Tag Archive for: #vancecountynews

RR Crossing Repairs

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As the old joke goes, there’s good news and bad news about a few railroad crossings in the area: The good news is that four crossings are being repaired during the next couple of weekends. The bad news is that motorists will be rerouted for a couple of days while the improvements are being made.

Beginning on Friday, Jan. 14 at 6:30 a.m., the crossing at N.C. 39 and Andrews Avenue and the crossing at Welcome Avenue near Saint Matthews St. in the southern part of the city will be closed to traffic. CSX Railroad has scheduled the repairs and routine required maintenance to begin Friday and be completed by sometime Saturday, Jan. 15.

The statement from the city said detour routes would be marked.

The following weekend – Jan. 21 and Jan. 22 – the crossing at J.P. Taylor Road, just off Raleigh Road and the crossing at State Road 1595 near Eastern Minerals, will be closed for repairs and maintenance.

Inclement weather could affect the times and dates.

Maria Parham Health

Maria Parham Tweaks Visitor Guidelines In Response To COVID-19 Spike

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Maria Parham Health has announced updated guidelines for visitors to the hospital, effective today, Wednesday, Jan. 5.

A hospital patient who is COVID-19 negative may have one visitor per day during the 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. visiting hours window. The visitor may change each day, but no visitor may stay overnight. Visitors are required to wear an appropriate face mask at all times, except when actively eating or drinking. Gaiter-style face coverings are not acceptable.

The visitor must stay in the patient room and observe all infection prevention protocols including social distancing and frequent hand washing in addition to wearing a face mask.

Things are a bit different for those patients who have tested positive for COVID-19, however.

Those patients may have no visitors, unless it’s an end-of-life situation, according to the hospital’s webpage and social media posts. In such situations, no more than two members of the patient’s immediate family may visit at one time.

Patients entering the hospital through the Emergency Room may have one visitor each day. Visitors may change each day, but they are not permitted to wait in the lobby/waiting area with patients waiting to be seen. Visitors should wait in their cars until the patient is put into a room, but COVID-19 positive patients that come through the ER are not allowed any visitors.

Obstetrical patients in labor or giving birth may have one support person per day, and that person may stay with the patient throughout her labor, but must stay in the patient’s room.

Pediatric patients are allowed two visitors per day and those visitors also  may change each day. Pediatric inpatients are allowed to have one overnight visitor, but, again those visitors must remain in the patient’s room.

Visit mariaparham.com to view the policy in its entirety.

Community Partners Of Hope Has New Community Network Specialist

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The newest staff member at Community Partners of Hope, Inc. of Henderson, may be new to the job, but she certainly is not new to the community. Delthine Watson has lived and worked in Vance County for the past 25 years, and she brings a passion for the local outreach ministry to the newly created position.

Watson, a native of Warren County, is the community network specialist for CPOH. The position is designed to help the organization expand services and outreach to homeless men in the community. Watson said she wants to take things to a new level. “I want to be instrumental in improving my community,” she said in a press release to WIZS News.

CPOH Volunteer Coordinator Jane King said, “Watson has supported our ministry for many years volunteering wherever needed and organizing her church to supply meals on a regular basis. She has a heart for service to go along with her experience in helping people navigate hard times.”

Watson understands the challenges of communities with limited resources, said Pastor Joseph Ratliff of Shiloh Baptist Church. “Yet, she knows local, state, and federal possibilities for additional resources,” Ratliff said.

Pastor Matthew Copple of First Presbyterian Church explains that CPOH’s decision to form this new role speaks loudly about the organization’s priority to expand its reach to the men it serves and the community at large. “Her [Watson’s] voice will remind our leaders and community organizations that a community’s success is defined by how it cares for its most vulnerable members,” said Copple.

Board Chairman Mike Holland has set a bold goal to relocate the emergency shelter to a location that will sustain year-round operation and space for education and job training. Under his leadership, the board of directors – coupled with Watson’s expertise – looks forward to a banner year for CPOH in 2022.

Watson said she dreams of eliminating homelessness altogether, but until that time, there is plenty more work to do by providing hot meals and temporary lodging.

