Triangle
East Chamber's new CEO
starts April 1
Maureen
McGuinness – who heads the
Bethlehem Chamber of
Commerce serving a
suburban region near
Albany, New York –
is coming south to take
charge as CEO and
president of the
Smithfield-based Triangle
East Chamber of Commerce.
She begins her work here
April 1.
"The
interest level and
response to our search
from across the country
was high," said Mark
McDonnell, chair of the
Triangle East Chamber's
Board of Directors. "We
had over 30 total
applicants and many
qualified candidates.
Maureen McGuinness stood
out and is the best fit
for our community and the
ideal choice for our
Chamber.
"She brings with her a
successful track record of
chamber management, and
has implemented
programming in workforce
development, strategic
planning, creative
non-dues programming, and
membership retention," Mr.
McDonnell said.
"It has been a longtime
dream of mine to relocate
to the Carolinas," Ms.
McGuinness said, "and as a
chamber professional and
champion of business, I
felt this was the position
in the perfect location
for me."
The Bethlehem Chamber
serves businesses in the
hamlets of Delmar,
Elsmere, Glenmont,
Slingerlands, and Selkirk
in addition to North and
South Bethlehem. Before
taking her present job,
she worked for the
Rensselaer County Regional
Chamber based in Troy,
N.Y. just north of Albany.
She has more than 25 years
of non-profit management
experience, with a degree
in Communication Arts from
Marist College in
Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Ms. McGuinness succeeds
Mike Mancuso, who left
last year after three
years as CEO of the
Triangle East Chamber
during its transition from
the Smithfield-Selma Area
Chamber into a regional
organization that also
serves Pine Level,
Princeton, Archer Lodge,
Kenly, Wilson's Mills,
Micro, and the suburban
Cleveland community.
CORONAVIRUS
REPORT
We're
still trending in the
right direction
The
statistical trends
continue to move in a
positive direction for
Johnston County:
• The 14-day test-positive
rate is down to 4.3% (30%
last month).
• Just 265 new infections
were detected this past
week (4,588 January's
final week).
• Hospitalizations due to
COVID numbered 12 mid-week
(58 in early February).
Institutional
Outbreaks Considered
Over by the
Johnston County Public
Health Department include
local episodes at Barbour
Court Nursing &
Rehabilitation Center,
Providence Assisted
Living, Smithfield Manor
Nursing and Rehab, The
Landings of Smithfield,
Meadowview Assisted
Living, Brookdale
Smithfield Senior Living,
Johnston Correctional
Institution, and the
Johnston County Jail.
This
morning's report from
Johnston County Public
Schools showed
14 active cases among
students and just one
among staffs, down from
a countywide total of 22
last week. Just one
active case – at
Smithfield Middle School
– was reported among
students and staff in
central Johnston County.
VIEW the
school system's COVID
dashboard with data for
all schools>
VIEW the
current list of
vaccination clinics in
Johnston County>
VIEW the
current list of testing
sites in Johnston
County>
CORONAVIRUS
weekly
measurements |
Case total
since 3-20
(last week) |
Deaths
since 3-20
(last week) |
Hospital
patients
(last week) |
Fully vaccinated *
[got boosters] |
| JOHNSTON COUNTY |
56,366
( 56,101) |
438
(436) |
12
(9) |
112,573: 54%**
[40,000] |
| NORTH CAROLINA |
2,613,901
(2,604,971) |
23,005
(22,864) |
799
(1,093) |
6,445,037: 61%**
[3,210,319] |
| UNITED STATES |
79,631,765
(79,406,602) |
968,331
(963,819) |
|
216,829,829: 66%** |
| WORLDWIDE |
464,084,733
(451,853,411) |
6,060,096
(6,024,492) |
|
10,748,496,891
total doses |
* 2 doses
Moderna or Pfizer
vaccines or 1 dose
Johnson &
Johnson vaccine
** Percentage of
total population
(all ages)
Data provided
by: County
of Johnston at
6:50 p.m. March 15
N.C.
