In this week’s address, President Obama laid out his vision for quality, affordable higher education for all Americans. Today, a college degree is the surest ticket to the middle class and beyond, but it has also never been more expensive. Everyone, from elected officials to universities to business leaders, has a part to play in making college affordable for all students. The President has already made historic investments in college education affordability, and earlier this week, he announced a Student …
Month: March 2015
Monday Open Line
The first salvo in what we’ve come to know as the War on Poverty was fired on this date 51 years ago. Following President Lyndon Johnson’s State of the Union call for tackling poverty in America, the Economic Opportunity Act was introduced in and passed by Congress with 11 program components. The landmark legislation was signed into law in August. The poverty rate in 1965, at the implementation of the programs, was around 16 percent, down from some 22 percent …
Public Notice – Henderson City Council Land Planning Committee Meeting
The Henderson City Council’s Land Planning Committee will meet on Monday, March 16, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. in the Large Conference Room at City Hall, 134 Rose Avenue. The purpose of the meeting among other items is to discuss an offer to purchase a City owned property. The public is welcome.
North Carolina Weekend
For the week of March 12 on North Carolina Weekend, go down on the farm at Southern Farm Days in Lake Waccamaw. Take in a show at the Old Theatre in Oriental. Get your toes a-tapping to bluegrass at the annual Sandy Ridge Show in Sandy Ridge. Be amazed at the Greensboro Science Center in Greensboro. And the “House Special” samples the fare at the Flashback from the Ford Place Restaurant and Pub in Mount Gilead. (Please note: listings are …
VGCC to host workshop on Organic Crop certification
Vance-Granville Community College will host a one-day workshop to help local farmers understand the process of certifying their crops as “organic” according to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) standards. “Organic Crop Certification for Agricultural Small Businesses” is set to be held Friday, March 20, from 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. in Room 7107 of Building 7 on VGCC’s Main Campus in Vance County. Attendees will learn from regional experts, who will demystify the USDA Organic Certification process and crop …
NCDOT to Begin Tryon Road Widening and Improvement Project in Wake County
RALEIGH — N.C. Department of Transportation contractors will begin a $7.8 million project to widen and improve Tryon in Wake County on Monday, March 16. The project includes realigning part of the current Tryon Road route to go through the Renaissance Park development from U.S. 70/401/N.C. 50, as well as replacing the bridge over Norfolk Southern Railway. That will eliminate two sharp curves just east of the railroad bridge. In addition, both new and existing portions of Tryon Road …
Friday / Weekend Open Lines
The first state college for women was created this month in 1884 in Mississippi. Known as the Mississippi Industrial Institute and College, classes opened in the fall of the next year on the campus of a former college in Columbus. Now called the Mississippi University for Women, it has been ranked as one of the top schools in the annual list of “America’s Best Colleges.” The now coed school of some 2,400 students has a number its campus buildings on …
Vance County Schools – Special Readers at Eaton-Johnson
Dr. Priscilla Chavis-Lockley, a counselor at Eaton-Johnson Middle School, is working with students in the school who want to read additional books beyond what is required for their regular studies. “Students came to me earlier in the school year and said they really enjoy reading and want to read as many books as possible,” Chavis-Lockley said. “So, I began helping them to have the time to go to our school media center, check out books they want to read and …
Vance County Schools – Lanisha Daye Wins State Award
Lanisha Daye of L.B. Yancey Elementary School, has been selected as the North Carolina Association of Educators’ 2015 Assistant Principal of the Year. Daye was notified of the state award on March 2. She has been the assistant principal of L.B. Yancey for the past three school years. In November, Daye was named the Vance County Schools’ Assistant Principal of the Year for 2014-2015. Dr. Michael Putney, principal of Dabney Elementary School and president of the NCAE Division of Principals …
Creating Hope Act Sponsors React to FDA Approval of Pediatric Cancer Treatment
WASHINGTON, DC – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week announced it has approved the first pediatric cancer drug due to the voucher program that became law under the Creating Hope Act. The drug, Unituxin, developed by United Therapeutics, designed to treat neuroblastoma, is only the third drug to receive initial FDA approval for a pediatric cancer in the last 20 years. The Creating Hope Act was signed into law in 2011, and was sponsored by Representatives Michael McCaul …
NCDOT Crews in Wake, Durham, Person, Granville, Franklin, Vance and Warren Counties Patching Potholes
