4-3
vote elects Lyn Andrews
school-board chair
She was
nominated by Johnston
County Board of Education
veterans Kay Carroll and
Mike Wooten and also
supported by Terry
Tippett, one of three new
members of the board who
took office prior to
Tuesday's monthly meeting.
Ms. Andrews voted for
herself.
New members Kevin Donovan
and Michelle Antoine
nominated Ronald Johnson,
now in the middle of his
second four-year term on
the board. Those three
voted against the
nomination of Ms. Andrews.
Mr. Tippett was
subsequently elected vice
chair of the board by
unanimous vote.
"I look
forward to the input of
all of us together," Ms.
Andrews said after moving
into her new seat as
presiding officer. "Our
effectiveness in this
capacity will be based on
how well we work
together."
Added Mr. Tippett: "I
think you're going to see
a different leadership
team – a team that works
jointly so that we're all
involved, maybe a little
more than sometimes."
Both Ms. Andrews and Mr.
Tippett are retired
Johnston County school
teachers. Both have also
worked as coaches of
athletic teams. Ms.
Andrews finished up her
career as director of the
school system's
Exceptional Children
Program.
(Screenshots
from Johnston County
Public Schools video
of Tuesday's meeting)
Ronald
Johnson will get a
chance to present "new
facts"
Asking
for an addition to
Tuesday's agenda, Mr.
Donovan asked that the
school board's legal
counsel provide a process
for Mr. Johnson to present
"new discovered facts"
regarding the previous
board's votes to censure
his conduct on three items
in violation of board
policies: (1) secretly
recording conversations
among board members, (2)
intervening in a
principal's assignment of
two special-needs
students, and (3) sending
text messages during board
meetings about a female
school employee in
attendance.
Board members did not
object to Mr. Donovan's
request, and its legal
counsel present for
Tuesday's meeting – Katie
Cornetto of Poyner
Spruill, a Raleigh law
firm – said she would
present the requested
process at next month's
board meeting. (Poyner
Spruill was hired in late
October as the board's
legal counsel following an
abrupt and unexplained
resignation from that duty
by the Raleigh law firm of
Tharrington Smith.)
Meanwhile, District
Attorney Susan Doyle is
continuing an
investigation to determine
whether criminal charges
should be brought against
Mr. Johnson as a result of
the school board's
censures. Mr. Johnson was
fired from his job as a
Smithfield police
detective in October
because of "detrimental
person conduct" as well as
improper use of Police
Department equipment "for
non-police matters."
Mr. Johnson was first
elected to the school
board in 2016 and
re-elected in 2020. He was
a member of Smithfield's
police force for 17 years.
IB
Program at SSS approved
for Smithfield Middle
School
That
news was brought to the
Johnston County Board of
Education Tuesday by Chief
Academic Officer Nicholas
King, who said the
International
Baccalaureate Organization
completed its
authorization visit in
September and notified
local officials in early
November that
Smithfield-Selma High
School is now "an
authorized IB World School
for the Middle Years
Program." SSS has offered
its IB curriculum of
rigorous academics since
2013. School leaders have
said the program could
eventually be extended
into the elementary
grades. On hand for
Tuesday's recognition of
the middle-grades
achievement were: (pictured
above, left to right)
Rhett Smith, IB
coordinator and Principal
David Allen of
Smithfield-Selma High, Dr.
King, IB coordinator
Allison Beadle and
Principal LaShunda Faison
of Smithfield Middle. (Screenshot
from Johnston County
Public Schools YouTube
channel)
Heritage
Center's new JoCo Museum
is finished
Taking
part in Wednesday's
ribbon-cutting ceremony at
the entrance to the
Johnston County Museum –
housed in a portion of the
old Rose's Department
Store building at Market
and Fourth streets: (left
to right) Ben
Chapman, Heritage Center
archivist; Jimmy Parker,
museum docent; Ron Hester
and Heather Driver,
representing the Triangle
East Chamber of Commerce;
Todd Johnson, Heritage
Center director; Vicky
Temple Rains of the
Heritage Commission; Allen
Wellons, the building's
owner; and Kitty Johnson
of the Triangle East
Chamber. The museum is now
open 10-5 Monday-Saturday
and includes the Heritage
Center's Gift Shop.
Riding atop a vintage yet oversized toy red
wagon were members of
the Smithfield-Selma
High School football
team, honored as grand
marshals in last
Thursday's Christmas
Parade. They were
cheered by the throng
lining the street.
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS REPORT
Still no wins for Smithfield-Selma's
basketball teams
Both
the boys and girls teams
were defeated at home by
South Johnston's squads
Tuesday night. The boys
lost 75-56, the girls
62-25. Both teams are now
0-4 overall and 0-1 in
Quad County 3-A Conference
action. Leading scorers
for the male Spartans were
junior Martez Anderson
with 14 points, sophomore
Dwight Nesbitt with 11,
and senior Jordan White
with 10. Stats for the
girls were not posted on MaxPreps
by mid-week.
