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PUBLISHED
ONLINE FEBRUARY 7, 2019
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News to follow, but
first a word about our sponsors....
The Sun has half a dozen sponsors who
are supporting this newspaper through the month of
February: Carroll Pharmacy, Pernell Inc.,
W. Landis Bullock, John H. Scovil &
Associates, 7th Street Marketplace, and Realtor
Susan B. Lassiter. Their advertisements appear
between news items on the page below....
QUICK LINKS TO "INSIDE" PAGES:
JOHNSTON
COUNTY COMMMISSIONERS>
monthly meeting held Monday, February 4
SMITHFIELD
TOWN COUNCIL>
monthly meeting held Tuesday, February 5
EDITORIAL
OPINIONS>
SPORTS
PAGE>
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Years between real-estate revaluations
will be shortened to six, then to
four
Following a recommendation from County Manager Rick
Hester, Johnston's County Commissioners on Monday agreed
to reduce the time between real-estate revaluations from
eight years to six (with the next round coming in 2025)
and then every four years after that.
READ
MORE about that and other actions taken by
County Commissioners during their monthly sessions
this past Monday>
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Tax-cut incentives approved for three
projects: two at Selma, one at
Clayton
The County Commissioners on Monday approved property-tax
relief for three projects if they meet
economic-development goals set forth in their contracts.
The projects at Selma are: (1) a proposed 353-acre
complex east of I-95 with plans for an industrial park,
hotels, medical offices, retail shops, a senior-living
center, and residences; and (2) an automotive-components
manufacturer that will occupy a former metal-forging
plant in Oak Tree Corporate Park.
At Clayton, retailer Dollar General plans to
occupy a large portion of the Carolina Distribution
Center where it pledges to provide 105 jobs with an
average salary of $33,280. For an investment of $13
million, the company will get back 50 percent of
property taxes paid to the county: an estimated $46,000
annually for five years.
AdVenture Development LLC will get 70 percent of
its yearly property-tax obligation returned from the
county starting in 2023 provided it meets its initial
investment goal of $40 million in the proposed
"Eastfield" complex at Selma. That "incentive grant"
will continue for seven years as the company moves
toward its target of $200 million invested by 2031.
Estimated tax savings: $218,400 annually. The project
could generate 3,140 jobs in years to come,
commissioners were told.
Linamar Seissenschmidt Forgings Group will be
relieved of half its property-tax obligations to the
County of Johnston and the Town of Selma for five years
by creating 24 jobs paying an average salary of $54,378
and investing $3 million in the reconstituted Selma
plant. Those tax rebates are estimated at $11,700 a year
from the county and $8,100 from the town.
READ
MORE>
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This view of Booker Dairy Road's
realignment under construction is looking eastward
just short of the wide right-hand turn the current
roadway takes. The new leg straight ahead will connect
to Highway 301 via Ava Gardner Boulevard. Booker Dairy
Road coming from the right will join the new alignment
with a T intersection.
Commissioners get road-work
update
The County Commissioners on Monday got an update from
District Engineer Sam Lawhorn of the N.C. Department of
Transportation on major road construction in Johnston.
Listed are current projects with expected completion
dates:
• Ricks Road widening to three lanes in
Selma - February 2020.
• Booker Dairy Road widening to four lanes, Buffalo Road
to US 301 - March 2020.
• I-95 overhead bridge
replacements north of Selma - early 2021.
• NC 42
widening east of Clayton to Buffalo Road - February
2023.
Seven more projects have funding in place for
work to begin within the next five years, Mr. Lawhorn
said. They are listed with dates of contract awards:
• Upgrading US 70 to Interstate standards with two new
interchanges replacing stoplights at Wilson's Mills -
September of this year.
• Upgrading US 70 to Interstate standards with new
interchanges at Princeton - December of this year.
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Reconfiguring I-95 interchange with US 70 Business,
Smithfield - July 2020.
• Widening NC 42 to four lanes from Clayton to NC
50 - January 2021.
• Reconfiguring I-95
interchange with US 701, Four Oaks - October 2021.
• Buffalo Road widening
to three lanes, US 70 to Old Beulah Road, Selma -
September 2022.
• Reconfiguring I-40
interchange with NC 42 and constructing a new
interchange with Cleveland Road (SR 1010) - next phase
of a project just beginning that includes widening
I-40 to eight lanes from Garner to the US 70 Clayton
Bypass.
