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| PUBLISHED
ONLINE FEBRUARY 4, 2021 • VOL. 3,
NO. 5 |
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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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TRAFFIC ALERT: The US 70 Business bridge over I-95 at Exit 95 in Smithfield is closed for at least three weeks for repairs to failing asphalt. |
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 "STATE OF THE COUNTY" REPORT ABOUT ACHIEVEMENTS Under economic development, the annual report from County Commissioners' Chairman Chad Stewart spotlights the new Ashley Furniture distribution center and outlet store beside I-95 near Four Oaks along with an expansion project at the Grifols pharmaceutical plant at Clayton. The report also talks of what's to come in 2021. READ the full report on the county's website> |
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CORONAVIRUS
REPORT
State reports 17,066 Johnston County residents have been vaccinated so far That includes 13,976 first doses and 3,090 second doses as of February 3, according to a report from the state's COVID-19 Vaccine Management System that's based on place of residence of vaccine recipients (not where vaccinations are administered). Public Health Director Marilyn Pearson told the County Commissioners on Monday that the state has promised Johnston's Health Department a "baseline" allotment of 1,100 doses weekly over the next three weeks. UNC Johnston Health has a weekly allotment of 600, she added. All of this week's Health Department allotment was administered at a drive-through clinic at West Johnston High School Wednesday morning. Regarding second doses, the county issued the following advisory: The
Johnston County Public Health Department will
contact individuals who received their first dose by
telephone to inform them of the date, time, and
location of their second-dose vaccination clinic....
Individuals are encouraged to pay close attention to
the information provided on the call and to bring
identification and the COVID-19 Vaccination Record
Card with them to receive their second dosage of
Moderna. Individuals
who
received the COVID-19 vaccine through another
provider should contact that provider directly for
guidance on how to obtain their second dosage. VIEW the latest information about Health Department vaccination sites> VIEW the latest word on appointments available through UNC Health Care> HEALTH DEPARTMENT'S REPORT posted at 4:50 p.m. Wednesday The county's mid-week report showed 1,840 active COVID-19 cases here: 1,783 recovering at home plus 57 in hospitals. That total is down from 2,128 a week ago. The past week saw 9 more coronavirus-related deaths in Johnston County. Outbreaks at Smithfield's nursing and rehabilitation centers are stable. SCHOOL SYSTEM'S REPORT recorded at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday STUDENT DATA: 40 active cases among students (46 a week ago); 551 active quarantines (440 a week ago) including 40 at Smithfield-Selma High School (15 a week ago), 4 at West Smithfield Elementary, 2 at Smithfield Middle, 2 at South Smithfield Elementary. STAFF DATA: 21 active cases among employees (12 a week ago); 154 active quarantines (129 a week ago) including 8 at Smithfield-Selma High School, 3 at West Smithfield Elementary, 2 at South Smithfield Elementary, 1 at Smithfield Middle School. VIEW frequently updated details on the schools' COVID-19 Dashboard>
VIEW the current list of COVID-19 testing sites throughout Johnston County> |
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School system has more cash on hand, thanks to CARES aid + shutdown savings Chief Financial Officer Stephen Britt, in a report to the Johnston County Board of Education's Finance Committee on Tuesday, said the school system's "cash position is improving" because of grants from the federal CARES Act coupled with operational savings due to  minimal attendance by students at
Johnston's schools since the pandemic shut things down
last March.Through December (halfway point of fiscal 2020-21) Johnston's schools had about $16.1 million in cash on hand --- up about $4.1 million since last June 30, Mr. Britt reported. "The forecast is that it will continue to grow," he said. Currently, Johnston's school system has about $4.3 million of COVID-19 relief money yet to be spent and that "does not count new funding" already approved by federal and state authorities, Mr. Britt said. From that, perhaps $29 million more will come to Johnston's schools this spring, and that doesn't include whatever additional aid is approved by Congress this winter, he added. Mr. Britt also presented cost estimates for raising pay for school-bus drivers and providing extra "incentive pay" for substitute teachers. Filling those jobs has been difficult this past year because of COVID-19 uncertainties. The Finance Committee took no action on any of that at Tuesday's Zoom teleconference, but the pay issue is likely to be taken up at next Tuesday's monthly meeting of the full Board of Education --- open to the public starting at 5 p.m. That meeting will be live-streamed on the schools' YouTube channel> VIEW the complete agenda for next week's meeting once it's posted online> |
