WIZS Radio Local News Audio 11-09-23 Noon
Click Play to Listen. On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
Tag Archive for: #wizsnews
Cooperative Extension With Jamon Glover: Supervision And Safety, Pt. 3
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!
Oxford Elects Guillermo Nurse Mayor
Oxford elected Guillermo Nurse to be its mayor Tuesday, making him the first Black mayor in the city’s history.
Nurse got 1,090 votes to Debbie Ramsey’s 461.
There were seven candidates running for three Town Commissioners spots. The top three vote-getters were two newcomers – Carlos Velez and Curtis McRae – and one incumbent, John Tovey.
Velez got 771 votes, McRae got 694 and Tovey received 657 votes.
In Stovall, two newcomers joined incumbent Jeff Stovall to take the three seats on the Stovall board of commissioners. Stovall got 72 votes to keep his seat on the board; Ricky Sneed Sr. got 65 votes and Angelina Cromer got 46 votes from a field of five candidates.
View complete results from Tuesday’s elections at https://er.ncsbe.gov/
TownTalk: Elliott Wins Runoff For Henderson
Henderson voters have elected Melissa Elliott to be the city’s next mayor, creating a historic moment on two fronts: The Mayor-Elect will be the first woman and the first Black to lead the city.
Tuesday’s runoff election was the last piece of the puzzle that provides a complete picture of city leadership; four City Council members were elected in the Oct. 10 nonpartisan municipal elections, but the mayor’s race was undecided until Tuesday’s runoff.
Traditionally, the new Council members and the mayor will be sworn in at the December meeting, which is set for Monday, Dec. 11.
As Elliott said in an interview with WIZS News Tuesday evening, she will only move one seat to the left in December; until she takes the mayor’s chair, she represents the Ward 3 at-large seat on the City Council.
New Council members elected on Oct. 10 include:
- Ward 1: Geraldine Champion
- Ward 2: Sam Seifert
- Ward 3 at-large: Michael Venable
- Ward 4 at-large: Tami Walker
Almost 10 percent more voters turned out for Tuesday’s runoff election than in the Oct. 10 municipal election, which included four City Council seats in addition to the mayor’s race.
As WIZS reported Tuesday night, Elliott got 1,527 votes (56.35 percent) to Etheridge’s 1,183 (43.65 percent).
Yesterday’s turnout was about 29 percent, compared with about 20 percent in the October election. A runoff was called for when no candidate received the 50 percent plus 1 vote needed to claim the win outright.
Middleburg re-elected its mayor to another term Tuesday. Ray Bullock was elected with 25 votes. He ran unopposed. Shirley Bullock got 18 votes, Hazel Baskett got 11 votes and Mamie Turner got 14 votes to fill three seats on the Town Council.
But Kittrell Mayor Jerry Joyner was upset in Tuesday’s election by Gene Pulley who got 16 write-in votes, according to information Wednesday from Vance County Board of Elections Director Jennifer Cocklin.
Susan Pulley got 25 votes, Mary Jo Floyd got 19 and Robert Tunstall got 17 votes to fill the three City Council seats.
Cocklin said the election results remain unofficial until the canvass is completed on Nov. 17.
Find a link to all election results at https://er.ncsbe.gov/
CLICK PLAY!
Home And Garden Show
On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.
- Drain water out of any sprayers or pumps.
- Spend some time on equipment maintenance.
- Harvest any mature fruits or vegetables today
- Continue planting.
- Bring indoors any plants that might freeze.
- Check houseplants for repotting.
- November is a great time to collect your Soil Samples when we get some rain. 2 week analysis time.
- Research fruit crops.
Click Play!
WIZS Radio Local News Audio 11-08-23 Noon
Click Play to Listen. On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
Melissa Elliott Makes History As First Female, First Black Mayor
Henderson voters have elected Melissa Elliott as their next mayor, making her the first female and the first Black to lead the city.
Elliott, a member of the Henderson City Council, defeated political newcomer Greg Etheridge in Tuesday’s runoff election by 344 votes.
WIZS News called the race just before 8:30 p.m., an hour after the polls closed. Elliott garnered 1,527 votes, compared to Etheridge’s 1,183 votes from the city’s nine precincts.
Elliott joined WIZS News in the studio shortly after 9:15 p.m. to discuss the historic win.
“I’m elated…overwhelmed with joy,” Elliott said, of the election outcome.
She thanked her opponent for what she called a “high-spirited campaign,” and she thanked those who voted for her.
“I am a servant leader,” Elliott said, and she plans to serve the community at-large and all people.
“Everyone was so wonderful…so much encouragement,” she said. There were “so many people that wouldn’t allow me to quit. I’m thankful for this historic moment in time,” but she said she also looks to the future for the city.
When reached by phone after all precincts had reported, Etheridge said he was disappointed with the outcome.
“The voters have spoken,” he told WIZS News in a telephone interview.
He said he and his supporters handled themselves respectably during the campaign, but added that he hasn’t “seen a sense of urgency to have any plan whatsoever on how to make things safer (or) more affordable for anybody” in the city.
