The wildflowers blooming along North Carolina’s highways are a beautiful sight for travelers. They’re also award-winning: each year, the N.C. Department of Transportation honors the state’s best-looking wildflower beds at an award ceremony. The 2015 NCDOT Wildflower Awards were presented by N.C. Transportation Secretary Nick Tennyson and The Garden Club of North Carolina at the monthly Board of Transportation meeting Thursday in Raleigh. The awards, sponsored by The Garden Club of North Carolina, recognize the efforts of NCDOT staff who …
Greenhouse vegetables offer early taste of summer
While much of the state was covered in ice this winter, Zack Brewer was wearing shorts and a T-shirt as he transplanted 2,300 young tomato plants into the ground at Sunny Slope Greenhouses in Bear Creek. Those plants are now 15 feet tall and tomatoes will be ready for harvest in a few weeks, offering consumers a taste of summer in the middle of spring. “A lot of people turn their noses up at greenhouse tomatoes at first,” said Brewer. …
Vance County Board of Education Meeting Monday, April 11, 2016
The Vance County Board of Education will meet on Monday, April 11, 2016, at 7:00 pm in the Administrative Services Center Board Room, 1724 Graham Avenue, Henderson. You may download the full agenda packet here: 20160411_vcboe_agenda_packet.pdf
NCDOT Converts N.C. 98/N.C. 39 Intersection in Bunn to All-Stop
The N.C. Department of Transportation has modified the intersection of N.C. 98/East Jewitt Avenue and N.C. 39/Main Street in Bunn in southeastern Franklin County to a permanent all-way stop. The intersection previously just had stop signs for N.C. 98. The conversion took place after it was determined traffic volumes at the intersection and other factors warranted installing stop signs in both directions on N.C. 39. Crews also installed “stop ahead” pavement markings on N.C. 39 to help alert drivers of the …
Friday / Weekend Open Lines
Friday, April 8th. On this date 103 years ago, the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, establishing direct popular election of senators. Previously, members of the Senate were elected by each state’s legislature. As the voting franchise expanded after the Civil War and into the Progressive Era, growing sentiment held that senators ought to be popularly elected in the same manner as representatives. Because of such developments, at least 29 states by 1913 were nominating senators on a …
Michael Bobbitt: Notes From The Peanut Gallery – Vance County Board of Commissioners
April’s 2016 regular monthly meeting of the Vance County commissioners was a short meeting that accomplished a positive for the community. Public Comments The meetings now open with public comments. This gives the public, you and I, five minutes to tell the commissioners how satisfied we are with the county’s services. Or to share our agreement with any decisions the commissioners have committed to make. Public comments can be the opposite of satisfied or in agreement. What is important is …
Vance County Board of Commissioners Special Meeting Notice April 29, 2016
Vance County Board of Commissioners will hold a special meeting on Friday, April 29th at 8:30 a.m. in the commissioners’ meeting room. The purpose of the special meeting is to enter into closed session for personnel matters. Immediately following the special meeting, the board will hold a work session to discuss the capital improvements plan. This will be at 1:00 p.m or shortly thereafter.
Public Comment Sessions Begin April 13 on North Carolina’s K-12 Education Plan for Every Student Succeeds Act
Educators, parents, students and other stakeholders of North Carolina’s public schools are invited to attend six public comment sessions scheduled for April and May across the state. Public input is being sought by the NC Department of Public Instruction staff to help guide development of the state’s plan for complying with the new federal education law, a re-authorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the new federal education law approved in …
North Carolina Weekend
For the week of April 7 on North Carolina Weekend, take in the “Ansel Adams: Eloquent Light” exhibit at Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem. Enjoy Part 1 of a series on the Daniel Boone Heritage Trail at several sites in the western Piedmont to northwest counties. Learn a time-honored art at Silver River Center for Chair Caning in Asheville. Step back in time at the CSS Neuse Civil War Interpretive Center in Kinston. And “After Dark” checks …
Thursday Open Line
The years of Prohibition, from 1920 to 1933, were considered a noble experiment that failed, as the subsequent crime associated with bootlegging caused problems worse than the lone problem of drunkenness. The crumbling of the unpopular Volstead Act accelerated on this date in 1933 when Congress amended the act to permit beer of 3.2 percent alcohol to be brewed and sold. The beer permitted earlier under Prohibition contained only .05 percent. Called “near beer,” and much disdained, one humorist declared …
Vance County Democratic Party Convention April 30th, 2016
The Vance County Democratic Party will hold their yearly convention on Saturday, April 30, 2016 from 9:00-10:30 AM at the Vance County Commissioner’s Meeting Room, 122 Young Street in Henderson. All Vance County Democrats are encouraged to attend.
