ARCHIVES of 2021 editions

December 30, 2021
This week's headlines:
• 2021 summed up with one word: COVID
• More folks get tests; vaccinations still lag
• Houses increase in value in Smithfield
• Retail-sales growth in Johnston tops 20%
• The industrial legacy of John Shallcross Sr.

December 22, 2021
This week's headlines:
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
• Gingerbread House Festival at the Library
• Christmas cantata at Centenary Church
$100 gift cards offered for first vaccinations
Public Library offers automatic renewals
"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!"

December 16, 2021
This week's headlines:
• School salaries raised for teachers and all
• Schools' mask mandate extended another month
• 15 local physicians among N.C. "Top Doctors"
• A pair of Santas visit the entire town
• Christmas Lights Contest winners
• Editorial comment on poorly lighted parade

December 9, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Two more West Smithfield subdivisions OK'd
• March 8 elections postponed till May 17
• Butch Lawter chairs County Commissioners
• Johnston reaches 50% vaccination rate
 • Nearly 100,000 Johnstonians employed
• Students get an extra New Year's holiday

December 2, 2021
This week's headlines:
• New state budget boosts Smithfield projects:
CSX culvert issue may be resolved
• A new COVID-19 variant looming
• Duke Endowment boosts telehealth effort
• Just 1.05 inches of rainfall in November

November 25, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Two families honored on Farm-City Week
• Coronavirus numbers update
• Energy assistance for needy households
• Smithfield's Christmas events schedule
• Courthouse approaching 100th birthday

November 18, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Dickie Braswell new county commissioner
• How legislative redistricting affects Johnston
• No rush to get children vaccinated here
• Schools' audit confirms improved finances
• Town pays tribute to long-serving pastor
• SSS ends season with most wins since '95
• Wow! An "explosion" of fall color here

November 11, 2021
This week's headlines:
• School employees offered $2,500 bonus
• At last: Smithfield's street re-pavings
• Smithfield's voting districts unchanged
• Melissa Overton is Athena Award winner
• School board votes 4-3 to keep mask rule
• SSS defeats South Johnston, 54-14
• Neuse Charter volleyball girls finish 2nd

November 4, 2021
This week's headlines:
• 20,000 children eligible for COVID shots
• Unemployment rate down to 3.3%
• Hospital gets high marks for stroke treatment
 • Breakthrough project for industrial recruiting
• SSS gets season's 7th win in football

October 28, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Chairman Stewart resigning to take ABC job
• First Baptist calls first female senior pastor
• Weekly COVID cases down sharply
• Schools to get extra November holidays
• SSS wins again, raises record to 6-3
• Johnston County's "Mount Trashmore"

October 21, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Building permits soar; more inspectors OK'd
• Fewer COVID hospitalizations free up beds
• Hospitals rate high for heart-attack treatments
• DSDC director an N.C. "trailblazer"
• SSS football team and band are winners
• Story of Sawreys' long-standing family business

October 14, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Teacher supplements raised as vacancies mount
• School masks retained; "Test to Stay" plan added
• COVID hospitalizations still below recent peak
• SSS upends conference foe West Johnston
• A new "pampering" shop for Downtown

October 7, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Commissioners OK "full funding" for schools
after school board adopts anti-CRT policy
• Commissioners split over property's price
• Two more subdivisions for West Smithfield
• Football Spartans crush Fike, 42-14
• Smithfield's new park for drone flying
 
September 30, 2021
This week's headlines:
• A whole lot of building going on:
commercial, institutional, residential
• COVID: another peak passed?
• August jobless rate down to 3.9%
  • Spartans lose Homecoming game;
for SSS soccer, a winning record

September 23, 2021
This week's headlines:
• School board continues mask mandate
• Incentive pay to lure substitute teachers
• 45% of Johnstonians fully vaccinated
• Hospitals recognized for stroke treatment
• Retail sales jumped 20% in 2nd quarter
 • County OKs funds for Neuse trail study
 End of the line for Holt Lake Bar-B-Q

September 16, 2021
This week's headlines:
• School board endures mask protest
• Schools amend policy to address racism
• COVID update: hospitalizations, deaths
listed by age; a report from the front lines
• Scooter's Coffee Drive-In is open
 
September 9, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Schools' enrollment up 782 from last year
• Test results document COVID's learning loss
• More folks dying; highest number in hospitals
• More development headed to West Smithfield
• Smithfield's new fire chief coming from Wilson

September 2, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Schools' enrollment hits 37,307
• SSS wins big on the gridiron
• 1,075 new COVID cases; 8 more deaths
• Employment up, jobless rate down
• Register of Deeds revenue way up

