Tag Archive for: #wizsnews

TownTalk: Geneaology Basics, Pt. 2

/by

There is so much information at our fingertips in the 21st century world of genealogy, but people who want to learn more about their ancestors still have to use those tried-and-true research to obtain the most accurate results.

Bill Harris and Mark Pace, North Carolina Room Specialist at Oxford’s Thornton Library discussed different types of records, from family Bibles to courthouse files in Thursday’s tri-weekly history segment of TownTalk.

Before the days of online subscriptions that help individuals fill in family tree information, genealogists had to go to the source; oftentimes, that was the local courthouse.

“The court was all powerful back in the day,” Pace said, adding that you can find “all sorts of crazy records,” from the usual wills and deeds, to the bounty that someone was paid for bringing in a wolf hide.

Court records are considered “primary sources,” Pace said, as are family Bibles, tombstones and church records.

“Secondary sources are a little trickier to document,” he continued. A secondary source may be something like a newspaper article or obituary and books on local history, all of which technically contain second-hand information.

Of course, there are many books that chronicle the history of a place or a family that are considered very reliable and upon which many genealogists rely for information.

Pace said in his 40-plus years of researching history of some sort or another, he said it’s always gratifying to find that bit of missing information that had previously eluded him.

“You’ll hear a ‘whoopee’ in a quiet library,” he said, and it’s a sure sign that another researcher has found an elusive tidbit as well. “They’ve found what they’re looking for,” he said. “It‘s very rewarding.”

 

 

CLICK PLAY!

 

The Local Skinny! Fentanyl Summit Saturday

/by

More than 13,000 people have died in North Carolina alone in the past nine years from fentanyl. A half-day family summit will be held in Raleigh on Saturday, designed to be part awareness, part education, and part support for those who have family members who have died from fentanyl poisoning.

“Poisoning” is the term Patricia Drewes prefers to “overdose” when describing the unintended deaths that occur all too frequently, especially with teens and young adults.

Drewes founded Forgotten Victims of North Carolina following the 2019 death of her daughter Heaven. She spoke with John C. Rose on Thursday’s segment of The Local Skinny! and said the summit has reached its capacity and will not be able to accept additional registrations.

Within a few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the now-familiar phrase of “the 3 W’s – Wear, Wash, Wait” became a household term. Drewes said there needs to be a similar campaign to warn and educate the public on the dangers of illicit fentanyl.

“Commercials, billboards – we need to be teaching it in schools, discussing it in our churches,” Drewes said. “I don’t feel like North Carolina is doing enough,” she said.

She said law enforcement officers should carry Narcan – a overdose antidote of a sort – on their belts just like they do other useful tools like flashlights. Often, they arrive on the scene before EMS and administering Narcan could save a life.

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein is among those scheduled to speak, as well as victims’ family members, state and federal law enforcement and representatives of local nonprofits.

Drewes and Barb Walsh, executive director of Fentanyl Victims Network of NC are among the organizers of the summit, which will be held at the McKimmon Conference Center from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

One of the goals of the summit is to educate and increase awareness, but also to let families know that they are not alone in their grief or in their struggle.

Drewes’s group has grown to five chapters that covers at least half the state; email her at patriciadrewes@yahoo.com to learn more about Forgotten Victims of North Carolina.

Following are some sobering statistics regarding fentanyl use in North Carolina:

  • 8 deaths each day in North Carolina from fentanyl
  • N.C. ranks 6thin fentanyl fatalities
  • Fentanyl is the leading cause of death in N.C. and the U.S. for people 18-35
  • 88 percent of all N.C. medicine/drug toxicity deaths involve fentanyl

 

 

CLICK PLAY!

 

SportsTalk: Rigsbee Relies On Youth For KVA Baseball

/by

Kerr-Vance Academy’s young baseball team is coming off of a 4-1 win over East Wake Academy on Wednesday.  While it was a good win for Kerr-Vance, Coach Mike Rigsbee knows his team is very young.  “We are young but we are talented,” Rigsbee said on SportsTalk on Thursday.  “We are relying on our junior and our sophomores,” Rigsbee continued.  Junior, as in singular. Kerr-Vance’s team only has one junior this year and no seniors at all. The team is also made up of three sophomores, five freshmen along with two 8th graders and one 7th grader.

“Our older kids embrace the younger ones. Kids start at a young age and they have to hustle and control their emotions,” Rigsbee explained.  Youth is not all he has to be concerned with though as weather is playing a factor.  With recent rains leaving the Kerr Vance field drenched, the upcoming game against Thales Academy is likely to be postponed. Rigsbee said the field at Kerr Vance is notorious for poor drainage.

CLICK PLAY!

 

Oxford Prep School

SportsTalk: Hammett Optimistic About Oxford Prep Spring Sports

/by

Oxford Prep Athletic Director John Hammett’s teams are coming off a strong winter sports season. Both boys and girls basketball teams made the state playoffs and, for the first time in school history, a swimmer made the State meet.  According to Hammett, “We have a good group of girls who got better as the season went along,” in reference to the girl’s basketball team. Now Hammett turns his attention to spring.  The baseball team at Oxford Prep is off to a strong start defeating Granville Central this week 14-3 but, with only one senior, they are very young.  “Health is a big challenge because we only have  11 players,” Hammett said.

