In this newsletter you will find news from the district, along with my blog post on the most recent unemployment report, focusing on the record number of people who have dropped out of the labor force. You will also find information on the “Give Back, Pay it Forward” event taking place to collect donations for the Red Cross following last year’s tornado disasters. Please share this newsletter with your friends and family via email using the “Tell a Friend” form …
Month: April 2012
Monday Open Lines
This weeks Weekly Address: It’s Time for Congress to Pass the Buffett Rule, President Obama urges Congress to pass the Buffett Rule — which asks those who make more than $1 million a year to pay at least the same percentage of their income in taxes as middle class families — as a principle of fairness. West Wing Week: “You’re Proof of Change” This week, the President hosted a forum on Women and the Economy, welcomed the President of Brazil, …
Vance County Farm Bureau BBQ Lunch and Raffle Benefitting Relay for Life
The Vance County Farm Bureau is having a BBQ Plate Sale to benefit Relay for Life on Friday May 11, 2012 from 11:00am – 2:00pm. Cost is $7.00 per plate and includes BBQ port, boiled potatoes, cole slaw, bread and desert. Delivery is available for orders of eight or more. Pickup will be at Farm Bureau located at 2942 US 1 / 158 Highway in Henderson, NC. All sales are in advance. Tickets are available through the Farm Bureau office, …
Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce Leadership-Vance 2012 Program Seeking Requests For its Community Service Project
The Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce Leadership-Vance 2012 program is seeking requests for its Community Service Project. All interested civic groups, non-profit organizations and other community service groups may submit requests to the Chamber for possible activities for the day. The project activities must be able to be completed within the course of one (eight hour) day by approximately twenty-two people, and the Leadership-Vance 2012 class as a whole will decide the project they will undertake. Suggested activities include clean-ups, volunteer …
Guest speaker’s Turnaround Inspires VGCC Audience
The Male Mentoring Program at Vance-Granville Community College hosted author, entrepreneur, social activist and educator Dr. NKrumah D. Lewis as a special guest speaker on March 30 in the Civic Center on VGCC’s Main Campus. VGCC students, faculty and staff, joined by community members and students from Henderson Middle School, heard Lewis movingly talk about his own life and offer advice to young people. After an introduction by VGCC student Curtis Jefferys of Henderson, Lewis said that his goal and …
NC Community Band Festival Brings Musicians to VGCC
Musicians from around the state converged at the Vance-Granville Community College Civic Center on March 31, when the college hosted the third annual North Carolina Community Band Festival. During the day, members of three bands — the Vance-Granville Community Band, the Greensboro Concert Band and the Durham Community Concert Band — practiced with professional musicians and guest clinician Verena Moesenbichler-Bryant. Dr. Moesenbichler-Bryant is Director of the Duke University Wind Symphony and Visiting Assistant Professor of the Practice of Music at …
VGCC Male Mentoring Students Elect Leaders
Students in the Male Mentoring Program at Vance-Granville Community College elected officers to serve during the academic year and represent their group at special events. Officers include president Curtis Jefferys of Henderson, vice president Rudy Renteria of Henderson, secretary Grey Winn of Youngsville, treasurer Kevin Benitez of Louisburg, and community liaison Jerome Bulluck of Henderson. Jefferys, Renteria, Winn and Bulluck are enrolled in VGCC’s College Transfer program, while Benitez is an Automotive Systems Technology student. The VGCC Male Mentoring Program …
Representative Michael H. Wray’s Raleigh Report
The start of this year’s legislative session is about a month away and I am continuing to prepare to take your ideas and your needs to the General Assembly. My focus will continue to be on job creation, education, respecting people’s rights and providing help to those who are vulnerable. A number of bills introduced by members of the Democratic caucus last session tried to address these issues. One of these bills would have given tax credits to small businesses …
Earth Day celebration to be held at VGCC on April 23
Vance-Granville Community College will hold its seventh annual Earth Day festival on Monday, April 23 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on the college’s Main Campus in Vance County. The public is invited. The event has been organized to educate the college and community about conservation and the natural world in a fun, informative setting. Activities will take place outside around the Gazebo and courtyard areas, and will move into the VGCC Civic Center in the event of rain. VGCC …
Butterfield to Underscore Importance of Expanding Job Training Programs in the District
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) will be joined by Edgecombe Community College President Dr. Deborah Lamm, North Carolina Community College System Executive Vice President Kennon Briggs, Turning Point Workforce Development Director Michael Williams, and special guest U.S. Department of Labor Assistant Secretary for Policy Bill Spriggs during the We Can’t Wait…for Jobs! community forum on Friday, April 13 at Edgecombe Community College in Tarboro. The forum will underscore the importance of expanding skill and job training programs …
