Tag Archive for: #wizsnews

Henderson Fire Dept

TownTalk: Edmonds Discusses Fire Prevention Week

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As part of the observance of the 100th annual Fire Prevention Week, Henderson Fire Department Battalion Chief Lee Edmonds stressed the importance of families having an escape plan that everyone in the household is aware of, in the event that of fire.

The theme for this year’s FPW is “Fire Won’t Wait – Plan Your Escape,” and Edmonds told John C. Rose on Thursday’s TownTalk that, on average, occupants have about two minutes to get out of a burning house.

That’s 120 seconds, folks. It’s not long.

“Have a drawn-out plan – write it out,” Edmonds said, “so that everybody in the house knows which ways are the best ways to get out of each room.”

Fire officials have traditionally responded to residents’ requests to replace their home’s smoke detectors, but the COVID-19 pandemic hindered their ability somewhat, Edmonds said. “We’re still doing our home inspection program,” he said, and now they are installing devices with a 20-year life span – no batteries to replace. When they reach the end of their life span, residents simply toss and replace.

Edmonds said it’s important to keep doors unblocked from the inside. “People think ‘I don’t need this door because I’ve got this other door,’” he said. But there should be multiple ways to escape in case of a fire.

“Always make sure that every exit in your home is accessible to get to,” he added.

Fire trucks respond to calls that often don’t involve a burning structure, whether it’s a car accident or a health emergency.

“When a citizen calls, we’re going to be there,” Edmonds said. “No matter what they call for, we’re going to be there.”

City of Henderson Fire Department wants to share these key home fire escape planning tips:

  • Make sure your plan meets the needs of all your family members, including those with sensory or physical disabilities.
  • Smoke alarms should be installed inside every sleeping room, outside each separate sleeping area, and on every levelof your home. Smoke alarms should be interconnected so when one sounds, they all sound.
  • Know at least two ways out of every room, if possible. Make sure all doors and windows open easily.
  • Have an outside meeting place a safe distance from your home where everyone should meet.
  • Practice your home fire drill at least twice a year with everyone in the household, including guests. Practice at least once during the day and at night.

To find out more about Fire Prevention Week programs and activities in Henderson, contact the City of Henderson Fire Department at 252-430-1877 or thomasedmonds@henderson.nc.gov.

For more general information about Fire Prevention Week and fire prevention in general, visit fpw.org and sparky.org.

 

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The Local Skinny! Advance Auto Partners With Henderson Police

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It may have happened to you before: You’re driving down the street, trying to get from here to there, when you see the blue light in your rear-view mirror, accompanied by the woop-woop of the police car, telling you to pull over.

Such encounters with the police for minor infractions like broken taillights or burned-out headlights could end with the driver being issued a $25 gift card instead of a citation.

That’s exactly what could happen, thanks to a new safety initiative announced Thursday at the local Advance Auto Parts on Raleigh Road.

Advance District Manager Jay Matthews wanted to do something special for Henderson, which has two stores – one at 390 Raleigh Road and one at 400 Prosperity Drive.

Drivers who get pulled over for faulty equipment – think broken or non-functioning lights, for example – will get a $25 Advance Auto Parts gift card to help pay for repairs from Henderson police officers, as a way to encourage them to make those minor repairs.

The program is the only one of its kind in the area, and it’s designed “to increase roadway safety for local motorists,” according to a press statement issued Thursday morning.

Advance’s store team presented Police Chief Marcus Barrow and Henderson police officers with an Advance gift card donation of $1,500 to begin the initiative. “Our local team is thrilled to partner with Henderson Police to promote safer vehicle operations,” Matthews, a Henderson resident, said. “It’s important that motorists on our streets keep vehicle safety top of mind, especially as we’re heading into holiday travel season. We look forward to working with Chief Barrow and everyone on his team on this program while serving our community.”

Barrow said he appreciates community partnerships like this one with Advance.

