Early voting for March 5 Primary has
begun
The
First Baptist Church
Ministry Center at 125 S.
Fourth Street is the place
for early voting in
Smithfield from now
through March 2. Voting
hours are 8 a.m. to 7:30
p.m. Monday-Friday; 8 a.m.
to 3 p.m. on two
Saturdays: February 24 and
March 2.
You may vote there (and at
three other locations)
regardless of your place
of residence throughout
Johnston County. And if
you're not registered to
vote here, you may sign up
and cast your ballot at
the same time under the
state's "one-stop voting"
option. Be reminded that
IDs are now required of
all voters in North
Carolina.
You are restricted to
voting in the Primary
races of the political
party under which you are
registered, although
"Unaffiliated" voters may
participate in the Primary
of their choice (but not
both). There are no races
of local interest in
Johnston County's
Democratic Primary as most
candidates are competing
as Republicans. Ballots
for statewide primaries
have numerous choices for
Democrats and Republicans.
At the same time, all of
Johnston's voters are
eligible to participate in
two nonpartisan
races for the county's
Board of Education where
more than two candidates
have filed for specific
seats under the new
district-residency plan.
The top two finishers in
those contests will
advance to the General
Election along with
candidates for two other
school-board seats up for
grabs this year.
Here's a rundown of
Primary races of local
interest for
Smithfield-area voters:
• For Board of Education,
District 4 – Ken
Ramey of David
Circle, Angier;
David Spain
of Wyndham Drive, Garner;
Emily Burke
of Kasey Dee Circle,
Garner; Telia Y.
Virgin of
Willowcroft Court, Garner;
April Lee
of Coaster Court, Angier;
Tasa McGowan
of Glenbrook Court,
Garner.
• For Board of Education,
District 7 – Jeff
Sullivan of
Wedgewood Place, Clayton;
David Marshburn
of Robertson Street,
Clayton; incumbent Ronald
Johnson of
Westminster Drive,
Clayton; Sam
Solmonson of
Lynn Drive, Clayton.
• For County Commissioner,
District 1 – Bennett
Jones of Hill
Row Lane, Clayton; Michelle
Pace Davis of
Buffalo Road, Clayton; Harold
De Lancey of
Peach Blossom Court,
Clayton. All three are
Republicans; no Democrats
filed for this seat.
• For County Commissioner,
District 2 – incumbent Ted
G. Godwin of
Hawkins Road, Selma;
Caleb Johnson
of Lowell Mill Road,
Selma. Both are
Republicans; no Democrats
filed for this seat.
• For County Commissioner,
District 6 – Bill
Stovall of
Little Creek Church Road,
Clayton; Tim
Little of Evans
Road, Princeton. Both are
Republicans; no Democrats
filed for this seat.
• For District Court judge
– Incumbent Michael
J. Onufer of
Coats and Brian
E. Lewis of
Sanford. Both are
Republicans; no Democrats
filed for this seat.
• For N.C. House of
Representatives, District
28 – Republican Elizabeth
Anne Temple of
Chestnut Drive,
Smithfield; Republican
incumbent Larry
C. Strickland
of Kingston Street, Pine
Level. The winner will
face Democrat Tawanda
Shepard of
Lincoln Street, Benson in
November's General
Election.
• For U.S. House of
Representatives, District 13
– Republicans Josh
McConkey of Holly
Springs, Chris
Baker of Zebulon,
Eric Stevenson
of Spring Lake,
Kenny Xu of
Raleigh, Brad Knott
of Raleigh, Fred
Von Canon of Wake
Forest, Siddhanth
Sharma of Garner,
James Phillips
of Lillington, Matt
Shoemaker of
Kenmore Drive, Clayton, Marcus
Dellinger of
Wendell, DeVan
Barbour of
Federal Road, Benson, David
Dixon of Garner,
Kelly Daughtry
of Ventasso Drive, Clayton,
and Steve A. (Von) Loor
of Raleigh. The winner of
the Primary Election (likely
requiring a runoff) will
face Democrat Frank
Pierce of Raleigh
in November's General
Election.
Sample ballots posted on the
Johnston County Board of
Elections website include
statewide contests for
President, Governor,
Lieutenant Governor, Council
of State, and Appeals Court
judge in addition to the
races listed above.
Sample ballot
for Smithfield-area
Republican voters>
Sample ballot
for Smithfield-area
Democratic voters>
VISIT the JoCo
Board of Elections website
for additional
information>
Business Disputes •
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Eason
Armstrong
Keeney |
Wilson's
Mills High "Green
Wave" will return
Another
of Johnston County's
former schools will come
back to life in much
larger modern quarters
with completion of the
county's next new high
school soon to be built.
Johnston's Board of
Education voted this week
to name it Wilson's Mills
High and also bring back
the "Green Wave" nickname
for its athletic teams.
It's the third
resurrection of old
high-school names for new
campuses in recent times.
