ARCHIVES of 2020 editions

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December 31, 2020
This week's headlines:
• Reviewing a year we'd just as soon forget
• 716 new cornavirus cases; deaths now total112
• Downtown welcomes another new shop
• High-school basketball starting ahead of football
• Local doctors rated among the best in N.C.

December 24, 2020
This week's headlines:
• First coronavirus vaccinations given
as case number, hospitalizations climb
• 80,000+ holiday meals for school children
• S-S High holds mid-year graduation
• Schools honor three "Living Legends"
• Christmas decorating contest winners

December 17, 2020
This week's headlines:
• 983 new coronavirus cases this week
• Santa Claus was roamin' the town!
• Retail sales up 12.3% July-September
• Christmas Eve last day for The Jewel Box
• "Story walk" added to Partnership Park
Editorial comment: Light Up Smithfield!

December 10, 2020
This week's headlines:
• We're a "Critical Spread" COVID-19 county
• Schools returning to remote learning only
• All school employees to get extra $400
• County to build new Public Safety Center
• Johnston's jobless rate down to 5.3%
• Editorial comment: When to wear a mask

December 3, 2020
This week's headlines:
• 500+ new coronavirus cases in one week
• Water-plant expansion contract awarded
• Recount slightly altered Johnston's votes
• 70 inches of rain in 11 months!
• Library director moving back home
• Editorial comment: Tightening up COVID protocols

November 26, 2020
This week's headlines:
• Coronavirus cases still jumping;
deaths and hospitalizations up, too
•Space Command headquartered here?
• A new accountant; another audiologist
• Editorial comment: Thanksgiving beauty & "stuffings"

November 19, 2020
This week's headlines:
• Coronavirus report: Johnston flagged
for "Substantial Community Spread"
• Another unexpected episode of flooding
• Election wrap-up: 111,732 Johnstonians voted
• County's health director honored by Chamber
• Freedmen's Schoolhouse project boosted
• Editorial comment on a fair and secure election

November 12, 2020
This week's headlines:
• Smithfield leads county in COVID concentration
• School employees get supplemental pay
• Town funds river and stream fixes
• Feed the Kids leader honored
• SSS lists academic achievers
• Editorial comment: elections future; elections past

November 5, 2020
This week's headlines:
• Johnston County Election Results:
Johnson, Andrews, Carroll, Wooten
win seats on the school board
• Coronavirus case number tops 6,000
• Unemployment rate up slightly in Sept.
• County to help town pay for riverbank repair
• South Smithfield assistant principal honored
• Editorial comment: Ideas to "clean up" elections

October 29,2020
This week's headlines:
• 53% of Johnston's voters have already voted
• Coronavirus cases up 409 this past week;
school cases continue to increase
• School enrollment down 1.6%
• Faster processing of death certificates
• Editorial comment: Fraudulent voting here?

October 22, 2020
This week's headlines:
• Back to school next week for 23,096;
13,715 will keep studying at home
• Coronavirus cases up 299 in a week
• 46,103 Johnstonians have already voted
• Downtown gets two new businesses
• Town manager gets a 10% raise
• Editorial comment: Coronavirus complacency?

October 15, 2020
This week's headlines:
• Students returning to all schools;
yet some teachers "do not feel safe"
• COVID-19 cases here top 5,000
• Graduation rate still above N.C. average
• Site of flood fatalities to get a bridge
• A discussion on racism in education
• 1970 editorial: "What blacks are fussing about"

October 8, 2020
This week's headlines:
• COVID-19 active cases rising again
• Retail sales up 11% April-June
•Johnston Health honors "Ambassador"
• County to phase out garbage decals
• Town confronts eroding stream banks
• Editorial comment on safe voting options

October 1, 2020
This week's headlines:
• Students in all grades returning this month
• 377 active coronavirus cases;
137 quarantined from schools
• Declines in jobless rate & number employed
•Town's street funding better than expected
• Editorial comment: Carolina Beach revisited

September 24, 2020
This week's headlines:
• Another change in re-opening of schools?
• Johnston's COVID-19 numbers a mixed bag
• Outdoor dining approved for "Third StrEATery"
• Water-plant expansion project still alive
• SSS saluted for support of disabled students
• Editorial comment on misleading political ads

September 17, 2020
This week's headlines:
• Coronavirus case growth is slowing
• How Johnston's SAT scores stack up
• School board candidates have their say
• Panelists tackle racism in judicial system
• Smithfield-Selma grads get scholarships
• Old hotel's pending sale canceled
• Editorial comment: School board should let us speak

September 10, 2020
This week's headlines:
• Some young students to return Sept. 28
• 4,120 coronavirus cases, 3,475 recovered
• Jobless rate rose to 7.9% in July
• County employees to get pay raise as planned
• Online forum for commissioner candidates
• Car crashes through church's front door
Editorial comment: Why's enrollment up at SSS?

