JCCollege
President David Johnson
resigns
Johnston
Community College's leader
announced his resignation
in an e-mail sent "to
campus" last Friday:
"After serving as JCC’s
president for the last 13
years, it is with mixed
emotions that I announce I
will be stepping down from
my position May 15, 2022.
While I am excited to
pursue new opportunities
ahead, I am able to look
back with satisfaction on
the work we have done
together to chart a
pathway to success for the
thousands of students who
have benefited from JCC’s
educational programs."
In the e-mail, Dr. Johnson
touted accomplishments
during his tenure,
including:
• New and renovated
facilities: Health
Building, Learning
Resource Building, and
Student Success Center.
• New program offerings:
Supply Chain Management,
LPN, Digital Media,
Cybersecurity, and
Entrepreneurship.
• Fund-raising that has
pushed the JCC
Foundation's endowment
above $10 million.
Presently under
construction is an
Engineering Building that
will enable expansion of
that curriculum program,
he noted.
"And together, we have
weathered the
uncertainties and
difficulties... brought on
by the COVID-19
pandemic... with fortitude
and resilience," he said.
"JCC is stronger now than
ever before."
Lyn Austin, chair of the JCC
Board of Trustees, said
finding a college president
is "the most important work
a Board of Trustees
undertakes." For that task,
she said, "we will be
seeking input from our
faculty, staff, students,
business stakeholders, and
community to find just the
right person for this
wonderful college. We will
cast a wide net, in and
outside North Carolina, to
get the best possible
candidate."
JCC's Engineeering
Building is under
construction near the
campus entrance off
Smithfield's East Market
Street just west of
I-95.
MORE NEWS FROM JOHNSTON COMMUNITY
COLLEGE
National
Science Foundation
boosts Bio Blend program
Johnston
Community College has been
awarded a $635,012 grant
from the National Science
Foundation to expand its
Bio Blend program.
A previous National
Science Foundation award
received by the college
funded the pilot Bio Blend
project that was so
successful that the
college and local industry
partners saw the need to
expand the program.
Bio
Blend 2.0 aims to provide
the unique curriculum to
all Applied Engineering
and Bioprocess Technology
degree students instead of
a just a small cohort. The
project will also address
the need to increase
diversity and inclusion in
the STEM field with a
specific emphasis on
individuals with autism.
Another aspect of the
program is that DeltaV
training will be embedded
into the curriculum.
DeltaV is the distributed
control system used by
many biotech companies.
JCC already offers
certification in DeltaV
operations.
Report
shows JCC's impact on
the region's economy
A
new, in-depth economic
impact analysis found that
Johnston Community College
has a $138.7-million
annual impact on the
regional economy,
supporting 2,774 jobs each
year – one out of every 29
jobs in Johnston County.
High-demand career
pathways quantified in the
report include jobs and
programs related to
truck-driver training,
nursing, paralegal
technology, bio-process
technology, and
engineering. Copies of
JCC’s economic impact
studies, fact sheets, and
summaries can be found
online at https://bigroifornc.org/johnston/.
South
Smithfield Elementary's
new front door
After
a year's worth of
construction, flat roofs
atop older portions of the
school have been replaced
with pitched metal roofs
(painted blue like the new
metal roof atop
Smithfield-Selma High
School) and there's a
striking new covered
entryway that welcomed
students for the first
time this week after
Spring Break. The
project's price tag of
$1,480,000 was financed by
the bond issue approved by
Johnston's voters in 2018.
The original portion of
the school was finished in
1957.
County
approves immediate
employee pay raises
Not
waiting for adoption of a
new budget this July,
Johnston's County
Commissioners agreed
Monday to raise pay grades
for many county employees
right away in light of an
increasingly competitive
labor market coupled with
inflation.
Presenting that
recommendation following a
study of how Johnston
County's salaries match up
with public salaries
elsewhere, Human Resources
Director Lu Hickey told
commissioners that
adjusting pay scales here
is "critical, as the
market is continually
changing."
