With
the filing deadline coming
up at noon tomorrow
(Friday), five candidates
had filed as of 5 p.m.
Wednesday for seats on the
Johnston County Board of
Education. None of them
are incumbents whose seats
are up for election in
2024.
Those seats are now held
by Lyn Andrews, Kay
Carroll, Ron Johnson, and
Mike Wooten. Only Mr.
Carroll has publicly
stated that he will not
seek re-election.
Candidates had filed by
the end of the day
Wednesday for just two of
the four seats. Three of
them are competing to
represent newly
established District 4: Ken
Ramey of David
Circle, Angier; David
Spain of
Wyndham Drive, Garner; and
Emily Burke
of Kasey Dee Circle,
Garner. Competing to
represent District 7 are Jeff
Sullivan of
Wedgewood Place, Clayton
and David
Marshburn of
Robertson Street, Clayton.
For the first time,
candidates for Johnston's
Board of Education must
run for specific seats
according to their place
of residence yet continue
to be chosen by voters
countywide. They also
continue to run without
regard to political party
affiliation.
Others who filed this past
week with the Johnston
County Board of Elections:
• Republican Bennett
Jones of Hill
Row Lane, Clayton for the
District 1 seat on the
County Board of
Commissioners now held by
Fred Smith, who has stated
he will not seek
re-election.
• Republican Caleb
Johnson of
Lowell Mill Road, Selma
for the District 2 seat on
the Board of
Commissioners. He is
challenging incumbent
Republican Ted
Godwin of
Hawkins Road, Selma who
earlier filed for
re-election.
• Republican incumbent April
Stephens of NC
50 North, Benson for
re-election to the
District 4 seat on the
Board of Commissioners.
• Republican Tim
Little of Evans
Road, Princeton, joining
Republican Bill
Stovall of
Little Creek Church Road,
Clayton in the running for
the District 6 seat on the
Board of Commissioners in
place of incumbent Tony
Braswell, who also has
stated he will not seek
re-election.
• Republicans Matthew
Wood of
Lightfoot Drive, Clayton
and Kevin Terrett
of Channel Drop Drive,
Clayton for the District
26 seat in the N.C. House
now held by Republican Donna
McDowell White
of Clayton who earlier
filed for re-election.
Sale
of club house yields
big gifts for 3
non-profits
The
former home of the
Smithfield Woman's Club on
North Second Street –
vacant since the Junior
Woman's Club was disbanded
a decade ago – has been
sold for renovation as a
residence, with proceeds
from the sale distributed
to the Johnston Health
Foundation Hospice Fund,
the Public Library of
Johnston County and
Smithfield, and the
Johnston County Arts
Council.
READ the
full story, including
the history of the
92-year-old structure
and the two women's
organizations that made
it their home, on the FEATURE
PAGE>
"Trusted by families since 1977" 840
S. Bright Leaf Blvd. • 919-934-7164
• www.carrollpharmacy.com
FLU
& COVID
SHOTS AVAILABLE – NO
APPOINTMENT NEEDED
County
pays 84 employees more
than $100,000
A
recently revised list of
annual salaries paid to
1,269 full-time employees
of the County of Johnston
shows that 84 of them are
now paid at least
$100,000. Another 134 are
paid at least $90,000.
Continuing the breakdown,
another 79 are paid at
least $80,000, another 192
at least $70,000, another
283 at least $60,000, and
another 255 at least
$50,000.
At the top of the county's
list is Dr. Marilyn
Pearson, a physician whose
salary as director of the
Public Health Department
is $319,786. County
Manager Rick Hester's
salary is $262,600.
Salaries of the county's
two elected full-time
employees are $188,222 for
Sheriff Steve Bizzell and
$129,040 for Register of
Deeds Craig Olive.
