Tag Archive for: #hendersonnews

Winder Street Dedicated As ‘Eddie James Hicks Drive’

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With a contingent of family, friends, colleagues and well-wishers gathered at the corner of Garnett and West Winder streets, city leaders unveiled new signs dedicating Winder Street in honor of Eddie Hicks, a hometown celebrity with a servant’s heart.

All the green Winder Street signs – from Chestnut Street to County Home Road – will have a second attached that identifies it as Eddie James Hicks Drive.

Flanking the words on the sign are the East Carolina University Sports Hall of Fame logo and the familiar New York Giants insignia, a tip of the hat to the places where Hicks dazzled crowds with his athletic gifts. Hicks was inducted into the ECU hall of fame in 2014. He played for the Giants and returned to watch his beloved Giants play when he could.

Kendrick Vann, director of the Henderson Vance Recreation & Parks Department, recalled when he and Hicks went to a Giants game. Hicks was Vann’s godfather, and he also was an employee of the rec and parks department.

“He truly loved being a benefit to the community, an asset to the community and all people, regardless of race, color, creed,” Vann told those gathered at the 11 a.m. dedication ceremony where the sign was officially unveiled.

Vann said Hicks loved his church, his temple and working for the City of Henderson and Vance County. And, Vann said, he offered advice about making priorities in life: “Church, community, family, football.”

David Person, Worshipful Master of Beacon Light Lodge 249, said Hicks loved his lodge and he loved his lodge brothers. “Let’s continue to think of Eddie and the legacy he’s built,” Person said, and all the people who have been impacted by him.

Hicks’s widow, Jackie, spoke briefly before the sign was unveiled and thanked those in attendance for sharing in the moment. “There was nothing that this man wouldn’t do for anybody,” she said. With a resolve to stay strong, as her husband would have wanted, she challenged the group to work for change in the city that Hicks called home.

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3rd Annual Vance County Camp Meeting Dec. 2-6 At McGregor Hall

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The 3rd annual Vance County Camp Meeting will take place in early December at McGregor Hall, 201 Breckenridge St.

The gatherings will begin at 7 p.m. nightly Monday, Dec. 2 through Friday, Dec. 6.

The moderator is Evangelist Scott Matthews and the schedule of featured speakers is noted below:

Monday – Dr. Kenny Baldwin

Tuesday – Dr. Joe Arthur

Wednesday – Evangelist Dale Vance

Thursday – Pastor C.T. Townsend

Friday – Evangelist Jared Dixon

The Matthews Family will perform nightly and The Morrison Sisters will perform Wednesday through Friday.

For more information, contact Scott Matthews at 864.490.0852 or Ronnie Matthews 252.425.9035.

Chamber’s “State Of Transportation” Luncheon Program Details Dabney Drive, S-Line Projects

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The Dabney Drive facelift from Coble Boulevard to Garnett Street is on the state’s to-do list, with right-of-way acquisitions set to begin in about a year and contracts to be let for bid by summer 2027.

It’s among several projects on the 2024-2033 NCDOT State Transportation Improvement Project – STIP – as Division 5 Engineer Brandon Jones explained during the “State of Transportation” program hosted Wednesday by the Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce.

Locals may simply call it the Dabney Drive project, but at NCDOT, it’s known as U-5890.

The project includes making Dabney Drive a one-way road, creating  sidewalks and bike paths and a peanut-shaped roundabout near Dabney and Garnett, Jones said during his presentation.

Also on that list are two bridge projects – Bridge 89, or Nutbush Bridge, and Bridge 38, at U.S. 1 North over the CSX rail line. Contracts for the bridge projects are scheduled to be let in July 2028 and January 2030, respectively.

The Dabney Drive project is going to be a “great improvement,” Jones said, not only benefitting drivers, but for bicyclists and pedestrians. Dabney Drive will feature a six-foot-wide sidewalk and Corbitt Road, which will handle westbound traffic to Dabney Drive’s eastbound traffic, will include a 10-foot-wide multi-use path.

The 10-year STIP gets updated every couple of years, and Jones said there are three “buckets” of money that projects must fall under: state mobility projects, regional impact projects and division needs projects. The state projects get 40 percent of the funds, with regional and division projects each getting 30 percent.

“Every bucket has to be balanced in the STIP – that’s what creates differences in scheduling,” Jones explained.

With only 25 percent coming from federal dollars, Jones said the state relies on the motor fuel tax to help fund road projects.

But that tax is going down,” he said, because vehicles are becoming more fuel efficient – and generating less revenue.

“It’s a good thing for the environment, but has a negative impact on the potential revenue we receive to keep our transportation system expanded and maintained.”

Road projects can seem like they take a long time to complete, but Jones reminded the audience that all pre-construction design can easily take years. It’s not like the city can just close Dabney Drive while it’s being worked on – NCDOT crews are “always having to build new, shift traffic, tear out old and repeat that pattern for awhile,” he said.

The other major transportation-related news for Henderson and Vance County is the much-anticipated S-Line passenger rail line. When the North Carolina portion is completed, it will help connect Atlanta to the D.C. area, Jones said.

Henderson is set to be one of the stops along the S-Line as it makes its way north into Raleigh and then Wake Forest before chugging through Franklin County into Henderson and Norlina.

Jones said the estimate to get the stretch from Raleigh to Wake Forest alone will cost $1 billion. It’ll take another billion to complete the link from Wake Forest to Henderson.