September 3, 2020
This week's headlines:
• Road's washout proves deadly
• Board votes 4-3 to delay return to school
• 3,960 coronavirus cases, 52 deaths
• School "attendance" down from last year
• Downtown dining on the street?
• Marcia Armstrong to be State Bar VP
Editorial comment: School COVID reports & remote learning

August 27, 2020
This week's headlines:
• School attendance below last year's
• 3,754 coronavirus cases, 50 deaths
• JCCollege reports 18 COVID-19 cases
• A report on restricted court proceedings
• Smithfield eyes new land-use zoning tool
• Downtown businesses awarded grants
• Editor's report from a "Civil Rights Tour"

August 20, 2020
This edition's headlines:
• Schools re-open with remote classes
• Free meals handed out at all schools
• No high-school football this fall
• Coronavirus case gains on downward track
• N.C. legal community salutes Smithfield native
•A very rainy 2020 in the making here
• Editorial comment: Safely voting without mailing

August 13, 2020
This edition's headlines:
• Are we ready for Back to School?
Concerns: instructional time, mask wearing
• 3,381 coronavirus cases, 47 deaths
• Racism in health care: a panel discussion
• My Kid's Club plans after-school programs
• JCCollege's new communications chief
• Editorial comment: SSS born of consolidation & integration

August 6, 2020
This edition's headlines:
• Hurricane Isaias not what we had feared
• 3,148 coronavirus cases: 46 deaths
• SSS conducts delayed commencement
• Sheriff & 9-1-1 at new jail site?
• Beaten-up Equity Drive to be rebuilt
• Editorial comment: Funny name for a storm

July 30, 2020
This edition's headlines:
• Jobless rate drops from 11% to 6.9%
• 2,844 coronavirus cases --- up 354 this week
• Neuse Charter to allow all grades to return
• New-home building returns to Smithfield
• Federal act good for parks & greenways
•Editorial comment on coronavirus aid for schools

July 23, 2020
This edition's headlines:
• School re-opening plan devised
• Coronavirus cases reach 2,490
• Library won't use PPP loan
• Outdoor church services despite the heat
• Cotillion chapter names new director
•Editorial comment: seat belts and face masks

July 16, 2020
This edition's headlines:
• Coronavirus cases top 2,200
• School board postpones re-opening choice
• 300-plus local employers get PPP loans
• Town's oldest tree is talking again!
• And there are elephants in the trees!
• Editorial comment: East Market Street upgrade?

July 9, 2020
This edition's headlines:
• 1,862 coronavirus cases
• County asked to fund body cameras
  and make Juneteenth a holiday
• Smithfield pledges to abolish racism
• How will students return to school?
• Editorial comment: Natural-gas pipeline's demise

July 2, 2020
This edition's headlines:
• 1,565 coronavirus cases: +317 in one week
• Unemployment rate 11% in May
• Sheriff won't enforce face-mask order
• "100 Men In Suits" rally against racism
• Water and sewer rates have gone up
• Editorial comment: More about "100 Men In Suits"

June 25, 2020
This edition's headlines:
• 1,248 coronavirus cases, up 883 in 4 weeks
• Governor orders face coverings
• Johnston's retail sales off 8.4% in March
• Chamber of Commerce marks 50th anniversary
• New sales agent for vacant old hotel
Editorial comment: No Confederate statues here

June 18, 2020
This edition's headlines:
• County increases schools' appropriation
• 972 coronavirus cases, up 273 in one week
• Second peaceful protest in Smithfield
• County plans $84-million sewage plant
• Smithfield's infamous Klan sign of 1967
• Editorial comment: Reflections on budgets

June 11, 2020
This edition's headlines:
• Jump in COVID-19 cases to 699 alarms state
  • Churches slow to re-open sanctuaries
• Grifols to add another 300 jobs
• School board cautious about district voting
 • Non-profits ask county for more help
• Cary Oil purchases Stancil's Marketplace
• Editorial comment: Planning for pedestrians

June 4, 2020
This edition's headlines:
• Jobless rate hit 10.9% in April
• Peaceful protest at the Courthouse
• 513 coronavirus cases, up 136 in one week
• Town Council reduces police pay raises
• Detention Center to cost $12 million less
• Schools to open a week earlier in August
• Editorial comment: No rioting in Smithfield

May 28, 2020
This edition's headlines:
• School board picks its new superintendent
• 377 coronavirus cases, up 95 in one week
• Coronavirus impacts on local budgets
 • High-school graduation celebrated, sort of
• Smithfield has estimated 12,985 residents
• Editorial comment: New school chief up to the task?

May 21, 2020
This edition's headlines:
• 282 coronavirus cases, up 62 in one week
• More businesses to re-open; others prohibited
• Churches cautious about re-opening sanctuaries
• County manager's budget short of schools' request
• Smithfield Council approves pay raises for police
• Johnston Health gets $4.4 million in federal aid
• Editorial comment: Why not wear coronavirus mask?
 
May 14, 2020
This edition's headlines:
• 220 coronavirus cases; 19 deaths
• School board asks county for $8.5-million more
• Some retail businesses have re-opened
• SBA aid slow to reach local businesses
• Smithfield artist helping to Feed the Kids
• Editorial comment: To church or not to church?

May 8, 2020
This edition's headlines:
• 193 coronavirus cases; 17 deaths
• More businesses allowed to re-open
• Schools may re-open August 17
• Police Department still seven officers short
• Fire Department seeks more volunteers
• Remembering horrible flu outbreak of 1918
• Editorial comment: Startling unemployment numbers

May 5, 2020
This edition's headlines:
• 182 coronavirus cases; 16 deaths
• SSS students make masks for first responders
• Food-stamp applications soar in Johnston
• SSS-based robotics team is a winner
• Johnston Health confirms Tom Williams as CEO
Editorial comment: District school-board elections

May 1, 2020