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PUBLISHED
ONLINE JULY 25, 2019 • VOL.
1, NO. 30
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Stories and photos by Wingate
Lassiter
unless otherwise noted
A reminder: E-mail alerts notifying
subscribers when the latest edition
has been posted online are being
sent out at 3 p.m. each Thursday.
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This time the rain brought welcome
relief from an oppressive heat wave
 No flash
flooding from this week's storms.
Instead, relief from the heat.
Before Tuesday, our neck of the woods suffered through
highs of 95 degrees on seven of the previous eight
days, dating back to July 15. Not only that, but
nightly low temperatures stalled in the mid-70s, along
with high humidity.
Now that was your classic Eastern Carolina heat wave.
With Tuesday's storms, the high was "only" 88, and low
temperatures overnight dipped into the mid 60s.
Wednesday's high was 86, with a low of 63.
Now that's more like it.
Smithfield's Vermont Street washout has already been
repaired --- and this time with rock and concrete
reinforcement that ought to withstand the next flash
flood along Meadowbrook Branch. J.P. Edwards Inc. is
doing the work at a cost to the town of $11,090, reports
Town Manager Mike Scott. Curb and gutter has been
restored, new grass has been seeded, with only asphalt
paving along one side of the street left to be done. Torrential rain on July 12 was too much for
this section of street, which was washed out in similar
fashion by Hurricane Matthew almost three years ago.
More
comments about flooding on the OBSERVATIONS page>
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4 candidates running for 3 Council seats;
Mayor Moore unopposed for re-election
The filing period for candidates
to get their names on the ballot for the November 5
municipal election in Smithfield ended at noon last
Friday with four men in the running for three seats on
the Town Council.
Jim Snyder
of West Davis Street and former Councilman Roger
Wood of Whitley Drive join incumbents Stephen
Rabil of Wilson Street and John Dunn of
Eden Drive as candidates. Incumbent Councilman Emery
Ashley is not seeking re-election.
Andy Moore, meanwhile, is the only candidate to
file for mayor this year, ensuring his re-election to a
third two-year term.
This year's election will fill three at-large council
seats. That means all of Smithfield's voters will mark
their ballots for up to three candidates among those
listed, with the top three vote-getters winning election
without a runoff.
Besides Mr. Moore, seven other mayors in Johnston
County are running unopposed for re-election this
year: Jody McLeod at Clayton, Jerry Medlin at Benson,
Don Rains at Princeton, Jeff Holt at Pine Level, Bonnie
Williamson at Kenly, Jay Warren at Micro, and Matt
Mulhollem at Archer Lodge. Cheryl Oliver of Selma is the
only incumbent mayor in Johnston County facing
opposition, from Willilam E. Overby. Mayor Linwood
Parker of Four Oaks and Mayor Jim Uzzle Jr. of Wilson's
Mills hold positions that are not up for election again
till 2021.
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SMITHFIELD
HOSTING 4 BASEBALL
TOURNEYS
Mayor Andy Moore welcomes teams
and fans at Thursday's opening ceremony for
the Tar Heel Leagues' State Baseball
Tournaments --- with competition in four age
divisions. Smithfield Community Park is the
principal site for games, which are also
being played at Clayton Community Park and
East Clayton Park through Sunday.
READ
MORE about it on the SPORTS &
RECREATION page>
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SUSAN
LASSITER
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Johnston Health receives $433,000 grant
from Duke Endowment to expand services
From
Suzette Rodriquez of Johnston Health
Johnston
Health has received grants totaling $433,000 from
The Duke Endowment to enhance a "palliative care
initiative" and to expand Project Access, a
community network of care for low-income and
uninsured residents in Johnston and Harnett
counties.
Georgia
Anthony, director of Project Access, said an
Endowment grant of $216,000 will be used to continue
the program this fiscal year and to add a new
position: a community-health worker who will visit
patients at home to provide education and to connect
them to community resources.
Since
2008, Project Access has served more than 3,900
patients. It has offices inside Johnston Medical
Mall in Smithfield and on Tilghman Drive in Dunn.
The
"palliative care initiative" will get a boost from
the addition of a full-time and a weekend nurse.
During the next two years, an Endowment grant of
$217,000 will be used for the new positions.
David
Dennis, director of Johnston Health Home Care and
Hospice, said the
nurses will make rounds in the hospital and at the
oncology clinics to identify patients who may
benefit from palliative and/or hospice care. They
will also be available to consult with physicians
for patients identified at home as needing services.
"Palliative
care" puts an emphasis on improving the comfort and
quality of life for patients and families. "This
could be symptom-relief from an illness that may not
be life-limiting," Mr. Dennis said. "Hospice is one
of the tools in a palliative-care program."
For
more info about Project Access and Johnston Home Care
and Hospice,
visit www.johnstonhealth.org>
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  JOHN P.
(JACK) O'HALE
Attorney at Law
102 S.
Third St.
Smithfield
919-934-6021
e-mail kim@jackohale.com
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WHAT'S
COMING UP?
A rundown of upcoming civic
and cultural opportunities in our community
that we've been told about or seen publicized in
other media:
MUSIC FOR THE LUNCH BUNCH
SERIES continues Wednesday, July 31 at
12:15 p.m. at Smithfield's First Presbyterian
Church with a performance by "Smithfield's
Jazz Quartet": Ned Attayek on guitar, Virgil
Early on Trumpet, Jess Pittard on piano, and
Wingate Lassiter on bass. View the full series
schedule>
DOWNTOWN SMITHFIELD "RHYTHM
& BREWS" monthly
outdoor concert series resumes on
Thursday, August 16 from 7:00 till
9:30 p.m. on South Third Street
with a band called Street Revival.
"BIRDS, BEES, BUTTERFILES," a symposium
on "Growing a Pollinator Garden," will be
hosted by Johnston County Extension's Master
Gardener volunteers on Saturday, September 14
from 8:30 a.m. till 4:00 p.m. at the Johnston
County Agricultural Center. For more
information, e-mail jocomastergardeners@gmail.com;
to register, visit jocomgbbb.com.
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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.
DORIS THOMPSON PEEDIN, 94 -
died July 24
MARJORIE MARIE MITCHELL
ALLEN, 74 - died July 22
CHARLES MICHAEL (MICKEY) JONES,
68 - died July 21
ROY FRANKLIN LEE, 87 - died
July 21
THOMAS
RAY MELVIN SR., 79
- died July 20
PENNIE IRENE JACKSON WILLIAMS CHAPPELL, 75 - died
July 20
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THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS
Here's a
colorized postcard from 1912 of the steel
bridge that crossed the Neuse River at Smithfield's
Bridge Street. It replaced a covered bridge built
following destruction of an earlier version during
the Civil War. Concrete supports for these bridges
still stand on both sides of the river, although the
one on the west bank is obscured by vegetation this
time of year. The bridge pictured here was
dismantled after the first Market Street bridge was
built in 1923.
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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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