Cooperative Extension With Michael Ellington: Livestock Consideration In Cold Weather
Cooperative Extension
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Tag Archive for: #wizsnews
Hassan Kingsberry To Fill Dual Roles; City Manager and Part-Time City Attorney
Monday at noon the Henderson City Council met for a special called meeting and entered into closed session for a personnel matter.
When the council returned to council chambers at City Hall, Mayor Melissa Elliott seemed to indicate the council would hear two motions.
Hassan Kingsberry, who became interim city attorney after Rix Edwards resigned and who was apparently named the city manager a couple of weeks ago, will now serve as both the city manager and part-time city attorney.
City Manager Terrell Blackmon, also who has resigned with an effective date of January 10, said after the meeting that the meeting was held “to approve the contract and make public the salary.”
Sara Coffey made a motion, seconded by Ola Thorpe-Cooper, to start the new manager at the salary of $161,906.40, the amount apparently being considered as a level two salary for the position out of a one-to-four range.
A City of Henderson press release issued after the meeting said of the now dual role Kingsberry’s salary, “(He) will begin his role as City Manager with an annual salary of $161,906.40, which represents a savings of $18,000 compared to the salary of the outgoing City Manager, Blackmon. Additionally, he will earn $40,000 annually as the part-time City Attorney.”
The second motion, made by Michael Venable and seconded by Geraldine Champion, was to move Kingsberry from interim attorney status to part-time City attorney.
Tami Walker, Thorpe-Cooper, Venable, Coffey and Champion each voted in favor of each motion. Councilmen Garry Daeke, Lamont Noel and Sam Seifert were not present.
As to possible conflicts of interest in the dual position, Blackmon said, “I use outside counsel all the time.” He said there would “probably be some matters (Kingsberry) can’t advise on.”
The City’s press release said, “Prior to (Kingsberry’s) appointment as City Attorney, the City issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Legal Services, but no firm or individual responded.”
Kingsberry is scheduled to be sworn in as the new City Manager at City Hall in the Council Chambers on Monday, January 13, 2025, at 6 PM.
Kingsberry is the first African American to be City Attorney for Henderson, NC.
(Script above added and updated 5:30 p.m. Monday, January 6, 2025)
(Audio below added to post Tuesday, January 7, 2025)
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TownTalk: Vance Commissioners Elect Vice Chair, Hold Public Hearing On 2025-26 Budget At Monday Meeting
Update 10:25 p.m. on 1/6/25:
The Vance County Board of Commissioners elected Yolanda Feimster as its new vice chair at its meeting Monday evening.
The board also held the first of two public hearings to hear from residents about priorities for the 2025-26 budget during its first regular meeting of the year, and the first meeting with Carolyn Faines as chair. Faines was elected to lead the board during a special called meeting last week, following Sean Alston’s announcement that he was stepping down to take a job as a Warren County magistrate.
Several residents spoke during the public hearing, which lasted about 15 minutes, but their messages shared a common theme: reconsider the current tax rate and have a revenue neutral budget in place for FY 2025-26.
Laura Perkinson told commissioners she owns properties in both the city and the county, and she advocates a revenue neutral budget. During her four minutes of allotted time, Perkinson also said property owners should not be charged late fees when paying 2024 tax bills “so we all can catch up.”
The deadline to pay without incurring a 2 percent penalty was today, Jan. 6.
Caroline Burnette has spoken to commissioners during previous public comment periods and she reiterated her concerns about the current tax rate. Burnette asked the commissioners to reconsider the tax rate and said the board should be held accountable for raising the rate during the most recent budget process.
Lee Chandler said he wants to see budget cuts and next year’s budget be “below revenue neutral.”
When Commissioner Dan Brummitt stood up and moved away from his seat briefly, Angela Ryan paused her remarks to the board, stating that she would wait for Brummitt’s return.
“We need to be heard and I want to make sure that I am,” Ryan said.
In remarks following comments from the residents, Commissioner Leo Kelly said “We hear you.” Kelly said he’s lived in Vance County his entire life, and when he voted on the budget, it meant his taxes went up, too.
“I paid my taxes, (but) I paid them grudgingly,” he said.
Before the public hearing was closed, Brummitt thanked those who had approached the podium to address the board. He commented that in his close to two decades as a commissioner, Monday’s hearing was “only the second public hearing where people have spoken.”
