Tag Archive for: #wizsnews

TownTalk: Fire Association Advocates For Keeping 8.9-Cent Fire Tax Level

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Watkins Assistant Fire Chief Brandon Link, speaking to Vance County Commissioners during the Monday budget work session in his capacity as president of the county firefighters association, asked for the county’s fire tax to stay at its current level of 8.9 cents.

Commissioners are considering a $57 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which includes dropping the fire tax to a revenue-neutral rate of 5.9 cents per $100 valuation.

But Link said that amount simply won’t be enough.

“We’ve incurred a lot of costs…without an increase in funding, we’re going to sink,” Link told commissioners.

“Our number one goal is to provide the best service we can to all of our residents,” Link said on Tuesday’s TownTalk. He discussed in greater detail the challenges the county’s volunteer departments are facing.

Link said keeping the fire tax at its current level would generate roughly $2,634,000, which would allow for a boost in pay for part-time firefighters to $20 per hour and provide $165,000 per department to operate.

(In the recommended budget, the fire tax fund budget is $1,914,678 and proposes to take $79,392 from the fire tax fund balance. One penny = $296,933. The lower revenue-neutral rate of 5.94 cents would generate just more than $1.76 million. Three cents could mean an additional million dollars of fire tax revenue.)

With its current $15/hour part-time pay, Vance County is at the bottom of the market, Link said. Neighboring counties are offering more money and Link said Vance County is getting out-competed. Warren offers $16/hour, Franklin is between $15-$20/hour, Granville uses a tiered structure that offers between $16-$18/hour.

“Four departments are about to incur $3 million worth of debt from purchases that had to be made to sustain the service we provide,” Link said.

When you add up $30,000 in truck payments, along with $13,000 or more for financial audits and $15,000 for insurance – per department – and fire stations are facing some hefty debt. “…and we haven’t even paid the first light bill or put a gallon of $4 diesel in the tank,” he said.

 

WIZS News spoke with Board Chair Dan Brummitt earlier Tuesday, and he stated that he doesn’t think any changes in the fire tax will be made before the budget is adopted. He added, however, that he and fellow commissioners had not reached consensus.

The commissioners are scheduled to meet again on Thursday and Link said he is hopeful that there will be four commissioners that take his side to keep the fire tax rate at 8.9 cents.

“We know that 8.9 is not going to get us all the things we need, but it gets us close,” Link said.

He said firefighters appreciate the support they get from commissioners, but he would like to see a compromise reached.

 

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TownTalk: Fentanyl Awareness Event This Saturday

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Forgotten Victims of North Carolina and New Beginnings Recovery of Grace Ministries are joining forces to host an event on Saturday in Henderson to promote fentanyl awareness.

Forgotten Victims founder Patricia Drewes invites the community to participate in the event, which will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the parking lot outside the Vance County Courthouse, located at 156 Church St.

Drewes said guest speakers will come from across the state to talk about the dangers of fentanyl, which takes thousands of lives each year.

“Fentanyl affects us all,” Drewes said on Tuesday’s TownTalk. There will be more than 400 posters with the faces of young people who have died as a result of fentanyl.

“No one’s child is safe,” she said. Drewes’s daughter, Heaven, died from a fentanyl overdose.

She founded Forgotten Victims in 2021 after her daughter’s death so other parents wouldn’t have to face the same feeling of being alone. There are now eight chapters across the state, she said.

“Our motto is ‘No one stands alone in North Carolina,” she added.

Come out on Saturday and learn more about the dangers of illicit fentanyl, as well as information about recovery programs, area resources and get trained on how to administer naloxone, an antidote for opioid poisoning.

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The Local Skinny! Elder Abuse Awareness Event Is Friday

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Join the Kerr Tar Region K Elder Abuse Conference and Walk on Friday, June 14 in Oxford to learn more about how to help senior adults, get them connected to services and protect them from unscrupulous scammers.

Kim Hawkins, regional ombudsman for KTCOG, said the event will be Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the campus of the Masonic Home for Children in Oxford. June 15 is recognized as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, an observance that promotes awareness and understanding of the many forms of elder abuse and resources available to those at risk.

Elder abuse is defined as “an act that knowingly, intentionally, or negligently causes or creates a serious risk of harm to an older person by a family member, caregiver, or other person in a trust relationship. Such harm may be financial, physical, sexual, or psychological.”

More than 20 different agencies from across the Kerr-Tar’s five-county service area will be on site to showcase their services and to share resources with the community. Home health agencies, long-term facilities, family care homes and adult day programs all will be represented.

