Tag Archive for: #thelocalskinny

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The Local Skinny! Gain Computer Skills At VGCC Franklin Campus Training Hub

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Vance-Granville Community College, in partnership with a Wake Forest company, has opened up a computer hub at its Franklin Campus to improve the community’s access to technology.

Not only will DigitalBridge provide classes to help individuals learn how to use technology, but the hub is a place where people can come in a get a document printed, for example.

Stephanie Tolbert, VGCC dean of Business, Applied Technologies and Public Services, said the training hub addresses three challenges underserved communities face when it comes to using technology: connectivitiy, affordability and workforce skills training.

The hub is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at the Franklin Campus, located at 8100 Hwy 56 just outside of Louisburg. Additional times and days are available by appointment, Tolbert noted during Monday’s TownTalk.

They had a ribbon-cutting recently and have placed signs outside and in to direct people to the hub.

“We are ready, willing and able to help,” Tolbert said. “Just come to Franklin Campus and walk right into the lab.”

Let’s say you received a document via email, but you need help printing it, Tolbert said. Stop by the hub and get help making a copy. Or say you want to add a certain technology certification to boost your resume – there are more than 130 courses available in a self-paced format, Erica Hixon said.

And it’s all provided at no cost to the participant, Hixon, DigitalBridge’s project lead, said.

The information is all tailored to the individual, depending on goals and skill levels, Hixon said.

“Training is offered in-person or remote,” she added, with career coaches available to guide their efforts.

Whether it’s learning how to print a document, complete an online application all the way up to learning to write computer code, there’s something for everyone. A simple assessment will help target skill levels, so students won’t have to sit through learning information they already know.

It’s all about helping people get jobs, or get better jobs, while they’re gaining confidence with using technology.

“DigitalBridge is an initiative that serves to meet people where they are,” said VGCC Public Information Officer Courtney Cissel.

The idea for the training hub began when VGCC President Dr. Rachel Desmarais was at a national community college conference on entrepreneurship, Tolbert said. Once Desmarais learned about the Wake Forest group, the links were established and the training hub is the result.

“We had to go all the way to a conference to be introduced to someone in our own backyard,” Tolbert said. Desmarais recognized the need for the community, she said, adding that it’s not just a good partnership for the institution, but also for the community.

Learn about all the services the hub can provide by visiting https://mydigitalbridge.org/ or by calling 919.246.5700.

Cooperative Extension With Wayne Rowland: Timber Sale Agreements

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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.

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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.

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Interim County Manager Explains Details Of Fire Study Process

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Vance County Interim County Manager Scott Elliott has a unique vantage point as plans for the county’s fire services study makes their way from start to finish.

In his role as county manager, he’s responsible for providing guidance and support to county commissioners – the board voted to conduct the study – while making sure that the paid fire personnel are doing their job – he’s their boss, after all.

Elliott spoke to WIZS News Wednesday afternoon and acknowledged the fire services study has been the topic of some discussion in the community.

“It’s an issue that people are passionate about and have feelings about,” Elliott said.

Commissioners had discussion – rather heated at times – during their meeting last week, about whether the public safety committee should have oversight of the fire study.

Elliott recommended that this should be a matter for the full board, but most commissioners did not see it that way – the vote was 4-3 to have the public safety committee, the fire commission oversee the project, with Elliott’s input.

“They’re the decision makers at the end of the day,” he said, “We have to respect that.”

He said, however, that he and county staff have the responsibility of guiding the commission and leading them along the right path.

The path to a completed fire study is expected to take consultants AP Triton about four months to complete.

Elliott said he asked Vance County Fire Chief Chris Wright to direct any questions from the media to the county manager’s office instead of fielding the inquiries himself. That way, Elliott said, Wright can “focus on providing fire services he currently has on his plate.”

“Until we have results of fire study, we thought it’d be better … to not have county staff taking positions on things when we don’t know what the outcome of the study will be,” Elliott noted. Even once the recommendations are submitted to the full board, Elliott said there’s no way to know now if commissioners will implement them.

There are a lot of questions swirling around about what the fire services study will bring forth, but Elliott said he’s confident that it will be a comprehensive study of the existing system – including the Golden Belt Fire District and all the volunteer districts across the county.

“It shouldn’t be a complicated study or analysis,” he said. “They’re to give us their professional analysis of our system…and how to make it better.”

Alan Gill Steps In As Interim Director Of Vance County Board Of Elections

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Alan Gill has been named to serve as interim Vance County Board of Elections director following the recent announcement that Melody Vaughan is stepping down from that position.

Gill told WIZS News Monday that he began today and he and Vaughan will have a couple of weeks to have some overlap before she leaves on Aug. 25.

“There’s a lot of things that need to go on,” Gill said, with city elections looming in early October and then elections in Kittrell and Middleburg a month later.

Gill has experience with elections that take place in the county and he has been a chief judge – mostly in the West Henderson polling location – since the early 2000’s. He also has worked the early vote sites since he retired from his job as director of the Vance County Recreation and Parks Department in 2014.