Not every county employee
will get an immediate pay
raise, she said, but most
will; and some will be
"significantly impacted."
(County Manager Rick
Hester told the Sun later
that double-digit
percentages will apply to
some of the raises.)
Cost of the adjustments is
estimated at $6.5 million
annually, with about
$600,000 of that to be
reimbursed by the state
for certain positions, Ms.
Hickey said.
"I know we are behind"
other counties, said
Commissioner Dickie
Braswell, "especially in
Environmental Health"
where vacancies are
delaying the county's
approval of building
permits. "I think it's
imperative that we act,"
he declared.
The commissioners'
resolution authorizing
immediate pay adjustments
includes a provision that
reviews of county
employees' pay grades must
take place more
frequently, with half the
positions evaluated every
other year from now on.
Two
more Broadband proposals
get county's backing
Commissioners
agreed to endorse
applications from two more
companies – Conterra
Networks and
Lumos/NorthState – that
are seeking state grants
of $4 million to expand
Internet Broadband into
under-served rural areas.
The board last month
pledged up to $1 million
in county aid to the
provider that wins an N.C.
GREAT grant for its
Johnston County project.
BrightSpeed and Charter
(Spectrum) got that
commitment from
commissioners last month.
Conterra, by the way,
currently provides
high-speed Internet
service to Johnston's
public schools.
"Trusted
by families since
1977"
840 S. Bright Leaf
Blvd. • 919-934-7164
• www.carrollpharmacy.com
CORONAVIRUS REPORT
Number
of school cases far
below winter's peak
This
morning's report from
Johnston County Public
Schools showed 7
active COVID-19 cases
among students and 3
among staffs – the
fewest total reported
to date as schools
returned from Spring
Break. A month ago the
total was 18, two
months ago 60.
Mid-January's total of
student and staff
cases approached 500.
None of this week's cases
were reported from
Smithfield-area schools.
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
(prev. week) |
Deaths
since 3-20
(prev. week) |
Hospital
patients***
(prev. week) |
Fully vaccinated *
[got boosters] |
| JOHNSTON COUNTY |
59,537
( 59,452) |
439
(N/A) |
N/A
(N/A) |
113,181: 54%**
[53,529] |
| NORTH CAROLINA |
2,647,650
(2,639,241) |
23,363
(23,334) |
351
(369) |
6,482,692: 62%**
[3,393,459] |
| UNITED STATES |
80,773,277
(80,489,132) |
989,706
(986,644) |
|
218,996,861
66.72%** |
| WORLDWIDE |
506,587,543
(501,363,359) |
6,206,070
(6,187,371) |
|
11,196,500,812
total doses |
* 2 doses
Moderna or Pfizer
vaccines or 1 dose
Johnson &
Johnson vaccine
** Percentage of
total population
(all ages)
*** Weekly
average through
last Friday
(numbers for
counties not
reported)
Data from N.C.
Department of
Health and Human
Services at
12:20 p.m. April
20
and Johns
Hopkins
University at
2:20 p.m. April 20 |
WHAT'S
COMING UP?
Third
StrEATery outdoor dining
returns this Friday
The
Downtown Smithfield
Development Corporation is
once again hosting the
event on the 100 block of
South Third Street, where
folks can get a takeout
order from one of several
nearby restaurants and eat
at tables set up in the
street and listen to music
by a group called
GrassStreet, which
performs original material
and Bluegrass standards.
The event, continuing from
6 to 9 p.m., will be held
once a month from now
through September. (DSDC
photo below)
Saturday
is Litter Sweep Day here
and elsewhere in N.C.
It's
an annual volunteer-based
project spearheaded by the
N.C. Department of
Transportation, but other
organizations are
encouraged to host various
clean-up activities in
their communities. The
Town of Smithfield, for
one, is asking folks to
come out from 9:30 to
11:30 a.m. to help pick up
litter at three locations:
Sarah Yard Community
Center on East Lee Street,
Bob Wallace Jaycee Kiddie
Park on South Second
Street, and Smithfield
Community Park beside SSS
High School. Also, the
County of Johnston is
waiving fees this Saturday
for groups and individuals
that transport trash to
its landfill off NC 210
west of Smithfield.
