 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PUBLISHED
ONLINE JANUARY 7, 2021 • VOL. 3,
NO. 1 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Stories and photos by Wingate Lassiter unless otherwise noted (click highlighted link to e-mail the editor) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 BREAKING (WEATHER) NEWS: THE SUN'S OUT AT LAST! Not until the afternoon of the fourth day of the new year (Monday) did sustained sunshine descend upon us. And it didn't take long for folks to get outside and soak it up, including this trio on the partially flooded Town Commons greenway beside the swollen Neuse, which peaked at 19.16 feet here following several rainy days. (Official flood stage for the river at Smithfield is 15 feet. Normal depth is 6-8 feet.) CORONAVIRUS
REPORT
Johnston's case total rises to 12,744 with limited vaccine available so far When the general public, including anyone over age 75, can start receiving COVID-19 vaccinations in Johnston County is still not known as we head into a third week of doses being administered to front-line health-care workers. Dr. Marilyn Pearson, the county's public-health director, told County Commissioners on Monday that another 300 doses of the Moderna vaccine was expected to arrive here this week and another 100 next week. That's in addition to 1,000 doses previously delivered to the Johnston County Health Department --- and that's not enough to vaccinate anyone beyond workers taking care of patients in long-term-care facilities, Dr. Pearson indicated. "We're getting lots of calls" asking about vaccine availability for Johnston's oldest residents, she said. Asked about supplies of ventilators in hospitals for treating COVID-19 patients, Dr. Pearson said staffing is a much bigger concern as hospitals are "pretty overwhelmed" by the recent spike in coronavirus cases.  Emergency
Management Director Kevin Hubbard said 9-1-1
calls related to COVID-19 have increased to
about 15 per week, and he echoed Dr. Pearson's
concern about overworked health-care staffs.
In talking with hospital officials about their
treatment capabilities, "it all goes back to
staffing," he said.Meanwhile, a campaign last weekend to get the county's first responders vaccinated "went very well," Mr. Hubbard reported. In response to a question, he acknowledged there's "still some hesitancy" among a few staffers to get the shots, which are not mandatory. (Photo from county's Facebook page) On the state level, Governor Roy Cooper this week extended a stay-at-home curfew of 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. till January 29, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Mandy Cohen advised us not to leave home 24/7 except for essential activities. READ the Governor's latest order, issued on Wednesday> The county's mid-week report shows 2,846 active COVID-19 cases in Johnston: 2,777 recovering at home plus 69 in hospitals. That total is down 132 from a week ago. At the same time, 11 more coronavirus-related deaths were recorded here this past week, bringing total fatalities among Johnstonians since last March to 123. Current outbreaks at Smithfield's nursing and rehabilitation centers: Barbour Court --- 107 current/former residents, 58 staff members, 6 deaths. Smithfield Manor --- 106 current/former residents, 38 staff members, 10 deaths. The Landings --- 19 current/former residents, 10 staff members, 4 deaths. VIEW the county's COVID-19 Information page for more details updated daily>
VIEW the current list of COVID-19 test sites and testing events in all of Johnston> SCHOOLS RESUME DAILY CORONAVIRUS REPORTS Johnston County Public Schools are back in session after the holidays, but students are confined to remote learning at home this week and next. The Board of Education will decide at its monthly meeting next Tuesday (Jan. 12) whether students may return to campuses after that or not. In the meantime, curbside pickup of free meals for students has resumed at middle and high schools 11:30-12:45 Monday-Friday. Here's the COVID-19 report posted by the school system on Wednesday: STUDENT DATA: 14 active cases among students; 180 active quarantines including 6 at Smithfield-Selma High School and 3 at Smithfield Middle School (none at South Smithfield and West Smithfield elementary schools). STAFF DATA: 46 active cases among employees; 115 active quarantines. including 2 at Smithfield Middle School and 1 at South Smithfield Elementary (none at Smithfield-Selma High and West Smithfield Elementary). VIEW more details, updated weekdays, on the schools' COVID-19 Dashboard> |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 919-934-0153 www.CallPernell.com |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Smithfield Council approves $500 bonus checks for all full-time