Early voting for Nov. 7 town election
began today
So-called
"one stop" voting – which
includes signing up if
you're not already
registered – will continue
Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5
p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m.
to 3 p.m. through November
4 at the Johnston County
Board of Elections office
at 205 South Second
Street. This year's
municipal elections are
the first in North
Carolina where voter IDs
will be required before
ballots can be cast.
The N.C.
Board of Elections has
posted details about
voter IDs on its
website>
Who are the candidates in
Smithfield's election?
Residents
of the Town of Smithfield
have choices for mayor and
three at-large seats on
the Town Council. A rundown of
the candidates is on the
FEATURE PAGE>
State Senator Benton
Sawrey (left) with
school teachers Margie
Riedel and Jennifer
Medlin alongside Kay
Carroll of the Johnston
County Board of
Education following
Monday's Legislative
Breakfast hosted by the
board.
Legislators
grilled on school
salaries and more
Johnston
County's representatives
in the N.C. General
Assembly voiced support
for better pay for veteran
school teachers during
Monday morning's breakfast
meeting of the Johnston
County Board of Education.
"It's just not acceptable
to me" that the newly
adopted state budget
includes higher pay raises
for beginning teachers but
not so much for the
veterans, declared Donna
White, who represents
northwestern Johnston in
the N.C. House of
Representatives. "We had
10% raises in the House
budget," she said, but the
Senate's version that won
the day provides for less
(7.5% on average over a
two-year period).
Margie Riedel, a
second-grade teacher at
River Dell Elementary
School, told the gathering
that the base pay for a
veteran teacher was
$52,550 in 2008 and in the
new budget it's $54,000.
"That's not enough," she
exclaimed.
As a result, she
continued, teachers are
holding second jobs like
cleaning houses and
working at grocery stores.
"Nine years ago I got a
real-estate license" to
help make ends meet, she
said. "When I was growing
up, teachers didn't have
to do that."
"I fully support our
veteran teachers,"
responded Larry
Strickland, who represents
a large chunk of Johnston,
including Smithfield. "But
in the (legislative)
building there's a
difference of opinion"
about priorities when it
comes to compensation and
benefits for teachers, he
said.
Jennifer Medlin, a teacher
at Riverwood Elementary,
joined her colleague, Ms.
Riedel, in bemoaning a
growing list of duties
assigned to school
teachers by the
Legislature. Those duties,
she said, "are beginning
to outweigh the joy of
teaching."
Representative White asked
if "a simple fix" would be
to increase the number of
teaching assistants in
classrooms. "Yes," Ms.
Riedel replied.
Brian Vetrano, director of
human resources for
Johnston's schools,
pointed out that "10-15
years ago we had more TA
positions allotted by the
state than we do now."
Instead of one TA in each
elementary classroom, he
noted, today TAs are
limited to the early
grades and even then may
be assigned to more than a
single classroom.
Johnston's legislators
said they get numerous
calls from teachers asking
for more money to help
them purchase classroom
supplies, even though the
General Assembly has
recently stepped up state
appropriations for that.
"Are our teachers getting
their money?"
Representative Strickland
asked local school
officials.
"You should not be getting
phone calls about school
supplies," replied School
Board Chair Lyn Andrews.
"The money is there," she
said, noting that $1.7
million is included in the
current county budget to
supplement the state's
increased funding. "Last
year we didn't even spend
all our money" for
supplies, she added.
Another issue affecting
teacher recruitment and
retention are retirement
benefits, the legislators
were told. The state once
covered the cost of
maintaining an employee's
health insurance beyond
retirement, but that was
eliminated a decade or so
ago. Mr. Vetrano said
Johnston's schools are
currently looking for
employees to fill 350-360
vacancies including
"classified" workers as
well as "certified"
teachers.
Earlier during Monday's
session, school board
member Kay Carroll
complained that Johnston's
schools had not been
included in an
appropriation of $63
million for local
capital-improvement
projects, including $10
million for suburban Union
County near Charlotte
which he said is similar
in size and population to
Johnston. "How do we get
on that list?" he asked.
Representative Strickland
acknowledged that all
legislators are allotted
discretionary funding for
their districts and that
Johnston's delegation had
given priority to grants
to Johnston's towns for
replacement of
deteriorating water and
sewer systems. At the same
time, he said, the local
delegation had worked to
preserve $16 million in
state "low wealth" funding
for Johnston's schools.
