A resurrection for church's Holy Week
re-enactment
Roman
soldiers deliver Jesus,
after his arrest on the
steps of Centenary United
Methodist Church, into the
Johnston County Courthouse
for a trial before the
Sanhedrin, a body of
Israel's religious
authorities. It's the
mid-point in the church's
Holy Week re-enactment – a
1985 creation assembled by
the late Richard Williams,
the church's long-time
diaconal minister – which
hasn't been staged in
recent years. The
production came back to
life last weekend, on Palm
Sunday afternoon.
VIEW pictures
of the full story on the FEATURE
PAGE>
A
community Easter
Sunrise Service
will be conducted at 6:45
a.m. Sunday in
Smithfield's Riverside
Cemetery behind St. Paul's
Episcopal Church – led by
the Rev. Steve McElroy of
Centenary United
Methodist.
Smithfield's Hospice House includes (from
left) nurse Elizabeth
Cherry, financial
representative Elizabeth
Cook, social worker
Hiede Erickson, clinical
manager Kyle Mobley, and
nurse Elisa Pendergrass,
one of the facility's
initial employees.
HOSPICE HOUSE gains community's
acceptance
UNC
Health's Hospice House
here has been in service
for more than decade.
Built on the site of
Smithfield's Bingham Park
beside Hospital Road, the
18-bed alternative to
hospitalization for
terminal illness has seen
the number of patients
served rising from 149
during its first full year
of operation in 2011 to
318 in 2023. (Photo
from Facebook)
Its community impact is
reflected in obituaries
linked in the Weekly
Sun. More and more
families – throughout
Johnston County, not just
Smithfield – are showing
appreciation of the
compassionate care for
their dying loved ones by
directing memorial
donations to the SECU
Hospice House.
That name, by the way,
resulted from a sizeable
donation from the State
Employees' Credit Union
during a capital campaign
underwriting Hospice
House's construction.
"The community has always
embraced our facility,"
said Kyle Mobley, a
registered nurse who also
serves as the clinical
manager. He has eight
years of experience in
hospice care, the past
four at the Smithfield
unit.
"It's an interdisciplinary
team approach to care," he
noted, with 40 full-time
and part-time employees
including social workers
and chaplains as well as
nurses, plus 30 community
volunteers. He singled out
military veterans,
especially, for rallying
to the besides of fellow
veterans, bringing them
American flags and banners
of the various branches of
the U.S. military.
Physicians are referring
patients to the services
of Hospice House, but
"sometimes families will
call us directly" to
request accommodations,
Mr. Mobley explained.
Insurance, especially
Medicare, covers the cost
of care in many cases
although "charity care"
funded by donations
through the Johnston
Health Foundation is
offered to uninsured
patients, he noted.
Not every patient admitted
to Hospice House stays
till death arrives.
Sometimes they rally and
are able to return home.
"We call that graduating,"
Mr. Mobley said.
Financial donations have
enabled staff to add extra
touches of care both
inside and outside the
building. That includes a
memorial gazebo and a
recently completed
concrete walkway (shown
below).
It all adds up to a
welcome place of
tranquility for a family's
trying time.
State
funds Johnston County's
first Public Defender
Story
& photo from N.C.
Administrative Office of
the Courts
Senior
Resident Superior Court
Judge Thomas H. Lock has
appointed A. Traynham Dorn
as the first Public
Defender for Johnston
County. Her work
experience includes over
20 years in private
practice where she
represented criminal
defendants in district and
superior courts. Her
experience includes a
community-focused approach
through working with
indigent clients and
serving as a Guardian ad
Litem.
Public defenders provide
legal representation at
state expense for persons
who cannot afford to hire
private counsel but are
entitled to counsel under
constitutional or
statutory authority. The
cases can range from
criminal charges to civil
commitment as well as
juvenile proceedings or
loss of parental rights.
"This was a badly needed
position in our state
budget and I am grateful
to Senator Benton Sawrey
for his efforts, and to
Representatives Larry
Strickland and Donna White
for their support on the
House side," said Judge
Lock. "I am also grateful
to Chief Justice Paul
Newby for his support of
the constitutional right
to effective assistance of
counsel for all criminal
defendants."