“There’s a variety of resources on hand so you can learn what’s available to you,” Hawkins said on Tuesday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

The State Employees’ Credit Union will provide information about wills, trusts and estate planning, she said.

The agencies that are participating in the event are showing caregivers that they support the prevention of elder abuse, Hawkins said.

“We’re respecting them, keeping them safe and secure – it’s important to know who’s here on your side.”

There will be t-shirts, goodie bags and lunch provided, she said.

U.S. Attorney Michael Easley joins leaders from the local, state and national level to highlight the importance of awareness and education.

“Respecting our elders is a core American value,” Easley stated in a press release. “But too many crooks see our seniors as targets for financial scams. We are prioritizing cases with elderly victims to help stop the frauds and cheats trying to rob our seniors. Learn the signs of elder fraud and abuse. Together, we can give our older generation the respect they deserve.”

Visit the Elder Justice Initiative page to learn more about the Justice Department’s elder justice efforts.

For more information about the KTCOG event,
contact Tyeisha Hewett with Granville County DSS at 919.693.1511 or
Kimberly Hawkins with the Kerr-Tar Area Agency on Aging at 252.436.2050.

 

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Cooperative Extension with Wykia Macon 06-11-24

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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: Crawford Focuses On ADHD For Children’s Book

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It’s a short book – only 35 pages – but author Fay Crawford said thinks it could have a lasting impact on those who read it or have it read to them.

“My Special Friend” is about a boy named Mikey who is diagnosed with ADHD – attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – and what he learns about how he learns.

This is Crawford’s first book, but she said writing is something that she has always been pretty good at.

It’s a work of fiction that tackles a very real subject. “ADHD is real and it’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Crawford, a retired schoolteacher, said.

As a classroom teacher for more than 30 years (all of them spent at E.M. Rollins), no doubt she had her share of wiggly second-graders who just couldn’t keep their mind on their work or who had to have the instructions repeated because they just couldn’t pay close enough attention.

Teachers develop strategies and techniques to deal with any number of challenges in their classrooms, but Crawford said she wishes she’d known more about ADHD when she was still teaching.

Once she retired, she delved into research on the topic. “When I did the research, I learned so much – more than I knew when teaching,” she explained on Thursday’s TownTalk.

Without giving too much away, the storyline goes like this: Mikey is diagnosed with ADHD, but he comes to realize his ADHD doesn’t define who he is or what he can become, Crawford explained.

The target audience includes parents, teachers and young people. Children in the 3rd or 4th grade probably can read it independently, she said.

“There are so many children…with this diagnosis,” she said, and it’s important to know what it is and what it isn’t.

“During research, I discovered that ADHD is a brain disorder…children who have ADHD, there are differences in their brain development and brain activity.”

Children with ADHD have to learn how to use their brain – their “special friend” as Crawford refers to it – in a different way. It’s exactly what Mikey does in the story to win a contest.

She recalled a saying she heard from former Vance County Schools Superintendent Dr. Anthony Jackson: “Different is not deficient – it’s just different.”

With a master’s degree in literacy, it’s no wonder that Crawford places such an emphasis on reading – or that she decided to write a book.

“Reading is so important,” she said. “You learn so much from reading – you can go places just from reading.”

Find “My Special Friend” on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/My-Special-Friend-Fay-Crawford/dp/B0CQNNTK75

If you’d like a signed copy, visit Shero Publishing at https://sheropublishing.com/

 

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The Local Skinny! Pop The Hood: Understanding Oil Viscosity

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For our sponsor, Advance Auto Parts, as part of a paid radio sponsorship on WIZS.

There are many brands of motor oil to choose from, but no matter which brand you choose, there’s one thing they all have in common: a combination of numbers and a letter that describes how thick the oil is – its viscosity.

The Society of Automotive Engineers came up with this combination, but how many of us know how to interpret that number – letter – number combination?

The staff at Advance Auto Parts can help you choose the correct engine oil for your needs, whether you’re shopping for your vehicle, lawn mowers or anything else that uses oil

Generally speaking, the lower the number, the lower the viscosity.

Let’s use 5W-30 as an example. This type of oil is used commonly in newer model vehicles.

The number before the W describes the thickness of the oil at low temperatures. The lower the number, the thinner the oil and the better that oil will perform when the engine is cold.

The number after the W describes the oil’s thickness when the engine’s warmed up. Higher numbers mean thicker oil viscosity, which provides better protection for high-heat or high-load uses.

Trust the staff at Advance Auto to help you choose the right product for your needs.

The information contained in this post is not advice from Advance Auto Parts or WIZS.  Safety First!  Always seek proper help.  This is presented for its informational value only and is part of a paid advertising sponsorship.

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