Both the Cleveland High
"Rams" and the Corinth
Holders "Pirates"' came
back to life with the
opening of their
present-day campuses in
the fall of 2010.
The new Wilson's Mills
High will be built on part
of 210 acres beside Talton
Farm Road on the east side
of town that will also has
space for a future middle
school as well as a county
park at the Neuse River.
The new high school is
projected to relieve
overcrowding at several
others in the region,
including Smithfield-Selma
High.
The original Wilson's
Mills High School
graduated its last class
in 1969. That fall its
remaining students joined
classmates from
Smithfield, Johnston
Central, Selma, and
Richard B. Harrison high
schools at brand-new
Smithfield-Selma Senior
High. That consolidation
coincided with full racial
integration of this area's
high schools.
Calendar
options include moving
to "year-round schools"
Restricted
by a state law that
prevents North Carolina's
public schools from
opening before late
August, Johnston's school
leaders have come up with
a new option for legally
opening earlier to produce
semesters of equal length
on either side of the long
Christmas and New Year's
break.
It's a modified version of
"year-round schools"
without Wake County's
"tracks" that stagger
breaks for a fourth of all
students throughout the
year. Under Johnston's
proposed option, all
students would begin the
school year at the first
of August and finish
before Memorial Day in
late May, with breaks of
14-18 days between each
quarterly grading period.
That option was one of
three presented to
Johnston's school board on
Tuesday. Of the other two,
one would be similar to
the present calendar with
school starting in late
August, the first semester
extending into January,
and the second semester
ending in early June. The
third option would start
school in late August and
cut the first semester to
78 instructional days in
order to end before
Christmas. The second
semester would be
stretched to 90 days, yet
end before Memorial Day.
Toward a goal of adopting
next year's calendar prior
to an April 1 deadline,
the board instructed Chief
Academic Officer Anna
Kuykendal and her staff to
get feedback on the three
options, first from
principals and teachers
and then from the public
at large.
Here's a
chart comparing key
elements of the three
options under study>
School
enrollment projected to
grow by 1.88% annually
That
translates into a total of
7,548 additional students
in the county's public
schools over the next 10
years, according to a
report presented to
Johnston's Board of
Education Tuesday by
representatives of OREd,
N.C. State University's
Operations Research and
Education Laboratory
contracted by Johnston's
school system for a number
of years now to make
projections about future
enrollment growth.
The consultants noted that
enrollment in Johnston
County Public Schools has
grown at an annual rate of
just 0.34% over the past
five years – to a count of
36,882 reported to the
state after the first two
months of the current
school year. They're
basing their projection
for a higher rate over the
next 10 years to a 2.9%
increase in "resident live
births" from 2014 to 2022
and numbers from the
county's Planning
Department showing about
19,000 residential
building lots presently
approved or anticipated
for future development.
The OREd report notes a
recent surge in
charter-school enrollment
here – from 1,669 in
2019-20 to 3,516 in last
fall's state report. A big
part of that increase
resulted from the 2022
opening of American
Leadership Academy
Johnston, which plans to
add a 12th grade in
2024-25 at its campus
between Smithfield and
Clayton, the consultants
noted. (Johnston's other
charter schools are Neuse
Charter at Smithfield and
Johnston Charter Academy
at Clayton.)
Regarding the need for new
traditional public schools
beyond what's already
planned and funded, the
consultants recommended
construction of two more
elementary schools – one
on the west side of
Clayton, the other in
northeastern Johnston –
plus an immediate
expansion of Cleveland
High School.
Those needs and others are
presently being considered
by a committee made up of
school-board members and
county commissioners
working to add a
school-bond referendum to
Johnston's ballots in
November's General
Election.
SSS girls are winners at state
high-school swim meet
Four
members of the
Smithfield-Selma High
School girls swimming team
brought home medals from
the North Carolina High
School Athletic
Association's 3-A state
championships held last
Thursday at the Triangle
Aquatic Center in Cary.
Anya Muminovic (pictured
above) won first
place in the 100-meter
breast stroke.
The Spartans' 400-meter
freestyle relay team of Payton
Millard, Teagan
Farrell, Francesca
DiGiovanni, and Miss
Muminovic finished
in third place.
Miss DiGiovanni finished
fourth in the 200-meter
freestyle race.
The SSS team finished
fourth overall with 167
points behind Lake Norman
Charter School with 300
points, Orange High with
187, and Carrboro High
with 174. Central Cabarrus
High finished fifth with
163 points.
The team is coached by
Aaron Bentley.
