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PUBLISHED
ONLINE MAY 9, 2019
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 Photo
courtesy of Brian Eaves, Town of Smithfield
A "BLESSING BOX" FOR PERSONS IN NEED
The Junior
Women's League of Smithfield has installed the first
of several drop-off and pick-up stations providing
non-perishable food items and toiletries for needy
persons. It's located in front of the Smithfield Fire
Station on South Fourth Street. The "Blessing Box"
project is being done by the league's "provisional
class," which plans to set up similar stations at the
Selma and Thanksgiving fire departments as well as
locations in Princeton and Clayton. On hand for a
ribbon-cutting at the Smithfield station last Saturday
were Mayor Andy Moore and league representatives (left to right)
Kandice Nylin, Morgan Estes, Kathy Colby, Dawn Phipps,
Kaitlyn Sproles, and Emily Johnson.
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How stands the health of Johnstonians?
Here's a new report with some answers
Johnston's County Commissioners
received a Community Health Needs Assessment report from
Johnston's Health Department at Monday's monthly
meeting. Here's what the data, assembled this past year,
tells us about our collective physical condition:
• A survey
based on a sample of 1,151 Johnstonians ranked drugs
and substance abuse as the issue most affecting our
quality of life. Right behind that is low income and
poverty.
• Access to health services in Johnston lags behind
the state as a whole: 30.2 primary-care providers per
100,000 population here --- 70.6 statewide; 86.2
mental-health providers per 100,000 here --- 215.5
statewide; 22.5 dentists per 100,000 here --- 54.7
statewide.
• The age-adjusted death rate due to heart disease is
199 per 100,000 population in Johnston, compared to a
rate of 161.3 for all of North Carolina. The rate for
stroke here is 41.9 deaths per 100,000, a little less
than the rate of 43.1% for the entire state. The
age-adjusted death rate for lung cancer is 56.4 per
100,000 here, 50.7 statewide. The death rate for
influenza and pneumonia is 15.9 in Johnston, below the
death rate of 17.8 statewide.
• 87.1% of persons up to age 64 have some type of health
insurance coverage (everyone 65 and over should be
covered by Medicare). That leaves almost 13% of
Johnstonians 64 and younger uninsured. For North
Carolina as a whole, that number is closer to 12%.
READ MORE data from a summary
provided by Dr. Marilyn Pearson, Johnston County's
director of public health>
READ
MORE from Monday's sessions of the County
Commissioners>
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HAM
& YAM: TASTY, AND EDUCATIONAL
Fred Dees and
Tres McAdams of the Smithfield Kiwanis Club carry on a tradition that has
continued without interruption since the first Ham
& Yam Festival in 1985 --- even when it rained
--- and that's frying country ham for biscuits the
club sells each year as a fund-raiser. Meanwhile,
something new at this year's festival, held last
Saturday, was a demonstration of Revolutionary War
musket and cannon firing by Adam Young and Tim
Langdon of nearby Camp Flintlock. That's a
Colonial-era re-enactment service that takes its
show on the road to schools as well as historical
venues like the riverside Town Commons in
Smithfield, which was chartered as a municipality
on May 9, 1777 by the first General Assembly of
the independent State of North Carolina. That
makes today (the 9th) the town's 242nd birthday.
TODAY'S FEATURE
PAGE: winners of the "What's That Yam Thing?"
contest>
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Smithfield Council hears recommendations
regarding recreation, planning, utility fees
Near the end of Tuesday night's regular
monthly meeting, the Smithfield Town
Council resumed deliberations regarding
the town's 2019-20 budget. The council
has still not decided what the town's
property-tax rate will be in light of
this year's real-estate revaluation.
Meanwhile, several department heads are
proposing changes in fees to be charged
for various activities in the year
ahead:
• Parks & Recreation Director
Gary Johnson proposes eliminating fees
for Smithfield residents to use the
Sarah Yard Community Center at
Smith-Collins Park (local residents are
presently charged $2 per day). At the
same time, he wants the town to start
collecting a fee of 10% from admission
charges to
commercial events
staged at the
Recreation and
Aquatics Center.
• Planning
Director Stephen
Wensman seeks an
increase of $100
"generally across
the board" in fees
charged by the town
for various planning
and permitting
services.
• Public
Utilities
Director Ted Credle
wants the town to
start charging
$1,000 per lot for
water-line hookups
to newly constructed
residences. He said
the County of
Johnston and the
Town of Clayton are
already charging
much more than that
for new connections.
Regarding
electricity, water,
and sewer rates
charged residents
and businesses, Mr.
Credle is
recommending no
changes at this
time.
The
council
recessed
Tuesday's
meeting until
6:30 p.m.
Thursday, May
16 to continue
working on the
new budget.
READ
MORE from Tuesday's meeting of the Smithfield
Town Council>
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Local leaders tour finished
facilities at the new Smithfield Metering and
Regulation Station of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
It's located on Velverton Grove Road about half a
mile off US 70 Business East.
Atlantic Coast Pipeline not here yet, but
Smithfield "interchange" station is done
Construction of a 600-mile
natural-gas pipeline from West Virginia into Eastern
North Carolina is on hold because of a federal court
order, yet construction of the Smithfield Metering and
Regulation Station just east of town is finished.