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Smithfield Council urged to assess fees on all real estate in town to fix drainage The council took no action at Tuesday's monthly meeting on that request from the town's Stormwater Advisory Committee, but some council members did express support for the concept that's already in force in several nearby municipalities. Planning Director Stephen Wensman said the basis for the fee is an "ERU," or Equivalent Residential Unit --- a billing value determined by the average amount of impervious surface area on a parcel of land occupied by a single-family residence. The average monthly fee imposed by North Carolina cities and towns is $4.50, with fees in this area ranging from $2.00 in Dunn to $5.00 in Raleigh, he reported. Smithfield's Stormwater Committee is recommending a fee of $3 per month for residential lots, Mr. Wensman told the council. Fees for non-residential properties would be calculated according to acreage and would be assessed on land occupied by schools, churches, and other institutions normally exempt from property taxation. Mr. Wensman provided a sample of estimated annual non-residential fees that ranged from $588 for a Deacon Jones used-car lot to $25,000 for the outlet center that includes Carolina Pottery. Johnston Community College could be assessed almost $20,000 and Johnston Health more than $16,000 under the sample scenario presented to the council. The preferred method of collecting the fee would be an addition to yearly property-tax bills; a less preferred option would be adding a monthly charge to the town's utility bills, Mr. Wensman said.  Under the $3-monthly
residential scenario, the ERU fee would generate an
estimated $630,000 for drainage projects, he said. The
town currently spends about $70,000 a year for drainage
maintenance and repairs, noted Town Manager Mike Scott."I do understand the need for management of our stormwater," responded Councilman Travis Scott, but "the concern I have is we're in the midst of a pandemic" that's hurting businesses and residents "so I would ask the council to consider putting this in at a phase versus all at one time." "I am in favor of the stormwater fee," Mayor Andy Moore said. "The timing is something we need to look at" but "I think it's something we definitely need to do." Mr. Wensman said the next step is to employ a consultant to map the town's impervious surfaces to come up with an average amount for determining the basis for a stormwater fee. READ about other matters addressed by the Town Council on Tuesday> 
New year is off to a very wet start We received 6.84 inches of rainfall during the first month of 2021, according to Cornell Cox's Backyard Weather Station in South Smithfield. That's almost half of what's normal for January, and it comes on top of a record-setting 76.20 inches for all of 2020. Looks like we're on pace for yet another record year! |
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Johnston's jobless rate was unchanged at 5.3% in December; 92,605 employed The N.C. Department of Commerce reports that 92,605 Johnstonians held jobs in December --- up from 92,130 in November when the county's unemployment rate was also 5.3%. The number of Johnstonians out of work and seeking jobs declined slightly from 5,207 in November to 5,197 in December. Before the coronavirus pandemic hit us last March, the state reported more than 98,000 Johnstonians employed. The statewide jobless rate for December was 6.0% while the national rate was 6.7%. VIEW the state's latest Civilian Labor Force Estimates for all 100 counties> Triangle East Chamber names new directors
VISIT the
Chamber's website for more information about the
organization>
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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.... ROBERT J. (BOBBY) BAREFOOT, 79 - died February 1 JAQUETTA DARCEL BUTTS, 42 - died February 1 LEONARD EARL (BUD) STALLINGS, 78 - died February 1 LILLIE MYLES WILLIAMS HOLDER, 86 - died January 31 CLIFTON CARLYLE JOHNSON, 83 - died January 31 VICTOR P. CZYSZ JR., 87 - died January 29 MICHAEL SAMUEL HIGGINS, 56 - died January 29 MARY LORETTA CARTER HUFFMAN, 85 - died January 28 DORIS RICH TABB, 92 - died January 28 OWEN BYRD JR., 75 - died January 27 KENNETH EARL HAGANS, 67 - died January 27 |
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THIS IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH  A LEGENDARY SMITHFIELD SCHOOL PRINCIPAL W.R. Collins served as principal of Smithfield's segregated African-American high school for 35 years: 1929-1964. For most of those years it was Johnston County Training School. The name was changed to Johnston Central High School in 1965, four years before the school closed to make way for consolidated Smithfield-Selma High School. Principal Collins is shown at his desk in the 1947 edition of the school's yearbook. The school's main campus was located in Smithfield's Belmont neighborhood not far from the Market Street railroad underpass that was built in the 1930s to provide a safer walk to school for African-American children who lived on the west side of the tracks. (Photo from the online DigitalNC yearbook collection) STUDENTS DRIVING BUSES PAID $50 A MONTH IN THE 1960s That's what Gail Casey Hall says she was paid as student bus driver at Smithfield High School in 1967. She was responding to last week's photograph of the SHS drivers in 1969, the last year before the school was closed for the opening of consolidated Smithfield-Selma Senior High. |
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LINKS TO MORE PAGES IN THIS EDITION COUNTY COMMISSIONERS REPORT |
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Rewind with our archives LOOKING FOR MORE INFORMATION? Up-to-data Johnston County data along with useful community links are on the Smithfield-Selma Sun website> |
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Holdover
members of the Board of Directors are Chair Jeffrey
Navarro (Edward Jones), Past Chair Eric Brownlee
(Mid Carolina Hospitality), Chair-Elect Mark
McDonnell (AdVenture Development), attorney Lamar
Armstrong III, Marla Ashworth (Town of Princeton),
Woody Bailey (Woody's Computing Services), April
Culver (Johnston Health), Lynn Daniels (Sleep Inn
& Suites), Mike Fleming (MagicMurals.com), Sol
Halliburton (Johnston Health), Rick Heilmann
(Country Superstars 102.3), 