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Update 2:15 p.m. on 1/6/25:
The Vance County Board of Commissioners is expected to elect a new vice chair at the first regular meeting of 2025 scheduled for this evening, following last week’s resignation of Commissioner Sean Alston, who stepped away from the board to accept a magistrate’s position in Warren County.
The board unanimously elected Carolyn Faines as chair of the board during a special called meeting on Monday, Dec. 30, but tabled a vote to elect vice chair.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. According to the agenda, selection of a new vice chair will be the first order of business, followed by several appointment and then a public hearing to collect comments from county residents as county leaders continue planning for the 2025-26 budget.
The public hearing on the budget is listed as Item 6 on the agenda. This public hearing is the first of two that are scheduled; the second is scheduled for June 2 – after the recommended budget has been submitted to commissioners for review.
Other items for discussion from County Manager C. Renee Perry’s report to the board include the fire marshal budget, amendments to the personnel policy, jail inspection reports from 2023 and 2024, sheriff legal fees, board work sessions and the EMS substation.
View the meeting at https://www.youtube.com/@VanceCountyNC/streams.
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Update 1/5/25:
Straight from the Vance County Commissioners meeting 1-6-25 agenda, the meeting will include within the first few items a fiscal year 2025-2026 pre-budget public hearing.
The public notice says, “The Vance County Board of Commissioners will conduct a FY 2025-26 Pre-Budget Public Hearing at 6:00 p.m., or shortly thereafter, on January 6, 2025 in the Commissioners’ Meeting Room at 122 Young Street, Henderson, NC.”
Before the Board of Commissioners begins work on next year’s budget, the board “is interested in receiving suggestions and priorities from residents to help them in the development of the budget.”
This is one of two required public hearings that will be held on the budget.
“The county manager will submit a recommended budget in May and a second public hearing will be held on the proposed budget on June 2, 2025,” the notice within the agenda states.
The budget is supposed to be adopted before July 1, 2024.
The agenda says, “This notice was published on December 24, 2024,” which in North Carolina means it was published in the newspaper.
TownTalk Broadcast 1-6-25 Prior to Meeting!
WIZS Radio Henderson Local News 01-06-25 Noon
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Cooperative Extension With Wayne Rowland: Woodscaping
Cooperative Extension
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WIZS Radio Henderson Local News 01-03-25 Noon
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The Local Skinny! Variety Wholesalers To Add Big Lots To Its List Of Stores
Henderson-based Variety Wholesalers is acquiring hundreds of Big Lots stores and a couple of distribution centers, practically doubling the number of retail stores it operates in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.
Add Big Lots to the 380 or so Roses, Roses Express, Maxway, Bill’s Dollar Stores, Super 10, Super Dollar and Bargain Town stores that currently are operated by Variety Wholesalers.
The deal is part of a sale announced Dec. 27 to Gordon Brothers Retail Partners which enables the transfer of between 200 and 400 Big Lots locations to Variety Wholesalers, according to information provided by Big Lots, Inc.
Big Lots filed for bankruptcy in September 2024.
Lisa Seigies, Variety Wholesalers’ president and CEO, said, “We are excited to partner with Gordon Brothers to provide a path forward for the Big Lots brand and hundreds of its stores. We look forward to working with members of the Big Lots team to realize the exciting opportunities ahead.”
Bruce Thorn, Big Lots’ president and chief executive officer, said, “The strategic sale to Gordon Brothers and the transfer to Variety Wholesalers is a favorable and significant achievement for Big Lots that reflects the tireless work and collective effort of our team. This sale agreement and transfer present the strongest opportunity to preserve jobs, maximize value for the estate and ensure continuity of the Big Lots brand. We are grateful to our associates nationwide for their grit and resilience throughout this process.”
Rick Edwards, Gordon Brothers Retail Partners’ Head of North America Retail, said, “We are pleased to reach this strategic agreement with Big Lots and partner with Variety Wholesalers to achieve a path forward that allows Big Lots to continue to serve customers with extreme bargains and an outstanding shopping experience.”
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Cooperative Extension With Wykia Macon: Review Of 2024 & Preview Of 2025
Cooperative Extension
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Granville County Emergency Communications Honored by North Carolina 911 Board
In his role as North Central Regional Coordinator for the N. C. 911 board, Brian Short sees how counties cooperate to provide the very best coverage possible when it comes to handling emergencies.