N.C. Energy Star Appliance Rebate Program Closes Monday
Don’t Delay — Water Heaters, Central Air Conditioners, Heat Pumps & More Qualify for Rebates RALEIGH – Consumers have just a few days to save on the purchase of energy efficient major home appliances as the N.C. ENERGY STAR® Appliance Replacement and Rebate Program will stop accepting applications at 5 p.m. on April 16. Since the program was reopened in February, applications for more than $1.1 million in rebates have been submitted for the purchase of 8,150 appliances. Leading the …
Treasurer Returns Over $300k Live on ABC’s Good Morning America
As balloons fell and the crowd roared, Treasurer Cowell enjoyed one of the most fun parts of her job: giving back to the public. On February 17, she appeared live on ABC’s Good Morning Americato present more than $374,000 in unclaimed property to representatives from North Carolina schools, colleges and universities. In the small town of Arapahoe, N.C., the Treasurer was greeted by cheering students in the gymnasium at Arapahoe Charter School, where she presented three large checks on Good …
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival April 12-15th in Durham
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is an annual international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of non-fiction cinema. Each spring Full Frame welcomes filmmakers and film lovers from around the world to historic downtown Durham, North Carolina for a four-day, morning to midnight array of over 100 films as well as discussions, panels, and southern hospitality. Set within a four-block radius, the intimate festival landscape fosters community and conversation between filmmakers, film professionals and the public. Full Frame serves …
Friday / Weekend Open Line
On April 12th, in 1955, the nation was loudly celebrating great medical news. Dr. Jonas Salk announced a vaccine against polio — the most feared disease of that era. Polio affects the nervous system, causing paralysis in the legs and the muscles operating the lungs. Most victims were children — hence the other name for the illness, infantile paralysis. However, adults could also contract polio and its most famous victim was Franklin D. Roosevelt. After the introduction of the Salk …
New San Francisco Flights to Expand Research Triangle’s Global Reach
The doors to the West—and East—just opened wider for North Carolina with Gov. Bev Perdue’s announcement today that United Airlines will begin nonstop service from Raleigh to San Francisco this year. The new flight is scheduled to begin service on August 15. “By strengthening the air service connection between the two coasts and Asia, we are creating more opportunities for N.C. businesses to be more competitive and to create more jobs for North Carolinians,” said Gov. Bev Perdue. The announcement …
Homebuilder Retains Drilling Rights Under Triangle Homes
In a story akin to our April 1st article regarding fracking under Kerr Lake, an anonymous reader sent us this article regarding Texas-based home builder D.R. Horton Inc. that builds homes in the triangle area has retained the mineral rights for some properties it has sold area developments. The company was retaining the rights to oil, gas, water, petroleum, natural gas, coal and other materials located in or under the property or that could be produced or extracted from it. …
Henderson-Vance Spring Litter Sweep Plans
The fourth annual Henderson-Vance Spring Litter Sweep will be held Monday, April 16, through Saturday, April 21, with local residents urged to get involved in this effort to clean up around their homes, businesses, churches, schools, neighborhoods, subdivisions and along city streets and county roadways. “We’ve had lots of success with our previous Spring Litter Sweep efforts,” said Terri Hedrick, chairperson of the Vance County Appearance Commission, which is coordinating the clean-up effort along with the Henderson Community Appearance Commission. …
VGCC Cosmetology Students test skills in Competition
The annual Vance-Granville Community College Cosmetology competition was held on April 2 in the Civic Center on the college’s Main Campus in Vance County. This year, student stylists picked one of two categories in which to demonstrate their skills and creative flair: “Fantasy,” and “Elegant Updo,” in which students worked on the heads of mannequins, rather than on live models. In the Fantasy category, the first-place winner was Jas Gill, a student at VGCC’s Main Campus. Trophies for second, third …
Thursday Open Lines
Forty-four years ago on April 11th, the Civil Rights Act became law. At the ceremony, President Johnson said: “The proudest moments of my presidency have been times such as this when I have signed into law the promises of a century.” The event occurred one week to the day after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Among its provisions, the act protected civil rights workers, expanded the rights of American Indians and established measures to end discrimination in housing. …
Richard Brand: A Tough Choice?
What would happen if we accepted what one candidate says about the other? The campaign process being what it is, obviously one campaign has studied the other more intently than the general public. How would you vote if what one candidate says about the other is accepted as accurate? There was an election for Mayor of Houston one year in which one candidate said that the other candidate was a crook, had ties to the criminal underworld, and a cheat. …