Anyone who has children should get a copy of today’s Daily Dispatch (something you ought to do every day) for the first installment of the fictional serial “Jack and the Fire Dragon.” It’s a great opportunity to encourage reading, to allow parents and children to share an adventure, and to keep young minds sharp during the summer. After you read the first chapter, “Paw Comes Home With a Surprise,” visit the North Carolina Press Association for more information, and pick …
E. Wright learns about meth in Hawaii
Vance County Commissioner Eddie Wright wasted no time in putting the lessons of Hawaii into use Thursday night.
Chamber jumps onto Weed and Seed bandwagon
The designated Weed and Seed zone in Henderson. The board of directors of the Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce has joined the growing list of Weed and Seed endorsements. During a meeting Thursday, the Chamber board unanimously supported the local application to win the prized federal designation for a large chunk of eastern Henderson, including some areas outside the city limits, City Manager Eric Williams said. Other endorsements have come from the Vance County Board of Commissioners, the Henderson City …
Different day, same story
No one filed for the fall elections at the Vance County Board of Elections today. That makes eight consecutive business days without anyone stepping up in Henderson, and we still haven’t heard anything from Middleburg. On the other hand, candidates have more than two weeks left to sign up, so don’t panic about blank-ballot contingencies just yet.
Lot approved for Harley-Davidson
The Henderson Planning Board cleared the way this afternoon for a Harley-Davidson store to open at Dabney Exchange.
ETJ falls beyond reach of code enforcement
Code enforcement in Henderson’s Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction was cause for much discussion and consternation at the Clean Up Henderson Committee meeting Wednesday morning.
Pick of the day: An evening with a senator
Freshman state Sen. Doug Berger, D-Youngsville, will make a second attempt at connecting with his Vance County constituents with a town-hall meeting at 7 p.m. in the county commissioners’ boardroom at the old courthouse. Berger plans to focus on the three-weeks-late state budget but will take questions on other topics. When Berger first tried to hold such a meeting in Henderson this spring, five people greeted him: County Manager Jerry Ayscue, county Commissioner Deborah Brown, two reporters and one private …
VOICE endorses push for Boys & Girls Club
The Vance Organization to Implement Community Excellence on Wednesday morning formally endorsed the exploratory North Central North Carolina Boys & Girls Club, to be located in Henderson.
Dabney Exchange continues to develop
Last week developer Grey Poole of MarkPiercePoole Properties told the Planning Board that Dabney Exchange won’t be quite as extensive as originally planned, thanks to a depth of 10 to 20 feet of fill material on more of the former pickle plant property than was expected. Poole said the fill material likely is the old pickle plant. The Planning Board approved a change in the site plan to accommodate the new information. Today, the developer appears before the board at …
Lighthouse bounces forward with groundbreaking
Lighthouse Entertainment invites the public to attend the groundbreaking for its Lighthouse Entertainment Complex on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the Northpark development behind the new Social Security Administration building off Beckford Drive.
A challenger emerges in Kittrell
No one did anything elections-wise from Henderson or Middleburg today, but Kittrell picked up its third candidate of the week when Jack Ball filed to run for town commissioner this fall. He joins Millard Grissom on the ballot for the commission; the top three vote-getters will be elected, assuming at least three people run. Grissom, Tex Finch and Gene Pulley are the incumbents. At the moment, Mayor James Howard Wynne is unopposed for re-election. In case you’ve missed it, the …
Pick of the day: Weed and Seed in business
Henderson’s planned Weed and Seed application is the dominant issue on the table at this morning’s meeting of the Vance Organization to Implement Community Excellence, but that’s no surprise: VOICE, which gathers at 10:30 at the Aycock Recreation Complex, has made the federal designation its No. 1 priority. But Weed and Seed also comes before the executive committee of the Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce today. With the executive committee’s expected approval, the full Chamber board will be asked Thursday …
Inaction is getting interesting
Another day passes without any activity at the Vance County Board of Elections. No one has filed for any office in Henderson since July 11, and no one has filed for any office in Middleburg at all. With the filing period for the fall elections half over, it’s worth paying attention to the seats without candidates in Henderson. No one has filed for the ward seat in Ward 2 (now held by Harriette Butler), the ward seat in Ward 4 …
Kittrell gets into the game
Action at the Vance County Board of Elections shifted south Monday as two incumbents filed for office in Kittrell, Mayor James Howard Wynne and Commissioner Millard Grissom. Both won re-election without opposition two years ago. Kittrell has two more commissioner seats in search of candidates; Tex Finch and Gene Pulley are the incumbents. No one has filed for the same four positions in Middleburg, and no one new filed Monday from Henderson. The filing period for the fall elections runs …
Vance deputies to try new approach in mental cases
The Vance County Sheriff’s Office transported 1,085 mental patients from Jan. 1, 2004, to May 12 this year, almost double the number handled by deputies in Granville, Franklin and Warren counties combined. Now the Sheriff’s Office and the Five County Mental Health Authority are launching a pilot program to address that problem.
‘Harry Potter’: Full-blooded excitement
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” by J.K. Rowling: Book 6 in the magical Harry Potter series is in a way a book of broken trust. People start dating and working harder, and an important character is killed by someone we suspected of evil since Day 1.
Milestones: Protocols of the elders of the partnership
Columnist’s note: Behold the wages of secrecy! The following transcript is from a transmission intercepted from a $400,000 space station in geosynchronous orbit over Embassy Square. Let us hope the conspiracy theorists can find a weakness in time!
Opinion: As long as we’re entertaining ideas …
The main event of the World Series of Poker ended about 9 a.m. Saturday after 14 hours of play at the final table, and for the fourth consecutive year, an unknown in the poker world took home the top prize.
Pick of the day: Ellington goes pro
Today’s Daily Dispatch brings the news we had hoped for as Vance County residents but had feared as UNC fans: Northern Vance alumnus Matt Ellington has signed with the Florida Marlins, ending his time as a Tar Heel after one year of back-injury rehab and two seasons in which he hit a combined .319 with 11 home runs, 25 doubles, a triple and 82 RBI. He spent almost all of 2005 as a designated hitter; now he’s playing first base …
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No one filed Friday to run in the municipal elections in Henderson, Middleburg or Kittrell. To recap, with three weeks left in the filing period, no one is on the ballot in Middleburg or Kittrell, no one is bidding for Henderson mayor, and no one is running for the ward seats in Henderson’s Wards 2 and 4. Incumbent Mary Emma Evans and Glean Henderson Jr. are running for the Ward 1 ward seat. Incumbent Bernard Alston is seeking the Ward …