Tag Archive for: #wizsnews

TownTalk: Police Chief Concerned With Litter Problem

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Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow wants the public to be on the lookout for…signs in their neighborhoods that are part of an anti-litter campaign.

The signs will feature brightly colored handprints – about the size of a child’s hand – and will include a QR code that is linked directly to Crime Stoppers, so the public can report instances of littering by pointing their cell phone at the code.

Barrow told WIZS Monday on TownTalk that the campaign is as much about education and prevention as it is about catching litterbugs.

With a modest $6,000 budget from a federal asset forfeiture funds allocation, Barrow said he plans to target elementary school-aged children across the city to impress upon them the importance of keeping litter off the streets.

“It’s going to be an inclusive campaign,” Barrow said, adding that there will be ways to tie in with businesses, pastors and churches and individuals. “We’re just going to try to throw the kitchen sink at this thing,” he said.

City Manager Terrell Blackmon helped get quarterly cleanups started when he came on board, which complements the state’s annual Litter Sweep campaign, which this year is April 26.

Barrow said he still recalls those catchy phrases he learned when he was in elementary school, and they’ve stuck with him – “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires,” and “Give a Hoot – Don’t Pollute,” to name a few.

This campaign’s catch phrases aimed at schoolchildren can have a similar lasting effect on today’s young people – “Don’t Trash Our Future” and “Children Deserve a Clean Community” bring home the message to put trash in its place.

There’s even talk of having stickers that fast-food restaurants will put on their bags that will contain the anti-litter messaging, Barrow said, “to put it in as many faces as we can to prevent (littering) instead of taking punitive measures.”

More information about the upcoming campaign should be available in the next couple of weeks.

 

 

Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Edibles In The Landscape

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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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SportsTalk: Former KVA Baseball Standout R.J. Johnson Returns To NC

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Rutgers University in New Jersey may seem like a long ways away from North Carolina but former Kerr Vance Academy and current Rutgers standout baseball player R. J. Johnson gets back to the area more than one might think.  “We are here almost every weekend,” Johnson said on SportsTalk.  Johnson and Rutgers were in the state this week as the school took on UNC.  The school plays a lot of teams in the south due to weather conditions during the early spring.

Johnson, an outfielder, is having a great season as a leadoff batter with a .300 batting average helping Rutgers to a 10-5 record so far this season.  Johnson, a Franklin County native and 2021 graduate of KVA, is looking forward to the rest of the season.  “We are in a rough patch right now but the future is bright,” Johnson said.

His advice for younger players?  “Always work hard and have fun everyday,” he says.  His former coach at KVA, Mike Rigsbee, had this to say about his former player: “He’s a great player and a great student.”

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SportsTalk: KVA Baseball Finally Gets On The Field

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Like so many other schools in the area, Kerr Vance Academy has had trouble getting in games due to the recent wet weather.  “Our first five games were rained out,” head coach Mike Rigsbee said on Thursday’s SportsTalk.  The school has only just this week gotten on the field.  They lost their opener 3-0 against Lawrence Academy while beating Faith Academy 5-4 in nine innings in their second game.

Rigsbee is optimistic about his team.  “We’ve got potential,” he says. “We are young.  One senior, three juniors, four sophomores, one freshman and an eighth grader,” he added.

The team is travelling this week to see UNC play.  “It’s a bonding experience,” Rigsbee says.  Next week, weather permitting, KVA will have three games on Monday, Tuesday and Friday.

 

Home And Garden Show

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

  • Purchase a good soil thermometer
  • Continue pruning.
  • Increase pollination of your garden by purchasing Honey bees or contacting a beekeeper to place a hive on your property
  • Cool season broadleaf weeds are already blooming and setting seed.
  • Try growing a vegetable that you haven’t grown.
  • Frost free date is April 20, plan accordingly
  • Check all Garden equipment have it ready when needed
  • Avoid the temptation to plant tender flowers and vegetables. Trees and shrubs are fine to plant now.