His vision for the city is still alive, he said. “How we accomplish it is just going to be a little different.”
TownTalk: Maria Parham Health Seeks To Bolster Nursing Staff
Are you a nurse looking for a change of scenery? Or maybe you’re a nursing student who is looking ahead for employment after the classwork is complete. Then again, if you feel like nursing is your true passion and you’re ready to make a career change, there’s an event coming up on Thursday, Nov. 16 just for you.
Ryan Randall, market Human Relations recruiter for Maria Parham Health and Person Memorial in Roxboro was a guest on Tuesday’s TownTalk and shared details about the upcoming nursing social recruitment event.
Current nurses, CNAs and CMAs are invited to come to Maria Parham Women’s Care, 1209 S. E. Industry Dr. next week from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. to learn about employment opportunities offered at Maria Parham in Henderson, Maria Parham Franklin in Louisburg and Person Memorial Hospital in Roxboro.
“There are numerous opportunities – both clinical and non-clinical roles,” Randall said. Visit the hospital websites to find current job postings.
Whether you’re a nurse with lots of experience, or a student looking for that first job after completing a nursing program, the possibilities are out there, Randall said.
Representatives will be on hand during the event to share information about salaries, sign-on bonuses, tuition assistance programs and more.
No matter the industry, Randall said “there is a massive need for people that have incredible talents.” Nursing is no exception.
But Randall wants prospective employees to know about Maria Parham Health. “This place is truly special,” he said, “and we’re just trying to get the word out.”
CLICK PLAY!
TownTalk: Sergent Looks To Community For Support After Oxford Fire
In the hours after a fire destroyed two businesses in downtown Oxford, Mayor Jackie Sergent said city officials were already busy putting together a plan to rally around the displaced business owners.
City firefighters and numerous volunteer departments responded to the blaze Monday morning on the 100 block of Williamsboro Street in downtown Oxford. The call came in at 8:28 a.m. and Sergent said by 9:30 a.m. Downtown Development Director Alyssa Blair was “already starting to look where those two businesses might be rehoused…so they might be up and running as soon as possible,” Sergent said on Tuesday’s TownTalk.
The Healing Haven and Farrar’s Jewelers were destroyed by the fire, which was brought under control before 11 a.m. The investigation is ongoing, Sergent said. No cause has yet been determined.
“We are very pleased and proud that our fire department and all the other first responders were able to handle the fire with minimal damage to adjoining properties and no loss of life or limb,”
She said she is incredibly proud of the way that the city’s fire chief and emergency management team responded, providing “leadership an insight to manage the fire…and avoid a conflagration that would take out an entire city block and limit the damage to the building that was burning.
The last time a fire destroyed a building in downtown Oxford was in February 1997.
A fitness studio occupied a very narrow space beside near where Strong Arm Baking Co. is located along Main Street.
That building was a complete loss, and city commissioners voted to create a pocket park in 2001. “It’s named for former Mayor Hugh Currin,” Sergent said. “It’s a lovely little spot now.”
Sergent said she believes the people of Oxford will rally around the two business owners who have been displaced. “Our downtown is made up of small business owners and we do not want to lose them,” she said.
She encourages the community to “step forward and support them in any way we can think of…we will help them get going…and find a way to sustain (them).”
The Local Skinny! Events At Perry Memorial Library
The “mitten tree” at Perry Memorial Library will be up soon, providing some holiday cheer as a wintertime decoration as well as a resource for those in need of mittens and hats during the cold months ahead.
Last year’s tree was a success, but it was also funded with a “Kindness” grant, said Melody Peters, Youth Services director at the library. “We gave away over 200 items,” she said on Tuesday’s The Local Skinny!
“This is the first year we’ve asked for donations,” Peters added. Patrons are invited to drop of new or even gently used mittens, gloves and hats at any of the desks in the library.
If you’re shopping for yourself, consider grabbing an extra pair to donate, she said.
Peters said she’ll enlist the help of local knitters to whip up a few pairs as well when they’re at the library for their regular club gathering.
And who knows, maybe the newly formed Crochet group will help, too. The group of a dozen or more tweens and teens who are learning how to create with hook and yarn will meet again on Nov. 21 at 4 p.m. as part of the Survival Skills series.
“We have room for extras,” Peters said. “We have room to grow…we can open the doors to the Makerspace…(and we) can spill out into the teen area.” The library provides the crochet hooks and the yarn that the participants can take home to practice with.
Another program for youth is the Life Hacks series. The Nov. 14 program is titled “Fun With Finance,” and Peters said a local bank representative will be on hand to share some practical information that teens should know about money. The program, designed for high school students, begins at 4 p.m.
Not everything can be done with a swipe or a tap on your phone, Peters said, and she wants young people to know about things like rent, mortgages, checking accounts and more.
This program helps get them started on the path to financial literacy by “just getting them to understand the basics,” she said.
Learn more about Perry Memorial Library and its programs and services at https://www.perrylibrary.org/
CLICK PLAY!