An Oxford tobacco warehouse owner pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to a fraud insurance scam and could face up to five years in prison. Keaton Rankin’s charges include conspiring to make false statement, making material false statement, committing mail and wire fraud, and structuring transactions. Rankin, from September 2006 to November 2007, conspired with others to defraud the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, according to a Department of Justice news release. The government lost $400,000 in the deception. Read more …
NC Cooperative Extension Pond Management Workshop
The Pond Management Workshop will be held on June 26th, 5:30 pm at Vance Granville Community College (Main Campus). This event, sponsored by NC Cooperative Extension, will feature expert speakers on fisheries and aquatic weed management from North Carolina State University. The program will take place in the Student Lounge, with a couple of brief pond-side demonstrations immediately following. A hot dog supper will be served, thanks to the generous sponsorship of Southern States of Oxford. There is no charge, …
State Superintendent June Atkinson’s: What difference does a year worth of school make in a child’s life?
That critical question should provide the foundation for any North Carolina public school accountability model. The new accountability model proposed by the General Assembly in Senate Bill 795 would assign a letter grade to schools, but it would not address that most critical accountability question: did the school and its teachers make sure that students grew academically this year? Instead, the letter grade plan would give schools grades based on their students’ test passing rates. If your school had 93 …
Troopers seek driver in fatal Granville hit-and-run
A 71-year-old pedestrian was killed Monday afternoon when she was struck by a car on Munns Road in Granville County, according to the state Highway Patrol. Troopers were dispatched to the area after reports of a woman lying on the side of the road. Linda Michalina was found dead at the scene. Read more here: http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/11170147/
Governor Perdue: Investing in Education: N.C. House Education Cuts
I am fighting to increase our investment in North Carolina’s schools. It’s the right thing to do for our children and it’s also one of the most important things we can do to create jobs. Last year, the Republican-controlled General Assembly made deep and unnecessary cuts to North Carolina schools. After those cuts, schools were forced to cut 915 teachers, more than 2,000 teacher assistants, and nearly 5,000 total education jobs. Local superintendents from across the state have spoken out …
Vance County Committee Meeting Notices
The Vance County Board of Education Personnel Committee Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 5th, has been cancelled. The County’s Public Safety Committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday, June 6 at 4:00 p.m. in the County Manager’s Office. The purpose is to discuss Fire Department matters.
White House: Do you support equal pay for women?
Do you support equal pay for women? It’s been nearly 50 years since Congress passed the Equal Pay Act, but today a woman who works full time still earns just 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man. That’s not just unfair. When women, who make up nearly half the workforce, bring home less money each day, it means they have less for the everyday needs of their families. That’s bad for kids, it’s bad for communities, and it’s …
Tuesday Open Lines
Can you imagine a popular movie actor today who doesn’t smoke, drink, swear, never kisses a girl and never throws the first punch? Such a character was Hopalong Cassidy, played by William Boyd whose birthday is observed today. He first saddled up as a hero in 1935 and made a total of 66 western movies. At one point, Boyd was so popular he was asked to play the part of Moses in “The Ten Commandments.” He turned down the role, …
Henderson, NC Paint The Town Purple
Come visit downtown Henderson, NC from June 1st to June 14th for business displays in the Paint The Town Purple contest benefiting Relay for Life. Participating businesses include: Betty B’s – 203 S. Garnett St Downtown Antiques – 207 S. Garnett St Davis Chapel Missionary Baptist Church – 742 N. Chestnut St Home in Henderson – www.homeinhenderson.com Interiors & Gifts, Too – 133 S. Garnett St Kerr Lake Nursing & Rehabilitation Ctr – 1245 Park Ave. Satin & Silk Variety …
Vance County School Media Centers Open During Summer
Vance County Schools will open school media centers two days each week during the summer to make summer reading and book check outs available to students. All school media centers will be open on each Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The media centers will be staffed by 12-month employees assigned by the schools’ principals. All Vance County Schools’ students are urged to take advantage of these services and continue to read as much as possible throughout …
21.25 lbs Marijuana Seized on Americal Road