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TownTalk: City Council Addresses Attendance Policy

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At its March meeting Monday evening, the Henderson City Council voted 6-2 to adopt a policy concerning attendance at council meetings. At issue, among other things, was what constitutes an excused absence versus an unexcused absence and just how – and who – would decide which was which.

The proposed wording didn’t include “work” in the excused list, and it did include the 12 set monthly meeting dates – already on the calendar – as well as any “special called meetings,” which aren’t on the calendar ahead of time.

After a lot of back-and-forth discussion, Council member Ola Thorpe-Cooper made a motion, seconded by Council member Michael Venable to approve the attendance policy, with a revision that excludes the special called meeting wording.

Joining Cooper and Venable with yes votes were Council members Geraldine Champion, Garry Daeke, Sam Seifert and Tami Walker; Council members Lamont Noel and Sara Coffey voted against the motion.

According to City Manager Terrell Blackmon, the policy review came out of the council’s recent strategic planning session. As it stands now, council members aren’t supposed to miss four meetings in a single calendar year.

However, if they are unable to attend a meeting in person, they can join virtually and cast votes remotely, as long as their absence is considered an “excused” absence.

Noel did not agree that fellow council members be the deciding body to determine whether an absence is excused or unexcused; individual council members are supposed to inform the clerk when they know they will be absent.

Mayor Melissa Elliott offered an example to the group, saying that she had been able to vote when she was out of town for work, but she was not able to vote when she joined virtually while on vacation.

The council agreed to fall back to Robert’s Rules of Order and handle the absences procedurally when the roll is called at each council meeting, at which time the clerk would inform the council of the reason for a member’s absence.

Discussion about special called meetings included comments from Council member Noel, who said those meetings, usually held during normal business hours, shouldn’t be part of the attendance policy.

“Some of us are working,” he said.

Daeke acknowledged that daytime meetings “may be a bit much for some folks.” He said he used 42 hours of vacation time last year alone to satisfy council attendance policies. “Not everybody has that capability,” he said.

 

 

The Local Skinny! Council Tables Formation Of Separate Main Street Advisory Board

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The Henderson City Council discussed forming a separate advisory board to support Main Street Director Tracy Madigan in her efforts as a city employee to ensure that the city doesn’t jeopardize its designation in the national program, but decided to table a decision until council learns more about the job description and purpose of the board.

Council member Garry Daeke asked City Manager Terrell Blackmon for more information about the formation of the advisory board, as well as what its job would be and how it would complement or coordinate with the Henderson-Vance County Downtown Development Commission, a nonprofit formed in 1986 to support and promote downtown revitalization efforts.

In a follow-up email to WIZS, Daeke said he believes the timing is so that the city will increase its funding to the program as budget decisions are being made. “I just wanted something that explained this “new” committee, and how it is different from present DDC,” Daeke said in the email, adding that he would like to have clearly defined roles and a program description before the council makes any decisions.

“The Main Street Program belongs to the city, not the DDC,” Blackmon told Council members Monday. As a city employee, Madigan is charged with making sure the city follows the Main Street guidelines.

Blackmon said Henderson regained its Main Street community designation, and since that time, “we’ve been utilizing the Henderson DDC as a vehicle for meeting a lot of the Main Street requirements.”

But the Main Street program belongs to the city, not to the DDC, he added.

Having a separate 5-7 member advisory committee would not preclude coordination with the DDC, but Blackmon said it would focus on the core categories that the national program requires for designation as a Main Street City.

“The DDC is a great partner,” Blackmon said.

Madigan told council members the city is looking at having a little more focus and control over a program that it funds and oversees.

The city budget allocates $25,000 to the Main Street project administration, with an additional $1,500 from the county. Fundraisers like the Festival of Trees event during December are events that add to the bottom line.

Madigan said a board would address an increased volunteer presence with the Main Street program, but the biggest struggle remains funding, which is a key point in Main Street guidelines.

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