Only local-government races are
for school-board
seats
After
a delay caused by a
controversy over the
removal of a third-party
candidate, North
Carolina's reprinted
ballots are finally going
out to voters requesting
absentee ballots to be
returned by General
Election Day November 5.
Johnston County's
Supervisor of Elections
Leigh Anne Price said the
reprinting of ballots cost
the county about $40,000.
While absentee ballots are
now being mailed, early
voting doesn't begin until
October 17. That will
continue at nine locations
throughout the county
through November 2 and
includes an opportunity
for unregistered voters to
sign up and cast ballots
under a so-called "one
stop" scenario.
MORE DETAILS
on the Johnston County
Board of Elections
website>
The only local-government
contests on Johnston
County ballots are four
separate two-candidate
races for seats on the the
county's Board of
Education. Under a new
plan that requires board
members to reside in
separate districts, three
incumbents are facing
challengers; the fourth
race is between candidates
residing in a western
Johnston district that
presently lacks
representation on the
board:
Board Chair Lyn Andrews is
being opposed by Rick
Walker, Kay Carroll by
Jason Shuler, and Ronald
Johnson by Jeff Sullivan.
Competing for the open
seat are April Lee and
David Spain. School-board
candidates run without
political party labels.
Beyond that are contested
races for Johnston County
seats in the N.C. General
Assembly (some of those
shared with districts that
include parts of
neighboring counties) plus
a single race involving
non-incumbents for the
13th Congressional
District seat in the U.S.
House of Representatives.
Unopposed on this
fall's ballots are
candidates for four seats
on the Johnston County
Board of Commissioners
(three of them current
board members) and
candidates for eight
District Court judgeships
(most of them incumbents).
There's also an unopposed
candidate for a seat on
the board of the Johnston
Soil and Water
Conservation District.
The rest of the ballot is
filled with contested
statewide races for N.C.
administrative and
judicial offices including
Governor, Lieutenant
Governor, Council of State
positions, seats on the
N.C. Supreme Court and
N.C. Court of Appeals as
well as the Presidential
election.
At the end of the ballot
are two referendums on
county bond issues –
$120 million for Johnston
County Public Schools
(JCPS), $30 million for
Johnston Community College
– and a proposed amendment
to the N.C. Constitution
that would reinforce
existing state law that
voters in North Carolina
must be U.S. citizens.
HERE'S THE
COMPLETE BALLOT FOR
SMITHFIELD-AREA
VOTERS>
Candidates
make pleas to Johnston's
school board
Two
of the candidates seeking
election to the Johnston
County Board of Education
addressed the current
board on a couple of
specific matters during
the Public Comment segment
of its monthly meeting on
September 10.
RICK WALKER
berated board members for
cutting the pre-K
intervention program 
for
exceptional children in
the current year's budget.
Praising the program's
success in helping his
autistic son in years gone
by, he said "It breaks our
hearts" that "an untold
number of children in need
of this program will no
longer have that same
opportunity."
"The reason given" for the
cutback, he continued, "is
lack of funds. I find this
highly irresponsible and
plain not true. Within the
last year, a pre-K
curriculum was purchased
for nearly $200,000, which
makes no sense,
considering the timing."
Furthermore, he noted, "48
out of the top 100 paid
employees within JCPS are
in Central Services
receiving a total of $5.4
million per year" –
evidence of what he termed
"a top-heavy structure" in
Johnston's public schools,
"littered with bureaucrats
and failed
administrators."
"My prayer," he concluded,
"is that the pre-K program
will be fully reinstated
and the students and
teachers of Johnston
County will be put in a
position to achieve all
they are capable of."
APRIL LEE
has frequently stood
before Johnston's school
board in recent years as
an 
advocate
for her fellow school
teachers. This month she
addressed "students'
freedom to read" in light
of "some criticism" about
books in school libraries.
"Our students should be
able to see themselves
represented in our book
collections," she
declared. "Book bans
target books written about
race and gender and
sexuality. They target
books written by black and
LGBTQ authors."
"We can agree that every
book doesn't belong at
every level, but we need
to acknowledge that a
majority of Americans
oppose book banning –
about 62%," she noted.
"Parents have always had
the option to limit or
restrict what their own
child reads," she said,
"but parents do not have
the right to limit what
others can read."
"Members of the board,
please don't succumb to
the pressure of a few
people," she concluded.
"Stand up to those who
would want to limit the
choices of our families
and their students in our
libraries."
Four
candidates take part in
local church's public
forum
Of
the eight school-board
candidates, four of them
showed up for a public
forum hosted last week by
The Bridge, a
non-denominational church
near Smithfield-Selma High
School. Participants (left
to right in screenshot
above) were Kay
Carroll, Lyn Andrews,
April Lee, and Jeff
Sullivan. Their opponents
were absent.
During the hour-and-a-half
question-and-answer
session, all four
emphasized the need for
higher pay for teachers
and support staff along
with stepped-up "workforce
development" alternatives
for students who don't
move on to four-year
colleges. The candidates
also addressed concerns
about in-school discipline
and bullying and sounded
alarms about vaping and
cell-phone usage among
students.