Department of
Health and Human
Services at
12:00 p.m. March
16
Johns
Hopkins
University at
8:20 a.m. March 17 |
Lead
EC teacher at SSS earns
national certification
Maryam
Duran was one of seven
teachers recognized at
last week's meeting of the
Johnston County Board of
Education who recently
earned their initial
certification from the
National Board of
Professional Teaching
Standards.
Previously a
teacher of exceptional
children at Archer Lodge
Middle School, Ms. Duran
joined the
Smithfield-Selma High
School faculty this school
year (2021-22) as Lead EC
Teacher.
"We are very proud of Ms.
Duran's achievement to
earn National Board
Certification," said SSS
Principal David Allen. "We
know this certification is
rigorous and signifies Ms.
Duran's ability to make a
difference in the lives of
her students, families,
and community. We need
more teachers with Ms.
Duran's drive and
determination."
The other teachers
recognized last week for
receiving initial National
Board certification are
Karen Lee of West Clayton
Elementary, Rickilee
Williams of West Johnston
High, Ashley Holloman of
Corinth Holders High,
Cristy Speight of Dixon
Road Elementary, Ragan
Schmidt of Archer Lodge
Middle, and Stacee Carr of
Riverwood Middle School.
CAPPED SCHOOLS
LIST EXPANDED TO 22 FOR
2022-23 TRANSFERS
Johnston's Board of
Education at last week's
meeting approved a new
list of schools exceeding
their design capacity and
therefore closed to
requests for reassignments
from other districts
within the county during
the 2022-23 school term:
• Elementary
schools –
Benson, Cleveland, Cooper
Academy, Corinth-Holders,
Dixon Road, Four Oaks,
Glendale-Kenly, McGee's
Crossroads, Polenta,
Powhatan, Princeton, River
Dell, West Clayton, West
View, and Wilson's Mills.
• Middle schools
– Archer Lodge, Cleveland,
and Four Oaks.
• High schools
– Clayton, Cleveland,
Corinth Holders, and South
Johnston.
REPORT ON SCHOOL
CONSTRUCTION NEEDS
POSTED ONLINE
Added to the Johnston
County Public Schools
website this week is a
detailed summary of last
week's staff report to the
Board of Education laying
out the need for
construction of new
schools and expansion of
existing campuses to meet
Johnston's projected
population growth during
the decade ahead.
Providing local funding
for a total estimated cost
of $720 million would
require several bond
issues to be approved by
county voters through
2026. VIEW the
report here>
12
apply for vacant county
commissioner seat
They'll
be interviewed by a
committee of sitting
commissioners who'll
recommend which one should
be appointed by the full
board at its April 4
meeting.
The appointee will serve
until a replacement is
chosen by Johnston's
voters in November's
General Election to fill
the remaining two years of
a four-year term vacated
by the Feb. 28 resignation
of Commissioner Larry Wood
of Benson.
The interim replacement
must be a registered
Republican (Mr. Wood's
affiliation) and a
resident of District 4 in
southern Johnston that
extends from Pleasant
Grove Township (McGee's
Crossroads area) to Meadow
Township, including the
Town of Benson.
Because it's too late to
get names on ballots for
the May 17 Primary
Election, the executive
committees of Johnston
County's Democratic and
Republican parties will
decide by August 1 who
their nominees will be in
the November 8 General
Election.
A list of
the applicants for the
interim appointment
along with their
backgrounds was
published this week on
the JoCo Report>
Johnston
Health makes the grade
for safety again
Johnston
Health, which operates the
hospitals at Smithfield
and Clayton, has been
recognized by
Healthgrades, a national
consumer-oriented monitor
of health care, as a 2022
Patient Safety Excellence
Award recipient, placing
Johnston Health among the
top 5% of all short-term
acute-care hospitals for
the second year in a row.
