Governor Pat McCrory and N.C. Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker announced on Dec. 17 that The Solar Connection will locate its manufacturing facility in McDowell County. The company plans to create 50 jobs and invest more than $500,000 over the next three years in Marion. The N.C. Department of Commerce’s Cindy Messer was the developer on this project. “North Carolina will continue to embrace an ‘all of the above’ approach to energy development,” said McCrory. “We applaud The Solar Connection, a …
Expect more holiday travelers, AAA says
More Americans will take a year-end holiday trip this year than last year — despite falling consumer confidence, but perhaps buoyed by lower gas prices — the auto association AAA said Tuesday (yesterday). AAA projects 94.5 million Americans will take a trip of at least 50 miles sometime during the holiday period — a 0.6 percent increase from the estimated 94 million last year. The motor club federation defines the holiday period as December 21 to January 1. The group …
2014 N.C. Travel Guide now available in print, online
The Official 2014 North Carolina Travel Guide is now available. A photo-centric design and state-of-the-art digital options bring natural, manmade and historic attractions to life in a handbook that’s unique among state travel guidebooks. Two covers are available for the guide, which takes in more than 880 attractions, nearly 4,000 accommodations and travel resources in every county. One cover photo commemorates the back-to-back U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open championships on Pinehurst No. 2 in Pinehurst and one features two …
FREE Seminar: Ten Steps to Starting a Small Business
Is your New Year’s Resolution to open a small business? If so, Vance-Granville Community College’s Small Business Center is here to help you. We offer free confidential counseling and seminars like the one listed below (flyer also attached): TEN STEPS TO STARTING A BUSINESS WHEN: TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2014 FROM 6-9 PM LOCATION: MAIN CAMPUS, BUILDING 7, ROOM 7136 INSTRUCTOR: JESS MCLAMB COST: FREE This seminar covers what you should know before you commit yourself and financial resources to starting …
North Carolina Weekend
For the week of Dec. 19 on UNC-TV’s North Carolina Weekend, top off the holiday season with a performance of “The Nutcracker” by the Carolina Ballet in Raleigh. See what’s new at the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park in Wilson. Explore the Cape Fear Museum of History and Science in Fayetteville. Enjoy the great outdoors at Rocky Face Mountain Recreational Area in Hiddenite. And the “House Special” samples the fare at Midwood Smokehouse in Charlotte. (Please note: listings are subject to …
White House: Hanging Out for the Holidays
This year, the White House holiday theme is ‘Gather Around’ in celebration of the stories and traditions that bring people together at this time of year. Over the course of the season, the President and First Lady will welcome 70,000 visitors to tour the “People’s House” and take in the holiday decorations. For the first time, we’re hosting a Holiday Google+ Hangout to open the doors of the White House to even more people can “gather around” virtually from around the …
Thursday Open Line
One of the most familiar and cherished Christmas stories has been around a long time — 170 years in fact. Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” was published this week in 1843. Some sources say the publication was on this date. The first print run of 6,000 copies sold out in a week and the book has never been out of print. The tale about the reformation of Ebenezer Scrooge and his “Bah, humbug!” dismissal of the Christmas season became a …
VGCC History Club celebrates successful Food Drive
Vance-Granville Community College’s History Club recently conducted a food drive as its major service project of the fall semester. Students collected non-perishable food items, as well as paper products and hygiene products, which were donated to the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. The donations weighed in at 372 pounds, which translates to 313 meals according to the food bank’s formula. Club members expressed their appreciation for the support they received from students, faculty and staff on all …
VGCC Criminal Justice Students conduct food drive
Students in the Criminal Justice Club at Vance-Granville Community College responded to growing concerns about the effects of hunger on local communities by conducting the club’s annual food drive in December. Members collected over 200 pounds of food, filling six large boxes. These donations were distributed to needy families in Granville, Warren and Vance counties. Pictured here, from left: two VGCC Criminal Justice students, Taylor Lawrence of Kittrell and Brittney Randolph of Oxford pack boxes to be delivered. For more …
Vance-Granville Community Band kicks off holiday season with free concert
The Vance-Granville Community Band presented its sixth annual free Holiday Concert on Tuesday, Dec. 10 in the Civic Center on the college’s Main Campus in Vance County. The program was entitled “Christmas Around the World,” and it featured a variety of music representing holiday traditions from several different countries, along with American favorites. VGCC music instructor Ivory Brock (pictured above, right) is the band’s primary conductor. Associate conductor Brian Miller, the band director at Louisburg High School, also directed the …