On May 31, 2012 members of the Henderson Police Department Vice/Narcotics Unit and SWAT team conducted a search warrant at 1261 Americal Road Lot 40, Henderson in reference to an ongoing narcotics investigation conducted by the Henderson Police Department, Oxford Police Department, and the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement. During the execution of the search warrant twenty-one and a quarter pounds of marijuana, a 12 gauge shotgun, and U.S. currency in excess of $3,500 was seized. The occupant of the …
VGCC Computer classes scheduled to start in late June at Main Campus
Vance-Granville Community College is currently registering students for two popular computer courses scheduled to start soon on the college’s Main Campus in Vance County. A course on the Microsoft Word and Excel 2010 software is scheduled for Tuesday evenings from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m., June 26 through Aug. 7. Students will familiarize themselves with the popular word processing and spreadsheet programs, which were significantly updated in their most recent versions. Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel are two of the …
VGCC graduates 17 Law Enforcement Cadets in School’s 94th BLET Class
Seventeen cadets graduated on May 22, 2012 from the Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) course at Vance-Granville Community College in a ceremony held in the Civic Center on Main Campus. After passing the state certification exam, all are authorized to work in any law enforcement agency in North Carolina. Graduates of VGCC’s 94th BLET class included Kevin Michael Rigsbee and Bobby Ray Shelton, Jr., both of Butner Public Safety; Taniqua Danielle Teasley of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office; Seth Jacob …
Congresswoman Renee Ellmers: Obama Economy Leads to 8.2% Unemployment
I hope you and your family enjoyed a beautiful Memorial Day holiday. Over the weekend, I attended events in Spring Lake and Broadway and was proud to share in the remembrance of military heroes. In this newsletter you will find some photos from last weekend as well as from my recent trip to Afghanistan. This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the national unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent as the economy created only 69,000 jobs. The figures …
Monday Open Lines
Weekly Address: It’s Time for Congress to Get to Work. President Obama speaks to the American people from a Honeywell manufacturing facility in Minnesota about his proposal to make it easier for companies to hire our returning service members for jobs that utilize their skills and help grow our economy. Welcome to the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that’s happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. This week, the President honored Memorial Day and the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam …
Vance County Board of Commissioners Meeting Monday, June 4
You may download the full agenda packet here: 20120604_vcboc_agenda_packet
Butterfield Responds to the Supreme Court Ruling on the Affordable Care Act
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) today issued the following statement regarding the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA): “Today’s Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act and the individual mandate is a tremendous victory for our nation. Every modern U.S. President has acknowledged the urgency of healthcare reform, but President Obama and Congressional Democrats successfully answered the call with the passage of this law. “As a …
Northern Vance High School’s Exceptional Children’s Department Car Wash Saturday, June 2nd
The Northern Vance High School’s Exceptional Children’s Department is having a CAR WASH fund raiser. Come one, come all in support of our Exceptional Children at Northern Vance High School. They need your service and support in order to better prepare our students to become more independent. Our success depends on your support!!!! Please tell a friend or neighbor about this big event. DATE: JUNE 2, 2012TIME: 9:00AM – 4:30PMCOST: Cars – $5.00Trucks – $7.00LOCATION: AUTO ZONE200 DABNEY DRIVEHENDERSON, NC …
McCaul-Butterfield ‘Creating Hope Act’ Passes U.S. House
WASHINGTON, D.C.— The U.S. House of Representatives approved a provision authored by Congressmen Michael McCaul (R-TX) and G. K. Butterfield (D-NC) last night that would incentivize pharmaceutical companies to develop new drugs for children withrare pediatric diseases, such as childhood cancers and sickle cell disease. H.R. 3059, The Creating Hope Act of 2011, was passed as part of H.R. 5651, which reauthorizes various Food and Drug Administration (FDA) user fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices. If the Senate approves the …
Raleigh-Cary Metro Area Ranked No. 7 for Adults with College Degrees
Graduation season means thousands of new graduates from North Carolina’s 16 public universities and colleges as well as nearly 40 private colleges across the state. The importance of earning a higher-education degree was featured in a May 30 New York Times article, which noted having a population rich in college graduates is an essential ingredient for economic rebound. The national average number of adults with college degrees in metro areas is 32 percent. At 41 percent, the Raleigh-Cary area has …