The state is buying the existing rail line from CSX, but there will be a lot to do to be ready for high-speed passenger rail service.

“You can’t just take care of the rail,” Jones said, “you’ve got to take care of the at-grade intersections…(and) grade separate them,”

Alexander Avenue is one local street that will need this attention as the S-Line makes progress. An underpass or tunnel at Peachtree Road and closing off Chavasse Avenue are also planned.

The Alexander Avenue project is one of three projects that have cleared one hurdle to be considered in future STIP funding, Jones said. The other two are making intersection improvements at Raleigh Road and Belmont Drive and a citywide signal system in Henderson. If they don’t make “committed” status in the next five years, they’ll have to compete again to get on the STIP list.

TownTalk: Accident Interferes With Phone And Internet Service

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Internet and phone services interrupted by accident early this morning plus Halloween is today!

 

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Early-Morning Crash Shuts Down Vance County’s Verizon, Spectrum Services

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A trash truck struck a low-hanging line near the intersection of NC 39 North and Spring Valley roads early Thursday morning, creating major disruptions to customers with Spectrum internet and Verizon wireless services.

According to Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow, the crash occurred at 4:30 a.m. Barrow said at this time, services are expected to be restored sometime Friday, Nov. 1.

As of Thursday morning, Vance County 911 calls are being forwarded to Granville County for dispatch during the service disruption.

Among other services affected include KARTS, which cannot receive calls during this outage. Additionally, a social media post from Vance County government states that county offices “have lost internet connectivity in all county buildings, and lost network, server and phone access in most buildings.”

 

 

 

 

 

Cooperative Extension With Jamon Glover: Nurturer Caregiver Archetype

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Cooperative Extension 

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

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Home And Garden Show

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

  • Vance County Regional Farmers Market is open on Saturdays 8am-1pm.
  • Vermiculture and Vermicomposting with Earthworms Workshop taking place on Monday, November 4th, starting at 6:30pm, led by Wayne Rowland. It will be at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market.
  • The Vance and Warren County Beekeepers Association will meet November 11, at 7pm at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market.
  • The Handcrafted Holiday Market is coming up at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market. Saturday, November 16th from 8am-2pm.
  • It is now too late to plant your Tall Fescue grass.
  • Do not let any weeds seed out in your garden.
  • It’s not too late to control fire ants. They are still around. So be aware of them!

The Vance County Regional Farmers Market is located at 210 Southpark Dr., Henderson, NC 27536

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The Local Skinny! Morse Clinic Ribbon Cutting

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Vance Recovery’s new 7,000 square-foot facility on West Andrews Avenue was officially welcomed Monday afternoon with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by local business leaders and county and municipal officials. But for now, the clinic will continue to provide services at its 510 Dabney Drive location.

Clinic owner Dr. Eric Morse and Program Director John Mattocks look forward to being able to welcome patients to the more spacious clinic by mid- to late November.

Morse’s MOUD approach – Medications to treat Opioid Use Disorder – helps individuals overcome addictions to street drugs like heroin and Fentanyl.

Mattocks told WIZS back in September he would love for people plagued by addiction to be encouraged and celebrated for choosing the MOUD approach instead of coming to the clinic as a last resort.

Vance Recovery is one of nine – soon to be 11 – clinics owned and operated by Morse, a nationally acclaimed leader in the field of opioid treatment and recovery programs. He said at the ribbon-cutting that Vance Recovery was the second of the clinics to open – in 2013 – and will be the largest once it occupies its new space at 932 W. Andrews Ave.

“We’re really excited about being able to treat even more people,” he said. “The Fentanyl epidemic is killing a lot of people.” He said he appreciates the local partnerships that Vance Recovery enjoys, from the City of Henderson to Maria Parham Health, Granville Vance Public Health, Daymark and others.

Although Vance Recovery currently is fully staffed, there are plans to add staff and be able to serve more clients.  During a walking tour of the new clinic, Morse said, “Because we have more space, we’ll be able to have more counselors and grow. So that’s a really important thing.”

Vance Recovery staffs a medical provider, at least one, Monday through Friday.  Morse said, “We don’t like for anybody to have to wait to see the doctor. If you need to be seen that day, you should be seen that day. And if we need to increase our doctor time, we’ve got other doctors who can give more.”

Also, Morse said there are usually at least four nurses working.

Morse now owns the clinic’s physical space and will be leasing to providers who are like-minded so there will be co-location to help more people.  Morse said, “So any of our patients that need that higher level of care, they don’t have to go anywhere else, they’re going to be here anyway to dose but they can also get more intensive counseling.”

Henderson Mayor Melissa Elliott said, “We already know the challenges we have in our community,” adding that patients who come to Vance Recovery also “get that hope and stay alive.”

Margier White, a member of the H-V Chamber board, said Vance County is fortunate to have the clinic in the community, which provides support not only to the addicted individual, but also to family members. White said she has had family members who have died from addiction, so having a clinic like Vance Recovery in the local area is “near and dear to my heart.”

Dr. Shauna Guthrie, GVPH medical director and chief medical officer at Maria Parham Health, said, “Vance Recovery has been an excellent partner for the hospital, for the health department,” and other agencies who provide services to patients with addiction.

Guthrie said people with opioid use disorder “often feel forgotten, neglected, ignored.” Having a shiny new clinic shows them, she said, that they are NOT forgotten, neglected or ignored because they have “a really nice place to go for care.”

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