Tag Archive for: #vancecountynews

Drought? What Drought? WIZS Listening Area Removed From ‘Abnormally Dry’ Status

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Given the recent downpours, showers and afternoon and evening thunderstorms, the WIZS listening area no longer is in the “abnormally dry” status posted by the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council.

Just last week, most of the state was experiencing some level of drought conditions, according to NCDROUGHT.ORG, but since then, that level has decreased, thanks to substantial rainfall. Only five counties remain in severe drought, with 30 counties still in moderate drought and 47 others in the abnormally dry category.

Rainfall totals vary widely across the four counties, with some areas reporting 1-inch, 2-inch, even 5-inch totals just in the last week.

The rain has been a welcome sight for farmers with crops in the field. Hopefully, corn and bean crops in the southeastern portion of the state have gotten some relief as well.

Aug. 6, 7 Forums To Provide Updates On Broadband Internet Expansion

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– information courtesy of the Office of N.C. Rep. Frank Sossamon

N.C. Rep. Frank Sossamon has scheduled upcoming forums – one in Vance County and one in Granville County – to provide updates on the status of expanding broadband internet across the counties he serves.

Leaders from the N.C. Department of Information Technology’s (NCDIT) Division of Broadband and Digital Equity will provide in-person updates on the state’s efforts to close the digital divide, according to a press statement from Sossamon’s office.

The Vance County forum will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 6 at Perry Memorial Library from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. NCDIT Deputy Secretary for Broadband and Digital Equity Nate Denny will be the speaker.

The Granville County forum will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 7, also from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., at the Granville County Expo Center. NCDIT Broadband Infrastructure Deputy Director George Collier will be the guest speaker.

To date, the Division of Broadband and Digital Equity has awarded more than $500 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to deploy high-speed internet infrastructure across North Carolina. This funding also supports initiatives to help residents afford internet access, obtain digital devices, and access digital literacy resources.

Specific to Granville and Vance counties, nearly $12 million has been awarded for projects connecting 5,828 homes and businesses. Highlights include:

  • Fybe: Awarded $1.8 million in June through the Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) program, with an additional $1.8 million from Granville County and over $1.5 million from Fybe, to expand high-speed internet to 1,720 homes and businesses in Granville County.
  • Spectrum: Awarded $4 million in CAB funds in 2023 to connect 1,530 homes and businesses in Granville County.
  • Brightspeed: Received $4 million in Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) grants to connect 1,914 homes and businesses in Granville County and nearly $2 million to connect 664 locations in Vance County.

Granville County Schools have also benefited from these efforts, recently receiving $400,000 to expand device lending programs, offer digital literacy training led by student interns, and establish community Wi-Fi locations through the division’s Digital Champion grant program.

Attendees at both sessions will have the opportunity to ask questions about the state’s broadband initiatives and individual projects aimed at bringing high-speed internet service and digital literacy resources to their county.

Community Information Series: “Post-Pandemic School Safety: It Takes ALL Of Us”

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The community is invited to attend a presentation titled “Post Pandemic School Safety; It takes ALL of Us” on Tuesday, Aug. 13 at Baskerville Funeral Chapel.

This is another in a series of community information sessions hosted by Charlie Baskerville, Jr. The upcoming presentation features Dr. Michael T. Williams, a facilitator with the N.C. Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Williams is also the author of  I Count Too: Affirming Students Who Look, Love, Learn, and Live Differently.

The presentation will be held from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the funeral home chapel, located at 104 S. Chestnut St., Henderson.

The event is free of charge and open to the public.

Donate Children’s Books To Contribute To 2024 Leadership Vance Class Project

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The 2024 Leadership Vance class invites the community to pitch in to help make their class project a success by donating children’s books that will be used to stock “Little Library” boxes at Fox Pond Park.

Please donate new or gently used children’s books and drop them off at any of several locations across Henderson, according to information from Tanya Wilson with the Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce.

Donation boxes can be found at Fire Station #1 on Dabney Drive, City Hall, 134 Rose Ave. or the Chamber office, 414 S. Garnett St.

The concept of placing small boxes throughout the community and filling them with books that individuals can take free of charge has been around since 2009, and increases access to books and encourages people to take a book to read or place a book for others to enjoy.

KTCOG Hosting Family Caregiver Conference Aug. 6; Focus On Dementia Care

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The Kerr Tar Family Caregiver Conference is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 6 and registration is now open for family caregivers and professionals who are interested in learning about caring for individuals with dementia.

