The Vance County Board of Education met at the Administrative Services Center on Graham Avenue on Monday.
Month: October 2005
Monday’s open line
We can’t think of anything more appropriate than a final chance for folks to make their arguments for particular candidates in Tuesday’s elections. All we ask is that you try to argue FOR someone, rather than AGAINST someone else. We’d like to think that everyone can find positive reasons to vote for their candidates of choice. But this is an open line, so feel free to mourn the Braves’ annual playoff loss or chat about anything else.
Pick of the day: One last council meeting
The Vance County Board of Education will meet at 7 tonight at the school system’s headquarters on Graham Avenue, and normally its planned adoption of the 2005-06 budget as part of its monthly agenda would be enough to grab our attention. But not when the City Council is meeting for the final time before Tuesday’s elections, especially when the Fire Department figures to be center stage with three separate items on a crowded agenda: a life safety award, a grant …
Milestones: Miles for mayor
OK, Henderson, I know it’s a little late, but I can no longer place my faith in the stewardship of Henderson with guys who go by names like “Biff,” “Clem,” “Chick,” “Bubba” and “Eric.” (Talk about a “weak” mayor system!) Therefore, I’d like to announce my write-in candidacy for mayor of Henderson. Just write me in there Tuesday. Your friendly elections officials will tell you how. Bring a purple crayon with you so they’ll know you’re serious.
The candidates (some of them) speak
On Sept. 21, HomeinHenderson e-mailed 17 questions to each of the candidates on the ballot for the Henderson City Council in the six contested races. We did not contact council members Lonnie Davis and Ranger Wilkerson, who are running unopposed in Ward 4, nor do we submit the questions to Deryl Von Williams, on the perhaps dubious principle that we only wanted to deal with candidates who took advantage of the five-week filing period to enter the municipal elections.
Legislative report: Gang legislation costly
This is the latest in an occasional series of articles contributed by state Sen. Doug Berger about legislative issues of concern to Vance County. The state budget includes $2 million to provide funds for local efforts to prevent the formation and growth of gangs. The budget also includes a specific grant of $25,000 to Gateway and the Vance County Coalition Against Violence to address gang violence in Henderson.
Weekend open line
It’s the last weekend for the City Council candidates to hunt for votes around Henderson. And through a coincidence of scheduling, the council will meet Monday night, election eve, with a last chance for the incumbents to impress us with their statesmanship and knowledge. So let’s set the proper tone here, if only for one weekend, by keeping the discourse out of the gutter.
More actions by the county commissioners
During the Vance County Board of Commissioners meeting Monday evening, the board took some other actions:
Friday’s open line
Congratulations to the Braves and to John Smoltz, who thoroughly dominated Tropical Storm Tammy, the Astros and Roger Clemens, who’s only the best pitcher of our time and arguably the best since World War II. Smoltz needed only nine pitches, nine pitches, 10 pitches and 10 pitches to get through his final four innings. In victory, though, the Braves put together one of the strangest innings we’ve ever seen: In the bottom of the seventh, Atlanta sent six batters to …
Emergency director reports on Katrina relief
Brian Short, the director of emergency operations for Vance County, reported to the Board of Commissioners on Monday about his participation in relief efforts in New Orleans.
Thursday’s open line
As you can see below, we have posted the responses to our candidate questionnaire. Six of the 12 candidates responded, including both in the most highly anticipated race, Elissa Yount vs. John Wester for the Ward 3 at-large seat. You can click on any of the page numbers listed with that post to jump to a particular one of the 17 questions and see all six responses. If other candidates respond, we’ll add them in the appropriate places. We’ll move …
Wednesday’s open line
Entering the homestretch of its bid to gain federal Weed and Seed status for Henderson and Vance County, the Vance Organization to Implement Community Excellence meets this morning at 10:30 at the Aycock Recreation Complex. VOICE has nine days to get a draft of its 50-page application to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Raleigh. Here’s the list of the nearly 50 people tapped to serve on the Weed and Seed steering committee. And with that public service announcement complete, the …
County toughens litter ordinance
A public hearing on amending the county litter control ordinance was held during Monday evening’s Vance County Board of Commissioners meeting.
Tuesday’s open line
Many people have expressed concerns about and/or interest in the city proposal to set up a fund to pay rent for “good tenants” who run into temporary trouble. We cannot add the question to our candidate questionnaire at this point, but we’ll throw the topic out there for any City Council candidates or anyone else to address. Do you support this proposal? Why?
Pick of the day: Committees, committees, committees
It’s probably just a coincidence, but we’re pleased to report that after all of the discussion on this site about Henderson publicizing its meetings, we recieved an e-mail from City Clerk Dianne White on Monday that covered the schedule of meetings in the city government this week. The least we can do is pass along that information, so here it is in full. The focus today is on committee meetings: Public Works at 10 a.m.; Human Resources and Journal at …
County poised to renew cable franchise
Monday evening’s Vance County Board of Commissioners meeting began with a public hearing regarding the renewal of Time Warner’s cable franchise agreement with the county.
Monday’s open line
At popular request (it only takes one in the blogging world), we’ll throw out a particular item for discussion today: the library vs. The Daily Dispatch. Tem Blackburn, who happens to head the state Library Commission and serves as a trustee of the H. Leslie Perry Mermorial Library when he isn’t juggling legal matters for Variety Wholesalers, wrote a passionate letter in Sunday’s Dispatch to defend the library board, the library administration and the library expansion from what he perceives …
Cable contract, litter on county agenda
The items slated for discussion at this evening’s Vance County Board of Commissioners meeting include:
Milestones: The downtrodden of Vance County
There’s this person I know who has a good job with a prominent Vance County employer. They call her a “professional,” but they don’t let her set a fee for the service she renders, even though other professionals like doctors, lawyers and architects do it routinely.
Weekend open line
We’re entering the homestretch of the election season and, coincidentally, the period of the Jewish High Holy Days, which start Monday night. It’s a good time for honest reflection on the past year and on the year to come, which fits perfectly with the answers City Council candidates are submitting to some questions we sent them. We’ll post the responses during the next week. Meanwhile, chat away.