Southern Vance football coach Dave Jennings sent us the following request for community help for the Raiders: The Southern Vance Raiders will be attending football camp at N.C. State University from June 5 to 8. In addition, many athletes will be attending the UNC individual camp in mid-June. This is a great opportunity for the Wolfpack and Tar Heel alumni of Henderson and Vance County to support local athletes and their respective universities. Any local alumni or business that would …
Nearly half of city departments soon will lack heads
Henderson’s municipal government will be running without five department heads by the start of June after three fresh resignations go into effect.
City finance director resigns
Finance Director Traig Neal said there’s nothing significant about the timing of his resignation; this just happened to be the time when Oxford accounting firm Winston Williams & Creech needed a seventh certified public accountant on its staff.
Rogers rallies coalition against Flint Street house
Mayor Clem Seifert’s Speak Up Henderson forums on Monday nights have been sparsely attended, but the Vance County Coalition Against Violence vowed Thursday to pack the next session to complain about Henderson’s priorities in its attack on abandoned buildings.
Opinion: Dissent is not disloyalty
The leaders of the Embassy Square Foundation sounded an ominous warning this week: If people don’t stop questioning the Embassy project, the whole thing might fall apart. What we need instead, foundation Chairman Sam Watkins suggested, is a city full of cheerleaders.
Vance hunting bill clears Senate
The General Assembly’s Vance County hunting legislation, House Bill 982, passed the state Senate on Thursday and now is a gubernatorial signature from becoming law. Under the legislation, as of Oct. 1 hunting will not be allowed in, from or across the right of way for any public road, and high-powered rifles may not be fired in those positions. The penalty will be a $250 fine or 30 days in jail. The bill also will increase the possible fine for …
VOICE, coalition just starting bond battle
The issue of criminal bonds isn’t going away any time soon. That much was clear after Thursday’s meeting of the Vance County Coalition Against Violence.
Opinion: Raemac deserves small-business award
The Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce named Raemac Transportation its Small Business of the Year at a luncheon at Henderson Country Club on Thursday, and we can’t think of a more worthy winner.
The only thing missing was the crowd
Some of the few hundred children who made it to Safe Kids Day get a close look at a UNC Hospitals helicopter on the field between Aycock Recreation Complex and Aycock Elementary School on Thursday. The Henderson-Vance Safe Kids organization prepared for a big crowd at Safe Kids Day at Aycock Recreation Complex from 3 to 6 p.m. Thursday. But it wasn’t to be.
Big group prays for God’s grace in Vance
People follow the lead of LifeLine’s Dorothy Hunt in praying for God to shed his grace on our elected officials Thursday during the National Day of Prayer observance outside the Vance County Courthouse. About 100 people crowded onto the steps outside the Vance County Courthouse at noon today to participate in the National Day of Prayer.
VOICE being heard in high places
The Vance Organization to Implement Community Excellence made its first move toward a formal structure Wednesday morning, but VOICE already is having some positive effects.
Hair flier attacks Shearin, school board
Vance County Schools Superintendent Norm Shearin is furious about a flier making the rounds in Vance County that accuses his school system of “RACIAL DISCRIMINATION!”
Analysis: Sorting out some facts on the block
One of the pleas of the Embassy Square Foundation board members who met with the Henderson City Council on Tuesday night was for help getting out their message — a message they said has been distorted or lost amid critics misinformation.
Hunting bill breezes through committee
The Vance County hunting bill that the state House passed last week moved through the Senate Committee on State and Local Government and received a favorable report Wednesday afternoon. The next step for H.982 should be passage on the Senate floor. Vance’s two House members, Democrats Jim Crawford and Michael Wray, sponsored the bill, which would ban hunting and the firing of high-powered rifles in or across the right of way of a public road, punishable by a $250 fine.
Lighthouse inflates entertainment options
Lighthouse Entertainment owner Nancy Smith shows the catalog picture of one of her new inflatables, a 17-foot-high, 25-by-40-foot maze for children up to age 12. Henderson is getting a new option for parties for children and adults with the Lighthouse Entertainment Complex.
Four businesses grow into special-use permits
Lighthouse Entertainment’s new complex for children was just one of four businesses to win special-use permits from the Henderson Zoning Board of Adjustment on Tuesday afternoon.
Embassy leaders breeze through finance meeting
The Henderson City Council turned to the Embassy Square Foundation for help Tuesday night and wound up all but apologizing for any bad public relations the Embassy project has suffered.
Library funding under pressure
Now that the Embassy Square Foundation has appeared before the Henderson City Council’s finance committee, the H. Leslie Perry Memorial Library is next.
Opinion: Embassy questions linger
Tuesday night’s love fest between city officials and leaders of the Embassy Square Foundation was a wonderful pep rally for the project and for those involved. It did not, however, move the city one step closer to resolving its financial problems or open the second phase of the cultural center up to any serious questioning.
Art show winners announced at Blackout
Jennifer Madriaga, the executive director of the Vance County Arts Council, announced the winners of an anti-crime-themed art contest during Saturday’s Blackout Arts Festival. The artwork is on display through the end of this week at the Gateway Center.