Wayne Rowland, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:
Managing forest edges can benefit wildlife and will improve the population of wildlife on your property.
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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An upcoming production at McGregor Hall gathers together present-day preachers and musicians to highlight the work of a Black American poet whose work during the Harlem Renaissance continues to stir souls.
James Weldon Johnson is perhaps best known for writing the poem in 1900 that would be put to music by his brother and become known as the Black National Anthem.
“Lift Every Voice and Sing” is just one of the works that Johnson penned, however; the Feb. 1 production of “God’s Trombones” highlights a series of seven poems that Johnson wrote in 1927.
The full title of the collection of poems is “God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse,” and all seven will be performed in this program by Connie Ragland Productions.
Ragland, Thursday’s guest on TownTalk, talked about the event, which will begin at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 1.
Advance tickets are $25, $30 at the door, and $10 for children 12 and under. Blocks of 10 tickets will be discounted to $25 each, and Ragland said she’d love to see churches fill up their church vans and head over to attend the performance.
New Horizons Training Group and R.O.Y. Leadership are partnering with Ragland’s company to bring the performance to McGregor Hall.
The trombone is a metaphor for the voice of the preacher, Ragland explained. Each of the poems has a different topic and explores “the voice of the Black preacher and how it’s evolved.”
The nine pastors, ministers and others – most are local to the area – who will be reading Johnson’s works “are already known for being able to stir a crowd,” Ragland said, “to speak in a rhythm that the crowd will enjoy.” Each sermonette should last about seven minutes, with musical performances following each reading.
“We try to produce something of good quality,” Ragland said. Just because it’s Black history, the program isn’t just for Black people, she continued. “We want to reach across all cultures, it’s not just about us, our history in general, it’s about hearing a good word from God, it’s about singers that are going to blow the roof off.”
Evangelist Mary D. Williams, a Duke Divinity School professor and historian, will play the role of legendary Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. Ragland says her alto, story-telling voice “will lift your soul.”
Among other performers is Rubina Woods, part of the quartet New Creation based in Hillsborough
All the vocalists will be accompanied by a live band – keyboards, drum, bass and lead guitars, and brass – you can bet that joining the trumpet and saxophone will be, you guessed it, a trombone.
Purchase tickets at www.mcgregorhall.org. The box office is open weekdays between 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Call 252.598.0662 or stop by at 201 Breckenridge St., Henderson.
You can also contact Connie Ragland at 252.590.0303, Vince Ragland at 252.213.2095 or the
Rev. Eddie Williams at 704.472.6274.
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Jamon Glover, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:
We wrap up our series on role models and mentorship and we talk about the impact that you may have on other kids that are not your own.
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The Vance County Board of Education is holding a special meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 21 to have a public hearing about the possible closing and/or consolidation of two of the county’s elementary schools.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the Curriculum and Instruction area of the Vance County Administrative Services Center, 1724 Graham Ave., according to information from Superintendent Dr. Cindy Bennett and Board of Education Chair Ayana Lewis.
The most recent school consolidations came in 2018, when the school board voted to merge the two high schools and the two middle schools to form Vance County High School and Vance County Middle School. Beginning with the 2018-19 school year, the high school was located on the campus of the former Southern Vance High School and the middle school was located on the campus of the former Northern Vance High School.
Here’s the statement in its entirety:
Pursuant to the provisions of N.C.G.S. 115C-72 and N.C.G.S. 143-318.12 the Vance County Board of Education will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, January 21, 2026 in order to provide a public hearing to discuss with the general public the proposed closing and/or consolidation of New Hope Elementary School with another school, and also the closing and/or consolidation of Carver Elementary School with another school, having in mind and taking into account the welfare of the students to be affected by such closings and/or consolidations, including providing information regarding which the said Board has in its possession relating to the practical and best use of its present school facilities and the costs and maintenance of all its facilities, and the use of same, and also considering geographic conditions, increase or decrease in school enrollment, the inconvenience or hardship that might result to the pupils to be affected by such closings or consolidations, the cost of providing additional school facilities in the event of such closings and/or consolidation, and such other factors as the Board shall determine to be germane.
Said hearing shall be held on January 21, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. in the Curriculum and Instruction area within the Vance County Administrative Services Center located at 1724 Graham Avenue, Henderson NC, and the general public shall be afforded an opportunity to express their views regarding said proposed closings and/or proposed consolidations.
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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.
The Vance County Cooperative Extension Building is located at 305 Young St, Henderson, NC 27536
The Vance County Regional Farmers Market is located at 210 Southpark Dr., Henderson, NC 27536
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The Vance County Board of Commissioners’ annual retreat gives commissioners and county staff an opportunity to exchange information and opinions as they discuss a variety of topics that are sure to come up in 2026.
In the Jan. 9 retreat, there was a lot of discussion about revenues and spending, giving commissioners and staff a glimpse into what likely will be a part of future budget discussions.
In Commissioner Dan Brummitt’s view, it’s less a matter of money coming in than money going out and more about being more efficient when it comes to spending.
“I don’t believe we have a revenue problem,” Brummitt said during the retreat. “I believe we have an expense problem.”
County Manager Renee Perry assured the commissioners that the county doesn’t “just spend money” for the sake of spending. “We don’t have enough revenue to support anything at this point,” she countered.
“We know that we have an issue with revenues. we fully understand that,” she said. Vance County remains a Tier 1 county, along with almost half the rest of the counties in the state, which means it has higher unemployment, lower median salary and lower tax base than Tier 2 and 3 counties.
Personnel take the biggest bite out of the county’s budget, what with soaring insurance costs and even the slightest bumps in pay to try to improve recruitment and retention.
