That's
the latest U.S. Census
estimate – for July 2021 –
and it's a gain of 10,505
residents (4.86%) from the
official 2020 census of
215,999. Moreover,
Johnston County's one-year
jump accounts for a tenth
of the estimated
population gain for all of
North Carolina's 100
counties. The 2021 Census
estimate raises the
state's population by
111,774 to a new total of
10,551,162. (The recently
released 2021 estimates do
not include breakdowns for
municipalities.)
Number
of employed Johnstonians
rose to 100,796 in
February
That
an increase of 612 from
January's estimate, which
topped the 100,000-mark
for the first time. The
N.C. Department of
Commerce's monthly report
shows 3,325 Johnstonians
filing for unemployment
insurance in February,
producing a jobless rate
of 3.2% – unchanged from
January's rate. February's
statewide rate was 3.7%.
Nationwide it was 3.8%.
Smithfield
attorney chosen to fill
judicial vacancy
Governor
Roy Cooper has appointed
Smithfield attorney Craig
James to serve as a
District Court judge
filling a vacancy left by
the retirement of Judge
Addie Rawls.
That seat is up for
election this year. As a
result, there's a
Republican Primary contest
May 17 between Smithfield
attorneys Travis Wheeler
and Charlene Nelson. No
Democrat filed for the
position.
Because Mr. James
is unaffiliated with a
political party, a
citizens' petition must
be filed in his behalf
if he wants to seek
election to a full
four-year term. "If he
collects the required amount
of signatures by noon on May
17, his name will be on the
November ballot," explained
Leigh Anne Price, the
county's director of
elections.
The 11th Judicial
District encompasses
Johnston, Harnett, and
Lee counties.
Attorney James has more
than two decades of
experience practicing in
district and
superior courts. Prior to
his recent work as a
criminal defense attorney
here, he practiced with
the Law Office of Anderson
Smith and served in the
U.S. Army as a combat
medic and military
research volunteer.
He received his Bachelor
of Arts and Juris Doctor
degrees from North
Carolina Central
University.
Landmark
event for "Smithfield's"
restaurant chain
This
wasn't just another ribbon
cutting. It was a chance
to revisit the roots of a
rapidly expanding chain of
restaurants that got its
start in Smithfield, North
Carolina.
Smithfield's Chicken 'N
Bar-B-Q celebrated the
opening of its newest
restaurant on Tuesday – at
a new location on North
Bright Leaf Boulevard that
replaces a smaller place a
mile or so down the
street. It's among 40
locations in a territory
that extends from N.C.'s
coast to Charlotte.
"We're building as hard as
the banks will lend us the
money," company president
Lew Starling told
Tuesday's gathering. The
chain's next new location
will open soon in the
fast-growing Flowers
Plantation commercial
district east of Clayton,
he noted.
Not to be confused with
Smithfield Foods, the
giant producer of pork
products based in
Virginia, Smithfield's
Chicken 'N Bar-B-Q grew
out of a Downtown
Smithfield restaurant
operated by the late
Junius Moore more than
half a century ago. His
son Gregory is credited
with designing the concept
that created the chain we
know today, which got its
start in 1981.
Today's company is managed
by another Junius Moore,
grandson of the original
restaurateur, who holds
the title of vice
president. Gregory Moore
is chairman of the
company's board of
directors.
While the home office has
been in Cary for some time
now, today's Junius Moore
operates out of an office
in Wilmington. During his
brief remarks during
Tuesday's ceremony, he
referred to Smithfield as
"our hometown."
By the way, Mr. Starling,
the company's president,
is a Smithfield-based
attorney who's also the
long-time mayor of
Clinton, where he resides.
PICTURED BELOW AT
TUESDAY'S OPENING
CEREMONY (left to
right):
Gregory Moore, his
grandson Jacob and son
Junius, with Lew
Starling.
School-enrollment
gain nets an extra $3.2
million
That
news was delivered to the
Johnston County Board of
Education last week by
Chief of Financial
Services Stephen Britt,
who said the latest report
from the state shows
Johnston County Public
Schools grew by 1,261
students this past year –
the second highest
enrollment gain in North
Carolina.
