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| PUBLISHED
ONLINE NOVEMBER 21, 2019 •
VOL. 1, NO. 47 |
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 Photo
from Smithfield-Selma High School
SSS Spartan Regiment finishes its season "undefeated" in North Carolina competition There are no conference standings and no regional polls for high-school band competition, yet the Smithfield-Selma High School Spartan Regiment can surely shout out "We're No. 1" after the fall season's conclusion. Band Director Brian Jones reports the following results for the SSS band:
Director Jones summed up the season: "We have a young group this year, but the students all worked extremely hard and overcame a lot of adversity, and we had an incredible season." View the complete roster for this fall's Spartan Regiment> 466 on SSS academic achievement lists Smithfield-Selma High School has released its Principal's List and Honor Roll for the first quarterly grading period of the 2019-20 academic year. The school's 10th-day enrollment was 1,347. The academic achievement lists name 465 students. View the complete lists for the first nine-week grading period> |
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 The Town of Smithfield prepared this map prior to the road-naming. After the Town Council's split decision last week, here are the names as they now stand: double-lined yellow portion as well as the solid-green portion remain "Booker Dairy Road." Double-lined red segment to be opened soon will be "Booker Dairy Road Extension." Short, orange curved segment will be "Old Booker Dairy Road." (Buffalo Road is on the far left of the map; Bright Leaf Boulevard / US 301 bottom right.) Town Council renames new road, and all of it carries a "Booker Dairy" designation By a close split vote, the Smithfield Town Council last month approved the naming of widened and extended Booker Dairy Road as "Ava Gardner Avenue." Again by a close split vote, the council last week undid that name and adopted "Booker Dairy Road" for all segments of the roadway. The only differentiation is that the completely new section yet to be opened to traffic will be "Booker Dairy Road Extension." The council convened in special session last Thursday evening to reconsider last month's decision after relatives of Ava Gardner objected to the naming because "there is no known connection between Ms. Gardner and this geographic area, and we feel the renaming of this road would be inappropriate," stated a letter to the council signed by three persons: Mary Edna Grimes Grantham, Ava's niece; Ava Creech Thompson, her grand niece; and Todd Johnson, director of the Johnston County Heritage Center. None of them attended last week's council session. The council was united in its decision to undo last month's action but differed on a new name. Councilman Travis Scott moved to rename the entire four-lane portion of the road "M. Durwood Stephenson Parkway" as a continuation of "M. Durwood Stephenson Highway" west of Buffalo Road. Councilman David Barbour seconded that motion, but it failed when the other three council members present --- John Dunn, Steve Rabil, and David Stevens --- voted against it. Mr. Dunn then moved to retain "Booker Dairy Road" for both new and old sections presently carrying that name and "Booker Dairy Road Extension" for the new leg. Councilmen Rabil and Stevens joined him in voting yes, while Councilmen Barbour and Scott voted no. (Councilmen Emery Ashley and Marlon Lee were absent.) Before the voting, Councilman Scott expressed concerns for emergency responders who may be confused by different segments of the roads carrying similar names. NOTE: Susan Lassiter attended last Thursday's meeting in place of the editor to gather information for this report. READ MORE about the road naming on the OBSERVATIONS page> NEW RV PARK CONDITIONS AMENDED On another matter last Thursday, the Town Council made some changes to Special Use Permit conditions for an RV park being built between Venture Drive and the Pine Acres Subdivision --- the approval of which resulted from a lawsuit contesting the town's initial rejection of the project. Here's a PDF showing in red the changes made from a list of conditions approved by the council at its November 12 meeting> |
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  JOHN
P. (JACK)
O'HALEAttorney at Law 102 S. Third St. Smithfield 919-934-6021 e-mail kim@jackohale.com |
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 Representatives of Novo Nordisk, principal sponsor of JOCO WORKS, show an eighth-grade student some of the devices used by the insulin manufacturer at its plant near Clayton. (Johnston County Public Schools photo) 4,000 eighth-graders explore local career opportunities at first "JOCO WORKS" event Johnston Community College hosted the inaugural JOCO WORKS Career Expo last Thursday and Friday, when 4,000 eighth-graders from all of Johnston's public schools were bused to the campus to learn first-hand about career opportunities with local businesses, industries, and public services. READ MORE about it on the Johnston County Public Schools website> Insurance agent gets financial certification  Steve Grice, an insurance agent
with the N.C. Farm Bureau in Johnston County,
has earned designation as a "Financial Services
Certified Professional" from The American
College of Financial Services.Candidates for certification must complete a "designation exam" in addition to a series of individual course exams, and they must also agree to adhere to The College's continuing education and ethics requirements. Besides the professional certification, Mr. Grice has also received recognition from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as member of its 2019 "Marketplace Circle of Champions." Registered insurance agents and brokers who assist 20 or more consumers qualify for that honor. A licensed insurance agent since 2015, Mr. Grice is also senior pastor of New Life Baptist Church. He resides in Smithfield with his wife Tonya and daughter Ella. |