"I can't thank you enough
for that," responded Board
Chair Andrews. Stephen
Britt, the system's chief
financial officer, noted
that "100% of that $16
million goes directly into
the classroom," most of it
paying the salaries of
additional teachers beyond
what the state normally
provides.
On the issue of stepped-up
state aid for educating
special-needs students,
Representative Strickland
said there's a provision
in the budget for
developing a new "funding
model" for that.
Presently, the state
restricts its assistance
for Exceptional Children
to 13% of a school
system's enrollment. Ms.
Andrews noted that
Johnston is currently
providing EC services to
about 15.5% of the total
school population, with
county taxpayers picking
up the funding difference.
County
advised to impose
household garbage fee
Johnston's
County Commissioners were
advised by a consultant
Monday evening to add a
fee to all residential
property-tax bills to
cover the cost of
operating the county's
rural "convenience
centers" that receive
household garbage and
trash. (Screenshot
from Johnston County
Facebook video)
Vance Moore of
Raleigh-based Garrett
& Moore – an
engineering consultant
hired by the county to
evaluate its solid-waste
collection operation –
said a fee charged to an
estimated 90,200
households throughout
Johnston ought to cover
the $4-million annual cost
of collecting and
disposing of waste
materials brought to the
centers. Included in those
90,200 households are
22,400 within Johnston's
incorporated towns, most
of which provide their own
municipal waste-collection
services.
Presently,
households that use the
county's convenience
centers must purchase
vehicle decals to drop off
household garbage and
trash, but commissioners
have ordered an end to the
decal system next June 30.
(Recyclables and other
large items like
appliances may already be
dropped off without a
decal.)
The decals, sold annually
for $100, produce about
$1.9 million in revenue
for the operation, Mr.
Moore noted. Most of the
remaining revenue required
comes from landfill
tipping fees (about $1.9
million) and the county's
General Fund (about
$400,000), which the
consultant said should no
longer be used to
subsidize the
convenience-center
service.
Commissioners had little
to say about Mr. Moore's
recommendation, pending
further study and
deliberation by the board
and staff. County Manager
Rick Hester did note that
a decision on a fee would
have to be made by
February for the Tax
Office to work into its
planning for next year's
property-tax billings.
Nothing was said at
Monday's meeting about the
amount of the proposed
fee.
Some
county employees to get
extra pay raises Nov. 1
The
commissioners gave the
co-ahead for raising the
salaries of county
employees in eight
departments based on an
in-house study of
competitive pay in the
region.
"Not everybody's going to
it," said Lu Hickey, the
county's personnel
director, since the study
has identified particular
positions in need of
adjustment to keep pace
with what other local
governments are paying.
The raises will take
effect November 1 in 9-1-1
Communications, Child
Support, Emergency
Services, Social Services,
Public Health, the
Sheriff's Office,
Technical Services, and
Human Resources, Ms.
Hickey noted.
This is the first year of
a plan to evaluate pay for
half of the county's
departments every other
year to spread out the
cost of the "catch up"
adjustments, estimated at
$896,000 this fiscal year.
County Manager Hester told
commissioners the current
county budget will cover
that expense. Total cost
of the raises is actually
$1.49 million, but the
state will reimburse the
county for a sizeable
portion, especially within
the Department of Social
Services, Mr. Hester
noted.
These raises come on top
of across-the-board raises
of 5% for all county
employees that took effect
at the start of the
2023-24 fiscal year July
1. County departments not
included in this year's
round of additional
adjustments will be
evaluated next year.
County
permits third
non-emergency ambulance
franchise
Priority
Care Ambulance out of
Raleigh is the third
non-emergency ambulance
service authorized by the
county to operate in
Johnston. The other two
are MedEx Transport
headquartered in Ahoskie
and North Transport
Medical Transport of
Raleigh. Josh Holloman,
the county's deputy EMS
director, told
commissioners the third
operator is "a good fit
for our county" that's
needed to fill a growing
need for such services.
Marcia
Armstrong wins Chamber's
Athena Award
From
Triangle East Chamber of
Commerce
The
2023
recipient of the Athena
Leadership Award
presented by the
Triangle East Chamber of
Commerce is Marcia
Armstrong, a partner in
the Armstrong Law Firm
of Smithfield and the
first person from
Johnston County to serve
as president of the
North Carolina State
Bar.