To read the editor's comments about a major local
project that isn't on the drawing boards, proceed
to the Sun's page for OPINIONS>
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Pine Acres neighborhood's place in history
Mayor Andy Moore presented a resolution on behalf of the
Smithfield Town Council Tuesday evening celebrating the
historical significance of the Pine Acres neighborhood
across East Market Street from Johnston Community
College.
Established more than half a century ago, "Pine Acres
was developed in partnership with the Johnston County
Training School and the Johnston County Board of
Education to provide home-ownership opportunities for
African-American educators, business people, health
professionals, and others in the Town of Smithfield when
there were none," according to the proclamation.
It goes on to note that residents of Pine Acres "were
instrumental in the integration of Johnston County
Schools during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s."
Rachel Ayers, a resident who's a member of the town's
Historic Properties Commission, did the research that
led to the proclamation. Here's a link to more
information about the Historic Properties Commission.
February is observed nationally as Black History Month.
READ
MORE about actions taken by the Smithfield
Town Council during its monthly session this past
Tuesday>
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Anthony Council gets Extra Effort Award
 The
Smithfield-Selma Spartans' high-scoring basketball
player has received WRAL-TV's Tom Suiter Extra Effort
Award.
Here's Channel 5's story with video.
Visit
our SPORTS PAGE
for high-school scores and more>
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Johnston's "Innovative High
Schools"
Johnston County Public Schools offers alternatives to
the traditional high-school setting for students.
Several are done in collaboration with Johnston
Community College (JCC), one is a partnership with the
University of Mount Olive, and the newest is
"JoCoTeach," a partnership with JCC and N.C. State
University.
Others under the heading "Innovative High Schools"
include a program called AVID, a Career & Technical
Leadership Academy, an Early College Academy, the
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme at
Smithfield-Selma High School, and more.
The school system says now is the time for interested
students to apply for
these programs. For more information, including a
complete list of what's offered,
follow this link to a page on the
Johnston County Schools website>
JOHNSTON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
meets at 2 p.m. next Tuesday, February 12
Evander S. Simpson Building, 2320 U.S. 70 Business
East, Smithfield
The agenda was not published by the Sun's "press
time";
however, this link will lead you
to it once it's posted online.
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7th
Street Marketplace & The Chicken Barn
Market Street (US
70 Business) at 7th Street, Downtown Smithfield
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DEATHS & FUNERALS
Each week we'll post links to obituaries about persons
who have died during the past week. We will monitor the
websites of local funeral homes to compile our list, and
we welcome links provided by readers to obituaries of
persons with Smithfield connections who have died
outside our immediate area.
PHILLIP EDDIE BATTEN, 75 - died
February 6
ALLYSON LYNN JUSAITES, 59 - died
February 4
KATHLEEN (KATHIE) GRAHAM
HELLINGS, 85 - died
February 1
CLAYBOURN THOMPSON SNIPES, 86
- died February 1
WOODY HOWARD WILKINSON, 68 - died
February 1
JANICE JERNIGAN
LYNCH, 75 - died January
31
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 THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS
"Building the Black Community ---
1865-1900":
New exhibit at Heritage Center opens Saturday
An
exhibit entitled “Building the Black Community –
1865-1900” will be unveiled at the Johnston County
Heritage Center in Downtown Smithfield at 11 a.m.
this Saturday (February 9).
“The
story told in this exhibit goes from jubilation to
utter tragedy in three short decades,” said Heritage
Center Director Todd Johnson. “We try not to
overlook anything that’s important, good and bad,
because there are important lessons in both.”
The exhibit opening will
feature a screening of the recent film documentary,
“Wilmington on Fire,” which tells the story of the
Wilmington Race Riot in 1898. One of the key
personalities in that tragic turn of events was a
young African-American newspaper editor, Alexander
Manly (pictured), who was born in Raleigh and
grew up in Selma.
The Heritage
Center is located at 241 East Market Street.
Admission is free of charge. For more information,
phone 919-934-2836 or send an e-mail to heritagecenter@johnstonnc.com.
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For more
information about our community, visit our
online "newspaper parent" via the link shown
below. This website is a handy "portal" to
important sources of current information about
Smithfield and Johnston County.
www.smithfieldselmasun.com
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