The half-day conference begins at 9 a.m. with check-in, breakfast and networking at the Vance-Granville Community College Civic Center Auditorium.

The conference is presented by Dementia Alliance of North Carolina. Melanie Bunn, a registered nurse and dementia care specialist with the alliance, is one of the speakers along with Michael Patterson, KTCOG’s family caregiver specialist.

Family caregivers can register for $10; professional caregivers register for $25 and have the opportunity to earn three continuing education unit credits.

Visit www.DementiaNC.org/2024Henderson to register online or contact Lisa Levine  at 919.832.3732 to register by phone. Walk-in registrations are welcome on the day of the conference.

Visit www.kerrtarcog.org to find out about all the programs and services the KTCOG provides across Vance, Granville, Warren, Franklin and Person counties.

Community Partners of Hope

Men’s Shelter Hits Snag; Move-In Day Delayed

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Move-in day at the new City Road Center for Hope men’s shelter has been delayed while a few issues with final inspections are resolved, but shelter officials have said they hope all will be addressed in as timely a manner as possible and the shelter can become fully operational.

“In spite of all of our efforts to build a safe ADA compliant structure for our men’s shelter, we have hit a snag with the fire inspection and are in negotiations now to find a solution and get things resolved as quickly as possible,” according to an email sent Thursday to WIZS by shelter staff.

The shelter is almost ready, and as soon as the final certificate of occupancy is received, the move will take place. “We ask for your prayers for a speedy resolution.”

No matter where the physical shelter is located, however, there remains a need for meals, individually wrapped snacks for clients and supplies like laundry detergent pods.

The shelter snack shelves could really use some PopTarts, breakfast bars, peanut butter crackers and chips.

Please sign up HERE if you or your organization can help provide a meal. Call 252.432.9494 if you need assistance in signing up.

Stay up to date at www.cp-hope.org

Town Talk Logo

TownTalk: Welcome Chapel Pastor Celebrates Anniversary With Aug. 4 Service

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Welcome Chapel Missionary Baptist Church is hosting a special celebration to mark the first anniversary of its minister, the Rev. Dennis White.

The community is invited to take part in the event, which is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 4 at 3 p.m.

White was a guest on Wednesday’s TownTalk to discuss details of what will be happening that day. He said any pastoral anniversary is cause for celebration and this one is no exception. “It’s always a drawing card to a church,” he said.

The guest speaker for the occasion will be Rev. Kevin L. Chandler from Trinity Baptist Church in South Boston, VA and the New Sandy Creek Missionary Baptist Church Male Chorus from Keely, VA will perform.

White comes to Henderson from Greensboro, where he founded Faith Walk Baptist Church. The pandemic took its toll on the small congregation, White said, so after 17 years with that church, he accepted the call to Welcome Chapel.

“It was God’s design and God’s plan,” he said. “There’s no better place to be than where God has placed you…I am so excited to be at Welcome Chapel.”

Founding a ministry helped White become a better leader – “I was able to be very involved with every aspect of the ministry…it helped sharpen my leadership skills.”

White describes himself as a humble, faithful, people-oriented pastor. “I love being a pastor and doing it God’s way,” he said.

But he’s also a father – two children and two grandchildren – and a husband – married 32 years – and a counselor by training. Those roles feed into the role of pastor, too.

Having completed a master’s degree in pastoral counseling at Liberty University, White said he considers himself someone who is very approachable to those who seek his guidance. “This day and time, people need counseling in many areas of their lives,” White said.

The church is located at 237 Welcome Ave. in Henderson.

The Local Skinny! Chestnut Street Park Revitalization Project

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Charles Turrentine Jr. grew up on Hamilton Street, so it was a short walk down to Chestnut Street Park, where he spent time playing basketball and hanging out with his friends.

The park is due an upgrade, and Turrentine is spearheading an effort to give the park a facelift.

As the old saying goes, all it takes is time and money.

“It’s a collective effort,” he said on Monday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

Turrentine’s church, Davis Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, is located across the street from the park, and he said they’ve sort of adopted it, putting into action a plan to make some much-needed changes so the park can once again be a place for the whole community to enjoy.

“We’re really in action with the revitalization effort,” he said. “We want a modernized park that’s open to everyone.”

Rep. Frank Sossamon has joined the effort, and is one of several folks featured in a 2-minute video about the project, which can be seen on YouTube. Turrentine and Sossamon have known each other for a good while, and Turrentine said the pastor-turned-legislator contacted him asking how he could help.

