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PUBLISHED
ONLINE MARCH 21, 2019
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Stories and photos by Wingate Lassiter unless
otherwise noted
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This week's sponsors:
Carroll Pharmacy; Pernell Inc.; W.
Landis Bullock;
John H. Scovil & Associates;
Attorney Allen H. Wellons: 7th
Street Marketplace
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QUICK LINKS
TO "INSIDE" PAGES:
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So says the
calendar, even if the weather isn't quite there.
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HAVE
YOU VISITED SMITHFIELD'S WATERFALL?
It splashes upon a
bed of rocks just like a mountain stream. To find out where it is, and to test your
knowledge of other Smithfield streams of note,
take a look at today's FEATURE
PAGE>
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County Commissioners consider extra
sales-tax levy to fund new schools
Johnston's County Commissioners
were asked this week to consider adding a 1/4-percent
levy to local sales taxes to help pay for new
public-school buildings. The extra levy would require
approval by Johnston's voters in a referendum.
Commissioner Tony Braswell brought up the idea during
the county board's annual "work session" held Tuesday at
Johnston Regional Airport. "It's a fair tax," he said.
The N.C. General Assembly several years ago gave
counties authority to levy the extra tax, subject to
voters' approval. The additional 1/4-percent would raise
the total sales-tax rate in Johnston to 7 percent. (The
current rate of 6.75 includes a state tax of 4.75
percent and a county tax of 2 percent that's shared with
municipal governments).
"It's a good point to spread the (tax) burden,"
Commissioners' Chairman Ted Godwin said of Mr.
Braswell's proposal. Presently, school construction is
financed mainly through general obligation bonds paid
off with property-tax revenue.
The commissioners took no action Tuesday on the proposed
sales-tax addition.
On another matter, the board authorized County
Manager Rick Hester to employ professional help to
develop a countywide plan for public recreation after
rejecting a request from Cleveland Township leaders to
create a special tax district to purchase and maintain a
park site in their community.
READ
MORE about that issue on today's SPORTS
& RECREATION page>
READ
MORE about other matters discussed during
Tuesday's session here>
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"HERITAGE
HEROES" THANKED FOR DONATIONS
The children of the late Margaret
McLemore Lee --- Mary Nell Ferguson, Margie Stubbs, and
Denton Lee (left to right) --- accept a plaque honoring
the "patron saint" of the Public Library's Johnston
County Room that evolved into today's Johnston
County Heritage Center. Mrs. Lee was one
of several individuals, families, and organizations
cited as "Heritage Heroes" at Tuesday evening's annual
Heritage Center Patrons Dinner.
Others honored as "leading supporters of the Johnston
County Room" during its formative years were Dr. James
W. and Sara Storey Batten, the Thomas J. Sr. and Rena
Bingham Lassiter family, the Johnston County
Genealogical and Historical Society, Harold and Margaret
Lassiter Medlin, Ellen Broadhurst Taylor, Richard T. and
Olivia Root Edmonson, Campbell Gibson, Jim and Joyce
Talton Gibson, Smith-Bryan Chapter of Daughters of the
American Revolution, The Smithfield Herald, Welton B.
and Mildred Suddarth Strickland, and Kenneth M. Sr. and
Dorcas Stanley Taylor.
Making the presentations were Warren Grimes (on the left
in the photo above), chairman of the Johnston County
Heritage Commission, and Todd Johnson (on the right),
the Heritage Center's director. Mr. Grimes announced
that "just under" $35,000 has been raised from Heritage
Center "patrons" this fiscal year to support its
operations and programs.
Photo
courtesy of Brian Eaves, Town of Smithfield
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RECENT NEWS FROM
JOHNSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE
YOU MAY HAVE MISSED . . .
Nursing program named 4th best in N.C.
READ the JCC news release>
Medical Office program
No. 2 in the nation
READ the JCC news
release>
New endowment to aid
young women
READ the JCC news
release>
New cabin for Howell
Woods lodging
READ the JCC news
release>
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Town Council meets this Tuesday
The Smithfield Town Council
recessed its regular meeting earlier this month till
6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 26 to begin discussions
regarding the town's 2019-20 budget. The council meets
at Town Hall, corner of Market and South Fourth streets
in 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.
JAMES ALEXANDER CREECH, 72 -
died March 19
JEAN HAMILTON GRICE, 77 -
died March 18
LINDA HILL CAMPBELL, 94 - died March 16
EDITH WILLOUGHBY HARE, 78 - died March
14
LINDA JEAN BRIDGES, 65 - died March 12
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THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS
This 1929 photograph shows switchboard operators
at work in the Smithfield office of Carolina Telephone
and Telegraph back in the days when phones had no dials:
(left to right) Chief Operator Elva Mae Hudson Thompson,
Juanita Ennis Humphrey, Nola Gurley Ward, Lucy Mathis,
Alice West Brantley, and Kate Brooks Moore. The former
CT&T building still stands on Market Street across
from the Ava Gardner Museum and remains in service for
present-day telephone provider CenturyLink --- but
without the operators who answered "number, please" and
then plugged lines into the switchboard to complete
one's call.
Photo
from Selma Ward Davis via Warren Grimes
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7th Street Marketplace & The Chicken Barn
Market Street
(US 70 Business) at 7th Street, Downtown Smithfield
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For more
information about our community, check out
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.
 Here's what you'll find there:
• Local weather data, current
& past
• Monthly jobs reports
• Quarterly retail-sales reports
• Official population estimates
• Agricultural statistics
• Local government links
• Things to see and do
www.smithfieldselmasun.com
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