Wayne Rowland, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:
Two-Spotted spider mites can invade landscape plants quickly in hot dry conditions.
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UPDATE July 2, 7:25 PM
The Vance County Department of Social Services Board of Directors has voted to dismiss DSS Director Sandy Weaver.
Weaver was appointed to the role on Oct. 1, 2024. County Attorney Jonathan Care confirmed the board’s decision took place on Wednesday, June 18 in an interview with WIZS News Tuesday.
“The county’s official statement is ‘This is a DSS personnel matter,’” Care said, adding that the DSS board is the hiring authority of the director.
“She was within her nine-month probationary period, and they voted before the expiration of that probationary period not to continue her employment,” Care said.
But DSS Board Chair Leonard Frieson said, “Because of pending matters, I can’t say anything. You need to contact the county attorney or the county manager – they will speak for me.”
The newly adopted county budget for 2025-26 includes $10,225,717 for administrative costs at DSS, according to County Manager C. Renee Perry. Perry told WIZS News Wednesday that Cassandra Hart is the interim director.
Perry referred other questions to the DSS Board Chair. WIZS reached out to Frieson Wednesday for comment. “Due to pending legal action I cannot comment at this time,” Frieson stated.
In May 2025, the state notified the county that it would be taking over part of the DSS child welfare services, citing numerous safety violations and social work practices that didn’t align with law, rule or policy – despite having been under a correction action plan since June 2024.
Then last week, a cybersecurity breach occurred at Vance County DSS that is currently under investigation.
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UPDATE July 1, 4:56 PM
The Vance County Department of Social Services Board of Directors has voted to dismiss DSS Director Sandy Weaver.
Weaver was appointed to the role on Oct. 1, 2024. County Attorney Jonathan Care confirmed the board’s decision took place on Wednesday, June 18 in an interview with WIZS News Tuesday.
“The county’s official statement is ‘This is a DSS personnel matter,’” Care said, adding that the DSS board is the hiring authority of the director.
“She was within her nine-month probationary period, and they voted before the expiration of that probationary period not to continue her employment,” Care said.
But DSS Board Chair Leonard Frieson said, “Because of pending matters, I can’t say anything. You need to contact the county attorney or the county manager – they will speak for me.”
In May 2025, the state notified the county that it would be taking over part of the DSS child welfare services, citing numerous safety violations and social work practices that didn’t align with law, rule or policy – despite having been under a correction action plan since June 2024.
A cybersecurity breach occurred last week at Vance County DSS that is under investigation by state and federal authorities.
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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.
The Vance County Cooperative Extension is located at 305 Young St, Henderson, NC 27536
The Vance County Regional Farmers Market is located at 210 Southpark Dr., Henderson, NC 27536
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Kids can beat the heat on Tuesday mornings in July by ducking into Perry Memorial Library and catching a movie. And parents, you can’t beat the price: it’s FREE!
The movie series kicked off today with the popular Dog Man on the big screen. The movies begin at 11 a.m., and Youth Services Librarian Melody Peters said next up is Mufasa on July 8, followed by Sonic 3 on July 22.
Tuesday afternoons heat up with a string of “Color My World” activities, the Summer Reading Program theme.
On Tuesday, July 8 at 4 p.m., it’s “Color My World With Fossils” when Coleman Davis with the N.C. Fossil Club brings his collection to the library.
Peters said the club, founded through the N.C. Museum of History, sends representatives to places like Perry Library to do outreach activities.
“It’s quite something,” Peters said of Davis’s collection. “I learned so much last year.”
But Tuesdays don’t get all the fun stuff during the summer – Thursdays are filled with activities for all ages of young people all day long.
There’s Mother Goose Story Time at 11 on Thursdays, where children 0-5 (and their siblings, too) can gather to enjoy stories and songs with a summer theme.
Then, on Thursday afternoons, a shorter version of the story time kicks off at 3:30 p.m. “It’s designed for families on the go,” Peters said. A quick story followed by those ever-popular bubbles for children from PK through elementary school.
Kids can stay for LEGO Club or STEAM Club, which start at 4 p.m. for the younger crowd, or stick around for Teen Time in the Maker Space, which will be stocked with snacks and arts and crafts activities.
Peters said the summer reading program is off to a good start, and she is pleased to see that entire families are participating.
“I love the response we’re getting,” she said. “We’ve got families reading together,” she said, filling out very simple reading logs and then coming in and choosing their prizes.
It’s a great way for parents to get involved with their kids’ activities, she said.
Check out www.perrylibrary.org to view the complete schedule of events and activities.
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There are still a few spots available for Rebuilding Hope Inc.’s Kids Construction Camp, which gives young people an opportunity to learn about tools and how to use them.
The three-day camp takes place Aug. 6-8 at Rebuilding Hope’s facility, 414 Raleigh Rd. from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, said Tom Wille, co-director of Rebuilding Hope. The camp will be capped at 30; Wille said Monday there’s space for 5 or 6 more.
The camp is free and gives youngsters in 3rd-6th grade a chance to visit a variety of stations set up to learn about hammers and nails, electrical and plumbing, as well as block laying, roofing and more.
Wille said it’s a really good thing that the children get to learn some construction skills through hands-on activities, and “they learn a little about Jesus through the Bible Study,” he added.
Parents and guardians can find the application at www.rebuildinghopeinc.org or stop by the office, 414 Raleigh Rd. and pick up a paper copy.
The stations are mock-ups of real-life applications, but don’t worry – it’s all safe. The campers will be learning how to shingle a roof, but the roof is only waist-high, Wille said.
“Everything is safe, but they get the point to see how it’s done…see the tools that are involved,” he said.
The Kids Construction Camp could be a steppingstone to another opportunity for youth that Rebuilding Hope hosts each year: Servants on Site.
This weeklong program wrapped up last week, with 114 young people and even more adult volunteers working together to replace the roof on nine different homes in Vance and Warren counties.
“We were able to take the Gospel to our world – our Jerusalem, which is right here in Vance County and a couple of surrounding counties,” Wille said.
That in and of itself is good news, he said, but the even better news is that a number of youth participants and one of the homeowners professed their love of Christ during the week.
This year’s S.O.S. theme was “Follow Me,” and Wille said the participants got a chance to witness what it’s like to help those in need.
“They’ve made lifelong friends, seen things that they would (otherwise) not see and see how it directly affects the community around them. It’s a pretty awesome thing.”
The kids worked during the hottest week of the year and got a chance to see that hard work pays off – and makes a difference. “You get this opportunity to focus on thing of importance and things that matter,” he said. “It does become clearer…there are more important things than TikTok.”
The evenings were spent at Central Baptist Church, with high-energy Christian Rock music, a worship service, devotional time and small-group discussions about the goings-on of the day.
Several kids made the altar call, he said, a tribute to the power that comes with young people coming together to serve their community in the name of Jesus.
“We can talk about Jesus all we want to, but if we’re not out there relating to them, people are not going to see it,” Wille said.
“If we don’t get out there and show that compassion, that tenderness, the forgiveness, we don’t mirror God.”
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Michael Ellington, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:
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