Cooperative Extension With Paul McKenzie: What Works in the Garden
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!
Tag Archive for: #wizsnews
WIZS Radio Local News Audio 03-07-23 Noon
Click Play to Listen. On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
Three Face Murder Charges In February Killings
Three people have been arrested and charged with murder after two men were found dead in a vehicle in a Henderson neighborhood last month.
On Monday, Henderson police, along with officers from the Vance County Sheriff’s Office, Oxford Police Department and the SBI made the arrests, according to information from Police Chief Marcus Barrow.
Antonio Ray Townes, 29, and Shyheem Burton, 27, both of Vance County, were arrested, along with Tiffany Greene, 30, of Oxford.
Each faces two counts of first-degree murder in relation to the deaths of Kentrell Venable, 18, and Quavon Champion, 22. The men were found in a car parked on Gholson Avenue in Henderson on Feb. 7. Both men had been shot.
The suspects have been remanded to the custody of the Vance County Detention Center without bond pending future court proceedings.
The Local Skinny! Vance County Commissioners To Meet Tonight
Update 10 p.m. Monday:
The Vance County Commissioners voted Monday to authorize the execution of the “second wave” of Opioid Settlements written about below, meaning Vance County would receive an additional $2.76 million between 2023 and 2036
Original Update 5:30 p.m. Monday:
The Vance County Commissioners are scheduled to hear this evening all about what amounts to a lot of activity by county staff, who continually work to make sure county business gets taken care of in a timely and efficient manner. Tonight’s meeting begins at 6 p.m.
County Manager Jordan McMillen will share information about money coming into the county from the national opioid settlement, money the county may need to come up with to support KARTS and an upcoming planning retreat for the commissioners and county staff later this week.
These topics and more are scheduled to be part of the county manager’s report to the commissioners at their meeting Monday.
The manager is expected to recommend that Vance County join in “Wave Two” of the opioid settlement, which would bring an additional $600 million to the state to be distributed to local governments and municipalities.
The decision needs to be made by April 18; if the commissioners approve the recommendation, Vance County would receive an additional $2.76 million between 2023 and 2036, McMillen said.
The county has gotten more than $315,000 of its total $3.45 million allotment from Wave One.
McMillen also will present a funding request from KARTS, which operates in the four-county region. The rural transportation service is asking for more “emergency funding” – $75,000 – from Vance County and from the other counties it serves to allow the service to finish out the fiscal year.
The total annual budget is approximately $3.75 million, most of which comes from federal funding. Another 10 percent to 15 percent comes from local counties. McMillen said KARTS is asking for an additional $154,936 in administrative funds for the upcoming FY 2023-24 budget, as well as an extra $32,931 in capital funds to allow for replacement of buses that are over the recommended mileage.
“It is our understanding the funding requests are a result of expiring Federal CARES Act funds which have been instrumental in filling a gap in their new facility and operational costs the past couple of years,” Jordan stated in agenda information. “They have also indicated a need to
increase driver rates and have been paying significant overtime due to driver shortages. The KARTS board is exploring various ways to improve efficiency and raise additional revenue to include possible increased rates for contracted services, recouping money for no shows, and advertising on their vans among other things,” he continued.
The KARTS request may be part of the discussion at the upcoming commissioners’ planning retreat, set for Wednesday, Mar. 8 at the Perry Memorial Library.
The daylong planning retreat will begin at 9 a.m., McMillen noted. Among the agenda items include a board training on establishing a high-performing board, then a finance and budget review, with discussion, from the county finance director.
The day is scheduled to end by 4 p.m., following a goal prioritization session for the upcoming fiscal year.
CLICK PLAY!
TownTalk: The Future of Economic Development in Vance County
Economic development across Vance County seems to be perking up, and if 2022’s report is any indication, the trend is on an upward trajectory.
County Economic Development Director McKinley Perkinson is scheduled to present a review of 2022 at tonight’s monthly meeting of the county commissioners, and she’s going to paint a rosy picture.
She joined John C. Rose on Monday’s TownTalk and hit some of the highlights from last year, but looked forward to the coming months to talk about what’s on the horizon for Vance County. (Listen Here)
Between investments and expansion, 2022 brought more than $12 million to the county, Perkinson said. “That’s a very positive number for Vance County,” she noted.
This year will see the completion of the shell building during Phase III at the industrial park, as well as an additional 19,000 square-foot building that will be marketed as flex retail space.
“Steel is actually going up on the walls today,” Perkinson said of the shell building. The additional flex retail space will hopefully be a place that will offer restaurant space for workers to grab during the day as well as provide some retail opportunities for area residents.
The bids are set to go out soon to identify a contractor to complete the additional sewer line project and road paving at the industrial park.
With more than $760,000 in federal grant money, coupled with more from the N.C. Department of Commerce, this project will result in completed water and sewer lines and replacement of the current gravel road into the park, Perkinson said.
There are many signs of economic activity across the county, from expansions at M.R. Williams, Robco and Walmart to new retail shopping and restaurants – Perkinson listed Marshall’s, Petco, Jersey Mike’s and the new construction of Mazatlan on Ruin Creek Road – “there’s a lot of big investments being made in the county.”
Perkinson said Robco is “a huge asset to have as an industry partner in Vance County.” The aluminum dock manufacturer got its start here and now sends its products to be installed in lakes and waterways across the country.
Robco and the industrial park are located very close to U.S. 1, which connects Vance County with points south, including Raleigh.
Perkinson said Vance County is well positioned to land more business and industry from counties like Wake and Durham where land is at a premium.
Those small- to medium-sized companies are “looking north,” she said, for more affordable spots to set up shop. Having a completed shell building will “put us a little bit ahead of the competition.”
The downtown area also is getting a bump in interest, with the addition of several new businesses along Garnett Street. “We have hit the ground running,” said Perkinson, who also serves on the Downtown Development Commission. “It’s truly amazing to see all the businesses that are opening up in Henderson…(people) have access to so many things that weren’t here before.”
The Bridges on Parkview is another such example – it’s an upscale assisted living retirement community, Perkinson said, that’s going up beside the Vance County Regional Farmers Market.
The construction alone will create about 40 jobs, she said, and, once completed, it will offer a nice independent living option for older residents looking to simplify their lifestyle.
WIZS Radio Local News Audio 03-06-23 Noon
Click Play to Listen. On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Voles In Turf
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!
WIZS Radio Local News Audio 03-03-23 Noon
Click Play to Listen. On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
TownTalk: Geneaology Basics, Pt. 2
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
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!