming up to host a free Junior Firefighter Program for young people while they’re out of school for spring break.

Vance County Fire Chief and Fire Marshal Chris Wright said the three-day program will be a way to help educate youngsters between the ages of 11-15 about fire safety. But they’ll also get the chance to check out those shiny red fire engines and all the equipment and tools that firefighters use.

Wright spoke Thursday with John C. Rose on The Local Skinny! to discuss the program, which was first held in 2019. COVID-19 forced cancellation in 2020 and 2021, but “we’re kicking it back off this year,” Wright said.

Parents must register their child at Aycock Recreation Center by March 27. The program is open to the first 15 participants. The program will take place April 18-20, 2022.

The participants will tour the city and county fire departments, EMS and Rescue Squad. The Henderson Fire Department will provide their smoke trailer and the young people can experience simulated smoke conditions.

They’ll learn the importance of knowing two ways out of their house in case of a fire, as well as having a designated meeting place that all family members know about in case they get separated in a fire emergency.

In addition to safe home evacuations, the participants will learn safety basics of water rescue and removing victims from vehicles in an emergency.

“They’ll have projects to work on through the program,” Wright said, and then they will get the chance to present those projects to city and county officials at a culminating activity at the end of the three-day event.

“The guys here at the fire department love it,” Wright said of their participation in the junior firefighter program.

“It’s a good program that Kendrick (Vann) brought to our attention a few years ago,” Wright said, referring to the HVPRD director.

The junior firefighter program is a way to help draw interest from the younger crowd, which could result in a young person wanting to become a volunteer firefighter or even make it a career.

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Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vance Co. Vipers Hoping For Wins To Make Playoffs

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The state high school basketball playoffs are just around the corner and despite only having a 5-11 record on the season, Vance Co. High School Athletic Director Joe Sharrow thinks the Vipers have a good shot at getting in.  Sharrow was a guest on today’s SportsTalk with Trey Snide.

Sharrow knows that it will take a few more wins and those wins have to start with tonight’s game against Northern Lakes Conference rival Durham School of the Arts who are 3-17 on the season. While 5-11 against 3-17 might not look like much Sharrow says records are misleading, “The Northern Lakes Conference is a Murderer’s Row,” Sharrow said. Case in point, Vance County beat Southern Durham in what Sharrow calls the best win in school history to only lose to them in a second game a few days later.

Sharrow acknowleges the Vipers got off to a slow start but he says key injuries played a role and now that the Vipers are healthy he expects the team to be strong going into the final weeks of the season.

There won’t be much time to rest after tonight’s game as the Vipers will welcome J.F. Webb to Henderson tomorrow night for senior night.  J.F. Webb won the previous matchup in Oxford on a last second shot 57-54. Sharrow says if the Vipers can win tonight and tomorrow they will likely make the state playoffs.  If they drop one of these two games it will take a run in the conference tournament to get in.

The conference tournament will take place Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of next week.

 

Crossroads Christian School

SportsTalk: Gladieux Signs To Play For Trine University

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“If somebody gives you an opportunity to follow your dream, that’s amazing,” Ryan Gladieux said at his son’s Letter of Intent signing at Crossroads Christian as part of today’s SportsTalk show on WIZS.  Mason Gladieux, a 6’3″ senior guard with the Colts, will be playing college ball next season for Trine University in Angola, Indiana.

Two years ago, Mason was at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh. He and his family had never heard of Henderson or Crossroads Christian but when Cardinal Gibbons made a “no school, no sports” decision because of Covid 19 his family decided to look for another school so Mason would not miss a year of basketball.  After Mason’s father, who is former player at Stetson, did some research, met with Crossroads Head Coach and Athletic Director Scotty Richardson, and visited the school, it was decided that Mason and Crossroads would make an excellent fit. It was Richardson’s idea of not wanting to win today but to have someone to build a program around that convinced the Gladieux’s that Crossroads was the right school for Mason.

“He’s the model player. He can play all five positions,” Richardson said of Gladieux. “His impact on campus and in basketball and crosscountry is tough to put into words,” Richardson continued. Gladieux won a state championship in crosscountry this past season at Crossroads and now he and the team are looking to do the same thing in basketball. Crossroads will first have to bring home the conference championship. That tournament begins in a few days. A state championship would be a great way for Gladieux to end his high school career but he has to battle through an ankle injury that has hampered him this season.