town employees They're calling it "hazard pay" in appreciation for dedicated service during the coronavirus pandemic. Recommended by Town Manager Mike Scott, $500 bonus checks for all full-time and "permanent part-time" employees of the Town of Smithfield won enthusiastic approval from the Town Council Tuesday night. Mr. Scott requested that all employees be included because "it's difficult to identify who is essential and at risk" when it comes to serving the public during the pandemic. "Every department has been impacted," he said. The $70,000 cost of bonuses for about 140 employees "can be absorbed within the existing town budget," Mr. Scott told the council. "Permanent part-time employees," he explained, include positions like collection clerk, fire inspector, and code-enforcement officer who work as needed, often less than 40 hours a week. READ MORE from Tuesday's monthly meeting of the Town Council> Johnston County's unemployment rate went up slightly to 5.3% in November Yet the number of Johnstonians employed rose to 92,130 in November, an uptick from 91,817 in October, when the jobless rate was 5.2%. At the same time, the number unemployed and looking for work also increased a bit, from 5,158 in October to 5,207 in November. We've still got a ways to go in recovering from the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic that hit us hard last spring. The state's report for last February showed 98,379 Johnstonians employed and a jobless rate of just 3.4% VIEW the complete November report from the N.C. Department of Commerce> JCC OFFERING FREE CLASSES FOR THE UNEMPLOYED Johnston Community College is offering three fee-waived workshops and classes for unemployed or underemployed North Carolinians: • Skills for Success. • Land It! Advanced Job Search Skills. • How to Make Money When You Don't Have a Job. READ complete details on the JCCollege website>  The churning waters of Black Creek below the Holt Lake Dam on a dreary New Year's Day resulted from another significant rainfall event as 2020 came to a close. A VERY RAINY YEAR = 76 inches! Cornell Cox's Backyard Weather Station in South Smithfield registered 76.20 inches over the past 12 months. That includes 5.62 inches in December. Our normal rainfall is just under 48 inches annually, according to U.S. Climate Data. An official total for 2020 hasn't been posted by the National Weather Service. Speaking of heavy rainfall, the Town of Smithfield is exploring a federal grant to help pay for a larger culvert under the CSX railroad track behind flood-prone businesses on South Bright Leaf Boulevard. READ MORE in Tuesday's Town Council report> |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
County Commissioners grant DA's request to keep two employees to cut case backlog District Attorney Susan Doyle asked Johnston's County Commissioners Monday for funding to keep two temporary employees in her office on the job through June 30, the end of the current fiscal year. Those positions have been funded in recent months by a short-term state appropriation that expired December 31 yet the need for the extra help hasn't let up, she told the county's governing board.  Ms. Doyle said the DA's office has been
dealing with "a tremendous backlog of cases" as judicial
proceedings have been restricted since the coronavirus
pandemic shut things down last March. "I had hoped that
(state) funding would continue," she said. "However, we
were told in mid-December that funding is no longer
available."She went on to point out that Johnston's DA Office has been allotted fewer positions by the state than similarly-sized jurisdictions across the state, even before the arrival of COVID-19. "We are in a very desperate need for help," Ms. Doyle stated. Commissioner Fred Smith objected to the county's paying for something that's the state's responsibility. "I know that the State of North Carolina has excess money" and "has received from the Federal Government millions of dollars of funds to take care of COVID," he said. "I know that Johnston County citizens have paid once, through their income tax, to fund your office, and now you're asking us to fund it a second time through their property taxes and I don't think that's fair," he said to Ms. Doyle. Mr. Smith went on to say "the fundamental responsibility of county commissioners is to provide for infrastructure" --- new schools, office space for "hard-working county employees" in "less-than-ideal" conditions, water and sewer, recreational facilities, trash disposal --- "and we're not getting the job done." Other board members acknowledged the validity of Mr. Smith's argument. "We see mandate after mandate after mandate (from the state) without funding," observed Commissioner Tony Braswell. Even so, he and the other commissioners