The county has 380 employees and 70 vacancies. Commissioners could opt to cut those vacant positions as cost-saving measures, but the bulk of those vacancies are in the sheriff’s office, detention center and Department of Social Services, three areas that typically experience chronic staffing shortages.
Perry told commissioners she had asked department heads once again not to request any new positions in the upcoming budget cycle, despite the fact that she knows they need the extra positions.
Speaking of personnel, Perry said she would recommend that commissioners consider again for the upcoming budget a 3 percent cost-of-living increase for county employees and put on the back burner – again – implementing the $1.2 million pay study salary increases.
A 3 percent COLA adjustment equals just more than $668,000, and Perry said that’s her recommendation simply because of all the other priorities the county has at the moment.
She would like to see the county consider a performance pay plan in the future, adding that it could start at a flat rate, moving later to a percentage plan.
So, if there’s not enough money coming in to sufficiently cover the county’s expenses, what’s a county government to do? There are a few choices to raise more revenue, including raising taxes.
One option that Perry encourages commissioners to consider is a local option sales tax increase. That requires a referendum for voters to approve.
Right now, the sales tax rate is 6.75 percent, and it could go up to a maximum of 7 percent, which would provide some extra money in the county coffers.
“I do think that this board should have a conversation at some point about getting the max on the sales tax – that would just be my recommendation,” Perry said. “I’m just surprised that we’ve never explored that here in this county…we get good revenues from sales tax.”
Perry predicted that a ¼-cent sales tax increase would translate to as much as $1.5 million in revenues.
Another option would be to raise the property tax rate, and staff has done some preliminary projections about what that could look like, but Perry said she’d hold off on those discussions until budget work sessions take place later in the spring.
If revenue projections are on the mark, the county is expected to add $400 to its tax base this year – $4.8 billion – up from $4.4 billion last year.
Another conversation for later, as the money comes in, Perry said. “That’s what we’re hoping for – that’s what we’re going to talk about in budget work sessions.”
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Most days, the only folks you’ll find at the radio station are, well, folks who work at the radio station. But today wasn’t most days, as a group of sixth-graders from The Sledge Institute took a field trip to WIZS to get a peek at just how this thing called “journalism” gets done.
Along with their teacher, Christian Salinas, the group of nine students filled the lobby where they got a chance to do a live-to-tape segment that aired on Tuesday’s TownTalk mere minutes after it was recorded.
Afterward, they watched as their teacher did a live interview with WIZS host John Charles Rose to round out segment two.
While the interview was taking place in Studio A, the students squeezed into Studio B and watched through the plate-glass window as their instructor talked about how this journalism project got started.
The Sledge Institute embraces the concept called Project Based Learning, which integrates the curriculum into the creation of some type of product while encouraging collaboration among students.
In the first quarter of the school year, Salinas said the kids expressed an interest in producing a morning news segment, which included making and editing videos and podcasts. When the second quarter rolled around, he decided to shepherd the students on a PBL journalism project.
“The kids got to choose what projects they wanted to take part in,” he said, adding that students create all the different parts of the student news podcast – there are hosts, editors, researchers and interviewers, along with others who focus on a weekly Student Spotlight and Teacher Spotlight.
“My hands were off the wheel and the kids just started over it for themselves, which was awesome,” he said, as the team of students took ownership of the overall project. “The stuff we talk about in it, all the different segments they had – the kids ran that.”
This is Year 1 for The Sledge Institute, a charter school located on Gun Club Road in Vance County. The sixth graders who visited the radio station had nothing but positive comments about their school and teachers.
Vonderion said the teachers are nice and “make us stay on topic,” and Olivia said “teachers help us when we need help and make sure we stay focused in class.”
For Te’ani, it’s all about teachers who “teach us new things every day.” And for Layla, it’s the welcoming feeling she gets, along with the collaboration. “And you learn so much,” she said. “I just love it.”
Nehemiah said, “It’s all about teamwork and working together and working on projects.”
Jorja said her project is coming along just fine. She’s working on a project about good health and well-being and learning about foster care in her ELA/Reading class.
“Right now, we’re doing facts about January,” said Natalie, offering up the fact that garnet is the January birthstone.
Laila reeled off a variety of general topics that are part of the PBL project, including health, waters, equality and good health and well-being.
Sinai said her project is going well, but – spoken like a natural-born editor – she said she can always find ways to improve.
The students seemed naturally curious about what the idea of “journalism” entailed, and they’ve been learning about editing videos and diving into the craft.
Layla said she’s learned that journalism suits her. “Once I figured out what it meant, it’s definitely for me because I love to talk and I love to host things and I love to learn more facts about things because it (will help) me in the future to teach, you know, other kids and help them out while I’m younger.”
Natalie agreed. She said she was excited to learn more about what journalism is and has enjoyed doing videos and interacting with others in the videos.
Olivia said she watches the news every day and likes that she’s learning more about editing.
Te’ani and Sinai also like the editing process, as well as creating stories and learning more about things that are in the news.
The project-based learning model is an integral part of the school’s philosophy and it’s important to incorporate the community when possible. Previous projects have included making a documentary about Kerr Lake, which included a field trip to the lake to explore this important local natural resource. Another project involved a canned food drive for Turning Point CDC. Not only did they collect 10,000 cans, but the students had the opportunity to organize and stock the shelves and get the food ready for distribution.
It’s this type of real-world experience – whether it’s stocking food on shelves, learning about the outdoors or seeing the inside of a real-live radio station – that helps students make connections to what they’re learning in school with how to apply that in the community, Salinas said.
“They’re figuring out or learning that what they’re doing in their classrooms is not just for the sake of ‘you need to know it for a test,’” he said, but “you can use this on a daily basis or for your career.”
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