CORONAVIRUS REPORT
Case
total still surging;
schools see improvement
Johnston
County reported 3,077 new
COVID-19 cases this past
week, continuing a recent
record surge resulting
from a 37% positivity rate
from testing here. At the
same time, Johnston County
Public Schools reported a
halving of cases this past
week, resulting in a
similar drop in student
and staff quarantines.
This morning's report from
Johnston County Public
Schools showed 245
active cases among students
and staff (down from last
week's 471) with
826 students and
94 staff members
quarantined (1,510 students
and 147 staff were
quarantined a week ago).
Schools with the most
students in quarantine this
week: Four Oaks Elementary
with 38, Polenta Elementary
and West Clayton Elementary
with 35. In our area,
Smithfield-Selma High had 12
students in quarantine,
Smithfield Middle 10, South
Smithfield Elementary 7,
while West Smithfield
Elementary had 19 and
Wilson's Mills Elementary
17.
VIEW the
school system's COVID
dashboard with data for
all schools>
VIEW the
current list of
vaccination clinics in
Johnston County>
In contrast to Johnston
County's current rate of
52% of total population
fully vaccinated,
neighboring Wake County
has the region's highest
rate at 71% while Harnett
County has the lowest
at 39%.
CORONAVIRUS
weekly
measurements |
Case total
since 3-20
(last week) |
Deaths
since 3-20
(last week) |
Hospital
patients
(last week) |
Fully
vaccinated
(last week) |
| JOHNSTON COUNTY |
47,701
(44,624) |
383
(377) |
51
(49) |
108,666: 52%*
(108,260) |
| NORTH CAROLINA |
2,323,482
(2,147,777) |
20,440
(20,037) |
5,090
(4,689) |
6,262,293: 60%*
(6,233,972) |
| UNITED STATES |
72,910,879
(68,569,958) |
876,066
(857,778) |
|
210,850,212: 64%*
(209,509,297) |
| WORLDWIDE |
363,077,471
(338,250,666) |
5,628,549
(5,567,361) |
|
9,889,642,226
total doses given |
* Percentage of total population (all
ages)
Data provided by: County
of Johnston at
5:00 p.m. January
25
N.C.
Department of
Health and Human
Services at
12:15 p.m. January
26
Johns
Hopkins
University at
8:21 a.m. January
27 |
COVID testing site moved
to 301 South
The
County of Johnston has moved
its free COVID testing site
from the Progressive Men's
Club to a large field behind
the Brightleaf Flea Market
off US 301 near the Neuse
River. Hours of operation
for the drive-thru site are
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday
through Saturday. No
appointment is necessary.
Optum Serve handles the
testing under contract
through the N.C. Department
of Health and Human
Services.
Police
activity had its ups and
downs in 2021
Smithfield's
Police Department reports
significant increases in
calls for service,
motor-vehicle accidents,
arrests, and citations this
past year, yet decreases in
most criminal
activities including
burglaries and drug charges.
The department's monthly
report to the Town Council
compares statistics for all
of 2021 with 2020. Calls for
service jumped from 18,398
to 22,743, accident
reports from 745 to 901,
arrests from 898 to 1,092,
DWI charges from 64 to 83,
and citations for speeding
from 458 in 2020 to 1,412
this past year.
At the same time, reported
burglaries declined slightly
from 72 to 66 while drug
charges slipped from 301 to
296. Nine robberies were
reported during 2021, down
from 16 in 2020, while
larcenies dropped from 391
to 380.
Smithfield's department
reported 45 cases of auto
theft in 2021 – up from 17
in 2020 – and two cases of
arson this past year, down
from five the year before.
The department investigated
one murder and three charges
of rape this past year. No
murders and just one rape
charge were logged during
2020.
Another
record year for Register
of Deeds office
Even
with continued COVID
protocols in place, 2021 was
a record year for revenue
generated by the Johnston
County Register of Deeds
office. This past
year the office
collected a total of $8,239,338 compared
to $6,334,512 for 2020
and 5,276,117 for
2019. That’s an
increase of 30% from 2020 to
2021.
A major increase for 2021
was the number of documents
recorded
electronically. The
office received 81%
of documents to be recorded
via electronic means this
past year. That's the
largest amount since the
office began electronic
recordings in 2007.
Johnston's office also saw a
large increase in the number
of marriage
licenses issued: 1,483,
up from 1,176 in 2019 – an
increase of 26% over the
past two years.