agreed that the county can't wait for the state to cover the DA's immediate need for help and voted 6-1, with Mr. Smith dissenting, to provide an estimated $62,000 from the county's coffers to cover expenses related to employment of one assistant DA and one legal assistant for six months as requested by Ms. Doyle. County Finance Director Chad McLamb said federal COVID-19 relief funds allocated to Johnston frees up money in the county's 2020-21 budget to pay for the positions. In the meantime, commissioners agreed to press Johnston's legislative delegation for an increase in state allocations to Johnston's DA Office going forward. READ MORE from Tuesday's sessions of the County Commissioners> |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arts Council announces CARES grants for 14
Recipients are Carolina Youth Theatre (Clayton), Neuse Little Theatre (Smithfield), Clayton Piano Festival, The Clayton Center, Clayton Visual Arts, Atmosphere Community Arts Center (Clayton), Heart2Hands Art Gallery & Studios (Clayton), Johnston County Cooperative Arts Studio (Smithfield), Rudy Theatre Productions (Selma), Echelon Brass (Clayton), Sue Avera (Smithfield), Yana Slutskaya Art Studio (Clayton), Frank Grubbs Pottery (Smithfield), and Back Porch Pottery (Benson). The N.C. General Assembly designated $9.4 million of federal CARES Act money for arts councils and other arts-related organizations to mitigate business disruptions caused by COVID-19. The North Carolina Arts Council distributed the funds on a per-capita basis to all counties with populations less than a million. Eligible for the grants are salaries and benefits, operating expenses, costs associated with canceling programs and creating virtual replacements, and COVID-related safety and cleaning measures. CARES is the acronym for Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security funding authorized by Congress this past year that amounted to $2.2 trillion. WHAT'S COMING UP? JOHNSTON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETS TUESDAY The public portion of the meeting begins at 5 p.m. in the Evander S. Simpson Building on US 70 Business east of Smithfield. Attendance in person will likely be restricted; the proceedings will be live-streamed on the JCPS YouTube page> VIEW THE AGENDA once it's posted on the school system's website> |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.... JOHN ("JT") BROADIE, 83 - died January 4 CHARLES THOMAS (TOMMY) KINCAID, 28 - died January 4 BERNICE JACKSON, 82 - died January 4 FAYE HARDEE LIVER, 75 - died January 3 GLORIA MARY BAUMANN PIELOCH, 72 - died January 3 LAURRA GAYE BOWLING, 60 - died January 1 STAFFORD ALLEN PATTERSON II, 67 - died December 31 CAROL SIGMON ANDERSON, 71 - died December 31 CAMILLE BROADHURST SIMPSON, 76 - died December 28 LAVERNE BLACKLEY LANE, 78 - died December 27 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS  HAND PRINTS FROM SMITHFIELD'S BICENTENNIAL Practically forgotten over the years are these hand prints in concrete left by dignitaries who took part in the 1977 bicentennial celebration of Smithfield's founding. They're found right behind the curb at the Town Commons parking lot on North Front Street --- a few steps from "Oakey the Talking Tree" beside the river. In the middle is a metal plaque identifying the hand-print makers: Mayor Robert (Bob) Wallace; Mayor Pro Tem Thomas (Tommy) Medlin; Town Commissioners James Barbour, Robert Bell, John Dail, N.B. Grantham Jr., Earl Langley, and Norwood Worley; N.C. Senator Edward Renfrow; N.C. Representatives Jack Gardner and B.P. (Barney Paul) Woodard; N.C. Governor James (Jim) Hunt; Congressman Charles (Charlie) Whitley; Institute of Government founder Albert Coates; County Commissioners Norman Denning, Frank Holding, John Booker, Howard Benton, and J.E. Rogerson; Smithfield Herald Editor Thomas (Tom) Lassiter; Miss N.C. 1952 LuLong Medlin; City (Town) Manager Hugh Talton; Bicentennial Chairman Vivia Creech; and actor David Hooks. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
LINKS TO MORE PAGES IN THIS EDITION OBSERVATIONS Rewind with our archives |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
For more information
about our community, check out my online
"newspaper parent" via the link shown below. This
website is a handy portal to important sources of
current information about Smithfield and Johnston
County.
 Here's
what you'll find there:• Local government website links • Local weather data, current & past • Neuse River levels & forecasts • Official time & Farmer's Almanac • Monthly unemployment reports • Quarterly retail-sales reports • Official population estimates • Agricultural statistics • Things to see and do www.smithfieldselmasun.com |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
