Henderson City Council Short Regular Meeting Monday, 23 November 2015 6:00 PM Work Session to immediately follow City Hall Council Chambers, 134 Rose Ave., Henderson, NC 27536 Download the full agenda packet here: 20151123_coh_agenda_packet.pdf
Month: November 2015
Senator Richard Burr: VOTE refugees and national security
The horrific terrorist attacks in Paris last Friday were a sobering reminder of the threats we face from those who wish to do America and her allies harm. That’s why it is reasonable and prudent to suspend the President’s plan to resettle Syrians in the United States until the American people are satisfied that this program is not being used by ISIS to gain access into the country. Our nation similarly suspended the refugee admission program after the September 11 attacks. …
Louisburg College Hosts Lecture To Focus On North Carolina Tobacco Culture
LOUISBURG, N.C.–W.W. Yeargin, Jr., an expert on tobacco culture in North Carolina, will deliver the next Tar River Center Lecture at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 2 in Benson Chapel on the Louisburg College campus. His lecture, titled “Leaves of Gold: North Carolina Tobacco Culture,” is free and open to the public, and will include a look at tobacco’s history in the Upper Tar River region. Yeargin has published three books on the prominent role tobacco has played in the culture, …
Monday Open Line
It used to be that going to the bank was somewhat of a chore — with inconvenient hours and locations, and waiting in line for a teller. Now, many of us rarely see the inside of a bank anymore. We take care of our financial business at an ATM, by going online, or at our bank’s drive-in windows. The first such drive-up facility opened on this date in 1946 at the Exchange National Bank in Chicago, which offered its motoring customers …
Richard Brand: More War on Christmas?
It began early this year. It is still two months before Christmas. We have just finished Halloween and have not even begun to talk about Thanksgiving, and already we have people outraged about what is being called a “war on Christmas.” The latest battle site was Starbuck’s decision to put out simple red cups with their corporate logo on them. Just red cups with no seasonal decorations. No snow flakes, no holly wreaths, no snowmen, no menorah, nothing but their …
Vance County Clerk of Superior Court – Financial Related Audit
NC State Auditor releases report on the Vance County Clerk of Superior Court: The results of our audit identified deficiencies in internal control and/or instances of noncompliance that are considered reportable under Government Auditing Standards. These items included: (1) The Clerk’s Office did not compel the timely filing of estate inventories in accordance with state law; (2) Staff in the Clerk’s Office had the ability to change and/or delete information in multiple systems, resulting in inadequate segregation of duties. Details …
Thanksgiving Travel: Know Before You Go and Save Time, Money
As families travel over the river and through the woods for Thanksgiving celebrations, the N.C. Department of Transportation will suspend most road construction activities on major routes across the state to help make their trips a little smoother. By avoiding traffic delays, motorists can reach their destinations safely and efficiently, while cutting down on fuel consumption and costs. NCDOT will put on hold most construction projects along interstate, N.C. and U.S. routes from 6 a.m., Wednesday, November 25, until midnight, Sunday, November 29 with these exceptions: U.S. …
Vance County Farm-City Week: Our Aging Farmers: A Looming Crisis For Our Nation?
If you happen to be a farmer, I have some important information for you: You’re not getting any younger. Sorry, don’t mean to get personal, but the 2007 Census of Agriculture reports that the average age for farmers in Vance County is almost 60. Nor is this phenomenon limited to our own community. For North Carolina as a whole, the average age is a hair over 57, while the figure is just over 58 for our nation (2012 Census of …
Speedy New Lift, New Tube Park Elevate NC Winter Sports Season
As temperatures drop, the action heats up at winter resorts in the North Carolina mountains. The 2015-16 season opens with a new tubing park at Beech Mountain Resort, a new high-speed, six-seater chairlift at Sugar Mountain Resort and other improvements on and off the slopes. “Every year brings new reasons to get excited about North Carolina ski and snowboard season,” said Wit Tuttell, executive director of Visit North Carolina. “Our six ski areas elevate the state’s western mountains to the …
VGCC and Dill Air Controls Products join forces with Apprenticeship program
Vance-Granville Community College and Oxford-based Dill Air Controls Products, LLC, recently signed on to join the North Carolina Triangle Apprenticeship Program (NCTAP), in an effort to provide new opportunities for local students and to prepare a skilled workforce. NCTAP offers students a unique start to a professional career and develops them into future industry leaders. The program focuses on integrated basic training which develops technical, methodological and social skills. Typically starting in the 11th grade of high school, the four-year …
White House By the Numbers: What You Need to Know about Syrian Refugees in the U.S.