The N.C. Department of
Public Instruction
initially allotted state
funding for Johnston's
schools based on a
projected enrollment of
36,525 students yet the
number actually reached
37,270, producing an
increase in state funding
of $3,268,281, Mr. Britt
reported.
As a result, the school
board amended its annual
operating budget to raise
the state's share from
$268,468,666 to
$272,658,055 including
other increases approved
by the state for
Johnston's pre-K program
for exceptional children,
Early College enrollment,
and a School Safety Grant.
Most of the $3.2-million
rise in the state's
basic allotment will pay
for an increase in
teaching positions
required by
higher-than-expected
student enrollment here.
Besides state funding,
Johnston's school
system this fiscal
year is receiving
$80,277,090 from the
county and $130,205,556
from the Federal
Government, according to
the budget amendment
adopted last week.
Johnston
schools salute
outstanding first-year
teachers
Included
among 33 nominees for the
school system's annual
First Year Teacher of the
Year award were five from
Smithfield-area schools: Stephanie L. Bushey of Smithfield Middle, Rachel Ashworth of Smithfield-Selma High, Joshua Raynor of South Smithfield Elementary, Amanda Underwood of West Smithfield Elementary, and Diane Haschke of Wilson’s Mills Elementary.
Gabe Patton, a Career & Technical Education teacher of aviation at Cleveland High School, won this year's award.
Smithfield-Selma
High's academic honor
lists for the third
quarter>
CORONAVIRUS
REPORT
Detection
of new cases dwindling,
with less reporting
From
week to week, the number
of COVID-19 cases in
Johnston County is rising
much more slowly these
days. Dr. Marilyn Pearson,
the county's director of
public health, noted in
her report to the County
Commissioners last week
that a contributing factor
to declining case numbers
is the availability of
at-home testing, the
results of which are not
reported to authorities.
And, with cutbacks in
COVID data reporting by
both the County of
Johnston and the N.C.
Department of Health and
Human Resources, you'll
notice some holes in the Sun's
week-to-week statistical
report below:
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 |
59,452
( 59,202) |
|
|
113,109: 54%**
[52,915: 25%**] |
| NORTH CAROLINA |
2,639,241
(2,634,007) |
23,334
(23,257) |
369
(381) |
6,476,986: 62%**
[3,346,523] |
| UNITED STATES |
80,489,132
(80,249,038) |
986,644
(983,817) |
|
218,521,227: 66.5%** |
| WORLDWIDE |
501,363,359
(495,207,407) |
6,187,371
(6,167,296) |
|
11,128,431,972
total doses |
* 2 doses
Moderna or Pfizer
vaccines or 1 dose
Johnson &
Johnson vaccine
** Percentage of
total population
(all ages)
Data from N.C.
Department of
Health and Human
Services at
2:15 p.m. April 13
and Johns
Hopkins
University at
2:20 p.m. April 13 |
WHAT'S
COMING UP?
County
Commissioners to get
more Broadband requests
Two
more companies will ask
for the county's support
of state grant
applications for expanding
Internet Broadband into
under-served rural areas
when Johnston's Board of
Commissioners meets at 6
p.m. Monday at the
Courthouse. Conterra
Networks and Lumos want to
join two other companies –
BrightSpeed and
Charter (Spectrum) – that
got endorsements from
commissioners last month.
The board agreed to
contribute up to $1 million
from the county's pot of
federal COVID-relief funds
to whichever company wins a
state grant for upgraded
service in Johnston. Also at
Monday's session, the board
will receive results of an
employee-compensation study
from the county's Human
Resources Department. VIEW the
complete agenda>
Spring
Litter Sweep in
Smithfield on Saturday,
April 23
The
Town of Smithfield is in
need of volunteers to help
clean up trash along
roadways during the annual
Spring Litter Sweep
on Saturday, April 23 from
9:30 till 11:30 a.m. Held
in conjunction with the
N.C. Department of
Transportation's statewide
campaign, the town's event
will begin at three
starting points: Sarah
Yard Community Center at
909 E. Lee Street, Bob
Wallace Jaycee Kiddie Park
at 350 S. Second Street,
and Smithfield Community
Park at 700 M. Durwood
Stephenson Parkway. In
addition to taking part in
Smithfield’s Spring Litter
Sweep, civic
organizations, businesses,
churches, and other groups
are encouraged to join the
town's Adopt-A-Street
program to help keep our
roadways clean. For
application forms, visit www.smithfield-nc.com/page/Adopt-A-Street.