Board member Ron Cava said the board is pleased to have Watson in the new position. Her education and experience in various social services and counseling uniquely qualify her for this position, he said. “We are pleased to have someone of Delthine’s character, experience, and passion for service with the homeless to join our team.” Cava said.

The community ministry serves Henderson by safely sheltering homeless men, providing them warmth, nourishment, guidance, and encouragement. Since its opening 12 years ago, improvements to the shelter and management have increased capacity to move men from chronic homelessness to more hopeful potential for housing. CPOH seasonally operates a men’s homeless shelter November through March, providing service to 60-80 men each season. Its companion service, Hope House, offers temporary residence for up to six men who are transitioning out of homelessness.

In her new role, Watson will work closely with the board of directors and other CPOH staff to provide support, coordination, guidance, and visibility for services offered to homeless men. Through her networking with regional agencies and organizations, CPOH will enhance the potential for each homeless man to find healing, work and housing.

Learn more at www.cp-hope.org.

NCDOT Bike Helmet Program Puts Free Helmets On Kids’ Heads

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The goal of the state Department of Transportation’s annual bicycle helmet initiative is to reduce bicycle injuries and deaths. Applications are available now for agencies to get up to 100 free bike helmets for young cyclists.

As part of the initiative, applicants are encouraged to partner with government and non-government agencies to host bike safety events. Examples of partners include police and fire departments, parks and recreation departments, health departments and community centers, as well as churches and other non-governmental organizations.

Applications are due by 5 p.m. on Feb. 4, 2022, according to information from NCDOT. Applicants may request 25, 50, 75 or 100 helmets and the groups awarded are scheduled to receive the helmets by April 29, 2022.

The selection process has been revised and is no longer limited to government agencies. Helmets will be awarded and distributed once per calendar year in the spring and awardees will have the remainder of the calendar year to host their safety program and then provide a report within 30 days of the event.

The program was started in 2007 and is overseen by the DOT’s integrated mobility division. Money to fund the program comes from sales of the Share The Road specialty license plate. Since its inception, the initiative has provided thousands of helmets to low-income children – more than 30,000 in the past five years alone. Statistics show that less than half of all children wear a helmet while biking, but wearing a helmet can reduce the risk of severe brain injuries by almost 90 percent for children involved in bike accidents.

About 20 bicyclists die in biking accidents each year in North Carolina – one in six of those are under the age of 16. The use of bike helmets was found to reduce head injury by 48 percent, serious head injury by 60 percent, traumatic brain injury by 53 percent, face injury by 23 percent and the total number of cyclists killed or seriously injured by 34 percent.

Visit the NCDOT Bicycle Helmet Initiative webpage for more information and to download the application.

Court, School, Government and More Affected by Weather

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WIZS LOCAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

COURT –

  • The Vance County Clerk of Superior Court, Henry Gupton, says “the courthouse and clerk’s office will open Tuesday morning at 10 o’clock.  Magistrate court will start at 10:30 a.m. and superior court will resume at 11 a.m.”

SCHOOL –

  • Vance County Schools – asynchronous remote learning day January 4 for all students and school-based instructional staff. All other staff will operate with an optional workday with buildings opening at 10 a.m.
  • Crossroads Christian School – 2 hour delay January 4

GOVERNMENT –

  • Vance County Board of Commissioners’ meeting – rescheduled for Monday, January 10th at 6:00 p.m.

MORE –

  • Henderson-Vance Recreation & Parks basketball practices scheduled for Monday, January 3rd – cancelled

COVID-19 Cases Continue To Rise In Vance, Granville

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The Granville-Vance Health District reported Wednesday almost 400 new cases of COVID-19 in the past seven days across the two counties.

There have been 194 new cases in Vance County, and 202 new cases in Granville County, according to the report. Those numbers represent a 15.4 percent positivity rate in Vance and a 7.1 percent positivity rate in Granville.

GVPH Director Lisa Harrison noted, however, that those numbers likely will rise. “Lots of tests and lab entries are being made and transferred this week and we know these numbers will go up a significant amount in short order,” the report stated.

“The numbers reported today (Wednesday) from the state system above do not yet reflect the cases our team entered today which exceed another 200 cases reported to us,” Harrison said in a footnote included in the report.