Dominion Energy of Richmond, Va. --- the principal
company behind the Atlantic Coast Pipeline --- invited
local leaders and media folks out for a visit last week.
Bruce McKay, the company's energy policy director,
compared the pipeline to "an Interstate highway" and the
Smithfield station to an superhighway "interchange."
The pipeline will parallel Interstate Highway 95 from
the Virginia line to a terminus not far from the South
Carolina line. Besides the Smithfield station, two
others are being built in our state --- near
Fayetteville and Pembroke.
The Smithfield station will be the "interchange" for
Piedmont Natural Gas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy that
already provides natural gas to Smithfield and vicinity.
Branch pipelines that Mr. McKay compared to "secondary
roads" will radiate from here to various destinations in
our region, including major industries as well as
residential communities.
The main pipeline reaching here from the north will be
36 inches in diameter. Mr. McKay expressed his company's
hope that construction of the line can be resumed this
summer, after the U.S. Fourth Circuit of Appeals is
satisfied that environmental challenges to construction
in the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia have been
resolved.
Among local advocates of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline who
spoke at last week's gathering at the new Smithfield
station were Ted Godwin, chairman of the Johnston County
Board of Commissioners, and Durwood Stephenson, a
Smithfield-based construction magnate who's well known
in statewide political circles.
Mr. Godwin said he's a "true hugger" who respects
environmental concerns, but he emphasized the importance
of bringing "affordable, reliable, clean energy" to
Eastern Carolina to create jobs.
"We have allowed the naysayers to outshout us," added
Mr. Stephenson, referring to pipeline critics including
opponents of the "fracking" process used to mine natural
gas in West Virginia. "We need to stand up for the
future of Eastern North Carolina --- a region that has
been declining economically."
"Infrastructure is the key, and natural gas is a must
for our manufacturers, and also for our farmers," Mr.
Stephenson said.
Mr. McKay said the Smithfield station will employ an
operations manager and 3-4 "field personnel."
Map of pipeline's route through
Johnston County>
Map of pipeline's entire route from
West Virginia through North Carolina>
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 JCCollege
machining students
were winners at state event
Joshua Murphy of Smithfield
(pictured) placed first in technical drawing at the
recent SkillsUSA North Carolina championships held in
Greensboro. (JCCollege photo)
He was one of four machining students from Johnston
Community College who won honors. The others: Matthew
Carmody of Selma, first place in turning specialist
competition; Marcus Vanderhelm of Selma, third in
technician competition; and Daniel Perry of Sims, third
in milling specialist competition.
READ MORE about it on the
JCCollege website>
Johnston's
school board meets next Tuesday;
adoption of local budget request
anticipated
WHEN: Open
business session begins at 4 p.m.
Public comment session follows at 6 p.m.
WHERE: Evander
S. Simpson Building, 2320 U.S. 70 Business
East, Smithfield.
Superintendent of Schools Ross Renfrow went
through his "draft" budget with the board
last week and no major changes were ordered,
clearing the way for adoption by the school
board next week. View the superintendent's
budget here>
The next step is submission of the local
school budget to County Manager Rick Hester
so he can present an overall county budget
proposal to the County Commissioners. That
is expected later this month. A public
hearing on the total package is scheduled
for Monday, June 3 before the Board of
Commissioners.
The full agenda for next Tuesday's meeting
of the school board wasn't published by the
Sun's "press time" on Thursday; this link will lead you
to it once it's posted>
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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'll 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.
HELEN THOMPSON EDGERTON,
76 -
died May 8
JAMES ELVIN ALLEN, 84 - died May 4
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THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS
Smithfield High's last class
graduated 50 years ago
Those attending
the historic class reunion last weekend gathered for
this picture on the front steps of the old SHS home on
South Third Street: (left to right) front row --- John
Gregory, Eddie Wall, Kathy Reese Teague, Howard
Peedin, Tappy White Keiger, Belinda Beasley Baker,
Janci Fish Cahoon, Crys Jordan Kirby, Dennis Ham,
Gerald Barbour, Joe Austin, Bill Teague, John Dupree,
Robbie Brown; second row --- Sally Jo Stockdale
McCarthy, Cathie Lipcsak Wall, Sue Parrish Parker,
Debbie Adams Midgette, Jane Austin Cunningham Graham,
Debbie Cretini Sanders, June Creech Knowles, Pam Hulth
Lacklen, Danny Wadsworth; third row --- Joe Parrish,
Bette Barnes Carpenter, Rebecca Talton Kalsbeek, Pam
Adams Deardorff, Pam Berge Gale, Barber Baker Elliott;
fourth row --- Ken Langston, Bradley Carroll, Jenny
Sanders Prince, Gwen Cobb Roberts; top row --- Steve
Wilson, Don Pittman, Jimmy Allen, Mack Langdon, Jim
Godwin, Gordon Blow, Jerry Roberts, and Steve Little.
The 1969 Smithfield High School yearbook
may be viewed online via the DigitalNC
archives>
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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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