Among CEOs elsewhere among
Johnston's local governing
units, Superintendent of
Schools Eric Bracy is paid
$249,019 annually while
Clayton's Town Manager
Richard Cappola receives
$197,236 and Smithfield's
Town Manager Mike Scott
$134,513.
VIEW the
complete list of
individual salaries paid
by the County of
Johnston>
Recipients of this year's Living Legend Award are Ethel Armwood, Ruth High, and Bruce Bunn. (Photo from Johnston County Public Schools)
Three
added to schools' list
of "Living Legends"
During
Tuesday's monthly meeting,
the Johnston County Board
of Education recognized
Ethel Breeden Armwood,
Ruth Edwards High, and
Bruce Bunn as this year's
recipients of the school
system's Living Legend
Award, presented to former
educators who were
dedicated to the children
they taught and left a
legacy of influential
teaching styles.
This is the 20th year of
honoring "Living Legends
of Johnston County Public
Schools."
Mrs. Armwood worked 30
years as a K-3 teacher at
Pine Level Elementary
School, and later returned
as a substitute following
retirement. She is a
graduate of Fayetteville
State University.
Mrs. High served the
district in many ways,
primarily as a lead
teacher for kindergarten
through the sixth grade as
well as director of the
school system's AIG
program for Academically
and Intellectually Gifted
students. She is a
graduate of Meredith
College where she received
the Alumni Award from the
Department of Psychology
and also of East Carolina
University and N.C. State
University.
Mr. Bunn served Johnston's
schools as a middle-school
teacher of social studies,
interim principal,
assistant principal, and
finally principal at West
Clayton Elementary. After
retirement, he returned to
the system as a temporary
administrator, serving as
an interim principal and
assisting Human Resources.
He's a graduate of
Appalachian State and East
Carolina universities.
The three will have their
names added to the list of
educators that's on
display inside the Living
Legends Room of the
Evander S. Simpson
Building at 2320 US 70
Business East in
Smithfield.
Schools
going remote to offset
teacher shortage
The
Board of Education Tuesday
voted 6-1 to approve a
$2,068,840 contract with a
Chicago-based enterprise
named Elevate K-12 to
provide a "virtual
platform for live
teaching" during the
school year's second
semester to fill gaps left
by a larger-than-usual
number of teacher
vacancies.
Interim Human Resources
Director Linda Edmundson
told the board that
Johnston's schools had
151.5 teacher vacancies as
of November 1 – up from
90.5 a year earlier. To
make up for the shortage,
"this is the best
alternative we have right
now," Ms. Edmundson said.
Under terms of the
contract, she explained,
Elevate K-12 will provide
"high quality"
N.C.-certified teachers
offering live instruction
via the Internet for a
maximum of 60 class
periods at middle schools,
72 at high schools, and 35
for Exceptional Children
at schools to be
determined. Johnston
County Public Schools will
provide a classroom
manager for each
instructional session, she
said.
Board member Kevin Donovan
cast the only vote against
the contract. "Next year
we won't have this
opportunity," he said,
because federal ESSER
funds being used to pay
for it won't be available.
(ESSER stands for
Elementary and Secondary
Schools Emergency Relief –
adopted by Congress in
response to the COVID
pandemic.)
Superintendent Eric Bracy
said he hopes the system's
recruitment efforts will
fill many of the teaching
vacancies by then. But if
not, the board should be
prepared to consider cuts
in other programs to come
up with funding sufficient
to continue the virtual
teaching service, he
advised.
Board
re-elects its chair and
vice chair with a split
vote
The
board voted 5-2 to
re-elect Lyn Andrews as
its chair and Terry
Tippett as vice chair for
another year. Negative
votes came from Michelle
Antoine and Ron Johnson.
Kay Carroll, Kevin
Donovan, and Mike Wooten
supported the re-election
of Ms. Andrews and Mr.
Tippett, who voted for
themselves.