All data, as well as outbreaks and clusters, are reported through the NC Electronic Disease Surveillance System and are available for review on the state’s data dashboard here: https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/.

According to the CDC COVID Data Tracker, the numbers reported by the state mean that both counties are considered in the “high community transmission” category.

To date, there have been 7,665 cases of COVID-19 in Vance and 8,901 cases in Granville County for a total of 16,566 across the health district.

Deaths as a result of COVID-19 are 104 in Vance and 107 in Granville, for a total of 211 deaths across the health district.

For those who may want to calculate percentages, the total population of Vance County is 44,535 and 60,443 for Granville County.

Visit CDC Data Tracker by County and the NCDHHS COVID-19 Dashboard find the most recent information about COVID-19. Relevant graphs from these dashboards are available on our website at https://gvph.org/covid-19_dashboard/

In Vance County:

  • 63 percent of those over the age of 5 have received at least one dose of their COVID-19 vaccine – 58 percent are fully vaccinated
  • 14 percent of those ages 5-11 have received at least one dose and 8 percent are fully vaccinated
  • 46 percent of those ages 12-17 have received at least one dose and 40 percent are fully vaccinated

In Granville County:

  • 67 percent over the age of 5 have received at least one dose of their COVID-19 vaccine and 63 percent are fully vaccinated
  • 16 percent of those ages 5-11 years have received at least one dose and 10 percent are fully vaccinated
  • 44 percent of those ages 12-17 have received at least one dose and 40 percent are fully vaccinated

GVPH has administered 35,338 vaccines – 18,248 first doses and 17,090 second doses, an increase of 52 from last week’s numbers of 35,286 total vaccines, including 18,219 first doses and 17,067 second doses.

The Local Skinny! Public Hearing Jan. 3 To Begin County Budget Discussions

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Updated 01-04-22 at 12:30 p.m. —

Kelly H. Grissom – Executive Assistant/Clerk to Board of the Vance County Board of Commissioners – informs WIZS, “A 10-day notice is required for public hearings.”

She said, therefore, that a new notice would be prepared on the pre-budget public hearing and that the public hearing would be postponed until the February meeting.

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Update 01-03-22 at 1:30 p.m. —

The Vance County Board of Commissioners’ meeting was rescheduled for Monday, January 10th at 6:00 p.m. due to inclement weather.

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The Vance County board of commissioners will hold a public hearing on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022 to hear from residents about the 2022-23 budget.

This “pre-budget” public hearing will be held in the commissioners’ meeting room at 122 Young St. and is scheduled to begin shortly after 6 p.m., according to information from County Manager Jordan McMillen.

This is the first of two public hearings to hear from residents about suggestions and priorities for the upcoming budget.

The county manager is scheduled to submit a recommended budget in May. The second public hearing is planned for June 6, 2022 and then the board must adopt a final budget no later than July 1, when the new fiscal year begins.

Britton Brings Passion For Sports To Job At HVRPD

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The Henderson-Vance Recreation & Parks Department has a new program specialist, according to information from assistant director Tara Goolsby.

Kevin Britton, a Durham native, joins the department and brings a love of all sports and enthusiasm for improving the community, according to a press release.

Britton said he he’s had a passion for sports and recreation since he was 8 years old through his local Boys & Girls club. He graduated from Durham High School and attended N.C. Central University on a basketball scholarship. He was a member of the 1989 Eagles national championship team.

After college, he worked for the Durham Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club, was an assistant basketball coach at the Durham School of the Arts and coached a nationally ranked Division I AAU basketball team.

In his spare time, Britton enjoys fishing and spending time with his new grandson.

HVRPD welcomes Britton to the community.

Vance County Logo

County Employees Recognized For Years Of Service

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Several employees have been recognized for their years of service within county government. County Manager presented Cathy Hope, payroll specialist, with a certificate marking her 15-year anniversary. Hope started as an income maintenance caseworker and worked her way up to income maintenance supervisor. She transferred in July to the county’s payroll department.

Tax Administrator Porcha Brooks thanked Sandra Durham and Jonathan Morris for completing five years of service. Durham is a personal property appraiser with the tax office and Morris is a real property appraiser.