SMITHFIELD-SELMA HIGH SCHOOL
releases Principal's
List and Honor Roll
for the
second nine weeks of the
2023-24 academic
year>
WHAT'S COMING UP
SSS Drama Club presents "Clue" this Friday
& Saturday
The SSS
Drama Club and Theater
Arts program will
present the play "Clue," based on
the popular Parker
Brothers board game, at
6 p.m. this Friday and
Saturday in the
auditorium at
Smithfield-Selma High
School. Admission is
$10, and tickets can be
purchased at https://sss.seatyourself.biz>
Public meeting on fire-service
changes at SSS
Saturday
The
County of Johnston is
about to consolidate its
26 rural fire districts
into a single countywide
district with one
property-tax rate as part
of a plan for more
equitable distribution of
services (that rate will
apply to property owners
outside the county's
municipalities). A public
meeting to explain the
county's new plan is
scheduled for 10 a.m. this
Saturday in the
Smithfield-Selma High
School cafeteria. For more
information, contact the
Johnston County Fire
Marshal's Office at
919-989-5050.
Presidents Day this Monday is mostly
a federal holiday
It's
primarily a federal
banking and postal-service
holiday that isn't
observed by North
Carolina's state and local
governments. Even so, it
is a day off for students
in Johnston County's
public schools, but a
teacher workday.
County
Commissioners scheduled
to meet again Monday
The
Johnston County Board of
Commissioners is scheduled
to meet at 6 p.m. Monday
at the Courthouse
following a two-day
"strategical planning
session" going on today
and Friday at the Clayton
Center.
VIEW the
agenda for Monday's
meeting once it's posted
online>
WATCH
live-streaming of the
planning session
(archived for viewing
anytime)>
Town
Council to hold first
regular third-Tuesday
meeting
The
Smithfield Town Council
will hold the first of its
newly scheduled second
monthly meetings at 6:30
p.m. Tuesday at Town
Hall. Discussions are
planned on the town's
upcoming budget for
2024-25 as well as
post-employee health
benefits, fee in lieu of
sidewalks, and amendments
to the town's Unified
Development Ordinance.
Weekly community Lenten services
start next Wednesday
A
series of noontime Lenten
services hosted by five
Smithfield churches begins
next Wednesday. Here's the
schedule:
• Feb. 21 at Centenary
United Methodist led by
Rev. Kristen Tucker of
First Baptist.
• Feb. 28 at First Baptist
led by Rev. Beth
Burton-Williams of First
Christian.
• March 6 at First
Christian led by Rev. Kate
Byrd of St. Paul's
Episcopal.
• March 13 at St. Paul's
Episcopal led by Rev. John
Fawcett of First
Presbyterian.
• March 20 at First
Presbyterian led by Rev.
Meagan Matthews of
Centenary.
Food and fellowship will
be offered following each
of the services.
"Black
History Quiz Bowl" at
the Library next
Thursday
The
Johnston County Heritage
Center is hosting the 6:30
p.m. event, which will
feature teams composed of
community leaders who will
compete by answering
questions about
significant
African-American
personalities and events.
Admission is free of
charge. Refreshments will
be served at the
conclusion of the program,
to be held at the Public
Library in Downtown
Smithfield.
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
Long
gone is this scene of
shanties on a dirt street
in East Smithfield prior
to the arrival of "urban
renewal" in the 1970s.
(Undated photo from a
report in The Smithfield
Herald of June 20, 1986)
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
HUD
projects have
transformed East
Smithfield
The
bulk of the work was done
between 1976 and 1986 when
246 houses were fixed up
and 45 blocks of streets
were paved along with
drainage improvements
including curbs and
gutters plus installation
of street lights. Federal
grants amounting to almost
$5 million from the U.S.
Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD)
paid for that work, The
Smithfield Herald reported
in June 1986.
Since then, what was once
called "urban renewal" and
later re-packaged as the
"Community Development
Block Grant" program has
faded as a federal
priority. And yet, the
Town of Smithfield has
just completed a modest
project with a CDBG grant
of $750,000 that upgraded
10 owner-occupied
dwellings in the
neighborhood south of
Smith-Collins Park. Eight
of those houses were
"rehabilitated"; the other
two are new residences
built in place of
dilapidated structures
that were removed.
Urban renewal here got off
to shaky start when the
Smithfield Town Board in
1969 rejected a proposed
plan for fixing up the
Belmont, Sandy Run, and
Woodall Heights
neighborhoods east of the
railroad. (Meanwhile, the
Town of Selma was moving
ahead with its HUD-funded
project that dramatically
transformed that
community's slums into
decent places to live.)
By the time Smithfield
approached the celebration
of its 200th birthday in
1977, Town Government had
seen the light and secured
federal funding to move
forward with a
slum-clearance effort of
its own.
A ride through those East
Smithfield neighborhoods
today shows conditions far
different from what's
shown in that "shantytown"
photo. And the
transformation has gone
beyond what CDBG grants
have produced. Recently a
number of new houses have
been constructed in
neighborhoods on the east
side of the tracks, with
more to come as new
foundations are popping up
here and there.
Thank goodness we've seen
such progress.
Here's a windshield
view of one of the new
houses recently built
with the town's latest
CDBG grant. It's next
door to Evans Chapel AME
Church on Second Avenue.
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