Acreage
to be purchased is about
half of the property
outlined in red.
County
OKs purchase of site for
a new high school
Johnston's
County Commissioners
Monday evening gave the
go-ahead for the county's
Board of Education to pay
$2.7 million for a 90-acre
tract on the east side of
Wilson's Mills that's big
enough for a new high
school and possibly a new
middle school as well.
Located beside Talton Farm
Road near the county's
water-treatment plant on
the Neuse River, the
acreage is owned by KAT
Properties of Johnston
County, LLC and Iris T.
Atkins.
A new high school in that
vicinity is one of the
projects to be funded by
the proposed $177-million
bond issue before
Johnston's voters in this
fall's election. School
officials have said the
new campus could bring
relief to six attendance
districts where high
schools are at or near
capacity:
Smithfield-Selma,
Corinth-Holders, Clayton,
Cleveland, South Johnston,
and North Johnston.
Monday's resolution
approving the purchase
says the County
Commissioners and the
Board of Education "agree
to collaboratively review
the site for opportunities
for parks, open spaces,
(and) greenways."
Commissioners
OK $8-million transfer
for school projects
The
Board of Education had
adopted a resolution in
late June approving the
transfer but the County
Commissioners delayed
concurrence until an
agreement was recently
reached to move that money
out of the school system's
2022-23 Current Expense
budget rather than its
General Fund Balance as
initially proposed.
That cuts the schools'
Current Expense budget
from $85,573,000 to
$77,573,000 with the
understanding that the
newly created shortfall
can be covered by a
subsequent transfer from
the school's General Fund
Balance if the Board of
Education chooses to do
so.
Before approving the
$8-million transfer
Monday, commissioners were
given a list of projects
to be done with that
money, including $935,000
to replace tennis courts
at Smithfield-Selma High
School, $130,000 to share
with the Town of
Smithfield the cost of
replacing two boilers at
the jointly operated
Recreation and Aquatics
Center, $550,000 to
replace playground
equipment at several
schools including West
Smithfield Elementary, and
numerous district-wide
expenses involving ADA
compliance issues,
athletic equipment
maintenance, and classroom
furniture.
VIEW the
complete list of
projects as provided to
the County
Commissioners>
READ
the board clerk's
summary of all
matters addressed at
Monday's session>
JOCO WORKS: 8th-graders learn about
local careers
More
than 3,000 eighth-graders
from all of Johnston
County's public schools
attended JOCO WORKS 2022 –
held on the campus of
Johnston Community College
for two days last week
where students had the
opportunity to connect
with more than 40 local
industries. JOCO WORKS is
a collaborative effort
among the county's school
system (JCPS), JCCollege,
the Triangle East Chamber
of Commerce as well as
chambers at Benson and
Clayton, government
agencies, and various
business leaders to meet
the future needs of
Johnston County's
workforce. In the photo
above, students observe an
industrial robot in action
provided by Novo Nordisk,
the event's "presenting
sponsor." (Screenshot
from JCPS highlight
video)
JCC Truck Driver Training School gets
grant for expansion
The Golden LEAF Foundation has awarded
$443,000 to the Johnston
Community College
Foundation to allow JCC
to purchase two trucks
and a simulator for
expansion of the
college’s Truck Driver
Training School from 185
students to 241. The
funding will also allow
enrollment of 30
incumbent workers in new
continuing education
courses and 20
high-school students
through the Career and
College Promise program.
Established in 1999, the
Golden Leaf Foundation
is a non-profit
organization that
distributes a portion of
North Carolina's funding
from the 1998 Master
Settlement Agreement
with cigarette
manufacturers. Visit www.goldenleaf.org
to learn more.
"Trusted
by families since
1977"
840 S. Bright Leaf
Blvd. • 919-934-7164
• www.carrollpharmacy.com
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS REPORT
Smithfield-Selma wins Homecoming game
42-8
The
Spartans overwhelmed
Southern Wayne to remain
undefeated at 8-0 overall
and 5-0 in Quad County 3-A
Conference games, setting
up a showdown of unbeaten
teams this Friday versus
conference foe C.B. Aycock
High at Pikeville.
Once again, SSS built its
margin of victory on a
running attack that
amassed 334 total yards.
Senior Gerard Sanders had
217 of those on 20
carries, including a
touchdown run. Sophomore
Devyn Grant ran for two
TDs, sophomore Julian
Dobbin one, and senior
quarterback John Renfrow
for another. Junior Isaiah
Dawson scored a touchdown
on one of two pass
interceptions he made.
On defense, Devyn Grant
made 13 tackles while
senior Michael Thompson
Jr. had 12. Senior Jalill
Howell and junior Jayden
Brinkley had nine tackles
apiece; senior Kaseem
Darden had eight.
Heading into Friday's
showdown, it appears SSS
and Aycock are evenly
matched. The Spartans have
scored a total of 125
points and given up 57
against their five
conference opponents to
date. Aycock has scored
128 and allowed 95 in its
five league contests.
Only two games remain in
the regular season. After
this week's game at Aycock
High, the Spartans are at
home October 28 versus
East Wake, which has just
one win this fall.
| Last
week's football
scores for other
Johnston County
schools |
Clayton (5-3)
50
Corinth Holders
(2-6)
6 |
Cleveland (8-0)
54
Southeast
Raleigh
0 |
West Johnston (4-4) 21
C.B. Aycock
29 |
South Johnston (4-4) 14
Wilson Hunt
42 |
North Johnston (3-5) 14
Goldsboro
7 |
Princeton (7-1)
63
Spring
Creek
0 |
Spartans'
soccer team No. 3 in
conference matches
Smithfield-Selma
High's boys soccer team
stands in third place in
the Quad County 3-A
Conference with a 6-4-2
league record following
Monday's 2-0 win over West
Johnston and Wednesday's
1-0 loss at Southern
Wayne. The Spartans'
overall record is 6-10-4.
