NO
SURPRISES IN
TUESDAY'S ELECTION
Three
school-board
incumbents are
re-elected; bond
issues for schools and
college win approval
All three
incumbents seeking
re-election to the
Johnston County Board of
Education – Lyn Andrews,
Kay Carroll, and Ronald
Johnson – survived
challenges in Tuesday's
election.
They'll be sworn in next
month alongside a new
board member, April Lee (right),
who won the seat being
vacated by Mike Wooten,
who chose not to seek
re-election.
The four will join
Michelle Antoine, Kevin
Donovan, and Terry
Tippett, who are at the
halfway point of their
four-year terms.
| HOW
JOHNSTON VOTED IN
KEY RACES |
| For President |
Donald Trump
Kamala Harris |
74,490
47,728 |
| For Governor |
Mark Robinson
Josh Stein |
57,475
57,182 |
For N.C. Senator
District 10 |
Benton Sawrey
Felicia Baxter |
70,427
44,999 |
For N.C. Representative
District 28 |
Larry Strickland
Tawanda Shepard |
28,763
12,947 |
For Board of Education
District 3
For Board of
Education
District 4
For Board of
Education
District 6
For Board of
Education
District 7 |
Kay Carroll
Jason Shuler
April Lee
David Spain
Lyn Andrews
Rick Walker
Ronald Johnson
Jeff Sullivan |
55,138
45,999
54,855
47,348
53,101
44,431
50,126
48,668 |
VIEW
all election
results, with the
latest updates,
posted by the
Johnston County
Board of
Elections> |
Ms.
Andrews, elected as the
board's chair two years
ago, will begin her second
four-year term next month.
Mr. Carroll, who
previously served from
1992 to 2008, will enter
his sixth term.
Bond
issues OK'd
Johnston
voters approved two county
bond issues:
• $120 million for
classroom additions and
renovations at several
campuses of Johnston
County Public Schools –
approved by a vote of
63,783 to 48,610.
• $30 million for Johnston
Community College,
primarily for upgrades to
Public Safety training
facilities on the
Smithfield campus –
approved by a vote of
61,078 to 51,492.
Incumbent
state legislators
re-elected
Benton
Sawrey will return for a
second two-year term in
the N.C. Senate
representing District 10,
which encompasses all of
Johnston County. Larry
Strickland will return for
a fifth two-year term in
the N.C. House of
Representatives serving
District 28, which
includes Smithfield and
vicinity. Both are
Republicans.
Republican Brad Knott of
Raleigh won election to a
seat in the U.S. House of
Representatives. He'll
replace Democrat Wiley
Nickel of Cary, who chose
not to seek re-election
after the General Assembly
redrew boundaries for
District 13 to remove a
large portion of Wake
County and link Johnston
with all or parts of seven
other counties.
Johnston's voters sided
with the rest of the state
and nation in electing
Republican Donald Trump
President but went
(barely) with Republican
Mark Robinson over
Democrat Josh Stein, who
won the race for Governor.
Johnston this year has in
excess of 164,300
registered voters – more
than 20,600 above the
number registered in 2020.
As a result, more than
123,800 cast ballots for
President here this time –
up from about 110,800 four
years ago.
A number of local
candidates had no
opposition on Tuesday's
ballot and will thereby
take office next month.
That includes four
candidates for county
commissioner, eight for
District Court judge, and
one for Soil and Water
Conservation supervisor.
They're listed in a story
published in last
week's edition of the
Sun>
October's rainfall: from one extreme
to the other!
Cornell
Cox reports that rainfall
measured at his Backyard
Weather Station in South
Smithfield amounted to a
measly 0.28 of an inch in
October. That comes on top
of 11.29 inches during
September, which put us
comfortably beyond our
normal total for a full
year. Through October, we've
had 52.43 inches. Normal
annual rainfall for
Smithfield is 47.75 inches
(according to U.S.
Climate Data).
And yet, the U.S. Drought
Monitor operated by NASA
presently classifies the
eastern half of North
Carolina as "Abnormally
Dry," the lowest of five
classifications that range
up to "Exceptional Drought."
October's scarcity of
rainfall in the region
apparently took us there.
MAKING QUICK WORK OUT OF A BIG
AUTUMNAL CHORE
The
Town of Smithfield's
vacuum truck sucks up
leaves much of the time
without even stopping as
it moves up and down the
town's residential streets
this time of year.
November has long been our
colorful leaf season more
so than October.
County
OKs six-month funding
for DA positions
District
Attorney Susan Boyle
appeared before the
Johnston County Board of
Commissioners Monday to
request a county
appropriation of $85,927
to retain two members of
her staff for six months
when state funding for
their "temporary"
employment expires
December 31.
She stressed the
importance of keeping her
office fully staffed to
serve the public in a
timely manner, and added
that the Johnston DA's
office is three positions
short of what it needs to
keep pace an increasing
workload in a fast-growing
county.
Commissioners unanimously
approved her request,
which provides money to
retain an assistant
district attorney and a
legal assistant through
next June 30 (the end of
the current fiscal year).
But they expressed dismay
that the state is not
meeting its obligation to
fund its judicial
services.
The two temporary
positions, Ms. Doyle
explained, were funded by
the state when its new
"eCourts" system to
replace paper with digital
documentation was put in
place here in February
2023. That system has
proven to be burdensome
rather than labor-saving
for her office, she said.