There were 20
nominees for this year's
award, which is presented to
an exemplary leader who
has achieved excellence
in their business or
profession, served the
community in a
meaningful way, and
actively assisted women
to achieve their full
leadership potential.
Mrs.
Armstrong is certified
by the State Bar as a
specialist in family law
and is a fellow in the
American Academy of
Matrimonial Lawyers.
She is passionate
about helping survivors
of domestic violence and
their children and has
volunteered with Harbor
for more than 26 years.
She has also become
aware of the problems
mental illness causes
for families, and serves
on the Board for the
Foundation of Hope,
which funds research to
address this pressing
need.
Mrs. Armstrong is an
active member of the
First Baptist Church of
Smithfield and has
participated in many
mission trips with the
church youth.
EDITOR'S ADDENDUM:
Ms. Armstrong is a
partner with other
members of her family
in the Smithfield law
firm that includes her
husband Lamar Jr., son
Lamar III, and
daughter Eason
Armstrong Kenney.
JCC,
schools, industries
teaming up for BioWork
From
Johnston
Community College
Johnston
Community College and
Johnston County Public
Schools, with support from
Novo Nordisk and Grifols,
are teaming up to offer
the BioWork certification
curriculum in all of
Johnston County’s
traditional public high
schools. BioWork is a
statewide program that
teaches the fundamentals
of working as a process
technician in
biotechnology,
pharmaceutical, and
chemical manufacturing
facilities.
Johnston County
high-school juniors and
seniors will be able to
complete the free course
in one semester as part of
a pre-apprenticeship
through the Career and
College Promise program.
The BioWork certification
will count as one year of
work experience in a
bio-pharmaceutical
manufacturing facility if
the student is hired after
graduating from high
school. Completion of the
certificate allows
students to enroll at
Johnston Community College
with the equivalent of two
curriculum classes toward
an associate degree in
biotechnology.
BioWork classes in
Johnston County’s
traditional public high
schools will begin next
spring. For more
information on the
program, visit this
page on the JCC
website>
SSS students get National Merit honor
Smithfield-Selma
High School's Sam (Sarah)
Bullock and Sydney Mancini (left
to right) have been
named Commended Students in
this year's National Merit
Scholarship Program. About
34,000 students throughout
the nation are being so
recognized for their
exceptional academic
promise. Although they will
not continue in the 2024
competition for National
Merit Scholarship awards,
Commended Students placed
among the top 50,000
students who entered the
competition by taking the
2022 Preliminary
SAT/National Merit
Scholarship Qualifying Test.
(SSS photo)
New book covers 50 years of the arts
in Johnston
From
Johnston County Arts
Council
The
Johnston County Arts Council
has been the heart and soul
of the local arts community
for the past 50 years,
inspiring and nurturing
creative talent in the
region. To commemorate this
momentous occasion, the Arts
Council is proud to announce
the release of the
premium-color coffee table
book, Johnston County
Creates.
Featuring some of the most
inspiring and celebrated
artists in the area, this
book is a tribute to the
artistic excellence that has
thrived in Johnston County
over the years. It's
available at a special price
of $65 through December 31
($75 after that). Book-sale
proceeds support arts
programs and artists in
Johnston County.
Click here to
place an order>
For more information,
contact Johnston County
Arts Council Executive
Director Darlene Williford
at 919-934-9166.
WHAT'S COMING UP
Third StrEATery canceled again
because of the weather
The
Downtown Smithfield
Development Corporation
has once again canceled
its Third StrEATery
outdoor dining event that
was scheduled for this
Friday evening because of
inclement weather. The
forecast calls for a 70%
chance of rain.
"Walk and Talk about Trails" this
Saturday in Smithfield
Friends
of Johnston County Parks
will host "Walk and Talk
about Trails" in
Smithfield this Saturday
afternoon. Walkers are
invited to meet at the
Recreation and Aquatics
Center's outdoor shelter
at 4 p.m. to begin their
2.3-mile hike along the
Buffalo Creek Greenway's
paved trail to the Neuse
River Amphitheater
Downtown. Bicyclists are
invited to meet at the
SRAC's shelter at 4:30 to
follow the same course. A
talk about local trails is
set for 5:30 at the
amphitheater. JCATS will
provide shuttle service
back to the SRAC from 5:30
to 7 p.m. This is the
second annual Walk and
Talk event organized by
Friends of Parks. Last
year's was conducted at
Clayton.