Ms. Dorn holds a Bachelor
of Arts degree from Queens
College in Charlotte and a
Juris Doctor degree from
New England School of Law
in Boston, Mass. Her
appointment as Public
Defender for District 13
takes effect July 1.
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JCC
awarded $500,000 to
start Respiratory
Therapy
As part of
$10 million appropriated
by last year's N.C.
General Assembly for new
programs in high-demand
health-care fields, the
state has awarded $500,000
to Johnston Community
College to support
creation of a Respiratory
Therapy Program.
According to JCC, it's the
largest amount awarded
from that fund to a North
Carolina community college
this year.
"Our job openings for
respiratory therapists are
some of the hardest to
fill," said UNC Health
Johnston’s CEO Tommy
Williams. "Establishing a
program here in our county
is a great way to grow our
own workforce... and we
look forward to offering
clinical sites for
education and training at
our hospital."
Added JCC's President Vern
Lindquist: "We are
grateful for a state board
and legislators who
understand that many of
these programs are
expensive to start up or
expand; but if we can get
them going, the return on
investment is enormous."
Johnston's Literary &
Historical Journal:
a 2nd edition
The
Johnston County Heritage
Center has published a
second edition of a Johnston
County Literary and
Historical Journal.
It includes contributions by
22 writers.
“These poems, short stories,
and essays are entertaining,
inspiring, informative,
heart-warming, and
thought-provoking,” said
Heritage Center director and
co-editor Todd Johnson.
“There is even a recipe for
mouth-watering sweet-potato
biscuits.” Dorothy LaMotta
of the Cleveland community
is co-editor and a
contributing author.
Funded in part by the
Cynthia DeFord Adams
Literary Fund, the new
edition is dedicated to
Shelby Stephenson, a member
of the N.C. Literary Hall of
Fame and former N.C. Poet
Laureate (one of his poems
is included in the book).
It's on sale for $30 at the
Johnston County Museum,
located in the former Roses
building at 329 E. Market
Street in Downtown
Smithfield.
Contributing authors of the second edition
include (left to right)
Jericho Avery, Cynthia
Gary, Tyler Stocks,
Sherwood Williford, Rose
Cushing, Barbara
Crowley, Alex Steinmann,
Dorothy LaMotta, Alison
Hendrix, Wanda
Robinson-Lee, KeAnne
Hoeg, Char Vinar, Hope
Dougherty, Evelyn Wool,
Joe Austin, and Shelby
Stephenson. Not pictured
are Teresa McLamb
Blackmon, Cindy
Brookshire, T. C.
Carter, Kevin Dublin,
Barbara Baker Elliott,
and Michael Markoff.
Realtor Susan Lassiter has
what it takes to
sell Smithfield.
"With
my knowledge about the
community and my
experience in real
estate, I know this is a
good time to sell your
property. Call me to
discuss your listing
plans."
•
Licensed real estate agent
since 1992
• Real estate broker since
2001
• Served on the Smithfield
Town Council for 8 years
• Past president,
Smithfield-Selma Area
Chamber of Commerce
• Past president, Downtown
Smithfield Development Corp.
• Past president, Rotary
Club of Smithfield
SUSAN
LASSITER, Broker,
Fonville Morisey
Realty 919-669-9235
WHAT'S COMING UP
Vietnam War Veterans Day observance
this Friday
The
NSDAR Smith-Bryan Chapter
is hosting a Community
Wreath Laying Ceremony at
the Courthouse at 3 p.m.
Friday, which is national
Vietnam War Veterans Day.
A reception for veterans
will follow at American
Legion Post 132 off North
Bright Leaf Boulevard at
100 PItchi Street.
Easter Egg Hunt at Smith-Collins Park
on Saturday
The
town's Smith-Collins Park
will be the scene of an
Easter Egg Hunt from 10
a.m. till 2 p.m. Saturday
(the hunt begins at 11).
Sponsors of the event are
the Law Office of Antoan
Whidbee, Town Councilman
Marlon Lee, and the Town
of Smithfield.