During the study period
2018-2020 – when 170,231
potentially preventable
safety events occurred
among Medicare patients in
U.S. hospitals –
Healthgrades found that
patients treated in
hospitals receiving its
Patient Safety Excellence
Award were, on average:
55.8% less likely to
experience an in-hospital
fall resulting in hip
fracture than patients
treated at non-recipient
hospitals; 52.6% less likely to experience a collapsed
lung resulting from a
procedure or surgery
in or around the
chest; 66.2% less likely to experience pressure
sores or bed sores
acquired in the
hospital; and 65.8%
less likely to
experience
catheter-related
bloodstream
infections
acquired in
the hospital.
Said Tom Williams, CEO and president of
Johnston Health: “This
award reflects the
dedication and hard work of
our teams to continually
enhance patient care.
Despite the pandemic, we’ve
kept our focus on those key
safety and quality
initiatives to prevent
falls, infections, and skin
breakdowns. We strive every
day to give our patients the
best care, the best outcome,
the best experience.”
VISIT healthgrades.com
to learn how
the
organization
measures
hospital
quality>
WHAT'S
COMING UP?
Ham
& Yam Festival
returning after a
three-year break
No thanks to
COVID, Smithfield's 36th
annual Ham & Yam
Festival wasn't held in
2020, or in 2021. But
what's being billed as the
"36th-ish" edition is now
scheduled for Saturday,
May 7 this year.
A schedule of activities
and entertainment has yet
to be posted on the
website www.hamandyam.com
but expect to see it there
soon.
One thing we can count on:
With the event's coming
just 10 days before the
May 17 Primary Election,
we can expect a large
turnout of candidates in
the running for local and
regional offices.
County
board to receive results
of fire-protection study
Johnston's
county commissioners will
review findings of a
recently completed
"Analysis of Fire
Department Facilities and
Operations" when they
convene their regularly
scheduled second monthly
meeting at 6 p.m. Monday
at the Courthouse. Also on
the agenda are two
requests for N.C.
Broadband service grants
and an update on the
Triangle Land
Conservancy's activities
in Johnston County.
Monday's meeting will be
live-streamed on the
county's YouTube
channel>
VIEW details
of the agenda on the
county's website>
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
Click
on the name to read an
obituary, usually posted
by the funeral home
LEWIS GEORGE
MULLEN, 88 – died
March 14
WILLIAM
VAUGHN STEPHENSON,
62 – died
March 12
GARY MICHAEL
KEENE, 65 – died
March 11
JOSE
BARDOMIANO SERRANO
BARRIOS, 51 –
died March 9
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
Did
you know it's "Creek
Week" in Smithfield?
The Town
Council has proclaimed it
so in support of a
regional campaign to clean
up our creeks, especially
in settled communities.
There weren't any
organized cleanup efforts
here, so far as I know.
But we can at least turn
our attention to the
streams that flow serenely
(most of the time) through
town.
At the top of my list is
Spring Branch, shown here
looking downstream from
South Sixth Street. Before
the 20th Century, this
creek was the Town of
Smithfield's southern
boundary. As the town
spread from there, houses
sprung up on both sides of
its banks, producing a
hodgepodge of retaining
walls like those seen
above.
That's about to change
with reconstruction of
Spring Branch between
Fifth and Sixth streets on
property acquired by the
town a quarter century ago
for removal of flood-prone
dwellings. That project
will replace the retaining
walls with sloping banks
more in keeping with
natural forces – plus a
walking trail and other
park-like amenities
including a reconfigured
Fifth Street Community
Garden.
Here's a contractor's
rendering of what it's
going to look like:
The
$200,500 project has been
authorized by the Town
Council, with almost half
the cost covered by a
state grant. Construction
was to begin this spring,
but Stephen Wensman, the
town's planning director,
now says the work has been
delayed till this fall "to
pursue additional funding
options."
Thank goodness the Town of
Smithfield is moving
forward to bring us more
parks and greenways to
enjoy. That will certainly
make this a more
attractive place for folks
seeking a new hometown.
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