“Partnerships with a committed community stakeholder like Advance Auto Parts are vital to our success as an agency,” Barrow said. “This partnership will allow us to lessen a financial burden on our citizens and increase vehicular safety, and we thank Jay and everyone at Advance for their support.”

Motorists receiving a gift card may use the card at Advance’s two Henderson locations, throughout North Carolina or online at advanceautoparts.com.

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Cooperative Extension with Paul McKenzie: Supporting Farmers

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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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TownTalk: Julee Flood, NC Appelate Court Judge Candidate

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-This article is part of WIZS’s continuing coverage of the Nov. 8 election.  

Julee Tate Flood currently works as attorney at the N.C. Court of Appeals, but she’s drawing on her broad experience in the field of law and her institutional knowledge of the state’s appellate court system in her race for Seat 8 on the N.C. Court of Appeals.

Flood, the Republican nominee for the seat on the 15-judge court, spoke with John C. Rose on Wednesday’s TownTalk. She currently works with Judge Jeffery Carpenter, one of the 15 judges that sit on the N.C. Court of Appeals.

“Diverse cases come before the court,” she said, adding that she and her team are challenged daily with pressing legal questions, but she is motivated to solve issues by applying the knowledge that she has gained during her career as an attorney.

Flood’s legal career spans more than two decades, and during that time, she said she’s worked with four Democratic judges and five Republican judges.

“My role has been to research, analyze the law deeply and write judicial opinions,” she said. It’s her “working history and demonstrated ability to apply the law and write for the judges,” no matter their political affiliation, that makes her the best candidate for the job.

The N.C. Court of Appeals is “an error-correcting court for the trial courts,” Flood explained, adding that on average, the court’s five 3-judge panels preside over as many as 1,200 each year. Of that number, only a very small percentage goes to the N.C. Supreme Court – that means that the appeals court is the final stop for rulings to be upheld or overturned.

Flood said she “uniquely qualified” to serve on the court because of her direct experience at the appellate court level. As a judge, she would look to the text of the law as it applies to each individual case before her.

“The law says what it means and means what it says,” she noted, adding that as a judge, she will apply the law as it is. “There is stability in the law…(and) if I’ve followed the law, the fairness component is there,” Flood said.

She said that, as a judge, she will “treat each person with dignity and respect and will stand firm against judicial activism.

She has been a law professor and also serves as in-house counsel for a private sector business, and she earned a PhD specializing in the law and policy of higher education. It’s this broad-based set of experiences that adds to her skillset that she will bring to the table if elected.

The N.C. Court of Appeals hears all types of cases from the lower courts, including family court, criminal and civil cases and others, and Flood says those cases could be anything from issues with custody issues, neighbor-to-neighbor issues and “just about anything you can think of that happens at the trial court,” she said.

In her current role, Flood said she supervises and works with a team of attorneys – and interns preparing to enter the profession. “Every single day I consider it an honor and joy to be working with (those) whom I’m working with,” she said.

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Home And Garden Show

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

  • Now is the time to start planning your season extension methods. Row covers. plastic , cardboard.
  • If you plan to renovate your lawn do so ASAP.
  • With cooler temps scout your property for fire ants. Granule baits work well when fire ants are foraging
  • Plant a cover crop on vacant areas of your garden, Crimson clover is a good cover crop.
  • Your fall vegetables may need top dressing check your garden journal for when they were last fertilized.
  • Plant trees, shrubs, bulbs, perennials, pansies, strawberries.
  • Now is the time to collect soil samples. Avoid the rush!
  • Harvest sweet potatoes now. Sun cure them by placing them on a trailer and leaving them in sunshine and moving them inside at night. Do this for about 2 weeks after digging.

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City Council Approves Reinstating Retirement Benefits To Employees Affected By State Policy Change

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More than a dozen current city employees – including the city police chief and fire chief, among others – have had their retirement benefits reinstated, thanks to an add-on agenda item at Monday’s Henderson City Council meeting.