FOR
SALE:
overlooking
pond
in South Smithfield
313
W. Wilson Street
Traditional brick home
with 5 bedrooms & 5
baths, including 3
lots totaling
more than an acre for $699,000 (MLS#
2509894)
SUSAN
LASSITER,
Broker
• Fonville Morisey
Realty • 919-669-9235
WHAT'S COMING UP
Smithfield's Christmas Parade starts
at 7 p.m. today
It begins
at the corner of Market
and Sixth streets and
continues westward through
the heart of Downtown to
Second Street.
Meanwhile, Santa's
Workshop
in the small park beside
Town Hall will be "in
business" this evening
(Thursday) and Friday and
again Thursday, Friday,
and Saturday of next week
(Dec. 21-23).
To make a reservation for
a visit with The Jolly Ol'
Elf, follow this
link>
(Town of Smithfield Facebook photo)
"Cookies & Coco" in neighborhoods
next Thursday &
Friday
The
Town of Smithfield's Parks
& Recreation and
Police departments are
joining forces to
celebrate the holiday
season by serving hot
chocolate and cookies in a
couple of neighborhoods
next week: on Thursday
(Dec. 21) – 10 to 11 a.m.
on Skyland Drive, 11 a.m
till noon on Kay Drive;
Friday (Dec. 22) – 10 to
11 a.m. on Furlong Drive;
11 a.m. till noon on Finny
Street.
Two
books by Gary Ridout
make great gifts!
Breathing
– Dark and Hairy
is
a book full of suspense,
magic, and fantasy
for middle-school to
adult-age readers.
$10
James J. Bug
written
by Gary and his
grandchildren, Jonah and
Ava Ridout,
for pre-school to
4th-grade children – about
the adventures
of a Rhinoceros Beetle
with magical flair!
$10
Book
Signings at the
Johnston County Arts
Coop studio
at 619 S. Third Street
in Smithfield:
Saturday, December 16,
1:00-3:00 pm
Wednesday, December
20, 11:00-1:00 pm
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
Faded
lane lines make driving
more dangerous
A
reader recently complained
about fading lane markings
on Bright Leaf Boulevard
and Market Street.
"All the lane
markings on Market and 301
are NCDOT’s responsibility,"
Town Manager Mike Scott
confirmed in an e-mail to
the Weekly Sun. "We
had them re-striping some of
the intersections downtown
last spring."
But nothing more since then.
What's worse are the
vanishing lane markings on
Outlet Center Drive, which
ought to be the
responsibility of the N.C.
Department of Transportation
but are the town's under an
agreement made some years
ago involving the poorly
designed configuration of
the streets connecting East
Market Street to the
outlets.
The faded lane lines are bad
enough. The expanding
potholes make things even
worse. Not a good thing for
visitors to the numerous
establishments out there.
Riders
of this miniature train
down Market Street
during last Thursday's
tree-lighting festivities
likely weren't aware of
its ties to the town's
history. Market Street is
as wide as it is today
because a real railroad
ran down the middle of the
street in the late 19th
Century! (Downtown
Smithfield Facebook
photo)
It was built from
Goldsboro as the Midland
North Carolina R.R. in
1882 and was envisioned as
a competitor for the North
Carolina Railroad built
across the state several
miles north of Smithfield
before the Civil War. But
alas, the venture failed
and the Midland never made
it across the Neuse River
here.
The Market Street tracks
were removed when the
north-south rail line
still in service today was
built in 1886. Even so,
the connection to
Goldsboro remained in
place through the 1920s,
and there's a remnant of
that track crossing Malta
Street in front of Coor
Farm Supply just east of
the Market Street
underpass.
Too bad we've never seen a
photo of the real thing
coming down our main
street.
But the Heritage Center
does have a collection of
Sanborn Insurance maps
from that era showing not
only the track down Market
Street (also identified
then as "Rail Road
Street") but also the
purposes of the commercial
buildings there at the
time, most of which have
been replaced by the
Downtown structures we see
today.
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