Henderson Vance Crime Stoppers Crimes of the Month – Rewards Offered for Info
Fraud CaseOn February 05, 2016 at approximately 11:30 AM., Henderson Police Officer received a call from Mr. Anderson who stated that someone had used his personal and corporate credit cards at several locations within the city.The Henderson Police Department encourages any person with information related to this case to contact Henderson –Vance Crime Stoppers at 492-1925 and also you can leave anonymous tips on the web sitewww.hvcrimestoppers.com. Citizens with information can also contact the Henderson Police Department Criminal Investigation Division …
City of Henderson City Council’s Public Safety Committee meeting Friday, April 8, 2016
The Henderson City Council’s Public Safety Committee will meet on Friday, April 8, 2016 at 3:00 p.m. in the Large Conference Room at City Hall, 134 Rose Avenue. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss safety for citizens and employees. The public is welcome.
Wednesday Open Line
For much of history, a cooked meal was followed by the drudgery of scrubbing the pans used to prepare it. But something was discovered this week in 1938 that changed all that, a solidified refrigerant gas that we now know as Teflon. Developed by Roy Plunkett of the DuPont Company and tested for about 10 years, slippery Teflon revolutionized cooking utensils in the 1960s. By the time he died in the early 1990s, most new cooking pans in the nation …
VGCC to hold 32nd Benefit Golf Tournament on May 3, 2016
Vance-Granville Community College’s 32nd Annual Endowment Fund Golf Tournament, presented by Union Bank, will be held at the Henderson Country Club on Tuesday, May 3, 2016. All event proceeds support the mission of the college, the Endowment Fund and student scholarships. With the support of numerous golfers and sponsors, the annual event has raised more than $650,000 since its inception in 1985. The 2015 tournament alone generated a record-breaking $100,318. This year’s morning and afternoon rounds will begin with shotgun …
Need Health Insurance? ‘Special Enrollment Periods’ Qualify Some North Carolinians to Enroll in Coverage Now
The Affordable Care Act’s third open-enrollment period ended Jan. 31, but some uninsured North Carolinians can still get coverage before enrollment reopens in November. Any uninsured consumer who experiences a qualifying life event can enroll in health coverage – right away – through the Health Insurance Marketplace through a “special enrollment period.” Any of the following events could qualify an uninsured consumer to enroll in coverage through a special enrollment period: Moving outside of your coverage area Loss of current …
Senator Richard Burr: Terrorism is not contained
Over the weekend, I had the privilege of delivering the weekly GOP address. As Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I am very concerned about terrorists who threaten the safety of U.S. citizens and innocent people across the globe. The world in which we live is becoming increasingly dangerous and the number of extremists who wish to do us harm is growing. More troubling, their capability to do harm may soon outpace the Administration’s strategy of ‘containment.’ The …
Tuesday Open Line
One of world’s foremost lifesaving medicines — insulin — became available this month in 1923 for treating diabetes. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas and is critical in the processing of carbohydrates in the human body. It was first isolated the year before by a Canadian team led by Dr. Frederick Banting at the University of Toronto. The effect was like a miracle. One year, the disease was an automatic death sentence; the next, people who were affected …
Vance County Board of Commissioners Meeting April 4th, 2016
Download the full agenda packet here: 20160404_vcboc_agenda_packet Invocation Cathy Hoyle, Flat Rock Methodist Church 1. Public Comments (for those registered to speak by 5:45 p.m. – each speaker is limited to five minutes) 2. Appointment 6:00 p.m. Charles Hayes, Research Triangle RegionalPartnership – Program Update 3. Public Hearing 6:15 p.m. Diane Cox, Council of Governments(or shortly thereafter) CDBG Closeout – Semprius 4. Public Hearing Economic Development GrantArdagh Glass, Inc. 5. Public Hearing One NC Fund GrantArdagh Glass, Inc. 6. Public …
Congresswoman Renee Ellmers: Breaking Ground
h numerous constituents including members of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s North Carolina Advisory Council, employees of Lehigh Hanson’s Gardner rock quarry, and members of the American Federation of Government Employees. In an effort to reach as many constituents as possible, I also conducted a Facebook Q & A session this week and answered questions that constituents submitted via the social media platform. This was a great experience and I look forward to being able to do this again soon! …