Melissa Elliott, council member and chair of the Human Resources Committee, told WIZS News Tuesday that the council had voted to reinstate the benefits for a total of 20 current and former employees who would not have enough years in to qualify for full retirement benefits when the state changed the eligibility requirements.

“We got it back,” Elliott said in a phone interview.

Council member Garry Daeke said the cost will probably be along the lines of $192,000. “That’s money that won’t be available for other things,” Daeke said in a telephone interview Tuesday.”

When this particular group of employees was hired, there was one policy in effect, but that changed in the mid-2000’s.

All new hires understand that they must have 20 years of full-time employment to be eligible for state retirement benefits, including health benefits until they reach age 65 when Medicare kicks in.

Elliott said she is happy that this group of city employees, some of which now are retired, will have access to the benefits that were in place when they were hired.

She added that the nearby municipalities of Oxford, Wake Forest and Louisburg also have voted to reinstate the benefits.

Daeke said when the state changed the policy, local leaders were advised that there simply wasn’t enough money in the coffers to be able to afford it – “there was too much on the books to pay out,” Daeke said in a phone interview.

Although he wasn’t ready to call it a broken promise, Daeke acknowledged that it was a “serious change” for city employees to face when the state policy was amended back in 2009.

“The good news is, it’s been reinstated,” Daeke said.

Cooperative Extension with Paul McKenzie: What Works in the Garden

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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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TownTalk: Veterans Justice Outreach Resources

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As a clinical social worker, Jeremy Brogden has experience in helping to connect clients with various resources in the community that can help provide useful support. For the past eight years or so, as the justice outreach specialist working out of the Veterans Administration facility in Durham, Brogden’s aim has been laser-focused on a specific type of clientele – veterans who find themselves having to maneuver the criminal justice system.

Brogden’s district covers 27 counties – that’s more than a quarter of the entire state of North Carolina. Our local four-county area falls into that district, and Brogden told Phyllis Maynard and John C. Rose on Tuesday a little bit about how the program works.

Frankly, there are usually more resources available to his clients in urban areas than there are in rural areas, but Brogden said he is always looking for ways to connect with veterans who may need the services he provides.

“A large part of what I do is jail outreach…and one that I prioritize,” Brogden said during the recurring TownTalk segment called “Former Active Duty: Still Boots on the Ground.” When veterans find themselves on the wrong side of the law, Brogden said, sometimes they need help connecting with available resources for assistance with issues ranging from housing, mental health or substance abuse treatment.

“This is a service that has a profound impact on veterans who are justice involved,” he said, adding that he may be the only person to meet with a jailed veteran, especially since the onset of the COVID pandemic when visits were restricted. The term “justice involved” refers to those who have not been sentenced for their alleged offense, those recently arrested and those on probation, Brogden explained.

“This is an opportunity to engage with veterans in places where they may be understandably distraught, they may have hit a low point…this is the time to plant seeds (that) lead to treatment and a positive outcome down the road.”

Brogden can recommend treatments or other options for clients, but ultimately the decisions are made by the court. “What we can do it advocate for treatment, and in many instances, we do find success – but not in all cases.”

One program that the Durham VA implemented in 2016 is called “Strength At Home,” a 12-week group therapy program that helps participants find ways to improve relationships and curb instances of domestic violence.

“It’s been a real beneficial program for the veterans I work with,” Brogden said. By learning effective coping and communication skills, participants can address interpersonal violence that may occur in the home – physical, emotional or verbal abuse. A component of the program looks particularly at the impact of trauma and the negative impact that military service can have, leading to conflict.

Harnett County has the state’s first veteran treatment court, Brogden said. This court is staffed with judges who are very familiar with the veteran culture and population, as well as resources and benefits that may be available to those who have served in the military.

“It’s been a very fruitful collaboration,” Brogden said, “and a wonderful resource for veterans I’ve worked with.”

What Is A Veterans Treatment Court? – Justice for Vets

To learn more about the VA’s veterans’ justice outreach program, contact Brogden at 919.452.6612 or Jeremy.brogden@va.gov.

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