Henderson City Manager Eric Williams has submitted a letter of intent to seek official recognition for a proposed Weed and Seed site covering a large swath of eastern Henderson and running outside the city lines into unincorporated parts of Vance County.
Month: August 2005
Midweek open line
We hate to start the day with an apology, but here are two of them: We’re sorry for failing to provide an open line Tuesday, and we’re sorry for failing to post a report about Monday’s City Council meeting with The Ferguson Group. We address the first problem with this open-line file; we’ll try to take care of the other problem sometime tonight but can make no promises. Meanwhile, the blog is yours; write away.
Pick of the day: Money for demolition
The Clean Up Henderson Committee meets at 8 a.m. on the final day of August, which happens to be when Code Compliance Director Corey Williams had predicted his $25,000 for contracted services for fiscsl 2005-06 would run out. Sure enough, Williams told the cleanup committee two weeks ago, an aggressive effort to take down abandoned houses has emptied that account. Back at budget time, the City Council promised to revisit the issue of money for the Code Compliance Department in …
Southern Vance up, Northern down on SATs
Vance County high school students boosted the county public schools’ SAT average by 12 points in 2005, according to statewide numbers released by the state Department of Public Instruction on Tuesday.
Railroad, city raring to go on Chavasse
Have you ever sat at the railroad crossing at Chavasse Avenue with the crossing arms down but the train was down the track not moving, traffic was backed up in every direction, and frustrations were mounting? And does it seem that it happens at lunch, when school lets out and at 5 when everyone is getting off work?
Opinion: Nuke us, please
It’s probably just a coincidence that Progress Energy is holding a big public meeting in Vance County the day after announcing that it wants to build the nation’s first new nuclear power plant in a quarter-century. But it gives us a nice opportunity to get a jump-start on a major economic development project.
Pick of the day: Progress on energy
Progress Energy will provide information from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Vance-Granville Community College about plans for additional power transmission throughout the area. You can get the basics of the project from the Progress Energy Web site.
Vance still third in unemployment
Vance County’s unemployment rate followed the North Carolina trend and increased in July to 9.9 percent, tied with Wilson County for the third-highest rate in the state, according to statistics released Friday by the state Employment Security Commission. Caldwell County was the worst at 13.1 percent, and Scotland County slipped from first to second at 11.6 percent. Vance’s rate was 9.3 percent in June and 10.6 percent in July 2004, when 116 more people were officially unemployed and 403 fewer …
Milestones: Truth in real estate
Imagine, if you will, a universe where the City Council has finally done the right thing and signed the new water storage contract …
Opinion: Martial arts grapple with local problems
Rodrigo Gracie teaches at Midnight Blue Martial Arts. “Karate is the best thing you can do for your child.” At least Chuck Norris thinks so, according to the signed poster on the Midnight Blue Martial Arts Web site. He’s not alone in this belief; though the picture of your average librarian does not involve breaking boards or bowing to your sensei (martial arts instructor) after a successful knockout, this librarian and martial arts student thinks karate does great things for …
Marketplace dances into fall Critic’s Choice Series
Marketplace Cinema kicks off the fall Critic’s Choice Series today with an invitation-only reception at 4 p.m. and the premiere of the first of the 12 weekly films at 5.
Monday’s open line
The Boomtown Rats didn’t like Mondays, but they’re as good as any other days for some common-sense talk. Or flights of fancy. Or anything in between. Keep in mind a few of the things going on today. Henderson officials are meeting with The Ferguson Group, the city’s D.C. lobbying firm, at noon at the Municipal Building, and we hope the talk includes a water reality check. Mayor Clem Seifert has a 3 p.m. meeting with state Department of Transportation representatives; …
Pick of the day: Watching Katrina
Vance County is lucky enough to far from the path of Hurricane Katrina. But some of us have friends and relatives in New Orleans, the Mississippi coast, Mobile or Pensacola, not to mention the inland areas up through the Ohio Valley that could see flooding in the coming days. All those people need our prayers today, and we should prepare to offer more material aid as it’s needed.
Opinion: Nothing helpful from the corps
For those who don’t read The Daily Dispatch, here’s the latest on the city’s “negotiations” with the Army Corps of Engineers on a water contract for Kerr Lake.
Belated weekend open line
With any luck, the past couple of days will be the extent of the interruption in the editor’s connection to this site, and we can go on with the show. A few quick responses to the fascinating discussions y’all have carried on: * We intend to send e-mail questionnaires to each of the candidates in contested Henderson City Council races, as well as give the unopposed incumbents a chance to lay out their visions for Henderson. We have e-mail addresses …
Pick of the day: Youth Explosion
The Rev. John Miles will hold his annual Youth Explosion today and Saturday at Henderson Middle School. The Greensboro pastor returns to his hometown to help teens get into the back-to-school spirit. There will be singing, dancing, stepping and inspirational speeches from 6:30 to 10 tonight, then a cookout from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. And it’s all free.
Friday’s open line
Wow, the first HomeinHenderson open line was a bigger hit than we expected. What did we learn? The consensus seems to be that a seven-year tax break is excessive, and a tax break for the retail industry might not be a good deal for any amount of time. Also, we’d love to have a water park here, and if that doesn’t work, we’ll listen to any Indian tribe looking to expand its casino business. And a couple of us are …
To our readers: An open line
One of the things we’ve learned the past six months is that not only don’t we know everything about Henderson and Vance County, but often we don’t even know there’s anything we ought to know. It’s hard for us to write about things we don’t know are happening, and it’s impossible for us to know everything that’s of interest to y’all out there on your computers. So, as part of the improvements we hope to make as the editor transitions …
Boys & Girls Club just needs place, money, hard work
When Charles Dickens wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” he could have been talking about Henderson. Although crime seems to be an unabating issue and unemployment is still a monster, there are certainly positive movements in our community, and one is the Steering Committee for the Boys & Girls Club of North Central North Carolina.
Opinion: It’s time to do the water deal
When it comes to Henderson’s water contract with the Army Corps of Engineers, we have to agree with City Council member John Wester: We don’t get it.