WIZS Radio Henderson Local News 07-11-24 Noon
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TownTalk: Renee Perry’s First 8 Months As County Manager
Vance County Manager C. Renee Perry has been on the job for eight months, and during that time, she’s had plenty of issues to deal with – filling vacant positions, finalizing the county’s budget and getting up to speed about ongoing challenges involving possible restructure of the fire services, a revaluation and dismissal of a key county official.
For a “glass-half-empty” person, navigating these sometimes choppy waters could be overwhelming. But Perry’s glass seems to always be at least half-full, and when she came on board, she said she was “excited to begin the journey.”
Perry’s first day on the job was Nov. 1, 2023, having been the deputy county manager in Halifax County.
She viewed numerous director vacancies in four county departments not as negatives, but as opportunities to build her leadership team and move forward. One director took another position within the county, another left citing family needs, and others left the county to pursue other opportunities. The finance director, however, was dismissed in February 2024 amid a cloud of suspicion of fraud and other allegations that remain under investigation.
And, one by one, those vacancies have been filled: Budget and Finance director, Animal Services manager, Planning director, Elections director.
On Tuesday, Perry announced that Ferdinand Rouse would begin his role as the county’s economic development director on Monday, July 15.
All the while, Perry was putting together the county’s budget with the added wrinkle of considering results of a property revaluation that occurs every 8 years and guiding commissioners to set a palatable tax rate that would allow the county to continue planning several capital projects, including a new jail, EMS building, 911 call center and more.
And there’s still four months until Perry celebrates her first year of occupying the county manager’s office.
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TownTalk: Medical Arts Named MVP – Most Valuable Pharmacy!
Medical Arts Pharmacy has been awarded the 2024 Dan Moudry Most Valuable Pharmacy award from a national pharmacy cooperative.
Chocky White accepted the award on June 24 during the annual business meeting of the Independent Pharmacy Cooperative in New Orleans.
The IPC has been around for more than 40 years – almost as long as White has been operating as a pharmacist.
He came to Henderson in 1971, fresh out of pharmacy school, and set up shop. What began as a one-man show has evolved into a staff of more than 40, including six pharmacists.
White places a priority on establishing and maintaining good relationships with his customers. “We love interacting with our patients,” he said on Wednesday’s segment of TownTalk. “We feel like that’s the most important aspect of our business.”
Daughter Cara White Kirby, who also is the company’s vice president, said her dad is a stickler for excellent customer service, encouraging – and expecting – everyone on the payroll to over-deliver in that department.
White said Henderson had seven independent pharmacies when he came on the scene. “It was slow growth for me the first 10 years or so,” he recalled. “But I gradually earned people’s support…and have grown steadily over the past 50 years. It’s been my lifetime job and I’ve loved every second of it.”
When IPC reps contacted Cara to make sure her dad would be at the pharmacy when they came to visit, she said it wouldn’t be a problem – if the pharmacy’s open, her dad’s there, she said.
“We knew we were finalists,” she said, “but when they came with balloons and a cake,” she knew something else was afoot.
“I was shocked,” said Chocky. “I thought it was somebody’s birthday.” Cara said there was a whole group of folks filming and taking photos while the pharmacy staff was helping customers and filling prescriptions.
The resulting video was shown at the meeting last month during the award presentation. “They did a beautiful job of showing off our pharmacy inside and out,” Chocky said.
The Wisconsin-based IPC is a network of more than 2,000 members who purchase pharmaceuticals, equipment and merchandise available for purchase at the independent pharmacies.
“We have a very large inventory here,” Chocky said, which benefits customers who need meds or other equipment quickly – even after-hours.
White’s been known to be at the store on nights and weekends – even Christmas Day last year.
“We’re not always open, but we’ll be here if you need us. We do whatever it takes to serve our customers,” he said.
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Home And Garden Show
On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.
- Farmer’s Market
- Keep Hydrated in hot weather
- Irrigation
- Harvest vegetables early in the morning
- Tomatoes suffering in heat
- Soil Samples
- Harvest vegetables daily
- Prepare for fall gardens
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WIZS Radio Henderson Local News 07-10-24 Noon
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TownTalk: Hicks Serves As Governor’s Page
Connor Hicks is a young man with goals and aspirations. As the 17-year-old prepares to begin his senior year at Henderson Collegiate, he’s got his eyes not just on graduation, but on what he’ll be doing after he gets that well-earned diploma.
In order to graduate, Henderson Collegiate requires its seniors to complete a project. Hicks was doing a little online research using resources from school counselors and he came upon something that piqued his interest: the Governor’s Page Program.
“I thought it would be a good opportunity so I applied,” Hicks said on Tuesday’s TownTalk.
He was part of a group of fewer than a dozen others selected to participate in the program during the week just following Memorial Day. He spent May 28-31 in Raleigh and said he got to visit different departments of state government and see how government functions and who’s in charge – from the governor and lieutenant governor on down.
He didn’t get to meet Gov. Roy Cooper, but Hicks said he did learn how to be a better teammate – “how to be a member of a team.”
He may want to review those notes if his post-graduation plans come to fruition as he hopes: if all goes according to plan, Hicks will be joining the U.S. Marines.
“He makes me and his dad both real proud,” said his mother, Margaret. “Since he was about 11 or 12, that’s all he wanted to do – go in the service.”
His dad served in the Navy, he had uncles in the Army and his brother was in the Air Force, but Hicks said he’s got his sights on the Marines.
“It makes me feel like I’m doing something that’s bigger than myself,” he said, adding that he takes pride in knowing that he will be part of a branch of the military service that will defend the United States and its freedoms.
“It makes us really proud that he wants to go and serve his country,” his mother said.
Learn more about the Governor’s Page Program at https://governor.nc.gov/governors-page-program.
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The Local Skinny! Teacher Pay And State Budget
Gov. Roy Cooper signed a dozen or so bills into law on Monday, a couple of which involve education and educators. At a time when most area school children – and teachers – are enjoying their summer vacations, Cooper signed into law small pay raises for educators and extended grants to keep childcare centers open at least in the short-term.
In signing Senate Bill 357, Cooper stated that the legislation “provides critical but limited grants to help keep childcare centers open for the next few months.” He said legislators need to do more for parents, businesses and children to extend the grants through 2025 by
“investing in our nationally recognized NC Pre-K and investing more in quality early childhood education. Our children’s future and our economy depend on it,” Cooper stated.
As for Senate Bill 332, Cooper said it “simply restates the small pay raises legislators already gave public school teachers last year.”
Citing North Carolina’s rank of 38 among the 50 states in teacher pay, Cooper said the legislature should be paying teachers “significantly more.” That ranking, coupled with the fact that North Carolina invests nearly $5,000 less per student than the national average, Cooper said North Carolina should spend more for teachers and students. “Our state has the resources to make meaningful investments to help our public school students and now is the time to do it.”
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WIZS Radio Henderson Local News 07-09-24 Noon
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WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
Cooperative Extension with Michael Ellington: Tomatoes
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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Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Spiders
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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