“If I can help, I’m glad to,” Gill said of his interim director role. “I’m actually quite happy just doing the chief judge duties, but didn’t want to see the Vance County Board of Elections left in a hard spot,” he added.

He also served a stint as deputy director a few years ago, so he has experience in much of the office operations, including processing registrations, cross-checking databases and updating addresses and voter information.

The position has been advertised, so Gill said he didn’t know how long this interim position will last. It could last through November, however, meaning that Gill will be the person leading the county’s election workers through the early-voting period and then carry out the Oct. 3 Henderson municipal elections.

“I know almost all of the election workers and most of the people that are at the sites that we use for voting,” Gill said, “so if I can help out and we get through this election in good shape, then I’ll be happy.”

Click Play – Broadcast Audio from 8-15-23

The Local Skinny! Granville Humane Society To Hold Fund Raising Event

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The Granville County Humane Society is sponsoring Paws for Granville next month as a fun way for the community to help dogs and cats in the area.

Paws for Granville is a free event that will be held on Saturday, Sept. 30 at the Granville County Expo Center on US Hwy 15 just south of Oxford, according to Angela Gooch, a Humane Society volunteer helping to spread the word about the upcoming fundraiser.

Gooch talked with WIZS’s Bill Harris on Monday’s segment of The Local Skinny! and said it’s been a tough year for shelters all over the state.

“It’s been a very difficult year with all the surrenders and sick animals that have come in,” Gooch said.

Paws for Granville is one of two fundraisers sponsored by the local humane society each year to help pay for local spay/neuter programs.

Although the event is free, there will be a truck on site to accept donations of dog and cat food to stock the pet pantry, which is used to help low-income clients provide food for their pets.

More than 80 vendors are scheduled to bring an array of handcrafted items, from jewelry to fishing lures, Gooch said. Participants can enjoy browsing among the vendor booths from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

A variety of food trucks are driving in as well, she said. And Next Level Kennels, one of the main sponsors for the event, will have its mobile grooming van on site.

All across the area, animal shelters report being at capacity, and Gooch said rescue groups and foster agencies are working hard to get adoptable animals into homes.

In Granville County alone, the shelter has spent $15,000 to spay and neuter dogs and cats.

Gooch said that, typically, there are more cats that get turned in to shelters, but that has not been the case in Granville County lately.

“Dogs have been coming in great, great numbers,” she said, adding that “rescues are full and (they) have no place to go.”

The group needs volunteers to help with the event, and are always looking for foster families for the animals.

There are about 30 animals available now through the humane society. “It is a labor of love and it takes a lot of time and patience,” Gooch said of her work and the work of other rescuers and fosters.

To learn more, call 919.691.9114, follow the group on Facebook, email hsgcncinfo@gmail.com or visit www.hsgc.nc.org.

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Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Wildlife Habitat

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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.

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The Local Skinny! Pop The Hood: Air Filters

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— For our sponsor, Advance Auto Parts, as part of a paid radio sponsorship on WIZS.

Air filters play a vital role in preventing dirt, grit and other impurities from fouling vehicle engines. In the old days, the air filter casing was pretty easy to spot: it was round like a donut and sat right up there on top in a housing that resembles a frying pan.

At least that’s how WIZS co-host John Stevenson said he describes it. These days, however, an air filter is likely found in a rectangular housing near the inside of one of the fenders.Stevenson and colleague Bill Harris discussed the finer points of air filters on the Pop the Hood segment of The Local Skinny!

Let the folks at Advance Auto Parts help you figure out the right type for your make and model.

With just a few bits of information – make, model, year and/or the VIN – the staff at Advance Auto can help you determine the exact type of filter you need.

The air filter should be changed annually – more often, though, if you drive along dusty areas like gravel roads or other places that kicks up dirt.

A clogged air filter can affect your vehicle’s overall performance, Stevenson said.

“It can affect your gas mileage and could throw a check engine light,” he said.

And if your vehicle rolled off the assembly line earlier than 1989, don’t go looking for its cabin air filter – they were first introduced in 1989.

 

The information contained in this post is not advice from Advance Auto Parts or WIZS.  Safety First!  Always seek proper help.  This is presented for its informational value on and is part of a paid advertising sponsorship.

 

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Cooperative Extension With Jamon Glover: Discipline Theories

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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.

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Home And Garden Show

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

  • Check house plants if they have become root bound and replant them in larger containers.
  • If you haven’t checked the oil on your mower lately, do it before the next use.
  • Take out vegetables that have slowed production use the space for fall vegetables
  • Pull, spray or trim microstegium before it sets seed.
  • Prepare for your fall garden.
  • Collect seed from coneflower, rudbeckia, marigold, zinnia, sunflowers and other flowers to reduce seed costs next year. Avoid collecting from hybrid varieties and store seed in a cool, dry location.

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