Once the site of a tobacco warehouse, the park was donated by J.P Taylor in the early 1970’s and the surface for all the courts is the original warehouse floor. The plan includes other amenities like installing a cover over the courts, and adding water and electricity.

The first phase will be resurfacing the courts, which will involve taking down the hoops and the chainlink fencing that surrounds the park.

Turrentine said the resurfacing alone has a $20,000 price tag.

Inflation and the spike in construction materials and costs, has bumped the original estimate of about $100,000 to more like $500,000, he said. The fencing alone could cost upwards of $30,000.

He hopes to make some tweaks to the video and use a slightly longer version to help with fundraising efforts. The idea now is to get started at the beginning of 2025, using the rest of 2024 to promote the project and raise money.

There already are different ways to donate, including a GoFundMe page and making a tax-deductible donation at Davis Chapel Missionary Baptist Church. All donations will go to fund the project, Turrentine said.

“We have to do it in phases, as the money comes in and we get more support,” Turrentine explained. And he is confident about the success of the project and what it will mean for the community.

“We can change the narrative of Henderson,” he said, putting aside differences and raising money to create a modern park for all to enjoy.

Find the “Every Court Has A Story – Chestnut Street Park” video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTW0q-4CXqA&t=21

Vance Sheriff: Two Arrested On Drug Charges In Separate Traffic Stops

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-Press releases from Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame

The Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Division of the Vance County Sheriff’s Office made two arrests and seized several different types of pills and controlled substances in two different traffic stops this week.

On Monday, July 8, a traffic stop was conducted on a vehicle operated by Kenneth D. Bullock of Henderson.

Agents located and seized a quantity of both Hydrocodone and Oxycodone pills, along with a single dosage unit of the street drug Ecstasy, a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance.

Bullock was arrested and charged with the following criminal offenses:

  • Felony Possession of a Schedule 2 Controlled Substance
  • Felony Possession of a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance
  • Felony Possession with Intent to Sell and Deliver a Schedule 2 Controlled Substance
  • Felony Maintaining a Vehicle to Keep/Sell/Transport a Controlled Substance

Bullock was placed under a secured bond in the amount of $30,000.

The second traffic stop took place on Wednesday, July 10, involving a vehicle found to be operated by Quintavious Alston of Henderson.

During this encounter, agents located and seized a quantity of Oxycodone pills, marijuana and a single dosage unit of the street drug Ecstasy.

 Alston was arrested and charged with the following criminal offenses:

  • Trafficking a Schedule 2 Controlled Substance
  • Felony Possession of a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance
  • Felony Possession with Intent to Sell and Deliver a Schedule 2 Controlled Substance
  • Felony Maintaining a Vehicle to Keep/Sell/Transport a Controlled Substance
  • Simple Possession of marijuana
  • Carrying a Concealed Weapon

Alston was surrendered to the Vance County Detention Facility under no bond as he was currently out on bond for a prior arrest also related to drug violations.

Distinguished Alumni Award Due To VGCC Foundation Board By Aug. 31

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The Vance-Granville Community College Foundation board is seeking nominations for its third annual Distinguished Alumni award. Nominations are due by Aug. 31.

Throughout its 55-year history, VGCC has served the citizens of Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties, preparing them for careers and further secondary education in dozens of certificate and curriculum programs.

Many alumni of VGCC have gone on to make significant impact in their communities and careers. Two years ago, the Vance-Granville Community College Foundation began recognizing one outstanding VGCC alumnus each year with the Distinguished Alumni Award. The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes and honors outstanding alumni who have made significant contributions to their community, college or career. Mara Shelton was the 2022 recipient; Dr. Priscilla Chavis-Lockley was honored in 2023.

Alumni who have completed a diploma or degree program at VGCC are eligible for the award. Current VGCC Foundation Board members are not eligible. Selection will be based on the following criteria:

  • Exhibits outstanding leadership and character
  • Achieved significant accomplishments in career area
  • Exhibits outstanding service to the community
  • Supports VGCC in some capacity

Visit www.vgcc.edu/foundation to complete the nomination form or request one via email at foundation@vgcc.edu. Please note that nominees remain nominated for three years after the receipt of their nomination.

The award will be presented during the annual the VGCC Foundation Scholarship Awards Luncheon on Sept. 26.