Town
Council budget sessions
Monday and Tuesday
The
Smithfield council will
begin work on the town's
2022-23 budget during
public meetings scheduled
at 6:30 p.m. this Monday
and Tuesday at Town Hall.
Tuesday's session will
center on requests from
various non-profit
organizations seeking
appropriations during the
new fiscal year that
starts July 1.
Two
more weeks till Ham
& Yam Festival's
return
The
36th edition will return
to streets of Downtown
Smithfield on Saturday,
May 7 after a three-year
hiatus because of
COVID-19. Featured
entertainers on the Neuse
River Amphitheater stage
this year are Country
Music singer and
songwriter Paige King
Johnson at 2:30 p.m.
followed by the Original
Rhondels at 4:30. Their
performances will be free
of admission charge. For
more information, check
out the festival's page on
the Johnston
County Visitors Bureau
website>
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
Click
on the name to read an
obituary, usually posted
by the funeral home
BARRY EUGENE
THORNTON, 57 – died
April 19
SATURNINA
JAEN VELASQUEZ, 89 –
died April 19
JOYCE MARIE
MOREHEAD BURKETT, 80
– died April 15
HELEN
CHRISTINE HOLDER
McCLAMB, 88 – died
April 14
GEORGE ALLEN
SELLERS, 86 – died
April 6
Bereavement
camp offered for
youngsters 6-17
Applications
are now being accepted for
Johnston Health’s Camp
Courage, a bereavement
camp for children ages 6
to 17. The camp will
operate 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday, June 11 at The
Pond at Lazy O Farm on
Olive Road south of
Smithfield.
The
camp is for any child who
has experienced the death
of someone close, such as
a parent, grandparent,
sibling, or friend. There
is no fee to attend.
Activities will include
music, games, and
expressive art activities.
The staff is made up of
nurses, chaplains, social
workers, and bereavement
counselors, all of whom
have been trained to work
with children and teens.
To register, telephone
April Barbour-Matthews at
919-209-3478 or e-mail April.Barbour-matthews@unchealth.unc.edu.
In the photo, social
worker Hiede Erickson
teaches children how to
make memory sticks during
a session of Camp Courage
in 2016. She is among the
Johnston Health teammates
returning for this year’s
camp. (Johnston Health
story & photo)
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
Earth
Day, Arbor Day: what's
the difference?
April 22
(this Friday) will be
observed as Earth Day, a
grassroots movement that
began across our nation in
1970. It led to creation
of the Environmental
Protection Agency later
that year and subsequent
passage by Congress of
other environmental
protection laws including
the Clean Air Act, the
Clean Water Act, the
Endangered Species Act,
and more.
Earth Day went global in
1990, according to
the movement's official
website>
And today its observance
takes on more importance
as we come to grips with
Climate Change.
Arbor Day, which focuses
on trees and the planting
of new ones, doesn't fall
on the same day as Earth
Day, although it's close.
Nationally, the preferred
Arbor Day observance is
the last Friday in April,
which this year falls on
the 29th (next week).
But in North Carolina,
it's observed in March,
according to N.C. State
University's Extension
Service which explains on
its website: "Most
states observe a separate
Arbor Day on a date of
their choosing in
accordance with the best
tree-planting times. In
North Carolina, we
celebrate Arbor on the
first Friday following
March 15" (which means it
fell on March 18 this
year).
Planting trees remains an
important element of Earth
Day activities, but what's
becoming more urgent is
our willingness to wean
our lifestyles away from
wasteful and destructive
practices headed by our
dependence on fossil
fuels.
Hard to do? Yes,
especially in light of
international political
turmoil spotlighted by the
current crisis in Ukraine.
But take action we must if
we're truly serious about
leaving behind a better
world for our children and
grandchildren.
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