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 Pastor and pilot Ric Swaningson stands with the historic "Toku-Hana," one of several small planes operated by Adventist World Aviation out of Johnston Regional Airport. International "mercy missions" service is based at Johnston County's airport Adventist World Aviation (AWA) was looking for a new home somewhere along the nation's East Coast several years ago. Launched in Michigan in 1995, the faith-based agency wanted to get away from harsh winters to a place where the climate is milder and access to destinations at home and abroad is more suitable for its "mercy missions." Johnston Regional Airport (JNX) fit the bill, and AWA settled here three and half years ago. Today JNX is home base for three of AWA's 26 planes and half a dozen employees, including Ric Swaningson, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor who's AWA's president & CEO --- and one of its pilots. READ MORE about AWA on the FEATURE PAGE> Strickland named "Clean Energy Champion"  State Representative Larry
Strickland of Johnston County is one of two Republican
legislators named as 2019 "Clean Energy Champions" by
Conservatives for Clean Energy (CCE) and Chambers for
Innovation & Clean Energy.The other is State Senator Rick Horner of Nash County. "Senator Horner and Representative Strickland fought to increase market competition in North Carolina's monopoly-controlled electricity market," said Laurie Barnhart, CCE's North Carolina director. "Thanks to these two conservative legislators, North Carolina is leading the way toward more energy choice and innovation." She said Mr. Strickland was "instrumental" in helping to defeat a recent legislative proposal that would have allowed Duke Energy to impose multi-year electric-rate increases on consumers. She also noted that he's known as "a strong supporter of agriculture" and a vocal advocate for farmers adding "solar farms" as reliable revenue streams for their operations. Mr. Strickland's N.C. House District includes Smithfield voters who reside north of US 70 Business and NC 210 and east of US 301. Republican Donna White represents a district that includes Smithfield voters who reside south of US 70 Business and west of US 301. |
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Thanksgiving holiday falls later than usual  Thanksgiving
Day is observed on the fourth Thursday in November.
Because Nov. 1 fell on a Friday this year, this
month's fourth Thursday is later than usual: next
Thursday, Nov. 28 --- just under four weeks before
Christmas Day! Johnston County's public schools will be closed Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday next week, while state and local government offices and services will be closed Thursday and Friday. The Post Office, banks, and federal offices will be closed on Thursday only. The County of Johnston's landfill and solid-waste "convenience centers" will be closed Thursday and Friday but will be open as usual on Saturday, Nov. 30. SCHOOL BOARD TO MEET AT 5:30 P.M. MONDAY The Johnston County Board of Education will hold a special session open to the public at 5:30 p.m. Monday (Nov. 25) at the Evander S. Simpson Building at 2320 US 70 Business East at Smithfield. The meeting's purpose is to consider "Restart Reform: Modifications and State Reports." North Carolina designates its low-performing schools as "Restart" schools subject to closer-than-normal scrutiny regarding student performance. Johnston County currently lists 14 such schools, including Smithfield Middle and South Smithfield, West Smithfield, and Wilson's Mills Elementary. WHAT'S COMING UP? A rundown of upcoming civic and cultural events in our community that we've been told about or seen publicized elsewhere: NEUSE LITTLE THEATRE'S "FATHER KNOWS BEST" this Friday and Saturday (Nov. 22-23), 8 p.m. at The Hut, corner of Front and Market streets. (Ticket information appears on the poster below.) A NEW HERITAGE CENTER EXHIBIT, "A Generation Goes to War, 1941-1945," will be unveiled this Saturday (Nov. 23) at 11 a.m. The displays will feature quotes from Johnston County soldiers and others who experienced World War II. The Heritage Center is located at 241 East Market Street in Downtown Smithfield. |
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 https://www.waltersandersfuneralhome.com/mr-harvey-hobbs-jr |
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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. DANIEL D. GRIFFIN, 66 - died November 17 ANNIE BELLE BYRD SMITH, 65 - died November 17 JULIUS MELVIN BEASLEY, 93 - died November 17 HARVEY HOBBS JR., 68 - died November 17 JIMMY ROGERS MURPHY JR., 57 - died November 15 CHRISTINE TOLER WILLOUGHBY, 83 - died November 15 ERNEST LEONARD (ERNIE) ELMORE, 95 - died November 15 LINWOOD RAY WALL, 76 - died November 13 |
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THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS Terraced
seating for the Town Commons stage
Marking
completion in 1988 of the seating area for
what's now called the Neuse River Amphitheater
are representatives of local government and
the Smithfield Rotary Club, which funded the
project: (left to right) Smithfield's Mayor
Kenneth Baker, Town Manager Tony Robertson,
Rotarian Phil Ricks, County Manager Richard
Self, and Ray Gibbs, executive director of the
Downtown Smithfield Development Corporation.
Ross Lampe reminded the Town Council earlier
this month that the Kiwanis Club, which funded
the stage, and Rotary were two civic
organizations still functioning that played
key roles in the facility's construction.
(Photo from The Smithfield
Herald collection, Johnston County
Heritage Center)
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- a public service announcement -  |
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"INSIDE" PAGES IN THIS WEEK'S EDITION FEATURE PAGE: Adventist World Aviation SPORTS & RECREATION: Gobble Waddle race results OBSERVATIONS: What's in a road name? SSS Principal's List & Honor Roll WANT TO VIEW PREVIOUS EDITIONS? Visit our archives |
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