The girl’s softball team is also off to a solid start defeating Louisburg High School 6-0 earlier this week.  “They’ve got a chance to be real good,” Hammett said of the team which has quite a few returning players.  On Tuesday of next week, they will take on county rival Oxford Webb.

As for soccer, having plenty of players isn’t a problem.  Hammett said there are 23 girls on the squad.  The soccer team, unfortunately, is coming off a loss to Falls Lake.

CLICK PLAY!

 

Cooperative Extension with Jamon Glover: Relaxing, Pt. 4

/by

Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

Click Play!

 

Police Chief Barrow Likes How LPR Technology Can Aid Law Enforcement

/by

Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow sounded pretty impressed with Flock Safety’s device that reads license plates and said he hopes Henderson joins the growing ranks of cities in the area that are using technology to help combat crime.

The LPR – license plate reader – is a device that does exactly what its name implies – it reads the license plates of vehicles that pass by it.

Barrow told WIZS News Wednesday that an LPR provides real-time data to law enforcement agencies. “If we put an alert on a certain tag,” Barrow said, “it’ll send us (information) that tells us that vehicle has passed by.”

If an LPR detects that a vehicle has passed by the same LPR for, say 30 days, it’s a safe bet that the person driving that vehicle lives in that general area. That’s when police officers can zero in on that area and search for the car and then locate the person they’re interested in talking with.

Barrow said Wake Forest, Louisburg, Durham and other places in the area are testing the waters as LPRs gain popularity. And Raleigh is “inundated” with them, he said.

He plans to bring the request before the City Council at their next meeting.

LPRs are “vital,” to law enforcement, he added.

“If I can pull it off, it’ll help us out tremendously,” Barrow said.

NC State Board of Elections

Vance County Elections Officials Work To Keep Voter Lists Accurate

/by

If you get a card in the mail from the Vance County Board of Elections asking you to confirm some information, it’s part of ongoing maintenance to keep the most updated voter rolls as possible. Vance County joins other county boards of elections across the state to conduct required processes designed to keep the state’s voter rolls accurate.

Elections Director Melody Vaughan told WIZS News this week that the office has sent out 177 cards requesting updated information from residents on the voter rolls. Vaughan said she anticipates another round of cards to go out in July.

These routine processes are required by state and federal laws, according to information from the N.C. State Board of Elections. Accurate voter rolls are maintained by removing voters who have moved or died or are otherwise ineligible to vote in that jurisdiction. Voter roll list maintenance is important because it ensures ineligible voters are not included on poll books during elections.

As a result of these processes, the number of North Carolina voter registrations will decrease in the first half of 2023. As of Feb. 25, about 7.2 million voters were registered in the state, down from more than 7.4 million on January 1.

A Biennial List Maintenance occurs early in odd-numbered years, so the cards that were sent from Vance County are part of the process to voters that have not voted in the previous two statewide elections and the county board of elections has had no contact with that person. In Vance County, the cards were sent to those with whom there has been no contact since Oct. 9, 2020.

If the voter doesn’t return the card within 30 days – and the elections office doesn’t get it back as undeliverable, the voter’s record will be marked “inactive” in the state’s voter registration database. Inactive voters are still registered voters, however; if an inactive voter shows up to vote, the person will be asked to verify their address and update it, if necessary.

The registrations of these voters will be canceled if they do not vote or otherwise confirm their registration by January 2027.

County boards of elections also have begun to remove certain “inactive” voters from the rolls. Voters will be removed from registration lists this year after being sent a no-contact mailing in 2019. Any voter removed in this way would not have had any contact with their county board of elections for four consecutive federal election cycles, not voted in any election during that time and not responded to a confirmation mailing.

Statewide, more than 264,000 inactive voters have been removed in 2023. Any removed registrant must be reinstated if the voter appears to vote and gives oral or written affirmation that the voter has not moved out of the county and has maintained residence continuously within the county. These voters’ votes will be counted absent evidence that they moved out of the county.

Voters may check their registration status at any time using the State Board’s Voter Search tool.

To learn more about registering to vote in North Carolina, visit: Registering.

 

 

 

 

Home And Garden Show

/by

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

  • Check seedlings daily…
  • Scout lawns for cool season weeds and treat ASAP. Apply fertilizer by mid-March.
  • Check irrigation equipment
  • Prune your shrubbery if it needs pruning. Don’t do heavy pruning on plants that have already formed flower buds. If shrubs need severe annual pruning, consider replacing them.
  • Honey bees are swarming now if you see a swarm contact Cooperative Extension
  • Resist the urge to plant warm season plants, even if you see them for sale early.
  • Keep grow lights adjusted on your growing plants
  • If you plan to start seed indoors, most crops will do well if they are planted 4 weeks before the outdoor planting time. So for example, tomatoes, peppers, squash, etc. can be started late March or early April.

CLICK PLAY!