The refugees that have captivated so much attention in the wake of Friday’s attack are fleeing precisely the type of senseless slaughter that happened in Paris. To slam the door in their faces — to decide not to help when we know that we can help — would be a betrayal of our deepest values as Americans. That’s why we’re going to do the right thing in the right way: protecting the American people even as we provide refuge to …
Friday / Weekend Open Lines
Friday, November 20th. One of the most renowned of America’s historically black colleges was founded on this date in 1866 as the Howard Theological Seminary. Named after Civil War general and post-war Freedmen’s Bureau Director Oliver O. Howard, the seminary changed its name to Howard University just two months after its founding. While not the first college to admit black students, nor the first to be established for blacks, Howard was the first to offer full undergraduate, graduate and professional …
North Carolina Weekend
For the week of Nov. 19 on North Carolina Weekend, experience the American Indian Heritage Celebration at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh. Discover the various works at the Asheville Museum of Art in Asheville. Tempt your taste buds at Miss Angels Heavenly Pies in Mount Airy. Take in “The Worlds of M. C. Escher: Nature, Science and Imagination” exhibit at the N.C. Museum of Art in Raleigh. And the “House Special” samples the fare at The Ne’er Do …
Thanksgiving travelers predicted to top 46 million
AAA is predicting that nearly 47 million U.S. residents will travel at least 50 miles away from home during the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The figure, 46.9 million, is a 0.6 percent increase compared to 2014 travel in the Thanksgiving period, which is defined as the Wednesday through Sunday surrounding the holiday. The auto club said this year will see the highest number of Thanksgiving travelers since 2007 if the prediction is accurate. AAA attributed part of the predicted increase …
N.C. Museum of Art holds groundbreaking ceremony for park expansion
Wednesday the N.C. Museum of Art in Raleigh held a groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of its park, which is expected to be completed by next summer. The expansion will add tree-lined parking lots, bike and walking paths, and a central elliptic lawn for museum and community programming. The long-term plan for the Museum Park includes a new campus entrance and streetscape, increased paved parking capacity, woodland and meadow restoration, additional trails and infrastructure, improved sustainability measures and additional outdoor …
Governor McCrory Announces New Juvenile Offender Re-Entry Program Wins Federal Grant
Courtsey of Senator Angela Bryant Governor Pat McCrory announced that North Carolina is one of three states to be awarded a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) grant to implement an innovative reintegration of juvenile offenders into the community. “Our strategy focuses on improved assessment, delivering the appropriate education or workforce training and family engagement so they can be the support system for their child when they re-enter the community,” Governor McCrory said. “Our youth must be given every chance to …
Vance County Board of Commissioners Special Called Meeting November 23rd, 2015
Chairman Archie B. Taylor, Jr. has called a special meeting of the Board of Commissioners for Monday, November 23, 2015 at 3:30 p.m. in the commissioners’ conference room. The purpose of the meeting is to enter into closed session to discuss legal matters related to Semprius.
Thursday Open Line
The first automatic toll collection station went into service on this date in 1954. It was installed at the Union Toll Plaza on New Jersey’s Garden State Parkway. Motorists dropped coins into a wire mesh hopper, triggering a green light that told them to go ahead. The idea soon caught on at toll roads around the country, reducing the number of booth attendants and propelling cars and trucks on their way. There are some 3,300 miles of toll roads in …
Vance County Farm-City Week: Soil Health: The Foundation Of Food Production
What’s the difference between dirt and soil? The simple answer, dirt is dead and soil is alive! Soil is comprised of air, water, decayed plant residue, organic matter (living and dead organisms), and mineral matter (sand, silt, clay). Healthy functioning soil needs to be able to sustain and nourish plants, soil microbes, and beneficial insects. Healthy soils are porous, allowing air and water to move freely through them, and are often home to earthworms. A balance between the chemical and …
NCDMV License and Theft Bureau Inspector Named Recipient of 2015 Governor’s Award for Excellence in Heroism
Raleigh – License and Theft Bureau Inspector Talaya D. Vaughn of the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles was honored today with the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Heroism for her July 2014 rescue of a crash victim from a burning vehicle. She received the award in an afternoon ceremony at North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh. The rescue occurred while Inspector Vaughn was traveling home from Alabama, when she witnessed a vehicle crash head on into a tree near Atlanta. …