You may
watch the entire forum
archived on YouTube>
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Lumos
Fiber moving into
Smithfield's Internet
market
Fiber-optic cables
were being laid this
week along Bridge Street
above the Town Commons
by Lumos Fiber, a
newcomer to the town's
high-speed Internet
market. Representatives
of the company appeared
before the Town Council
last week to announce
procedures for alerting
residents in advance
about the laying of
cables in front-yard
spaces within the town's
rights-of-way. Care will
be taken to replace
disturbed landscaping
and protect trees, the
representatives said.
They noted that
Smithfield is the first
town in Johnston County
to issue permits for the
laying of cable by
Lumos, which has a base
of operations in High
Point.
Retail
sales were up 7.4% in
year's 2nd quarter
The
N.C. Department of
Revenue, in its latest
report, shows Johnston
County retail sales added
up to $845,121,739 during
April, May, and June – an
increase of 7.4% from
sales of $786,841,464
during the second quarter
of 2023, which was a 1.3%
reduction in
sales from the same
three-month period in
2022.
2.4
acres for sale at 1558
W. Market St.
in West Smithfield
Located
across from Rose Manor
Shopping Center close to
intersection with
M.Durwood Stephenson
Parkway. Just west
of Downtown Smithfield.
Zoned commercial by the
Town of
Smithfield. $498,000 MLS#
10021671 (Photo
by
ShowSpaces Photography)
SUSAN LASSITER Fonville
Morisey Realty
919-669-9235
JCC
granted $150,000 to
expand job-training
efforts
Johnston
Community College has been
awarded a $150,000
planning grant by the U.S.
Department of Energy’s
Office of Manufacturing
and Energy Supply Chains.
"This grant will allow JCC
to expand its job training
programs in HVAC and
advanced manufacturing,
including welding and
machining, while
strengthening ties with
local employers and
manufacturers in the
region," the college
stated in its
announcement. "The
initiative will also
utilize existing
dual-enrollment programs
and recruitment
partnerships with NCWorks
to engage students who
face barriers to
employment." MORE DETAILS
on the JCC website>
Partnership
for Children awarded
$50,000 grant
It's
from Positive Childhood
Alliance North Carolina,
which awarded funding in
collaboration with the N.C.
Division of Social Services
to help 38 family-serving
organizations start new
programs or expand existing
services through next June
30. The
Partnership for Children
of Johnston County
said it will use its grant
to enhance its Circle
of Parents program
and provide resources like
diapers to families in need.
WHAT'S COMING
UP
Neuse Little Theatre's Wizard of
Oz
at JCC auditorium this
weekend only
The
NLT's production of this
movie and stage classic
will be presented in
Johnston Community
College's Paul A. Johnston
Auditorium this Friday and
Saturday at 8 p.m.and
Sunday at 3 p.m. It's the
first show of NLT's 50th
season. For
more information,
including online ticket
purchases, visit the
NLT website>
Sessions
on new school-attendance
districts next week
Johnston
County Public Schools will
host two student-assignment information sessions for the public next week: 6-8 p.m. Monday at Wilson's Mills Elementary School, 6-8 p.m.Tuesday at Swift Creek Middle School. Proposed revisions in attendance districts for Johnston's schools are posted on the JCPS website>
Town
Council takes up revised
development rules
Tuesday
The
regular
first-Tuesday-of-the-month
meeting convenes at 7 p.m.
at Town Hall. On the agenda is a Planning Department recommendation to re-codify the town's rules for driveways, parking lots, landscaping, outdoor lighting, sidewalks, and other items related to new developments. VIEW the complete agenda>
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
We
get a fast new way to
bypass Raleigh's traffic
Fast.
But costly. And I'm not
just talking about the
billion-dollar price tag
of the entire Triangle
Expressway looping around
the southern outskirts of
Raleigh. I'm talking about
the $12 toll to drive the
whole way – from Durham
County to a spaghetti-like
interchange with I-40 and
US 70 near the Johnston
County line that opened to
travelers this week.
Charlotte got its
completed "outer loop"
built without tolls for
its financing. Why was
Raleigh cheated out of
that deal?
What's more, the northern
half of Raleigh's 540
beltway – which serves the
city's more affluent
residential suburbs – was
built years ago without
tolls. Why did the "poor
man's side of town" get
taxed with tolls?
I recall the state's
leaders saying tolls were
the only means of getting
the Triangle Expressway
built just now. But how do
they explain the many
other major highway
improvements recently done
across North Carolina
without tolls?
The new 295 loop around
Fayetteville through Fort
Bragg comes to mind. And
then there's that lengthy
high-speed US 70 bypass
around Goldsboro.
Meanwhile, one more
segment of the 540
Triangle Expressway isn't
finished: 10 miles between
the I-40/US 70 interchange
and US 64/264 at
Knightdale (shown in
green on the map below).
It's scheduled for
completion in late 2028.
With tolls, of course. (The
orange line on the map
below shows the section
of 540 that was opened
to traffic on Wednesday
of this week.)
MORE DETAILS
including toll
information on the N.C.
Turnpike Authority
website>
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A PREVIOUS EDITION?
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it in the Weekly
Sun archives>
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