RALEIGH — The cold, wet winter we have experienced in central North Carolina means more potholes will be popping up over the coming months. N.C. Department of Transportation’s top priority is safety. That’s why NCDOT has its patching crews out in full force attacking potholes. Because potholes can quickly form without warning, NCDOT urges motorists to pay special attention to the roadway and be on the lookout. Potholes are common during winter months when moisture seeps into cracks in the …
Vance County Schools – STEM Students Earn First Place
Sixth-grade students in the STEM Early High School again entered the N.C. Sumdog online competition in math and again came away with first-place honors. Lynn Conlee, their math teacher, assisted the students during the competition. They competed online in mid-February with students from across the state. STEM students finished first as a group from among 30 schools, 292 students, 35,992 questions answered and 29,136 correct answers to math problems. STEM students entered Sumdog math contests each day during the week …
Thursday Open Line
One of the most famous department stores in America opened in Philadelphia on this date in 1877. Wanamaker’s, now absorbed into the Macy’s family of department stores, opened in a converted train station and is now a national historic landmark. The store was among the first in the country to make the experience of shopping as much a draw as the merchandise itself, pioneering the use of the price tag, and was the first to install a restaurant on the …
Butterfield Statement on Halifax Train Crash
WILSON, NC – Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) today issued the following statement regarding the Amtrak train collision in Halifax, North Carolina: “My thoughts and prayers are with the passengers injured in this terrible train crash. I am very grateful that there are no fatalities at this time. I will carefully follow the Federal Railroad Administration’s investigation and review recommendations on preventing accidents like this from ever happening again.” http://Butterfield.House.Gov
NCDA&CS to hold dairy workshop March 25th, 2015
RALEIGH – The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is partnering with N.C. Dairy Advantage, N.C. Cooperative Extension and N.C. Farm Bureau to hold a dairy workshop on optimizing herd health and animal production through nutrition. The free workshop will be held Wednesday, March 25, from 10 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. at the Iredell County Center in Statesville. Lunch will be provided. “The dairy industry has a strong history in this state and we want to keep it that …
VGCC Free Seminars & Resources For Your Small Business
The Small Business Center of Vance-Granville Community College offers free seminars and resources for your small business. Here is a sampling of what’s coming up next week: SEMINAR TITLE DESCRIPTION OF SEMINAR LOCATION DAY TIME DATE Register Herding Cats: Managing in Today’s Small Business In so many situations managing in today’s small business is like herding cats. Employees are independent—often going their own way—and don’t respond to yesterday’s authoritarian management styles. How do you motivate and …
Henderson Middle School School Nurse Donates Knitted Items
Becky Burns, the school nurse for Henderson Middle School, has expanded her generosity to help children by donating knitted caps and booties she has made for small children taken in with their mothers by the women’s shelter at Lifeline Outreach Inc. on Raleigh Road in Henderson. Burns, shown above with some of the knitted items, took the remaining donations to Lifeline Outreach on March 3. She had already donated approximately 30 knitted caps and some booties to the organization to …
Vance County Schools’ Make-Up Days
The Vance County Board of Education Monday night approved revisions to the 2014-2015 school year calendar for Vance County Schools in order to make up student days missed due to snow in February. The revisions include: March 18 is now a full school day, instead of an early release day June 5 and June 8-10 are now school days to make up days missed due to snow The last day of school for this year is now Wednesday, June 10 …
Wednesday Open Line
One of the most devastating public health crises in history hit the U.S. on this date 97 years ago — and experts are still studying it, hoping to head off a similar global pandemic. The first cases of what was called “Spanish flu” were reported among soldiers at Fort Riley, Kansas. By October, the worst month, 195,000 Americans perished. By 1920, nearly one-in-four Americans had suffered from this strain of the flu, killing about 600,000. Worldwide, estimates put the death …
School Staff Members Show Support With Breast Cancer Awareness T-Shirts
All staff members at Aycock Elementary School, along with participation from several staff members at Dabney Elementary School, showed their support for Debra Gill, Aycock’s school secretary, by purchasing special breast cancer awareness t-shirts in February and wearing them to school. The Aycock staff members are shown in the first photo, with Gill joining them (standing at front center with her hands folded in front of her), and participating staff members from Dabney are shown in the second photo. Gill, …