Carl
Spragins Court
dedication at SSS was
postponed
Last
Friday's games versus
North Johnston High School
were postponed "due to
unforeseen circumstances,"
SSS Principal David Allen
reported earlier this
week. As a result, the
court dedication ceremony
for the late Carl Spragins
will be rescheduled.
Neuse
Charter School's boys
have won 9 of 10,
girls 7 of 10
The
Cougar boys basketball
team is 9-1 after wins
over East Wake Academy
74-59 last Friday and
Southern Wake Academy
55-18 on Tuesday. Leading
scorers for Neuse Charter
on Friday were senior Sire
Holmes with 29 points,
senior Darian Murray with
12, and senior Phillip
Sullivan and junior Jayvin
Bradley with 10 apiece. In
Tuesday's game Darian
Murray was the leading
scorer with 11 points.
The Cougar girls are 7-3
after a 38-24 loss at East
Wake Academy last Friday
followed by a 49-16 win
over Southern Wake Academy
on Tuesday. Freshman Layla
Johnson led the Cougars
with 8 points on Friday.
Sophomore Cayley Cochran
scored 23 in Tuesday's
game; senior Olivia
Sheppard added 12.
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A possum for Christmas?!!!
That's
not what Eric Dauphinais (pictured)
asked from Santa,
stationed at his Downtown
Smithfield workshop last
Saturday morning. Eric
asked for the usual – and
that's toys, of course.
But, one tyke earlier had
asked for a possum.
Santa's response: "I'll
have to check with your
parents about that." The
Jolly Old Elf will return
to his workshop in Town
Hall Park on Market Street
this Thursday and Friday
and again on Saturday. No
appointments necessary,
but reservations
are advised>
WHAT'S
COMING UP?
Winter, astronomically speaking,
arrives next Wednesday
The
Winter Solstice, when the
Sun is its farthest south
of the Equator, occurs
this year at 4:48 p.m.
next Wednesday the 21st.
That will produce the
fewest hours of sunlight
of any day of the year in
the Northern Hemisphere –
just 9 hours and 48
minutes here, with sunrise
at 7:17 a.m., sunset at
5:05 p.m. Meteorologically
speaking, we're already in
Winter – from the first of
December through February.
Take your pick of which
measurement defines the
season as you perceive it.
A look ahead to Christmas & New
Year's holiday
observances
Because
Christmas Eve this year
falls on Saturday and
Christmas on Sunday, state
and local government
holidays in North Carolina
will be observed on
Friday, Dec. 23 and the
following Monday and
Tuesday, Dec. 26-27. The
federal holiday for
Christmas is Monday, Dec.
26 only. Monday,
January 2 will be the New
Year's holiday for
federal, state, and local
governments.
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
Click
on the name to read an
obituary, usually posted
by the funeral home
RAY ST.
CLAIRE GARRIS JR., 78
– died December 11
DAVID
(KILLA) LASSITER, 65
– died December 11
LAWRENCE
(LARRY) NOEL GIBSON JR.,
64 – died December
10
JOHNNY
(JOHN) CLIFTON JOHNSON,
73 – died December
10
APRIL ENNIS
HANSLEY, 56 – died
December 9
HENRY JOSEPH
IVERSON, 71 – died
December 8
ALMA REBECCA
BYNUM ROSE, 79 –
died December 8
GEORGE LEO
HOWARD JR., 92 –
died December 5
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
Outdoor
Christmas lights
proliferating in
Smithfield!
And
most of them are
multi-colored displays of
all sorts of secular
Yuletide objects,
dominated by inflatables.
It brings back childhood
joy for many of us. And
it's reflective amongst
finalists in this year's
Town of Smithfield
Christmas Lights Contest
(you can vote for your
favorites through next
Monday on the
town's Facebook page).
However, I'd like to
highlight a couple of
outdoor displays of a more
traditional nature that
illustrate some creativity
on the part of the
homeowners. They're not
contest finalists (and
likely weren't even
contest entries), but I
feature them in honor of
what would have been my
late mother's 106th
birthday today (December
15). She was particular
about her decorating, and
preferred white lights
over colored lights in her
latter years (although she
put colored lights on our
tree when we were kids).
My two favorites this year
are located in the same
neighborhood on the north
side of "old Smithfield,"
and they're both what I
call "tree sculptures" –
the first one (below)
at the Gemmell residence
on Hancock Street, the
second at the Parrish
residence on North Second
(and there are several
other similar examples in
yards nearby)....
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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