For 2021, the office
recorded 1,859
births, up from
1,721 in 2020. A
larger increase came
with 1,776
deaths recorded
in 2021, up from 1,534 in
2020.
"My staff takes pride in
serving our county as
evidenced by steadily and
consistently working during
these difficult times,"
stated Register of Deeds
Craig Olive. "They had to
deal with policy and
procedure changes but never
wavered in their commitment
to Johnston County. I am
thankful for them and
honored to work alongside
each of them as we serve our
community.”
The Register of Deeds office
handles real-estate
recordings, issuance of
vital records, Notary Public
oaths, and serves as
Johnston County's passport
agency. Anyone
with questions regarding the
services should call
919-989-5160.
There's
good reason
you've seen this
sign
in many yards
around
Smithfield
lately...
www.CallPernell.com
WHAT'S
COMING UP?
Smithfield
Council's monthly
session next Tuesday
(Feb. 1)
Meeting at 7
p.m. at Town Hall, the
council will conduct a
public hearing on a staff
request to amend
Smithfield's Comprehensive
Growth Management Plan to
expand acreage deemed
suitable for industrial
expansion beyond the Amazon
distribution center under
construction off US70
Business in West Smithfield.
The amendment would add a
proposed connector road
between 70 Business and
Barbour Road. A second
public hearing is scheduled
on a staff proposal to
amend the town's signage
rules to allow additional
wall signs for commercial
businesses.
The complete
agenda for Tuesday's
meeting is posted on the
town's website>
Land
Use Plan Steering
Committee meets at 6
p.m. today
The
meeting is open to the
public at the
Johnston County
Agricultural Center on NC
210 west of Smithfield.
The committee is directing
a review of the county's
land-use regulations
toward recommendations for
changes to be submitted to
the County Commissioners
later this year.
A really cool roofing
job (especially this
time of year)
For
roofers, the cold January
weather is likely much
preferred to the hottest
days of summer, although a
metal roof like this one
being installed atop South
Smithfield Elementary
School could be a chilly
chunk of material to work
with. The project to
install a sloping,
permanent roof on top of
the original flat covering
is part of a
project funded by the
2018 bond issue to
modernize older school
facilities.
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
Click
on the name to read an
obituary, usually posted
by the funeral home
DOUGLAS
(DOUG) KEITH WALL, 70 –
died January 25
CLARENCE
PEMBERTON (PEM) HAWKINS,
80 – died
January 23
R. GAIL
STEWART, 74 –
died January 22
KENNETH LEE
THRASHER, 90 –
died January 22
ROSE MAE
HOLLAND BROWN, 90 –
died January 21
E. FLOYD
SMITH, 93 –
died January 21
SHELVIA
AULINE THOMPSON TOLER,
84 – died
January 21
WILLARD
GROVER CREECH, 95 –
died January 20
JARAM
ARDMEND GILL, 25 –
died January 20
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
Why
no remote learning on
school snow days?
Thanks
to the coronavirus
pandemic, Johnston
County's schools now have
the experience as well as
the infrastructure
necessary to
conduct remote,
online teaching and
learning whenever school
days are canceled by
hazardous wintry
conditions.
But that wasn't done this
past Friday and Monday,
when schools were closed.
My daughter is a
middle-school teacher in
suburban Atlanta where the
school system put remote
learning in place several
years ago (before
COVID) and no longer
endures missed school days
because of acts of Nature,
whether it's the weather
or a pandemic.
Millions of dollars
(federal funds, primarily)
and countless
staff hours have
been invested by Johnston
County Public Schools
since COVID's arrival two
years ago to make sure
every student has access
to a laptop computer and
reliable Internet to
interact with their
teachers.
And yet, remote learning
has gotten bad reviews
here and just about
everywhere else as a
failing substitute for
bringing students and
teachers together in a
classroom. No argument
there, but should we be
discarding this new
teaching technology before
we give it a fair trial?
Subscribers
to this edition: 1,336
MISS
A PREVIOUS EDITION?
Rewind
through the Weekly Sun's
Archives
THE
WEEKLY SUN IS
OPEN TO NEW
ADVERTISERS
Over the past three years, this online
publication has
relied mostly on
solicited sponsors
to cover startup
expenses.
Several continue
to support this
endeavor with
conventional commercial
advertising, and now
there are openings
for additional
businesses to
promote their
products and
services. To find
out how that works,
e-mail wingate.lassiter@nc.rr.com and
I'll give you
options &
prices. |