Kevin Brown, the county’s first information technology director, recently completed 10 years of service with the county. McMillen presented him with a 10-year anniversary certificate and said that Brown also recently announced his retirement. “We wish him all the best. You will certainly be missed,” a post on the county’s social media site.

Several members of the Vance County Sheriff’s Office received certificates for their years of service as well. Sheriff Curtis Brame recognized Lt. C. Welborn for 15 years with the sheriff’s office; Deputies L. Carter and T. Terry join Sgts. J. Marrow and M. Burns with completing five years of service. Maj. J. Shelton, the detention center administrator also was recognized for completing five years of service.

Congratulations for your accomplishments and for working to serve your county and community.

NCTeach Supports Aspiring Teachers Get Prepared For Classrooms

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Just two years after its launch, the teacher recruitment initiative called TeachNC reported that it has “significantly exceeded” its second-year goals, with more than 1,400 aspiring teachers applying to an educator preparation program in 2021. That number more than doubles the number of applicants who signed up in the first year.

From September 2020 through August 2021, the TeachNC.org website was accessed in excess of 159,000 times and has attracted over 11,000 prospective educators who are being supported in their quest to become teachers, according to a press statement from the organization, which partners with several state and national agencies to get more educators into classrooms.

More than 1,400 of those applied for an educator preparation program in North Carolina during the initiative’s second year, with many of them also entering the classroom through the state’s residency licensure pathway, allowing them to work as teachers while completing course work necessary for certification. The year-two teacher recruits represents more than a 130% increase over the number of applicants supported in TeachNC’s first year. Of the applicants, 50 percent identified as candidates of color and nearly a quarter of those reporting a focus area say they want to teach a STEM-related subject such as math or science or in special education.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt commended the TeachNC initiative for its success in helping to attract more people to the teaching profession and serving as a key resource of information about teaching careers in the state.

“TeachNC fills a critical need in North Carolina to make it easy for would-be teachers to learn more about the profession and to support them as they begin their journey to the classroom,” Truitt said. “My own North Star is that every student deserves a highly qualified, excellent teacher in every classroom, and the work of TeachNC is helping the state reach that all-important goal.”

TeachNC, which works in partnership with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, delivers research-based tools and supports for prospective teachers, helping reduce the barriers to applying to and enrolling in an educator preparation program. In a survey by the initiative, 60 percent of TeachNC subscriber-respondents reported an increased interest in teaching and 59 percent of TeachNC’s applicants reported that without the support of TeachNC tools, they may not have applied to a North Carolina educator prep program.

The following resources are freely available to anyone in North Carolina who may be considering entering the teaching profession:

  • 1-on-1 coaching from current North Carolina educators (900+ calls in year two)
  • Interactive education preparation program search tool and application tools
  • Application fee reimbursements
  • Scholarships and financial aid search tool
  • North Carolina’s first statewide teacher job board
  • Live chat function to answer questions 24 hours/day
  • Guides on testing, finances, resumes, cover letters, application essays, licensure, and more

Brenda Berg, President & CEO of BEST NC, the nonprofit, nonpartisan group of business leaders that launched and helped fund the TeachNC pilot, said she is pleased with these results.

“When we launched TeachNC in 2019, we knew our state had an urgent need for teachers. With the challenges our schools have faced through the pandemic, this need is greater than ever, making it even more exciting to see that these results have exceeded our expectations,” Berg said.

“It’s not that people don’t want to become teachers. More than 10,000 people have expressed interest in becoming teachers by subscribing to TeachNC; they just need additional information and support to get there,” she said. “We are also happy to see the state take this over as an on-going effort, because we know that an investment in teacher talent is a direct investment in North Carolina students.”

The recently passed state budget includes funding to DPI to adopt the TeachNC initiative and provides a dedicated position within the agency to administer the program.

TeachNC is a partnership of BEST NC, NCDPI, and TEACH.org. TeachNC includes a full suite of strategic recruitment activities including a robust communications campaign, a comprehensive website encompassing all existing resources in the state, and 1-on-1 personalized supports for teacher candidates. These resources create a trusted, safe, and user-friendly support system for anyone considering a teaching career in North Carolina. Visit TeachNC to learn more.