August 26, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Schools' enrollment trailing last year's
• SSS drops football opener at Princeton
• COVID-19 hospitalizations climbing again
• County to offer $13 million in rent aid
• Memories of growing up in the '40s & '50s

August 19, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Census results are in: Johnston County
up to 215,999; Smithfield at 11,292
• Johnston begins 3rd vaccinations for some
• County awards Public Safety Center contract
• 2nd River Rat Regatta a fun-filled event

August 12, 2021
This week's headlines:
• School board makes face masks mandatory
         • Board extends superintendent's contract
• Coronavirus testing rate above 14%
• Beautification plans for public places
• 301 north of Holt Lake closed for repairs
 
August 5, 2021
This week's headlines:
• School board makes face masks optional
• Coronavirus on the rise here again:
545 new cases, 98 "breakthrough cases"
• Smithfield OKs site for another charter school
• 698 new housing units near Amazon?
• County property-tax intake up $9 million
• Almost 10 inches of rain in July!

July 29, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Johnston Health orders employees vaccinated
• County reports more in hospitals, outbreak in jail
• Employment and jobless rate up in June
• Murals of Johnston County
• Bus Rapid Transit headed to Johnston?

July 22, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Dr. Pearson: "This pandemic is not over"
• County Commissioners get an earful ---
on district elections, bullying, "vaccine snooping"
• Commissioners split on funding DA positions
• New trustees at Community College
• Amazon site may be "Foreign Trade Zone"

July 15, 2021
This week's headlines:
• School issue No. 1: to mask or not to mask
• Policy amendment seeks to placate CRT critics
• Just 37% of Johnstonians are fully vaccinated
• Monique Austin's State Department odyssey
• Chilling rhetoric from a school-board critic

July 8, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Town's council & mayoral election March 8
• Centenary Methodists receive a new pastor
• Triangle East Chamber is losing its leader
•  Back to "normal": 7 inches of rainfall in June
• Michael Jernigan is "Police Officer of the Year"
• Second water main going to West Smithfield

July 1, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Smithfield election postponed till 2022
• Fourth fireworks returning to Smithfield
• South Smithfield gets a new principal
• Woman perishes in Sussex Drive fire
• Drop in Johnstonians employed in May

June 24, 2021
This week's headlines:
• County budget adopted with freeze
on school funding till CRT addressed
•  Juneteenth celebrated in Smithfield
• Governor pleads case for vaccinations
• Heritage Center to use part of old Rose's
• Retail sales show record quarterly gain
• More national awards for Johnston Health
• Editorial comment on school priorities

June 17, 2021
This week's headlines:
• County's school funding unsettled;
Critical Race Theory off the table for now
• Health Department's new vaccination tactic
• Water-main cut interrupts Smithfield service
• KS Bank advances in N.C. ranking
• Editorial comment on yet another state tax cut

June 10, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Summer-school enrollment higher
than expected; parents want masks off
• Critical Race Theory in our schools?
• Tax incentives for flour mill's expansion
• 80% of Johnston's elderly vaccinated
• Editorial comment on speeding epidemic

June 3, 2021
This week's headlines:
 • SSS holds a traditional commencement
• Smithfield's budget for 2021-22 adopted;
new Public Works director confirmed
• New Splash Pad a hit with youngsters
• Johnston's jobless rate down to 3.8%
• Virtual Academy looks like a money-maker
• Editorial comment on "navigating" the Sun

May 27, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Proposed county budget cuts tax rate
with modest increase in school funding
• Smithfield Council in agreement on budget
• Public Library has a new director
• Supply problems at both water plants
• Ava Gardner Museum re-opens
• Editorial comment on new houses here

May 20, 2021
This week's headlines:
• What brought Amazon to Smithfield?
• Chris Johnson on N.C. "Power List"
Coronavirus Report: 25.1% fully vaccinated
County to help pay for gas line to Four Oaks
• Our hospitals rank high in patient safety
• Southside Barber Shop's 63 years
• Editorial comment on street resurfacing

May 13, 2021
This week's headlines:
• As anticipated "Project XD" is AMAZON
• Summer-school workers to get extra pay
• Schools seek $10-million increase from county
• Coronavirus report: active cases cut in half
• Earl Marett honored by his peers
• Smithfield planning trash changes
Editorial comment on Smithfield's industry

May 6, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Schools seek incentive pay for teachers
• Last drive-thru vaccinations this Friday
• Police body cameras a costly option
• Demand grows for county greenways
• Unlike previous months, April was dry
• Editorial comment on vaccination lag

April 29, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Groundbreaking for engineering school
• Just 21% of us fully vaccinated
• "Project XD" --- Is it Amazon?
• Jobless rate continues to shrink
• SSS band director "Teacher of the Year"
• Editorial comment: Town's election to be postponed?