No longer a boots-on-the-ground participant, Short nonetheless witnessed first-hand how counties not affected by Hurricane Helene came to the aid of those in western North Carolina who were hit by floods and mudslides as the remnants of the storms ripped through the state.
The Granville County 911 call center was recently recognized by the state’s 911 board for the mutual aid it provided to Mitchell County from late September to mid-October.
Short may be a familiar name to many in the area – he spent more than three decades in service to Vance County, about 27 of which were as emergency services director.
His retirement in May 2023 was short-lived, however, when he became one of four state coordinators. The North Central region includes 22 counties, including the four counties in the WIZS listening area.
“I happened to be on duty at the state operations emergency center at the height of Helene,” Short said on Tuesday’s TownTalk. As mountain counties reported losing connectivity, Short said he and others manning the phones and radios had to figure out what to do.
“As they started to drop, we knew we had to act quickly,” he said. “I had already been working on a list of potential places to reroute those calls,” and when Granville County was contacted, he said 911 Emergency Services Director Stacy Hicks didn’t hesitate. “Yes, send them our way – we’re ready,” Short recalled her saying. “And just like that, Granville started getting those calls.”
That was on Sept. 27. For the next 17 days, about a quarter of all calls fielded by Granville County 911 were calls originating from Mitchell County, Hicks stated in a press release from Granville County Public Information Officer Terry Hobgood.
“Our team handled a wide range of emergencies, including flood rescues, medical calls, welfare checks, and reports of individuals trapped in homes or vehicles due to mudslides, downed trees, and rising waters. I’m proud of the work we did to assist Mitchell County while they were in distress while also continuing to provide the same emergency services to Granville County residents,” Hicks said.
“Granville County served as a Public Safety Answering Point ‘friend’ to Mitchell County and provided tremendous assistance and dedication to the citizens of western North Carolina by answering 911 calls from miles away in response to Hurricane Helene,” Short said.
Thanks to technology, overall consistency of operations and training that county PSAP employees receive, counties can come to the aid of other counties in emergency situations.
The way Short explained it, because of the mutual aid that unaffected counties were able to give to those ravaged by Helene in the western part of the state, “we lost no
911 calls, even during the heart of the hurricane Helene impact.”
Given the widespread devastation and loss of power, internet and cell phone service, the counties providing mutual aid had to think outside the box to get information relayed quickly and accurately.
“A lot of times, these PSAPs had to think on their feet,” Short said. “It wasn’t as simple as (sending) an email,” he said. “What it really came down to at the PSAP level was knowledge, creativity at the ground level” that played a critical role in sending help where it was needed.
“Every call they took was a true emergency,” he said – life and death emergencies. “I’m very proud of every PSAP in my region, they stepped up and did what they had to do.”
TownTalk: County Commissioners Reorganize After Alston Resignation
Vance County Board of Commissioners Chair Sean A. Alston, Sr. is resigning to become a magistrate in Warren County.
County Manager C. Renee Perry said last week that Alston had called for a special called meeting for 10 a.m. today with the purpose stated as reorganization. No details were given when the meeting was announced.
Alston said he will step away from the commission tomorrow and will be sworn in as a magistrate on Wednesday, Jan. 1.
“It was a pleasure to be on this board for two years – I don’t want to go,” he said during the meeting. In an interview after the meeting, Alston told WIZS News that he had applied for a job as a magistrate before he became a county commissioner; as someone who has been self-employed, he said the opportunity to have state benefits and retirement was an opportunity he couldn’t turn down.
Sean Alston while doing an interview at WIZS in 2020.
He said he had “to disconnect” himself from politics before taking the magistrate position.
The board nominated Commissioner Carolyn Faines to be the new board chair, and in her first act as chair she asked to table the election of a vice chair until the regular board meeting on Jan. 6.
Commissioner Tommy Hester, however, asked to make a nomination during the special called meeting. Hester nominated Leo Kelly to be vice-chair. Although properly moved and seconded, the full board couldn’t agree when to elect the vice chair. That’s when county attorney Jonathan Care said the two motions on the floor needed to be acted upon. Although not unanimous, the board voted to table the election of the vice chair until its Jan. 6 meeting by approving the second motion on the table.
The next step is to appoint a qualified individual to assume Alston’s seat on the commission. The new commissioner should be from the same political and the same district as Alston.
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