Commissioner Bill Stovall
asked if continued funding
for the two positions here
had been sought during the
past year's "short
session" of the N.C.
General Assembly. Ms.
Doyle said that request
was made but no action was
taken on it.
She said Johnston is among
several of the state's
more populous counties
struggling with staffing
issues associated with
eCourts.
NOW THAT'S A REALLY BIG TRUCK!
Among
the huge pieces of
equipment brought out for
the Junior Women's League
Touch-A-Truck event in
Downtown Smithfield last
Saturday was this
"monster" from the County
of Johnston's Solid Waste
Department. It was the 9th
edition of the club's
annual fund-raising (and
fun-raising) treat for
youngsters (and us
oldsters, too).
(Photo from County of
Johnston Facebook page)
WHAT'S COMING
UP
Schools' annual Veterans Day program
at SSS Monday
Johnston
County Public Schools will
again host the countywide
Veterans Day celebration
in the Smithfield-Selma
High School gymnasium at
11 a.m. Monday, which is
national Veterans Day. The
event will be led by the
county's JROTC cadets with
performances by the
All-County Chorus and
All-County Band. Following
the celebration, all
veterans are invited to
the SSS cafeteria for a
Thanksgiving-style meal
from noon to 2 p.m. The event
will be
live-streamed>
N.C. documentary on veterans at JCC
auditorium Tuesday
Entitled
"The Veteran's Battlefield,"
the video focuses on
challenges facing the
state's veterans upon their
return from combat duty.
Presented by the N.C.
Association of County
Commissioners, the screening
begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday in
the auditorium at Johnston
Community College. Following
the screening, the county's
Veterans Services office
will host a panel discussion
featuring local officials
and VA leaders. Admission is
free of charge.
Another free concert at town's
amphitheater this
Friday
The
season's final "Fall
Fridays on Front" concert
series wraps up with a
performance by a rock 'n'
roll band named One80
starting at 6:30 p.m.
Friday at the Neuse River
Amphitheater on Front
Street. Hosted by the
Smithfield Parks &
Recreation Department,
admission is free of
charge.
Town
Council's postponed
meeting scheduled next
week
Postponed
from this week' s normal
meeting time because of
Election Day, the
Smithfield Town Council
will meet at 7 p.m. this
coming Tuesday at Town
Hall. Included on the
agenda are the annual
report from the Smithfield
Appearance Commission and
a contract for preliminary
work on a "multi-purpose
path" along US 70 Business
from the Neuse River
Bridge to Wilson's Mills
Road.
VIEW the
complete agenda posted
on the town's
website>
Johnston's
Board of Education to
meet Tuesday evening
It's
the regular
second-Tuesday-of-the-month
session, starting at 4
p.m. usually with a closed
session followed by the
open business session.
It's held in the school
system's headquarters on
US 70 Business east of
Smithfield. The agenda is
usually not posted till
Friday afternoon prior to
the meeting. VIEW it here
once that's done>
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
Votes
of confidence in our
schools' administration
It's
quite remarkable that
Johnston County's voters
re-elected two long-time
public-school advocates
and added a local leader
of public-school teachers
to the county's Board of
Education by comfortable
margins – even as that
same electorate gave a
hefty endorsement to a
candidate for N.C.
Superintendent of Public
Instruction who's on
record calling our schools
satanic "indoctrination
centers." At one time
Michelle Morrow suggested
public executions of
Barack Obama and Joe
Biden!
Fortunately, she lost her
statewide race against
former Guilford County
Superintendent of Schools
Mo Green, who is surely
more appropriately
prepared to lead the
state's public-school
system.
Those reassuring votes in
favor of school-board
incumbents Lyn Andrews and
Kay Carroll and newcomer
April Lee (former
president of Johnston's
Association of Educators)
should be seen as the
public's stamp of approval
on the administration of
Superintendent Eric Bracy,
who has brought a renewed
culture of academic
achievement to Johnston's
schools since he began
work here four years ago.
Ronald Johnson, a third
incumbent seeking
re-election this year, has
teamed up with fellow
board member Michelle
Antoine in registering
opposition to several
recommendations coming
from the Bracy
administration over the
past couple of years. Mr.
Johnson did win
re-election, but his
margin of victory was
1,458 votes while the
other three won their
races by 7,507, 8,670, and
9,139 votes.
That's all the more
remarkable when you
consider the fact that Mr.
Johnson was the leading
vote-winner among
school-board candidates
four years ago.
Meanwhile, he's still
facing a day in court on
criminal charges of
extortion and felony
obstruction of justice for
which he was indicted by a
Johnston County Grand Jury
in April 2023. (That
followed his firing from
the Smithfield Police
Department in 2022 for
"detrimental personal
conduct.")
For the sake of Johnston's
voters, Mr. Johnson's
criminal case should have
been wrapped up one way or
another long before this
week's election. If he's
tried and convicted now,
he'll be immediately
removed from office as was
recently done with a
county commissioner found
guilty of a felony.
Stunning
views of the new Swift
Creek Elementary School
I
just love aerial photos
taken by drones. The shots
below were posted on the
Johnston County Public
School Facebook page this
week. The top view is
looking toward the front
of the school facing
Cleveland Road. The bottom
view shows the rear along
with historic Elizabeth
Church and new residential
development across the
highway. Swift Creek
Elementary is on schedule
to be ready for the
2025-26 school year.
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