The regular season wraps
up with matches at home
Monday versus C.B. Aycock,
at East Wake on Wednesday.
The SSS girls volleyball
team finished the season
with an overall record of
7-16 with a 3-0 win at
East Wake last Thursday
followed by a 3-0
conference tournament loss
versus West Johnston on
Monday.
Neuse
Charter volleyball No.
1 in at 10-0 in league
play
The
girls volleyball team
finished the season with
an unblemished 10-0 record
in the Carolina 1-A
Conference, defeating
Union High last Thursday
in the finale. The
Cougars' overall record is
18-3.
The boys soccer team
finished the regular
season with two wins this
week: 8-5 over Lakewood on
Monday and 4-3 over Union
High on Wednesday. That
leaves the Cougars with an
overall record of 8-8, 4-6
in conference play.
WHAT'S
COMING UP?
Friends
of the Library Book Sale
this Friday-Saturday
The
sale of discarded books at
the Public Library of
Johnston County and
Smithfield opens at 9:15
a.m. both days and closes
at 5 p.m. Friday and 3
p.m. Saturday. A $10 "bag
sale" will wind up the
event starting at 1 p.m.
Saturday.
SSS
hosting Craft and Vendor
Fair fund-raiser
Saturday
This
year's theme for the event
at Smithfield-Selma High
School is "A Home for
Three Holidays." It
continues from 10 a.m.
till 2 p.m. Saturday with
more than 30 crafters and
vendors offering
home-decor items as well
as soaps, jewelry, clothes
and accessories, beauty
products, cooking
supplies, candies, and
baked foods. Admission is
free, even though it's a
fund-raiser for the
school's IB Denmark
Student Exchange Program,
with raffle tickets to be
sold for various prizes.
Heritage
Center's 18th Ghost Walk
next Thursday the 27th
The Johnston
County Heritage Center will
stage its 18th annual Ghost
Walk on Thursday, October 27
in Smithfield’s historic
Riverside Cemetery,
beginning at 6 p.m. Visitors
will be greeted at the
corner of Second and Church
streets beside St. Paul’s
Episcopal Church, where they
will begin guided tours
through the cemetery. Six
characters from Johnston
County’s past will be
portrayed: John O’Neal, a
Colonial pioneer settler who
led an unsuccessful
insurrection; Phereby
Thomson, wife of two of
Smithfield’s most prominent
men of the early 19th
Century; William A. Smith, a
planter-politician who was a
pro-Union leader during the
Civil War; Martin Luther
Wilson, long-time principal
of Richard B. Harrison High
School; Elreta Melton
Alexander, a Smithfield
native who became North
Carolina’s first
African-American female
attorney and judge; and
civil engineer William
Ragsdale, whose discovery of
unusual flora and fauna in
northern Johnston County
resulted in today's Flower
Hill Nature Preserve.
Admission charge is $5 for
adults and $3 for students,
payable at the event. No
advance tickets will be
sold.
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
Click
on the name to read an
obituary, usually posted
by the funeral home
MARGARET ANN
POLLOCK 67 – died
October 18
CHARLES
WILBERT LAMM, 69 –
died October 16
GLADYS
BUTLER PRINCE, 94 –
died October 15
MARY ANN
(TINK) MORRIS, 87 –
died October 14
JOSEPH (JOE)
RANCE TYNER, 83 –
died October 14
MARVIN LEE
(MARK) MOYE, 73 –
died October 12
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
National
praise for Smithfield's
embattled river!
Local
Facebook pages this week
brought news that our
Neuse has been named
"River of the Year" by American
Rivers, a "river
conservation organization"
headquartered in
Washington, D.C. that
claims "300,000
supporters, members, and
volunteers across the
county."
Here's what American
Rivers says in its
introduction to an
extensive narrative (with
photos) explaining why the
Neuse is now being
honored:
The Neuse has
seen major progress
in recent decades,
with cleanup efforts
improving water
quality and
restoration efforts
improving habitat
for wildlife and
access for fishing
and boating. The
river’s rebounding
health has benefited
wildlife and people
alike, and as the
nation celebrates
the 50th anniversary
of the Clean Water
Act this year, the
Neuse illustrates
how positive steps
for clean water
benefit both the
environment and
economy....
VIEW the
rest of the
organization's Neuse
River story>
Our
town wouldn't be here
today if John Smith hadn't
established a commercial
ferry crossing at this
place in Colonial times. A
half-century ago the
seemingly dirty Neuse was
mostly ignored by
townspeople; today, thanks
to its greenway walk and
ongoing beatification
efforts, it's a place of
community pride....
Screenshot from County of
Johnston video
posted on Facebook shows
the Neuse as it passes
through the heart of
Smithfield. The Legion
Hut on the Town Commons
is seen at the bottom,
just below the Market
Street bridge. Midway
through this northward
view, barely visible in
the distance, is the
Front Street boat ramp.
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the SMITHFIELD
WEEKLY SUN
|
Mr. Johnson
had been on unpaid leave
since mid-July. Mr. Scott
said in his letter that
Mr. Johnson would receive
pay through October 14,
the date of his
termination.