Register
of Deeds offers free
document shredding April
23
The
annual Shred Event held by
the Johnston County
Register of Deeds office
is set for Saturday, April
23 from 10 a.m. till 1
p.m. in the parking lot at
Smithfield-Selma High
School. "These annual
shred events provide our
citizens a free way to
dispose of personal and
sensitive information,"
explained Register of
Deeds Craig Olive. "The
shredding of documents is
a proactive way to protect
your identity." (Good
timing after this coming
Monday's deadline for
filing personal income-tax
returns.) If you have
questions about what ought
to be shredded, call
919-989-5160.
IF
YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND
A KEY COMPONENT OF
JOHNSTON COUNTY'S PROUD
AGRICULTURAL HERITAGE...
here's
a good place to start
your quest: Promise
of Better Days:
A farm boy's odyssey
through North
Carolina's "Tobacco
Way of Life" –
the memoirs of
Bentonville native
Cornell Woodall Cox.
On
sale at the Johnston
County Heritage Center
and also through Amazon (with
proceeds benefiting
the Future Farmers
of America)
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
Click
on the name to read an
obituary, usually posted
by the funeral home
FREDDIE
RONALD STRICKLAND SR.,
94 – died April 11
EDITH POWELL
WILKINS, 89 – died
April 10
FLORETTE B.
LANGLEY, 87 – died
April 9
GREGORY
JEROME MORRIS, 55 –
died April 8
MARJORIE
DICKINSON LANGSTON, 96
– died April 7
THEATRICE
SANDERS SNEAD, 83 –
died April 7
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
Two
more reasons for
Smithfield's potential
growth
A
multi-page "Sponsored
Section" in the April
edition of Business
North Carolina
magazine includes a couple
of advertisements that
bode well for the future
of central Johnston
County's economic
development. It's a
section on "Industrial
Parks NC" that features
two such emerging places
not far from Smithfield's
borders.
One is Four Oaks
Business Park
on the eastern side of
I-95 that offers "170
acres available" with "all
utilities on site...
competitively priced at
$31,250 per acre." That ad
is jointly sponsored by
Johnston County's Economic
Development Office and the
I-95/I-40 Crossroads of
America Economic
Development Alliance, a
promotional effort
spearheaded by the towns
of Four Oaks and Dunn.
Presently, that industrial
park hosts a Becton
Dickinson distribution
center for medical
products.
The other is Eastfield
Business Park
encompassing a huge tract
of land between Selma and
Pine Level where one major
structure is presently
under construction.
AdVenture Development, LLC
is heading that effort,
promoted jointly with the
County of Johnston.
Besides the usual appeals
to the site's location
near I-95 between Maine
and Florida with
"international airports
nearby" and "major port
access within two hours,"
this advertisement also
touts "north, south, east,
and west rail access with
spur connection in the
park" thanks to a recent
grant from the North
Carolina Railroad Company.
Smithfield has recently
seen an upsurge in
interest among developers
in new residential
subdivisions within the
town's jurisdiction. The
Amazon distribution center
in West Smithfield has
certainly brought more
attention to our neck of
the woods, and our
proximity to those
expanding pharmaceutical
plans this side of Clayton
have drawn more potential
residents to look us over.
The promising projects at
Four Oaks and Selma are
two more reasons we may be
on the verge of a
job-creating surge the
likes of which Smithfield
hasn't seen since the
1970s. If that can lessen
the daily grind of folks
commuting westward to
where most new jobs have
cropped up over the past
half century, we'll all be
better off.
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