“I loved the campus,” Mason said of Trine University. His mother, Brittney, said the family has roots in Indiana and that with Mason choosing Trine it feels somewhat like he is going home. She said Trine feels a lot like Crossroads. Trine is a division 3 school but that isn’t a concern for Mason’s father, Ryan. “This school isn’t offering you a destination. They are offering you a beginning,” Ryan said.  Trine was the number two team in the country last season in Division 3 basketball.

Congratulations to Mason Gladieux on signing to Trine University.

SportsTalk can be heard Monday through Friday at 1pm on WIZS 1450am, 100.1fm and online at wizs.com.

 

 

Home And Garden Show 02-09-22

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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.

THIS WEEK IN THE GARDEN

  • Avoid the rush get your lawn mowers serviced before the mowing season starts.
  • Get ready to plant your vegetable garden! Many cool season crops can be planted in mid-February. Get beds ready, check your seed supplies, and begin looking for quality transplants at local nurseries.
  • Clean reorganized your garden sheds.
  • Pick up some fertilizer for your tall fescue lawn. Get a slow release turf fertilizer for application in mid-Feb.
  • On warm days 70F or warmer provide ventilation in greenhouses and cold frames if growing plants in them.
  • If you use a turf fertilizer that’s combined with a weed or insect killer, remember that you are handling a pesticide! Read the instructions carefully and follow all precautions.
  • Clean seedling trays 1 part bleach 9 parts water before adding media and planting seeds in the trays.
  • Don’t purchase fruit crops without doing variety research first.
  • Make your seed orders ASAP some varieties of seed are selling out fast.
  • Get ready to do a dormant spray on your fruit trees. Also check your stock of chemicals and spray equipment so you’ll be ready to make the necessary treatments that start soon after flowering.

 

TownTalk: Law Enforcement Staff Shortages And Pay Disparities In Vance Co.

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The Vance County Sheriff’s Office is hiring. There are openings for detention officers at the county detention center, and there are openings for sheriff’s deputies as well. A qualified candidate for a job as a detention officer could earn a starting salary between $33,000 and $35,000.

The City of Henderson also is hiring and a qualified candidate for a police officer job is guaranteed a salary of $42,503. That salary is adjusted upward for candidates with college credits.

These are basic facts easily available in a quick online search. If only it were as easy as a click of the mouse or a few keystrokes to find candidates to fill these jobs.

Vance Sheriff Curtis R. Brame told WIZS News that there are 17 positions available at the local detention center and eight positions available at the sheriff’s office.

Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow says his department loses personnel who get jobs in law enforcement agencies in nearby counties – as well as the N.C. Highway Patrol.

It all boils down to what counties and cities are willing – and able – to pay for qualified personnel.

“We lose people to the N.C. Highway Patrol, Franklin County and to the Wake Forest police department,” Barrow told WIZS News by text message Wednesday. He said one need only look at the pay scale for a state trooper to understand why it turns the heads of employees in other law enforcement agencies. The average salary of a state trooper in North Carolina is about $46,000.

The Town of Wake Forest, for example, has posted on its website that a salary for an officer with no prior sworn law enforcement experience is $50,243. There are salary additions, including an extra 2.5 percent for a candidate with an associate’s degree to 5 percent if a candidate is fluent in Spanish. A new officer also receives an automatic 5 percent increase after six months of employment with the town.

At the Durham County Sheriff’s Office, starting pay a non-BLET certified officer is $34,000, plus incentives. (BLET stands for Basic Law Enforcement Training. Vance-Granville Community College offers BLET classes for those interested in a career in law enforcement.)

That salary jumps to close to $40,000 for those with BLET certification. The Durham Sheriff’s Office has similar salary add-ons as the Wake Forest police department – a 2.5 percent bump each for an associate’s degree, fluent Spanish speaker and honorable discharge from military service and a 5 percent increase for candidates with a bachelor’s degree.

Smaller, more rural communities like Henderson and Vance County face challenges every day from neighboring areas that benefit from being closer to larger, more urban areas.

It’s competition, pure and simple. And a little bit of supply and demand. But without competitive pay packages, demand is probably always going to exceed supply.

 

Cooperative Extension with Paul McKenzie: What Works in the Garden

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Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.