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| PUBLISHED
ONLINE OCTOBER 1, 2020 • VOL. 2,
NO. 47 |
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Stories and photos by Wingate Lassiter unless otherwise noted (click highlighted link to e-mail the editor) |
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| Students in all grades may return to school by the end of October if parents so choose The Johnston County Board of Education voted unanimously last Thursday evening to adopt the latest re-opening plan recommended by the administration of Superintendent Eric Bracy. Here's the schedule:  September 28: Pre-Kindergarten
and special-need students in grades K-12 returned to
school weekdays except Wednesday.Week of October 5: Kindergarten students may return to all schools in two shifts --- one group on Monday and Tuesday, the second group on Thursday and Friday. October 12: ALL Kindergarten, Pre-K, and K-5 special-need students may attend school FIVE days a week: Monday-Friday. October 19: Grades 1-2 return Monday-Friday; grades 6-12 return in two shifts, one on Mondays and Tuesdays, the other on Thursdays and Fridays. (October 19 is the start of the year's second nine-week grading period.) October 26: Grades 3-5 return to schools Monday-Friday. Students at all grade levels may continue remote learning at home if their parents have chosen that option (Tuesday was the deadline for confirming that choice). This is the fourth re-opening plan approved by the board in response to changing rules from the Governor's Office that have eased restrictions on how many students may return to school as the coronavirus outbreak appears less ominous. READ MORE about logistics surrounding the re-opening of Johnston's schools> CORONAVIRUS REPORT
Number of active cases
still dropping;
• 4,611
cases, 57 deaths, 18
hospitalized + 359 at
home for a total ofschool-related quarantines rise again Here's the County of Johnston's official report as of 4:40 p.m. Wednesday: 377 active cases --- down from 468 a week ago, 4,177 presumed recovered. • 2,448 female cases; 2,163 male. • Cases by age: 679 ages 0-17 (643 last week); 660 18-24 (620 last week); 1,913 25-49 (1,768 last week); 868 50-64 (791 last week); 491 age 65+ (435). • Cases by race: 2,645 white, 597 black, 735 other (634 not known). • Cases by ethnicity: 1,962 Hispanic, 2,206 non-Hispanic (443 not known). JOHNSTON COUNTY SCHOOLS' INFECTION REPORT Confirmed active cases among employees as of Monday of this week: 16 (up from 15 last week) --- 7 at elementary schools, 4 at high schools, 4 at middle schools,1 at the Central Office. Employees quarantined: 137 (up from 114 last week) --- 74 from elementary schools, 33 from high schools, 8 from middle schools, 22 from the Central Office. VIEW the current list of test sites and testing events in Johnston County>
MOVIE THEATERS AND BARS MAY RE-OPEN AT 30% CAPACITY Governor Roy Cooper's latest order easing coronavirus restrictions allows movie theaters to re-open at 30% capacity and bars at 30% capacity for outdoor-only service, starting at 5 p.m. Friday. A statewide prohibition on serving alcoholic beverages after 11 p.m. remains in effect. |
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Johnston's jobless rate went down in August but so did number employed The N.C. Department of Commerce reported this week that Johnston County's estimated rate of unemployment declined from 7.9% in July to 6.1% in August. At the same time, the number of Johnstonians employed declined from 88,582 in July to 87,446 in August. Accounting for that was a reduction in the county's labor force, which consists of persons employed plus those looking for work. That number dropped from 96,151 in July to 93,090 in August as more than 3,000 Johnstonians dropped out of the work force for one reason or another. The state's report for August estimates that 5,644 Johnstonians were eligible for unemployment benefits --- down from 7,569 in July. Following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in North Carolina that resulted in the temporary shutdown of many businesses and services, Johnston's jobless rate peaked at 11% in May. A year ago, Johnston's jobless rate was 3.9% for the month of August. VIEW the statewide employment report for August 2020> |
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Rain delays launch of "Third StrEATery"; revised schedule includes next 4 Fridays  "Third StrEATery" will allow folks to
take out meals from nearby restaurants and sit at 14
tables to be positioned well apart along the 100 block
of South Third.No more than 50 diners at one time will be allowed seating from 5 p.m. until 9:30. Following last Friday's postponement because of rainy weather, the Downtown Development Office has expanded the experiment to include this Friday and all other Fridays in October. MORE information on the Downtown Smithfield Facebook page> |
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Lots of rain in September; a drier October?  Cornell Cox's Backyard Weather
Station in South Smithfield recorded 6.52 inches
of rainfall during September, bringing the
year-to-date total up to a whopping 58.54 inches
--- much more than normal, which is 47.74 for an
entire year, according to U.S. Climate Data.Perhaps October will bring us a respite --- if we can avoid another hurricane or tropical depression. Average October rainfall for Smithfield is 3.04. |
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Smithfield's state allocation for street work will be greater than expected despite COVID Some good news for the Town of
Smithfield: The N.C. Department of
Transportation's distribution of state Powell
Bill funds for fiscal 2020-21 will total
$306,932.92 --- more than the $274,315
anticipated when the Town Council adopted the
current budget in June. Town Manager Mike Scott said the
additional funding will enable the town to
increase its budget for street resurfacing from
$211,590 to $244,207. That money will be spent
when the council awards a contract for the work
next spring, he said. Even so, that's still less than
about $260,000 available for street resurfacing
this past spring --- a result of reduced state
revenues related to the coronavirus pandemic.