April 22, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Johnston vaccination percentages lagging
• SSS team wins "Battle of the Books"
• "Draft" Smithfield budget raises trash fees
• County bond refinancing to save $548,000
• Reflections on Earth Day 2021

April 15, 2021
This week's headlines:
• School board buys new math program
• Big drop in COVID-19 active cases
• Industry at Benson to add 63 jobs
• South Smithfield has "Flame" semi-finalists
• SSS ends shortened football season at 2-5
• Editorial comment: incentives for industry

April 8, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Back to school for all grades
• COVID-19 vaccine for anyone age 16+
• Employment numbers continue to recover
• Town must replace two veteran leaders
• Furniture store closes after 95 years here
• SSS teachers are "Flame" semi-finalists
• Editorial comment: bad driving & littering

April 1, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Another Easter under pandemic's cloud
• DAR honors Vietnam War veterans
• Town's electric service wins award
• Another case of riverbank erosion
• Greenway temporarily closed at water plant

March 25, 2021
This week's headlines:
• All grades returning to school April 12
• COVID-19 case numbers fall on all fronts
• Johnstonians employed climbs to 94,654
• Retail sales up 12.67% at year's end
• Home sales up 15.9% since last March
• Photos from the First Day of Spring
• Editorial comment: State's leaders underpaid?

March 18, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Schools suggest $143-million bond issue
• Coronavirus cases include a school "cluster";
more than 20,000 are fully vaccinated
• $784,572 loan for police-station expansion
• Hospital gets accolades in yearly rankings
• SSS sustains season's first football loss
• Editorial comment: Are we fastest-growing county?

March 11, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Coronavirus cases on the decline;
death toll tops 200: average age is 75.3
• SSS beats North Johnston for 2nd win
• School board contracts for custodial help
• Public Library re-opens by appointment
• Neuse Little Theatre is back in business
• Editorial comment on verbal & vehicular abuse

March 4, 2021
This week's headlines:
• School board appoints Al Byrd to vacated seat
• Johnston's COVID stats "are looking better"
• SSS wins football opener for its new coach
• February even wetter than January
• Galilee Road re-opens with a new bridge
Editorial comment on school board's choice

February 25, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Six finalists for school-board vacancy
• Encouraging news on the COVID-19 front
• Where to relocate county offices?
Black history: A pioneering physician
• Editorial comment on managing growth
and Margaret Maron's passing

February 18, 2021
This week's headlines:
• Rain, rain, and more rain
• 10% of Johnstonians have gotten shots
• 31 apply for school-board vacancy
• Commissioners' live-streaming interrupted
• Black history: Town Board in the late 1800s
• Editorial comment on summer school & litter

February 11, 2021
This week's headlines:
• 21,415 Johnstonians vaccinated;
pharmacies receiving COVID-19 doses
• K-5 students in school more days March 1
• JCC  auditorium renovations still not done
• Black history: Smithfield's covered-bridge builder
• Editorial comment on proposed stormwater fees

February 4, 2021
This week's headlines:
• 17,066 Johnstonians vaccinated so far
• School system sees big increase in cash
• Smithfield considering stormwater fees
• Jobless rate holding steady at 5.3%
• Black history: A legendary school principal
• Editorial comment on Johnston's rapid growth

January 28, 2021
This week's headlines:
• 22,012 students returning to school;
14,124 will continue virtual learning at home
• Tracie Zukowski resigns from school board
• County has vaccinated 4,900 at drive-thru clinics
• Historic Hastings House gets grant for repairs
• Editorial comment on our valuable parks

January 21, 2021
This week's headlines:
• 2,500 get COVID-19 vaccine at drive-thru clinics
• School employees over age 65 get shots
• State legislators get committee assignments
     • CenturyLink re-branded as Lumen
• SSS boys are 4-0 in high-school basketball
• Editorial comment on vaccination priorities

 January 14, 2021
This week's headlines:
• COVID hospitalizations highest yet;
vaccination opportunities are increasing;
outbreak shuts down Johnston's courts
• Students will return to schools Feb. 1
• Johnston airport's economic impact
• Register of Deeds had record year
• Editorial comment: Hope for better days ahead

January 7, 2021
This week's headlines:
• 12,744 coronavirus cases;
limited vaccine so far
• Smithfield employees to get $500 bonuses
• 2020 was a very rainy year: 76 inches!
• County to fund extra help in DA's office
• Arts Council announces CARES grants
• Editorial comment: Time for Legislature to step up

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