International Transgender observance
this Sunday
A
local commemoration of
International Transgender
Day of Visibility will be
held outside the
Courthouse on Sunday,
beginning at 4 p.m. with
speakers from the LGBTQ+
Center of Raleigh, Hope
For Teens, and the
Johnston County Chapter of
the NAACP. A march around
Downtown's Courthouse
block will follow.
County
Commissioners scheduled
to meet Monday
Monday
may be "April Fool's Day"
but the Johnston County
Board of Commissioners is
scheduled to meet
nonetheless – at 10 a.m.
and again at 6 p.m. at the
Courthouse. (Monday after
Easter is no longer a
holiday for N.C.'s state
and local governments.) VIEW agendas
for both sessions once
they're posted
online>
Town
Council to face
subdivision decisions
Tuesday
The
Smithfield Town Council is
scheduled to continue
deliberations about a
couple of proposed
residential subdivisions
when it meets at 7 p.m.
Tuesday at Town Hall. A
controversial project for
222 single-family houses
off Buffalo Road adjacent
to the Bradford Park
subdivision is on the
agenda, but the applicant
is asking that it be
tabled again until the May
7 council session. A
proposed seven-lot
subdivision next to West
Smithfield Elementary
School is scheduled for
consideration following a
decision on a
staff-recommended change
in the town's
Comprehensive Growth
Management Plan to clear
the way for its approval.
Also, the council will be
asked to approve the
town's purchase of a house
and lot on Front Street
above the Neuse River
Amphitheater.
VIEW the
entire agenda for next
week's meeting of the
Smithfield Town
Council>
301 North near Four Oaks to be closed
for pipe work
A section of U.S. 301
between Four Oaks and
Smithfield near Forest
Hills Drive will be
closed to through
traffic for about
seven weeks, starting
next Tuesday (April
2), to allow a crew to
replace a drainage
pipe. A detour will
send drivers onto Keen
and Boyette roads past
Four Oaks Middle
School.
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
School
stuff the N.C.
Legislature needs to fix
– now!
Here's
a short to-do list for
this spring's "short
session" of the N.C.
General Assembly to fix
some state rules that are
dragging down our public
schools:
• Raise teacher
salaries. The
bipartisan N.C. House
Committee on Education
Reform this week issued a
report that urges
lawmakers to
"further assess compensation
for teachers" and "find ways
to attract and retain
teachers in hard-to-staff
positions.”
The current state budget
adopted last year that
funds an average teacher
raise of 7% over
two years even
though it did raise pay
for beginning teachers by
a larger percentage and
created a state-funded
supplement for teachers in
smaller or lower-wealth
counties. "However, the
committee finds that even
with these significant
investments, teacher
compensation has still not
kept up with the rising
cost of living, the
increasing employment
opportunities for female,
college-educated
professionals, or the pay
for other public-sector
employees.”
• Allow calendar
flexibility.
Practically every school
system in North Carolina
wants to start school
earlier than late August,
but coastal tourism
interests continue to
prevent the Legislature's
majority from changing the
rule that schools must
open on the Monday closest
to August 26. Exhibit No.
1 is Johnston County's
school calendar for
2024-25 which shortens the
first semester by two
weeks simply to get
mid-year exams done before
the Christmas holidays.
That shortchanging of
learning would be fixed if
schools could start in
mid-August – in line with
the fall semester at
Johnston Community College
which, by the way, hosts
co-operative high-school
programs.
• Grade
schools more accurately.
Again, we turn to this
week's House committee
report, which declares "that
the state’s current A-F
school performance grades do
not provide a balanced
assessment of a school and
do not effectively
communicate school quality."
Instead, "the committee
recommends modifying the
formula to create a system
where schools would get a
single grade based on an
average of four factors:
proficiency on exams, growth
on exams, school readiness,
and school
climate/opportunity.
Readiness would look at how
well schools are preparing
students for post-secondary
opportunities such as going
to college, the military, or
the workforce. Opportunity
would include how many
students are taking part in
intra-curricular and
extracurricular activities,
school safety ratings from
the N.C. Teacher Working
Conditions Survey, and the
level of student chronic
absenteeism."
The Legislature's "short
session" begins April 24.
Our teachers and students
will be awaiting the results
with fingers crossed.
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