The amount each municipality
receives is based on a formula set by the N.C.
General Assembly: 75 percent based on
population, 25 percent based on the number of
locally maintained street miles. The fund is named for Junius K. Powell, a former state senator and mayor of Whiteville who was a primary sponsor of the 1951 bill to help the state's cities and town's with urban road problems. Besides street resurfacing,
Smithfield budgets Powell Bill funds for
sidewalk and curb repair, drainage work, vehicle
maintenance, and supplies. |
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LOCAL GOVERNMENT
AGENDAS
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 This photo is from a series of circa 1915-16 images of Smithfield (later renamed Johnston County) Training School --- from the University of Virginia Library. When county officials allocated the first state funds for high schools in 1906, exclusively for white schools, local African-American Baptists decided to build the denominational high school that later became part of the county's public-school system.. NEXT THURSDAY'S ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION ON RACISM WILL FOCUS ON PUBLIC EDUCATION The Johnston County Heritage Commission’s Black History Committee will present a roundtable discussion on racism in education at 7 p.m. next Thursday (October 8). Entitled “The Right to Learn: Re-examining Racism,” the program will be accessible via YouTube (JohnstonNC Heritage) and Facebook (jocoheritage). Panelists will include: Shirley Cohen, retired educator; Emily Hargrove, Equity Council, Johnston County Public Schools; David Johnson, president, Johnston Community College; and Crystal Roberts, Chief of Equity, Information, and Student Services, Johnston County Public Schools. Audience members may ask questions remotely during the Facebook live feed. This virtual event is the fourth discussion in a continuing series. Black voter suppression was the topic of the first session in February, followed by health care August 6 and criminal justice September 10 (both of which can still be viewed on the Heritage Center’s YouTube channel). For more information call the Johnston County Heritage Center at 919-934-2836 or send an email to heritagecenter@johnstonnc.com. |
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DEATHS & FUNERALS Each week we post links to obituaries about persons who have died during the past week. We monitor the websites of local funeral homes to compile our list, and we welcome links provided by readers to obituaries of persons with Smithfield connections who have died outside our immediate area.... HUBERT FONZO DAUGHTRY, 85 - died September 24 CARLTON HARDY HARRISON, 72 - died September 23 MYRTLE ALENE ESTES, 86 - died September 23 |
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THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS  An undated colorized postcard shows a crowded Carolina Beach in the middle of the 20th Century. It doesn't look much like this anymore, but dense development of vacation accommodations has put a lot more folks on the beach day in and day out. (Photo from Wilmington and Beaches CVB) A look at present-day Carolina Beach on OBSERVATIONS> |
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LINKS TO MORE PAGES IN THIS EDITION OBSERVATIONS Rewind with our archives |
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PLEASE THANK THESE FAITHFUL
SPONSORS OF THE SUN!
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The state's Powell Bill requires
municipalities to use the money primarily for
street resurfacing, but it can also be used for
the construction and maintenance of roads,
bridges, drainage systems, sidewalks and
greenways.