SSS soccer field naming celebration
next Wednesday
Smithfield-Selma
High School will celebrate
the naming of its "Coach
Earl Marett Soccer Field"
during halftime of a match
versus Southern Wayne High
next Wednesday, starting
at 6:30 p.m. with halftime
coming around 7. Mr.
Marett has helped coach
soccer teams at SSS for
more than 30 years, mostly
as a volunteer.
Heritage Center's annual Ghost Walk
next Thursday
This
is the 19th edition of the
historical walk through
Smithfield's Riverside
Cemetery, where five
personalities from Johnston
County's past will "come
back to life" to tell their
stories: Jessie Thurston of
Clayton, a county welfare
officer and newspaper
columnist, portrayed by
Mary-Leigh Hamilton: Liz
Cooper of Smithfield, one of
Johnston’s first
public-health nurses,
portrayed by Emily Worth;
Col. Leon Penny of
Smithfield, World War II
veteran, pastor, and
community leader, portrayed
by Kenny Howell; Hunter
Johnson of Benson, composer
and pianist, portrayed by
William Massengill; Jona
Good of Princeton, an
anti-Klan protester,
portrayed by Reggie Parker.
Guided tours will begin at 6
p.m. at the corner of South
Second and Church streets
beside St. Paul's Episcopal
Church. Admission is $5 for
adults and $3 for children,
payable at the event since
no tickets will be sold in
advance.
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
Some
thoughts about our
greenways and freeways
Greenways,
and the trails they carry,
are the rage across the
land these days. You find
them popping up just about
everywhere you go – in the
smallest of towns and
certainly in the largest
of cities. In Johnston
County, we've got the
three-mile Buffalo Creek
Greenway here in
Smithfield, and Clayton is
connected to the Neuse
River Trail coming out of
Raleigh.
Now there's a study just
starting for a trail
extending from Smithfield
to Four Oaks to Benson,
part of the envisioned
East Coast Greenway that's
already marked by signage
along Smithfield's streets
and highways. Adrian
O'Neal, the county's
recreation manager,
recently told the County
Commissioners that the
proposed project qualifies
for a special grant
program because the
corridor lies within a
"low wealth" area of
Johnston.
All these trails are a
good thing for
Johnstonians, but I wish
the focus could be on
extending the Neuse River
Trail from Clayton to
Smithfield and on down to
Bentonville rather than
what might turn out to be
a paved strip beside US
301. As a bicycle rider
myself, I'd much rather
cruise alongside a river
than a highway. The best
part about a trail that
follows a stream is that
it can duck under roadway
bridges rather than
confront stop-and-go
crossings of busy streets
and roads.
In any event, the county
is seeking "public input"
on the
Smithfield-to-Benson
proposal. You can
participate, and learn
more about the project,
through this link>
Turning
to the subject of
freeways (a
misnomer if there ever was
one), I'm really bothered
by the bureaucratic
bungling to re-number N.C.
42 through Johnston County
to N.C. 36 because a
national advisory group
wants the Clayton Bypass
and other upgraded
sections of US 70 designed
as Interstate 42.
For one thing, I-42 isn't
going to be a true
"interstate," so far as I
can tell, because it's
simply an offshoot of I-40
toward Morehead City,
following a route that
could have been I-40 in
the first place were it
not for a campaign back in
the 1970s to get I-40
turned southward to
Wilmington. Why couldn't
I-42 be I-740 or something
similar, like the I-95
spur from Wilson to
Goldsboro, which was
numbered I-795.
Not only that, but N.C.
42's number will remain in
place for its segments on
either side of Johnston
County. I wonder if
there's any other place in
the country where a
numbered highway has two
segments that are 30 miles
apart.
I surely sympathize with
all the businesses and
residences that must
change their addresses
because N.C. 42 will no
longer be on the map in
Johnston County.
Thinking some more about
"freeways," how is it fair
that Charlotte got its
I-485 beltway completed
without tolls while the
northern half of Raleigh's
I-540 got built toll-free
and the remainder on "the
poor side of town" will be
a toll road.
Subscribers
to this edition: 1,464
MISS
A PREVIOUS EDITION?
Rewind
through the Weekly Sun's
archives
the SMITHFIELD
WEEKLY SUN
|