Beyond the Trail of Tears: A view from the Cherokee homeland
Beyond the Trail of Tears: A View from the Cherokee Homeland, is a Summer Institute for K-12 school teachers and eligible graduate students. The Institute is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and hosted by the North Carolina Center for the Advancement in Teaching (NCCAT). This three-week Institute will be located in Cullowhee, North Carolina and surrounding locations from Sunday, June 29 to Saturday, July 19, 2014. In this Institute, participants will examine the removal, its causes, …
NC Again Leads Nation in National Board Certified Teachers
North Carolina added 330 newly-credentialed teachers in 2013 to its National Board Certified Teachers (NBCT) cadre. This brings the state’s total number of NBCTs to 20,122, and once again places North Carolina first in the nation in the number of NBCTs. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) this morning released the latest numbers for states and the nation. Twenty-one percent of North Carolina’s educators are National Board certified. State Superintendent June Atkinson commended the newly-certified teachers and thanked …
White House: I’m asking you
Good evening — The Affordable Care Act has been in the news a lot recently — and increasingly for the right reasons. The law is working: Already, nearly 365,000 people across the country have picked private plans through the Marketplace — and 800,000 more are on track to get Medicaid through their states. These are people for whom health insurance might not have previously been an option — people who in the past might have been discriminated against for simple …
Wednesday Open Line
The satellite Atlas was launched from Cape Canaveral on this date in 1958. The spacecraft would make history the next day, beaming the first voice heard from space — a recording of President Eisenhower with a 58-word Christmas greeting. These words came at the height of the Cold War and the space race with the Soviet Union. Today, satellites daily perform vital functions — tracking the weather, relaying millions of telephone calls and computer links, as well as radio and …
City of Henderson Holiday Sanitation Schedule
The City of Henderson Public Services Department Sanitation Division will follow the schedule below for holidays during the month of December and New Year’s Day Wednesday, December 25, 2013, Christmas Day Brush pick up by city will follow normal schedule (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday). Garbage collection by Waste Industries for Thursday’s normal route will be collected on Friday December 27th 2013. Friday’s normal route will be collected on Saturday December 28th 2013. No recycling this week. Wednesday, …
Scammers target child support dollars in texting scheme
Scammers often try to trick people into providing account numbers and confidential information by pretending to represent a bank or other institution, and claiming there is a problem with the person’s account. In the latest version of this scam, people are getting text messages which appear to be from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Social Services (DHHS). (In North Carolina all child support payments are funneled through DHHS, and the parent who receives the child support has …
Movie Night at the White House
Ever dreamed of having your own short film screened in a movie theater? How about right here at the White House? Great news: We’re inviting K-12 students from around the country to create and submit one- to three-minute short web videos. The topic: Highlighting the importance of technology in the classroom — and imagining how technology will change the educational experience for kids in the future. And finalists could have their videos screened at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, and posted on the …
Tuesday Open Line
Carolina’s Outer Banks, as the Wright brothers made the world’s first powered, heavier-than-air flight. With Orville and Wilbur alternating as pilot, the plane made four flights that day. The first airplane flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. The longest distance covered that day was 852 feet in 59 seconds — an average speed of 31 miles an hour. In only a few years, the airplane became an important part of America’s economy and defense, as well as a …
VGCC offers BioWork training program on two campuses
Classes to train area residents for jobs in the growing biotechnology manufacturing field are scheduled to start in January at both Vance-Granville Community College’s Franklin County Campus near Louisburg and at the Main Campus in Vance County. Both campuses have state-of-the-art biotechnology labs in which to conduct the “BioWork” Process Technician training course. A BioWork class will be held in Building 8 on Main Campus on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6 until 10 p.m., Jan. 8 through May 14. The …
Congresswoman Renee Ellmers: Why did the president tell us we could keep our doctors?
I hope you and your family are enjoying a safe and happy holiday season. In the House this week, we passed H.R. 2019, the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act, which eliminates the Presidential Election Campaign Fund and redirects funding to the Pediatric Research Initiative. I am a proud cosponsor of this act, which will help expedite important breakthroughs in cancer, autism and other rare diseases. This bill is fully-funded and will not cost taxpayers anything. Recently, PolitiFact named Obama’s …