The Henderson City Council will hear several reports Monday night that could put the city on the path to improvement. The biggest might be a scheduled presentation from William Rogers, the chairman of the Beacon Light Masonic Lodge, on plans for an overhaul of the publicly subsidized Beacon Light Apartments, home to 108 families. The Masonic lodge owns the complex off Water Street, which has been plagued by sewage and plumbing problems and has long been one of the city’s …
Financial issues to face another forum
Henderson residents will get their second chance to ask questions stemming from the 2004 audit Monday night, although this time the public forum won’t be limited to budget issues.
Coalition attacks violence on many fronts
The Vance County Coalition Against Violence will take a week off from its meeting schedule out of respect for faith, but the move doesn’t show any lessening of faith in the coalition’s cause.
KVA falls in district Quiz Bowl
Kerr-Vance Academy’s Quiz Bowl season came to an end a couple of steps short of the state finals Saturday when the Spartan academic team lost in the district semifinals to Cary Academy 125-100.
Green day chases away winter blues
The crew from Jeri’s Kerr Lake Restaurant moves full speed ahead toward spring during Saturday’s St. Patrick’s Day parade on Garnett Street. It wasn’t a day that shouted out “spring,” with thick gray clouds casting a pall over Garnett Street, but downtown Henderson’s Saturday celebration of St. Patrick’s Day was a lot closer to a green day than the holiday itself.
Fund balance planning takes precedence
Henderson’s substandard savings account is playing a prominent role as the city examines spending for the balance of this fiscal year and prepares the budget for the next year. The City Council’s Finance and Intergovernmental Relations Committee repeatedly discussed the depleted general fund balance during a meeting Friday afternoon that covered a range of current and future spending issues.
It’s all about priorities
Meetings of the Finance and Intergovernmental Relations Committee are unique in their ability to draw lots of City Council members. It’s a simple forumla: The FAIR Committee handles all of the money matters, and money affects everything that interests the eight council members. FAIR meetings have taken on greater importance now that the city is confronting its fund-balance problem and the budget season has begun. So it was surprising that Friday’s meeting drew only one FAIR member, Chairman Bernard Alston, …
City has plan to keep Smith’s water flowing
The strange case of Samuel Smith continues to occupy the Henderson City Council’s time. The Shank Street resident’s past-due water bill was the issue before the Finance and Intergovernmental Relations Committee at its meeting Friday afternoon.
Quiz Bowl today after parade
Kerr-Vance Academy will have homeroom advantage as it competes for a spot in the state finals of the Public Library Quiz Bowl this afternoon. The H. Leslie Perry Memorial Library is playing host to the district competition of the Quiz Bowl at 3 p.m. in the county commissioners’ meeting room in the old courthouse on Young Street. That makes KVA the home team in the four-county contest.
Shrinking Custom Molders survives D-Day
April should mark the second anniversary of the Detroit-based Piston Group’s purchase of Henderson manufacturer Custom Molders, but there might not be anyone left at the plastic injection molding factory on Peter Gill Road to celebrate.
New reality: Vance no longer unemployment leader
The state of North Carolina has conducted a recount, and Vance County is the big winner by losing its grip on an unwanted top ranking. Vance County no longer is the unemployment capital of North Carolina. According to the January county-by-county figures released by the state’s Employment Security Commission on Thursday, it’s not even close.
Welcome to Micropolis, USA
The latest report from the Employment Security Commission embraces a concept that the U.S. Census Bureau developed after the 2000 count of the nation’s population: the micropolitan statistical area. Henderson is typical of the rural reality that the new micropolitan designation recognizes. A micropolitan area is the small-town equivalent of a metropolitan area. The federal Office of Management and Budget designates a “metro” in a geographic area where social and economic life revolves around one or more core cities with …
Opinion: More good news from Easley — for others
North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley managed to dredge up a bit of painful Henderson history this week with another one of his job-creation announcements.
Schools to open late Friday
Vance County Schools will open two hours late Friday to ensure any ice that forms overnight has time to thaw. About 2 inches of snow fell on Vance County on Thursday, giving students and staff the day off.
Cleanup committee to lobby legislature Tuesday
The Clean Up Henderson Committee will take its funding requests directly to the state legislature Tuesday when Chairwoman Lynn Harper leads a delegation to visit state Rep. Michael Wray.
Weather alert: No school today
Vance County Schools are closed for all students and staff today, the school system announced about 5:45 a.m. Kerr-Vance Academy is opening two hours late. The Vance County decision came about 15 minutes after Granville County closed its schools and about the same time as Warren County canceled school for the day. It wasn’t a sudden swelling of Irish pride on St. Patrick’s Day that shut the schools down, but a surprisingly strong bulge of cold air that turned a …
Group working toward grant writer, name
The countywide working group on crime and related issues hopes to address a range of needs in this area, but first it tried to address some of its own needs Wednesday morning.
Opinion: It’s pork, but it’s our pork
Embassy Square is part of a controversy this week, and it has nothing to do with capital budgets or city spending or operational costs. In fact, it’s a problem not at all of the making of the Embassy Square Foundation or the Henderson government.
Partnership takes time out for $4,000 of reading
Mayor Clem Seifert visits pre-kindergartners at the New Beginning day care center Tuesday. Eric Williams was doing hard time. Trapped in a room that would make a jail cell look roomy, the Henderson city manager called on his friends to get him out of trouble. “I’m going to warn you upfront, I’m going to hit you up for a little money,” he told one phone-a-friend. “I’m trying to get myself out of jail at the moment.”
Schools, county to discuss bonds
A meeting Monday could go a long way toward determining if and when Vance voters will decide on the future of school facilities in this county.